Fundamentals ofSpirituality

Prof (Dr) Sohan Raj Tater

IT is  very necessary to teach our children about the importance of purity of life. Moral education is a must today. Young children have impressionable minds and we should try to develop a spiritual outlook in them from a very young age. We should help them inculcate good values and thoughts.
Religion is the banana skin and spirituality is the banana. The misery in the world is because we throw away the banana and are holding on to the skin. Knowledge and spiritual awareness should go hand in hand to win social and political systems. Religious leaders, political leaders, business establishments and social workers should get together and spread the message of unity. All religions and traditions have a common value system. These shared values have to reach every corner of the world. Even if one pocket of the world remains ignorant of these values, the world will not be a safe place.
Sit a while in solitude, meditate, reflect on your thoughts, actions, your immediate environment the world around us. Think over and over again, introspect, and we will hear that inner voice, God’s voice, cleanse our soul always. Never let dust or dirt settle on it and distort our vision. Keep it bright and shining. The heart is God’s treasury. Keep it pure and radiant. Let our thought be pure, let our whole life be pure.
Religion comes from the Latin word ‘relegate’, which means “to bind”. Thus, the rule of religion is to bind, to unite. Religion is a unifying force that which unites man to man. Religion simply binds us by commands so that we may not degenerate, mentally or spiritually. We ought to be sensitive to the cause of the society and humanity. We must involve ourselves in the activities of the society and try to reform it from within as much as we can. We should not shut out eyes to the crimes taking place in the society.
We are about to enter a new era, which will see the dawn of a new divine civilisation on earth. Let us now try not to divide the people into smaller sects or sections but unite them to accept one religion, one God and one humanity. Remember, we are not an integral part of God. All religions emphasise moral and spiritual values of love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness and good conduct.
Fundamentals of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is essentially a cultural and spiritual concept. It looks upon the whole world as one’s own family. Love and harmony, co-operation and mutual support are the basic ingredients here, as in a family. Naturally the idea of exploitation is alien. Individual and collective interests are complimentary to each other. Unlimited consumerism is ruled out, because every one has to be provided with the necessities—the cake has to be shared more or less equally.
According to Vedic traditions God has gifted intelligence to man. Let us make full use of this intelligence in uniting mankind. The earth is the garden of God. Let us not spoil it. Let us not annoy God by destroying what he had built with love. The best thing is to begin with children. Let us sow the seed of love in them and not to say or do anything that would create feelings of hatred in them. Why say this country is mine, that country is yours? Why not say the entire universe is mine and thine? Are we not foolish for fighting each other in the name of religion or nationality. When the entire universe is ours and the Almighty God is one. There is hardly any sense in fighting each other and destroying God’s creations. Is it not painful? Think over it. The Indian sages and seers propounded the gospel truth Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Let us vow to follow this divine teachings and consider ourselves as citizens of the world. We need unity to build a new one world country.
The concept of human unity is very old. Indian seers had unequivocally proclaimed that not only humans but the entire creation is one single family. For those who have a refined and generous outlook, the whole world is just one family.