Many Paths, One Goal?

All spiritual literature can be classified into 3 categories.

One outlining goals of what you wish to achieve, about life, death, what happens after death, what is atman, books of philosophy, etc. These books speak about the truth beyond life and death, intellectual material. Difficulty is that this philosophy is not a method or technique to transform your life. They are perceptions of individual philosophers. Millions have answered the question of what happens after death, and yet it is a virgin question. We do not know the answer. Each person who tried to answer created one school of philosophy. These books do not give any answers, no solutions. These are called Sastra.

Sastra if internalized and if they lead top serious doubts within can be very productive; otherwise they are just fodder to ego and creates the superficial arrogance of knowledge.

There is a second level of literature, songs in praise of God. These are for emotional people; fairy tales to uplift the spirit in devotion. These are called Stotra.

Third kind of spiritual literature is for those seeking solutions, a seeker at the being level, asking for clear cut explanations of spirituality. These are the aphorisms, techniques to provide solutions, and are called Sutra.

A young man asks Socrates: Should I marry? Socrates had a terrible wife, who used to beat him. Socrates said: you should marry. Only two things can happen when you marry. You can have either a good wife leading a happy and contented life, or you will be like me, with a miserable wife and become a philosopher. It will be good for other people.

People who are not happy, who are not down to earth create philosophies. Philosophy means to complicate simple truths, to make people not understand what they should understand; like Psychiatry that is supposed to cure, but never cures. Philosophers only raise questions, never answer, and only postpone answers. You will be happy with one philosopher’s answers till you read another philosopher. More philosophy means more confusion.

Devotional literature is equally fruitless. It’s very easy to love a person in front of you. You can love god, but not your wife and neighbor. Your love of God is all unfulfilled fantasies. You may feel hurt. Please understand that to most of you God is only a concept. How can you love a concept that you do not even know?