Righteous living: Is it enough?

 

A good friend who is not much into religious beliefs, worship, rituals and such things recently asked me “does it really matter to study scripture or pursue religion or spirituality? Isn’t living a life of righteousness enough?”

Our gate for the flight was announced just then so we rushed out of the lounge and I didn’t get a chance to answer the question. Yet it is a very important and insightful question that deserves thoughtful consideration.

What basis would I answer that question other than my personal adhyatmic journey?  There are two or more elements to this journey. One is the reliance on faith and second the reinforcement and reshaping of faith that came about by a continued study of religious and spiritual literature. Thirdly, and more importantly I think, are the personal experiences that accumulated over a lifetime of devotion, that are above and  beyond mere faith or study. 

Faith is helpful in the beginning and through the process. But faith is blind and certainly not enough to get you to the end goal. It is a good walking stick. 

Study of scriptures and attestations from saints, scholars and wise men and women are like GPS. These provide direction and better understanding of the terrain you will walk on. 

All preparatory work summed up as “ righteous living” is akin to warm up exercises or training for the hike to the summit. Any prescribed rituals are like additional gear provided to help you on the go. They are useful but definitely not essential.

So you did the strenuous training, held the walking stick, GPS and other tools and kept walking on the road your parents ,elders, teachers, mentors or anyone significant told you to follow. Yet you never thought of asking them or yourself where are you going! Where is the destination? Is there even a destination or is this an endless journey? 

Many good people like my friend are content with being good, leading a life of honesty, integrity, hard work, kindness and service. They believe in the law of karma and fear doing harm to others. Those who are content with this much are free to live within the shell of their idea of life and the world. Fair enough. This philosophy is definitely desirable and nobler than one that does not believe in lawfulness, compassion, justice, or charity.

Yet this kind of thinking and living has intrinsic limitations. These limitations are directly owed to the association with the physical world. The field of vision is restricted to the current state of existence in the mortal body and its interactions with the physical surroundings. And even though we may briefly forget or deny, we all know that both our physical bodies and the visible world around us are bound by time and space. They come into existence and perish when time is up. And since our joys are built into elements of this same world, whether it is our kids, parents, partners, friends, pets, home or other possessions, these joys too are a function of time and space. When we love someone or something intensely, even more than ourselves, whether we are aware or not, we have made ourselves vulnerable for sorrows because the objects of our affection are perishable. Sorrows are thus inbuilt into our joys due to this transience. While on one hand we pray for long and healthy lives for our loved ones or even for strangers, alongside we refuse to acknowledge the reality that they can die any moment by any cause irrespective of their age. That denial is our defense mechanism against grief, albeit a lame one.  Grief when it strikes is real and the denial does not heal the wounds, it only makes healing more prolonged. Yet people are ready to accept this life of grief and temporary joys because it has become their comfort zone.

Only when the mind ventures to ask ‘is there a joy that is permanent’ that’s when it begins to think outside of the mortal realm. Only when it has a reason to stop indulging in short lived happiness it can get serious about finding the realm of endless bliss. And only when the search for this destination becomes a single pointed obsession does it gain momentum. 

It is not at all easy to let go all the objects that have hitherto been a source of happiness for you, even if just mentally. Not only is it going to be painful, it is also initially going to be disruptive and confusing to the mind. The internal paradigm change is a gradual and sometimes rough process that often encounters internal resistance. It can also be quite awkward for a long time until you gain your bearings, when trying to disassociate with one way of thinking and while not quite steadied in the new one. Once you take a few steps forward you may feel insecure, lost, and want to shut the door on this new venture, thinking this is not for me. 

The few who remain stubbornly committed will proceed and endure all the bumps, burns and bruises. For these people the walking stick (faith), GPS (scripture and continued reassurance from saints, modern day or ancient, who have reached the pinnacle of consciousness) will prove valuable. Yet ultimately they will need to throw away all the props including their own theories, beliefs and ideas to merge with that seat of permanent bliss. When traveling by plane you hear the overhead announcement “in case of emergency landing please leave behind all your belongings and follow the instructions of the staff to leave the aircraft “. The last stage of spiritual awakening is similar. It needs no bells and whistles, no more pilgrimages, rituals, prayers, formal meditation, chanting, nothing. Just Being.

The day the aspirants recognize this center of consciousness within themselves and get the taste of unadulterated joy, joy which is not emanating from any object, joy which has no grief or suffering lurking in its shadows, that day they can throw away the props. They will taste lasting fulfillment, highest meaningfulness and a final completeness, that is above and beyond what comes from a life lived well.

Even if the mental work of undoing previous habits pertaining to physical gratification is not complete by then, it will become much easier to accomplish thereafter. 

Would there be any purpose left for living after that if everything is achieved? What use is the physical body after having gained everything there is to gain? Its use is now solely for others who are being tossed between transient joys and sorrows. That body becomes a sacrificial entity, a living Samidha. Whatever it holds in its possession: physical strength, professional skills, mental agility, specific abilities, knowledge, experience, wisdom, everything will be put to use appropriately for a greater good. The focus of the inner apparatus would have switched entirely from physical entities to consciousness. Unless the person is going to rattle off everything he has learned like a parrot, there are no special markers on the outside to identify the changes that have occurred within. Hence nobody may even notice. 

For those who are skeptical about spiritual pursuits I would put it this way: we make upgrades to our wardrobes, cars, phones, homes, credit cards, physical appearance, health and health insurance, professional skills, positions, titles, social connections, travel agendas, general knowledge, entertainment and such things. Why not upgrade our understanding of our soul? Just like those other things where upgrades come with a price tag and we go about it as we afford, the same principle applies to spiritual upgrades. Start small with a bit of time and attention and go on investing down the road if you find you are gaining anything out of it. It will pay off sooner or later. Unlike rewards in the money market, here the returns are infinite. You just need to take the plunge. 

Coming back to the question my friend asked : does it matter whether or not you pursue spiritual knowledge if you are living a righteous life? 

The long answer is the entire discussion above.

The short answer is, no, spiritual understanding is irrelevant if you insist to stay with matter.And yes it is essential if you want to upgrade to consciousness.