Friday, February 27, 2009

Poor God: Gita and God 0013

Gita For the hungry and shelter-less
Can one struggling to find even a single meal during the day and without a roof to sleep under at night find Gita of any use? This is what bothers some intellectual brains. And, they may also perceive that Gita is for killing time for those who do not have to worry about food and shelter.
The question and the perception are very natural but are essentially meaningless. Gita in this World is relevant to (a) those who happens to seek the Ultimate Truth or (b) get pleasure in showing off that they are spiritual and (c) those who think Gita is useless. The nature of relevance varies among the groups (a), (b) and (c). As per Gita people differ in their attributes / behavior depending on differences in their mix of the three Gunas. Not all people are interested in political rights or social justice. That does not mean politics or social / economic equality and freedom. But that does not mean politics or social / economic issues do not exist or not relevant. Gita is as much relevant to the Creation as anything else in this World. E = mc^2 is part of and hence relevant to the Creation.
Living a spiritual life and ensuring meals and shelter are not mutually exclusive options. We have the empirical scientific evidence that many spiritual leaders of the past did not have to work/ find meals and shelter. We would not have got Buddha had Prince Siddarth been worried about food and shelter. Sri Ramakroshna concentrated on thinking about God and trying to establish relation with God: food and shelter came to him without any effort. Those who use Internet can be spiritual without having to worry for food and shelter. There are many who have assured food and shelter does not try to be spiritual. There are many in this world that do not worry about food and shelter but food and shelter come to them whether or not they are spiritual. Aged people often require very little food or very little shelter - many of them let God to take care of their needs and God indeed does so. So, there are various possibilities.
No one is forced to become spiritual: those who try to be spiritual try on their own irrespective of whether they have assured food or shelter. The test of spirituality lies in how far one has submitted to God to take care of the needs. One, who loves God and wants to reach Him through spiritual discussions, does not care whether he fails to live for want of food and shelter. When spiritual tendencies takes over, a person tend to forget about food and shelter. Many Sanyasis had joined Ramakrisna Mission or the Order of the Church not because they were assured of food and shelter. Those who are really spiritual do not need shelter or food yet food and shelter come to them without their effort to get food and shelter.

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