Words From The Master - 23 April 2008

Are we qualified?

Many people want to know if they are qualified for a spiritual awakening. We are constantly in doubt about our own potential. We are part of the divine. The problem is that we do not remember that we are. When someone does tell that we are, we think that such people are crazy.

A man once asked Ramana Maharishi whether he was qualified enough to pursue the spiritual path and the Sage countered: “Are you alive?” The person said: “Of course, yes.” The Maharishi said with finality: “Then you are qualified enough.”

Religious orders and their priests create this doubt in us, so that we may become dependent on them for our qualification. We may need to ask them what qualifications they themselves possess to ask us the question.

A Master never would. Organised religions often counter spirituality. Spirituality is about discovering who we are. It is the search for the ultimate Truth about us and our relationship with our Creator. Religions once organised are more concerned about power and whatever leads to power, whether control, fear or money. It’s the confusion between religion and spirituality that also leads to this question in us. We are constantly told that we are sinners and so incompetent to enter the doorway of our Creator. This is nonsense.

If one keeps questioning one’s capability, even after decades of rigorous sadhanas one would feel unqualified. The concept of qualification, as with guilt, is brought in to exploit and bind you mentally. As with guilt it needs to be dropped for us to move on successfully.

A beautiful Zen story goes thus: A man asks a Master, “Master, am I qualified for spiritual progress? I feel there are many obstructions.” Replied the Master: “The word obstruction is the only obstruction, nothing else.”

Patanjali’s yoga sutras define various steps to enlightenment. The first step aayama comprises five steps, all quite strenuous: celibacy, truth, non-violence, not stealing, not possessing. Only after you practise all these steps and master them are you qualified to move up to the next step in yogic accomplishment.

A man came and asked me: “Swamiji, I am not qualified in these steps; I have never practised aayama and niyama; how can I learn yoga?”

I said to him: “If you are already qualified in these steps you do not need yoga!”

Maturity and meditation help each other and help us all. Maturity comes with knowledge and experience and gives us energy; and the energy reinforces maturity. Meditation helps us focus that energy in the right direction to make spiritual progress.

In the present-day world Patanjali’s techniques take a lot of time. To realise Truth through yoga of any form would probably take many births, and you will forget what you started in this birth, when you start your next!

Dhyana or meditation is the answer to enlightenment in this age. It’s foolproof and without side-effects. The only side-effect is bliss and realisation of your own Self. To start dhyana, all you need to be is a human being, nothing more. A Being with Consciousness is the only requirement to embark upon a spiritual path. The very desire that you wish to start on this path is a true indication that you are qualified.

It is said in Tao: A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Once you are on the path, the path helps you on. It’s the first step that breaks the inertia and get you moving.