Can I be spiritual without being religious?
Part 2 – जीव ईस्वर सम्बन्धः ─ jīva – īśvara sambandhaḥ
The highest goal for all religions is jīva – īśvara sambandha. All dvaita philosophies teach that viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ – reaching the abode of Vishnu, Shiva, Devi and so on is the ultimate aim of human life.
Advaita darśana teaches jīvātma – paramātma aikyam – that brahman is the only reality and this approach is different from jīva – īśvara sambandha. Mokṣa is either the knowledge of oneness of jīva – īśvara (advaita) or the most intimate personal relationship between jīva – īśvara (dvaita).
As we saw in Part 1 of this blog, only Isvara Bhakti can provide long lasting emotional security.
Īśvara-Praṇidhāna ─ ईश्वर-प्रणिधान represents surrender to, and love for Isvara. We go ahead with our daily lives with the attitude that everything belongs to the Lord and we are only custodians. Īśvara-Praṇidhāna is a core tenet of patanjali yoga philosophy.
Īśvara arpaṇa buddhiḥ ─ ईश्वर अर्पण बुद्धिः Any action we do is done with the attitude that it is our offering to the Lord, isvara-arpana-buddhya.
Īśvara prasāda buddhiḥ ─ ईश्वर प्रसाद बुद्धि: Since every result comes from Isvara, I take it as prasāda, a Sanskrit word that does not have an exact English equivalent. The word `grace’ has a somewhat intangible connotation, whereas prasada covers both the tangible results and the intangible, the grace.
We accept our inability to change things in our lives to our liking. We accept all results of our actions as prasāda – a gift from the Lord. Note that we do have some control over our actions, because of our free will. We cannot determine the outcome. In vedantic terms this is defined as – I am karma hetuḥ - I am the cause of my actions. Whereas Isvara is karma phala hetuḥ - Isvara decides the outcome as per my papa and punya.
All bhakti literature describe the different kinds of īśvara – jīva sambandha, such as creator – created, parent – child, husband – wife, teacher – student, king – citizen, prabhu – dāsa, shepherd – flock, cat – kitten and so on.
When we shift our dependency from worldly ephemeral things and worldly relationships to Isvara, our support for emotional and psychological security is the strongest and the most stable. We maintain and nurture appropriate relationships with all living beings, with everything in this universe and then with Isvara. We follow a life of dharma as karma yoga. This life is stress free and extolled by all scriptures.
Nature of this universe:
Rajiv Malhotra describes the unity and the diversity of this universe in his book “Being Different”. Isvara created this universe with sufficient similarities and differences so that we are able to practise jiva-jagat-isvara sambanda.
In Vedic literature, numerous myths recount the creator Prajapati's efforts to beget a universe that would hold the two forces of order and chaos in equilibrium. His first attempt results in a creation which is insufficiently differentiated ('jami'), as it possesses too much order. This precludes integral unity because there are no sufficiently distinct components to cohere in the first place. They are undifferentiated and simply merge into each other, a state the Pancavimsa Brahmaņa (24:11.2) refers to as a 'nightmare'. The second attempt at creation yields a universe which is too fragmented or chaotic ('pŗthak', 'nanatva').
When entities in the universe are too individualistic, scattered, separated or different from each other (pŗthak); they cannot connect. What is desired is a creation which possesses a measure of distinction and individuality but avoids the quality of jami – i.e., it would be interconnected yet circumventing the equally undesirable state of pŗthak.
Part 2 – जीव ईस्वर सम्बन्धः ─ jīva – īśvara sambandhaḥ
Advaita darśana teaches jīvātma – paramātma aikyam – that brahman is the only reality and this approach is different from jīva – īśvara sambandha. Mokṣa is either the knowledge of oneness of jīva – īśvara (advaita) or the most intimate personal relationship between jīva – īśvara (dvaita).
As we saw in Part 1 of this blog, only Isvara Bhakti can provide long lasting emotional security.
Īśvara-Praṇidhāna ─ ईश्वर-प्रणिधान represents surrender to, and love for Isvara. We go ahead with our daily lives with the attitude that everything belongs to the Lord and we are only custodians. Īśvara-Praṇidhāna is a core tenet of patanjali yoga philosophy.
Īśvara arpaṇa buddhiḥ ─ ईश्वर अर्पण बुद्धिः Any action we do is done with the attitude that it is our offering to the Lord, isvara-arpana-buddhya.
Īśvara prasāda buddhiḥ ─ ईश्वर प्रसाद बुद्धि: Since every result comes from Isvara, I take it as prasāda, a Sanskrit word that does not have an exact English equivalent. The word `grace’ has a somewhat intangible connotation, whereas prasada covers both the tangible results and the intangible, the grace.
| Karma Yoga is defined as a prayerful life of dharma with attitudes of Īśvara-Praṇidhāna, Īśvara arpaṇa and Īśvara prasāda buddhi. |
All bhakti literature describe the different kinds of īśvara – jīva sambandha, such as creator – created, parent – child, husband – wife, teacher – student, king – citizen, prabhu – dāsa, shepherd – flock, cat – kitten and so on.
When we shift our dependency from worldly ephemeral things and worldly relationships to Isvara, our support for emotional and psychological security is the strongest and the most stable. We maintain and nurture appropriate relationships with all living beings, with everything in this universe and then with Isvara. We follow a life of dharma as karma yoga. This life is stress free and extolled by all scriptures.
Nature of this universe:
Rajiv Malhotra describes the unity and the diversity of this universe in his book “Being Different”. Isvara created this universe with sufficient similarities and differences so that we are able to practise jiva-jagat-isvara sambanda.
In Vedic literature, numerous myths recount the creator Prajapati's efforts to beget a universe that would hold the two forces of order and chaos in equilibrium. His first attempt results in a creation which is insufficiently differentiated ('jami'), as it possesses too much order. This precludes integral unity because there are no sufficiently distinct components to cohere in the first place. They are undifferentiated and simply merge into each other, a state the Pancavimsa Brahmaņa (24:11.2) refers to as a 'nightmare'. The second attempt at creation yields a universe which is too fragmented or chaotic ('pŗthak', 'nanatva').
When entities in the universe are too individualistic, scattered, separated or different from each other (pŗthak); they cannot connect. What is desired is a creation which possesses a measure of distinction and individuality but avoids the quality of jami – i.e., it would be interconnected yet circumventing the equally undesirable state of pŗthak.