Spirituality
Spiritual retreats and meditation centers are a big business here in India . There are many very good ones, and also there are many scams. In fact, those of you in Oregon might remember the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh? The guru who created the spiritual community Rajneespuram in Antelope, paraded 37 Rolls Royce cars down the street, and ultimately had to flee the country after his followers attempted to kill local government officials and poison the water supply of nearby towns? He changed his name to Osho and established a large number of centers through northern India and Nepal . He has published over fifty different books that sell briskly in bookstores, and we have encountered a number of his followers. He seems to be doing fine, at least commercially. Osho himself died a few years ago, but his groups continues on. A large and profitable "Osho spiritual health spa" offers a retreat for Westerns in India , with massage, hot tubs, exercise, meditation and such. The back cover of one of his books proudly proclaims that there is only one person on earth today who has the power to raise the spiritual consciousness of the entire population, and that is Osho. I guess you can tell that I'm not predisposed to his teachings!
Sai Baba is another religious leader here in India . He is a self-proclaimed incarnation of God (he realized at age 14 that he was a reincarnation of an earlier avatar), and has a following worldwide. Indeed, thousands of people have witnessed him perform many super-natural acts, such as materializing objects. His followers worship him as the true and only God. They pray to him, in his name, and feel a very personal relationship, much like some of the most ardent Christian believers express with Jesus. They interpret every event in their life as a sign from Sai Baba, and believe all fortuitous events to be blessings from him. Again, he has a large temple here in India . Over one million followers flocked in for his 70th birthday a couple of years ago! I must admit I have trouble accepting anyone who claims to be God, although I also have no explanation for the super-natural acts that he performs.
Despite these two very prominent oddities (in my opinion), there are thousands of legitimate temples, ashrams, and monasteries throughout India . Many Indians, and quite a few Westerners, spend 30 days or so away from all of life’s distractions to tend to their spirituality. They return with a great sense of purpose, a calm patience, and a sincere selflessness. This practice might be worth emulating in the West.
As we travel, I find that I become less interested in religion, but more interested in spiritualism. By that I mean that most religions, it seems, started with a very similar set of core beliefs, but have devolved over time, creating doctrine and hierarchies that obscure the underlying spiritualism.
As I re-read the New Testament or Buddha’s teachings, I find that these leaders had little interest in organized religions. Both avoided the temples and religious leaders of their days, and scorned rituals and dogma. Instead each emphasized living an ethical life in service of others. First and foremost, they teach that you must know yourself, gain control over your passions, your thoughts, and your actions, and live an ethical life. In doing so, you begin to take yourself much less seriously, and only then can you really move on to the service of others, which is what brings true happiness.
Religion attempts to answer many unanswerable questions, such as the afterlife. Is there one hell, or nine, or do we get reborn as a locust? While this is interesting intellectually, does it really matter? If I really fully embraced the teachings of purifying my mind, living an ethical life and serving others, what difference does it make if there is a heaven or hell? Isn't the realization that living such a life is the way to true happiness right now sufficient? If there is a hell, would it change my thoughts or behaviors any? I f so, then it would seem like my actions are determined not by what I know is right in my heart, but instead by whether I think I can get away with it. That isn't living ethically, but just living legally, albeit by a perception of religious law instead of political law. That seems quite unsatisfactory to me.
Perhaps I have spent too much time in the woods, but I think the credo of "Leave No Trace" is a good starting point. Inherent in this credo is the assumption that all actions in the wilderness can cause harm. While that isn't always the case, it certainly is true that many well-intentioned efforts have proved to be misguided, and harm is often not intentional. That is true with people as well. I think Jesus and the Buddha were both correct when they emphasized that first you must know yourself before you can serve others. As long as we are still confused about ourselves, still pursuing our own gain, trying to avoid unpleasant things or seek pleasant ones, then we are in no position to help others. We may think our intentions are good, but we may do harm. First, we must really get to know ourselves, establish firm ethics, and abandon our own egos. That is a difficult process, but one that I think benefits from meditation. Only after purifying our thoughts, words and actions are we able to progress to the stage of serving others, from which true happiness comes.
There are many interesting questions, such as the creation or the end of the universe that religions often attempt to answer. And these are fascinating questions worthy of study. But the answers really do not affect our lives. At the core, I think spirituality is very simple, common throughout faiths, and very difficult. If we just live life ethically, do no harm, dismiss our own egos, live each moment as if it is our last, and serve others, then I think that is about all there is to it. Regardless of which religion turns out to be right on the big questions, we can be comfortable in the knowledge that we have done right spiritually, and have prepared for whatever exists next.
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