Written Messages

What is religious consciousness?

Eighteen perceptions are uttered below, on the analogy of eighteen chapters of
Bhagwat Gita – the ancient human wisdom.

1. Religious life means gathering of energy to be wakeful to “ what is,” not wasting energy in seeking “what should be”. Religious life is the awareness of “being,” not the anguish of “becoming”. Religious  life denies duality and opposites at every level of existence and thus it discovers divinity and omnipresence from moment to moment.
2.  Religious consciousness has no beliefs or disbeliefs whatsoever. It is in a state of innocence, “ not-knowing”. It has no image nor opinion about anybody. It loves the work that it does , not the “ success” nor the “result” of the work. Religious life has no motive under any disguise.
3. Religious consciousness is “gunatit” state – transcendence and transformation of “gunas” (traits and tendencies) – a state of freedom, love and understanding.
4. There is no reaction, revenge, resistance, resentment or repentance in the religious consciousness which exists in equanimity. “I” or “me” is just a reference point for identification which is useful for the purpose of passport, driving licence, credit card and so on. “I” is not the re-enforcement point of assertion, arrogance and aggression.
5. In religious life, events happen with a masterful ease without much need for efforts or ego-trips.
6. Religious consciousness does not seek God or Heaven. Instead it remains aware of its greed and hate and thereby ends such mental pollutions, for the pious and the profound to be.
7. Religiousness is not the romanticism of being a Catholic or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Jew or of belonging to this Baba or that Mata, this sect or that cult. It does not allow oneself to be available for exploitation by Priests or Gurus.
8. A religious consciousness is not the result of propaganda, either of ten thousand years (oriental) or of two thousand years (occidental). It is free from all pursuits and paradoxes emanating from such organised propaganda.
9. Pondering (Swadhyay), practice (Tapas) and perception (Pranidhan) and Sat-Chit-Anand (pure living, pure consciousness and pure joy) is the religious life. No-longing of any kind and no-lingering in any habit is the real lore of religious life. This is vanishing of mind and virtue of love and life.
10. Religious consciousness is quiet, alive and sensitive, and therefore receives that which is immeasurable and un-nameable.
11. Religious life is free from separative consciousness although this separateness still functions for performing the daily tasks. In this life, the outward movement and inward movement form one unitary movement like the movement of tide that goes out and then comes in.
12. There is no centre of authority in a religious consciousness. It is anonymous and alone – free from influence and ideals , free from cultural inputs and conditionings. An unassuming and untitled understanding emerges thereby with all its ecstasy and euphoria.
13. Religious consciousness does not seek recognition and respectability by putting on special costumes and variety of colourful robes of glamour and glitter. It does not indulge in peculiar hair-dressings and head-gears or in different kinds of beard-styles to impress people.
14. Religious consciousness has the capacity to fathom – not to follow anybody , any book. It does not imitate , but is independent. It can not be shaped or moulded and thus the sacred is available to it. It does not conform and thus is creative. This creativeness is neither yours nor mine – it is anonymous!. The establishment of the “me” – the stubborn selfishness – is the contradiction of the creativeness.
15. Religious consciousness is the real revolutionary consciousness and it generates adequate response to every challenge. It knows love and therefore it does not kill or hurt anyone. Only then is there a possibility of bringing about a different world , a different culture, a different society in which happiness and joy is possible.
16. A religious man is not engaged in innumerable rituals, endless chanting, taking Sannyas (becoming a monk), explaining endlessly Gita, Koran or Bible or his particular beliefs or opinions. Such a man is just escaping from the facts of his compulsions, conflicts and conditionings . Behind such a confused man lurks the ego-self–growing, expanding, aggressive and dominating. The greed for power is inexhaustible in such a man. Of course, this greed is camouflaged by sweet and official sounding words. But the canker of avariciousness, arrogance and antagonism is nourished by him and his like-minded accomplices. From their activities grow conflicts, intolerance, and many other ugly manifestations. Such petty minds handling “truths” become the menace for humanity.
17. A religious man does not call upon his reservoir of accumulated greed and fear to offer petitionery prayer to an image projected as “God”. Supplication to another, to something outside creating duality, does not bring about a deep understanding of the sacred within us. When you (mind) leave the pool you have dug for yourself and go out into the river of life, then life has an astonishing way of taking care, because then there is no interference from the shoddy little mind. Then there is no problem of security, solace and self-protection as the real you (not mind) is now a part of life itself. You then do not care what people say or not say. And that is the bliss and beauty of life!
18. Religious man does not belong to any religion, to any race, to any nation. He is in the energy of innocence and for him the blessings of the sacred come into being . He may perhaps belong to a small group of 20 or 25 persons available to total sanity, serenity, and stillness who meet from time to time, without dues or membership, to discuss gently the approach to reality and realization, to purity and perception. To prevent any group from becoming exclusive, each member could from time to time encourage and join another small group so that it may be extensive and liberal – not narrow and parochial. Out of such small but enlightened groups, one may help to create a more sane and happy world totally free from the culture of killing and being killed, of hurting and being hurt.

DHIMAHI DHIYOYANAH PRACHODAYAT
Let the Universal Intelligence penetrate our respective intellect.