Four Steps To God

Soul_jyot · #1 (**permalink**) 29-Sep-2011, 00:22 AM

Four Steps To God
By : Reena Singh

The way to nirvana is actually quite simple, learnt Reena Singh at an inter-faith meet at the R K Mission in Delhi recently
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/spiritual-articles/37083-four-steps-to-god.html

See Him from a distance.
Get nearer to Him.
Get bound to Him.
Finally, get immersed in Him.

These were the four simple steps to knowing God outlined by J S Neki, Sikh scholar and poet at a recent inter-faith meet held at the capital’s Ramakrishna Mission on a Sunday morning on September 11 at a programme celebrating 150 years of Swami Vivekananda. God realisation can’t get any simpler than this, you will agree.

Octogenarian J S Neki has an interesting background. He has authored several books on the Sikhs, on the Sikh holy gurus and he is a poet, too. He is never short of scriptural gyan, and has a verse up his sleeve for every occasion, at every turn of conversation.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37083

The Sikh scripture-expert and a former head of the department of psychiatry, AIIMS, Delhi and director, PGI, Chandigarh, had other simple tips to offer for God realisation at the meet. For instance, when you pray to God, don’t look for bargains, he suggested.

What do you think this means? “I am referring to the ‘If-you-do-this-for-me-I-will-donate-Rs 500-prasad’ kind of prayer that many of us instinctively think up in our heads,” he elaborates. “Such a prayer is nothing short of a bribe.” So how does one pray? “Have a conversation with Him,” suggests J S Neki.

In other words, pray to Him, talk to Him, ask Him, but finally leave it to Him to consent to your wishes or not. Trust Him, for He alone knows what is best for you. He suggests you thank, praise, love and want God, and then leave the rest to Him.

Sound advice. But how does one put this into practice? Given the fact that we are always rushing around, caught in a vortex of complex relationships in our materialistic give-and-take world?

Coming out of the auditorium, I caught myself thinking about this and headed straight for the R K Mission’s bookshop on the premises. On one of the bookshelves, I found my answer in a Rs 10 booklet on Sadhanas Or Preparations For Higher Life by Swami Vivekananda. Armed with my pocket-sized wisdom, I set about reading it at the first available opportunity.

The first thing necessary is a quiet and peaceable life…for if you want to be a yogi, you must be free and place yourself in circumstances where you are alone and free from all anxiety, says Swami Vivekananda in the booklet. “He who desires a comfortable and nice life and at the same time wants to realise the Self is like the fool, who, wanting to cross the river, caught hold of a crocodile mistaking it for a log of wood,” he adds.

The point goes home. The first great step, then, “is the real desire for the ideal,” in the great Swami’s words.

Then comes the second big line in the tiny booklet. “If there is any road to heaven, it is through hell.” It must be…the first time I heard something quite like this was from a quote by L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.

Hubbard talked about hitting rock-bottom first to find your way up — a line that firmly stuck in my head four years after I read it. Vivekananda continues to say that it is only after “the soul has wrestled with circumstance and has met death, a thousand times on the way...that the soul comes out as a giant and laughs at the ideal he has been struggling for, because he finds how much greater is he than the ideal.”

You will then learn to bless your mistakes, for they have been angels unawares... continues Vivekananda. Finally, he comes to the crux of the matter. “Meditate,” he tells you. “The greatest thing is meditation, the nearest approach to spiritual life. It is the one time in our daily life when we are not at all material,” he says. It is the time “when the soul thinks of itself, free from all matter…the marvellous touch of the Soul.”

At this stage, the soul becomes the witness, looking at things and events around you with a certain “non-attachment” implies the Swami. This is the point of all meditation — when you are at one with the Spirit and nothing external can touch you.

This is also the stage when you have to abandon the Rs 10 pocket books of wisdom and move on to the scriptures in real earnest.

source: http://www.speakingtree.in/public/vi...r-Steps-To-God

Ambarsaria · #2 (**permalink**) 29-Sep-2011, 01:28 AM

soul jyot ji thanks for your post.

For me, the content is little troubling. It talks of items and ideas debunked 500+ years ago by our Gurujis. Let us look at the following in quotes,

Quote:

The first thing necessary is a quiet and peaceable life…for if you want to be a yogi,

Why you need to be a yogi while you can have normal life and still achieve as per Sikhism!

you must be free and place yourself in circumstances where you are alone and free from all anxiety, says Swami Vivekananda in the booklet.

I suppose if you went sailing in quiet ocean when you come back to the city you will not hear any traffic sounds! What did one gain! I am not debating the utility of peace and quiet and breaks for contemplation but I do not believe it achieves long term impact once you get immersed back in the environment you came from. The best way to approach is change from within the environment you are in.

“He who desires a comfortable and nice life and at the same time wants to realise the Self is like the fool, who, wanting to cross the river, caught hold of a crocodile mistaking it for a log of wood,” he adds.

Nice visual but what a non-applicable analogy. I am shocked if it is coming from one of the glorified, respected and learned men like Vivekananda.
Yup there are Sikhs who partake in such propaganda as they get put in positions of power, respect , etc., when they toe such a direction.

Sorry for the harsh tone.

Sat Sri Akal.

Balkar Singh · #3 (**permalink**) 14-Feb-2012, 12:11 PM

no no Mr. Ambersaria, it sounds like Mai na manu policy.

Ambarsaria · #4 (**permalink**) 15-Feb-2012, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balkar Singh

no no Mr. Ambersaria, it sounds like Mai na manu policy.

I rather think the whole thing can be changed to,

See Him from a distance. ============> Think in your head
Get nearer to Him. ============> Feel in your Heart
Get bound to Him. ========> See how you fit with all
Finally, get immersed in Him. ==========> Live in Consonance of all creation

By the way folks you can never be un-immersed. The only issue is recognizing the immersion! For me personally, rest is hocus-pocus!

Sat Sri Akal.