Spiritual Message for the Day – The Stages of Karma, Upasana and Jnana In Our Spiritual Growth by Swami Krishnananda
Baba Times Digest© | 19 November 2014 21.51 EST | New York Edition
The Stages of Karma, Upasana and Jnana In Our Spiritual Growth
Divine Life Society Publication: The Foundation of Spirituality by Swami Krishnananda
Karma, upasana and Jnana is action, contemplation and knowledge. The one is not to be compared with the other, as if one is better than, or worse than, the other. They are not three paths of practice. They are three necessary stages of the ascent in the spiritual fulfilment of the total personality of the human being. “I like only meditation. Why should I do any work?” There are some who think in this manner. “All this is Brahman. Why should I contemplate on anyone? There is no personal God. I like only Nirguna.” These are only some of the whims and fancies of certain illiterate spiritual seekers.
Spiritual practice, is not an occupation, a job that you choose as you would like. It is not one among the many pursuits of life. Religion, call it spirituality, is not a way that you choose. It is the background, the very sustenance, the very basis, the meaning, and the foundation, the total essence, the very substance of anything that you can consider as meaningful or worthwhile in life. There is no such thing as taking to religion or resorting to spirituality. The path of yoga, the path of religion or spirituality, is not a resorting to some way of living. It is an entering into the field of the totality of life. Thus, what you wrongly and in a miscalculated way call spirituality, religion, is not a Godward otherworldly movement from the existing world of physical realities. It is such an involvement in the total reality of life, visible or invisible, that the true spiritual seeker, sadhaka or religious aspiring soul becomes a perfectly healthy, developed whole being belonging to the world in its entirety. Thus it is that when you tread the path of the spirit, when you enter into the way of what is called spiritual practice, you overcome the limitations of an ordinary individual and become rather a super individual.
Karma, upasana and jnana – action, contemplation and wisdom or awakening – correspond to the stages of ascent of the inner constitution of the human individual. We live in a social world, and we live in the midst of people around us. There is nature, there is the atmosphere of the physical world, and there is the environment of humanity around us.
Action, karma so-called, the initial stage as it is usually considered to be, may be regarded as a necessary art of fulfilling the obligations which one owes to human society in which one is situated and in which one is involved. According to the old, accepted tradition, these obligations, have been classified into at least five different essentials - the five mahayajnas.
Adhyāpanaṁ brahmayajñaḥ, says the Manu Smriti. Brahma yajna, or the sacrifice of knowledge. If no one had taught you, what would you have known? You would have been in ignorance. So if you have received something from others, why should not others also receive something from you? Be charitable. Share your knowledge by teaching: adhyāpanaṁ.
Pitṛyajñas tu tarpaṇam. You have an obligation to your ancestors. Ancestors, of course, may mean our own parents, grandparents, relatives who are alive here. They may also be those who are not alive in this world. It would be a propitious gesture from your side to regard those ancient ones whose vibrations may perhaps be still active in the veins of your own body.
Homo daivo balir bhauto nṛyajño 'tithipūjanam, is a verse from the Manusmriti. There are powers which guard us. It is not merely the army and the police that protect us. The gods in the heavens are realities. If you exist and I exist, why should they not exist? There are also powers which are sometimes considered by us as subhuman - an atom, the power of electricity, the five elements – earth, water, fire, air, ether –but you know their strength. They can wipe you out in one minute, though you think you are human and they are subhuman.
You have a duty of consideration even for those little humble creatures who cannot speak in a language – the cows, the dogs, the birds, and even the ants, says the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Extend the love of self to even these little creatures. If you harm them not, if on the other hand you take care of them and disturb them not, they will love you as their own self. As you do to others, so you will be done. Be careful. This is called bali yajna. In ancient tradition people keep a little rice or foodstuff outside for crows, dogs, cattle, whoever they be.
The Smriti says that just at the time when you are taking your meal, have a look around and see if anybody is standing at your door. You may ask him, “Have you taken your meal?” It is your duty to ask. And if he has not, may you share what you have. This is atithi yajna.
These yajnas, the five mentioned as mahayajnas – pancha mahayajnas – are also to be regarded as essential duties. You owe a duty to everyone and everything whose support you receive knowingly or unknowingly.
Karma, action, duty, obligation is not a non-essential as over-enthusiasts in religion and spiritual life may imagine. Shirking duty is not equivalent to running to God. There is no connection between the two. “Make friendship with your brother first before you enter the Kingdom of God,” said Christ.
Thus, karma is the stage which is essential in the ascent of the spirit to the ultimate goal of life as enunciated in our tradition.
Excerpts from: The Stages of Karma, Upasana and Jnana In Our Spiritual Growth - The Foundation of Spirituality by Swami Krishnananda
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