Saintly Connections

One of our monks recently made a transition back into the ‘real world’. After some years of monastic discipline he felt it was time to adopt a new lifestyle based around family, career and worldly responsibility. He recently went for an interview. It was his big break. Frustrated, he came back and complained “in this world it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.” No prizes for guessing he didn't get the job! We’ve seen it before - even if one is incompetent, unreliable, temperamental, and all-in-all quite a weak candidate, they may still get the job if they have the right connections. Those who have achieved a sense of competence or recognition in their field can often make up for someone else’s shortcomings.

You may be interested to know that there is a transcendental version of this corrupt system. In our endeavours for spiritual purity, the blessings of saintly personalities can make up for our individual deficiencies and failings. The Catholics have their bishops, the Muslims have their imams, the Hindus have their gurus, and the Jews have their rabbis. We look to the saintly for inspiration, encouragement and recommendation. Based on their intimate connection with God, we trust in their ability to petition Him on our behalf. Through humble words and acts we directly or indirectly implore them - "put in a good word for me." While many are suspicious of investing their faith in fallible humans, others may simply feel their own conviction and endeavours are sufficient. However, the good wishes, blessings and encouragement of the saintly are vital. Just as many lenses within a telescope bring an object within sight, similarly, the more spiritualists we can serve and please the closer our cherished goal will be.

But who is a true saint? The Bhagavad-gita explains that such persons are not stereotyped. They may have an institutional position, or maybe not. They may be recognised by many people and famed in spiritual circles, or maybe not. They may be erudite, scholarly and philosophically astute, or maybe not. They may be renounced, austere and free from worldly responsibility, or maybe not. The one essential quality of the truly saintly person is their enthusiastic, dedicated and unwavering conviction to selflessly serve. They exist to give happiness to others. It is these great souls who we should seek to please, for their spiritual prowess can overflow onto us, and their good wishes can attract divine attention.

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Learning to be natural

A friend recently came to our early morning spiritual programme at the temple. At 4.30am every day, about fifty individuals from all walks of life come together for their daily spiritual workout - four hours of personal meditation, heartfelt singing, philosophical contemplation, and prayers of gratitude. While our guest appreciated the energy and the enthusiasm of every individual, they struggled with the structure and organisation of the programme; singing the same songs, chanting the same mantra, at the same time, while dancing in the same formations, and bowing down at the set intervals… seven days a week, 365 days a year! You could call it a holy boot camp! Shouldn’t spirituality be a little more spontaneous and natural? Why have such an instituted and rigid programme? Where is the room for personal expression and individuality? Why not allow one’s spiritual journey to take a natural course according to inspiration?

An initial regiment of basic learning is required in order to achieve the proficiency which facilitates natural expression. Let’s say you sit down at a keyboard to express your deepest feelings. Without some basic musical training (which can be extremely tedious and monotonous) one will struggle to express themselves in that medium. Say you wanted to communicate your deepest feelings in a letter, but you never learnt grammar, sentence formation, spelling or vocabulary – how would you communicate those inner feelings? So it’s not a contradiction to say that one must practice (often methodically and mechanically) to achieve naturalness.

Our spirituality is completely natural, spontaneous and personal. However, certain processes and patterns of behavior help uncover that dormant consciousness. Great spiritualists have documented and outlined a sensible process of devotional practice that culminates in divine love. Scientific, calculated procedure (in Sanskrit, sadhana-bhakti) leads to mystical individual spontaneity (in Sanskrit, raganuga-bhakti). Thus, while practices, traditions and rituals may seem like a spiritual boot camp, we can rest assured that such practice is leading one to pure spiritual individuality.

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