[Please note: Religious roles and spiritual roles must be played for a time by those on the "path" to Realization; however, they are the third of seven steps, and they are the step that usually ends the "journey." Both roles convince persons that they have all the answers, so the seeking of the real answer ends. Either or both of those false identities must be assumed for a time, but both must be transitioned in order to transcend the false sense of separation that they always generate.]
From a site visitor: “I found your blog in January and read all the archives and current postings and have become very confused. I was Catholic most of my life but left the church last year over the sex scandals. (I didn't like my tithes being used for what you call "hush money.") I found some new friends who introduced me to some spiritual teachings that I like, but then I read your points about “transcending religion and spirituality.” I don’t want to give up what I’ve found and I’ve been planning to go along with those friends on a spiritual journey to India this summer. Then I read some comments in an old post from a woman named Karen and I now have doubts about the trip. Any suggestions?"
F.: You are where you are on the path. So be it. For those not around when Karen wrote, here are parts of her last communique:
[Excerpts from the e-mail from Karen]:
“I wrote last fall before going to India to tell you I thought you were totally wrong about something. I was sure if I went to India I’d find what I was looking for. I didn’t find the answer [there]."
[Summary of the response to Karen]:
Karen, the reason I did not endorse your trip was based in several facts: (1) You were misled to believe that India today is a nation of the “Realized.” (2) No one needs to travel anywhere to Realize. (3) Some “professional spiritualists” there will offer you “enlightenment, for a considerable fee,” the same as here in the States. That’s not a necessary expenditure. (4) What is “there” is what is “here” as well as what is “everywhere.” You Are That which you seek.
If you live in the U.S. and are looking for something that is “different,” understand that India and the U.S. now mirror each other in many ways:
A. As in the U.S., India for many years has experienced a joining of religion and the national government, destroying the separation of “church” and state…just as has happened in the United States.
B. Much is considered “sacred” among religious persons who are in the majority in both countries. Visit Washington, D.C. and see members of congress debating such sacred cows as the sexual orientation of a cartoon sponge or visit Mumbai and see up close and personal the real cows that are believed to be sacred. [When persons are lulled to sleep via indoctrination and programming, it’s a short leap from believing that texts are holy, that buildings are holy, and that some men are holy to also believing that cows are holy.]
C. Many persons in the U.S. cling to the 1960’s image of India as a country suffused with spirituality, the land where John Lennon began to awaken to the awareness of Reality that is reflected in his song, “Imagine.” But today, India is far more involved in religion, just as the U.S. is. The nation of India is also as engulfed in middle-class materialism as the U.S. It is just as influenced by corporate interests as the U.S. Those circumstances have shifted India away from whatever “spirituality” it might have been experiencing in the 1960’s, and now most persons in that nation have reverted to India’s long-standing religious roots. (Others who claim to be adherents of certain philosophies like Advaita Vedanta are making that their "religion.")
Go visit India or any other countries you choose. I can give you the address of a man in Mumbai who shares each day something close to “Nisarga Yoga” pointers; however, if you are going in hopes of finding some nationwide 1960’s-style spiritual movement or of being surrounded by millions of the “Realized,” save your money. [UPDATE, 2006: That address will no longer be provided in light of the many complaints being lodged regarding that man's misconduct with visitors, his direct solicitation of money, and his abandonment of Maharaj's Nisarga Yoga teachings.] Five recent e-mails to this site from persons in India were all from persons absorbed in their religious roles, firmly and proudly fixed in their “worshipper” identities and believing themselves to be do-ers. As a cost-free alternative, go into the quiet and find what you have always known but have forgotten. You do not know Who You Are. Find Who/What You Truly Are, know that no do-er is the real, and be free of all the role-playing and seeking. Then, enjoy what remains of the AS IF existence. Of course, that’s just (as you requested) a suggestion. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
