THE BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAT Forest for the Trees

 

The Lord Almighty is present everywhere and in all objects in the
universe. Is it enough if one worships Him as being resident in an idol?
A: While it is important for many of us to resort to an external object such
as an idol or a photograph to help us visualise the Lord in our prayers, the
ultimate visualisation that we need is to feel His presence in our heart. The
Upanishat illustrates the example of a person trying to wake up a sleeping
person by talking to the sleeping person, singing his praises, etc. None of
this is enough to wake the person who is sound asleep. Yet, when the person
physically shakes the sleeping man, he wakes up. The Lord’s presence in
one’s heart is symbolically suggested by this episode. The message here is
that praying internally, by visualising the Lord as resident in one’s own
heart, is much superior to praying by visualising the Lord in external
objects such as idols. Another important message from this is that one
should realise the presence of the Lord in all living beings, and one should
not resort to physical violence as that amounts to abusing the Lord
Almighty.
Q: What are the steps involved in achieving self-realisation?
A: One achieves self-realisation through the express grace of the Lord
Almighty. For this, one has to climb three spiritual steps:
Step 1: Sravana – Receive spiritual teaching from a qualified teacher. This
step helps remove ignorance and equips the seeker with the right
knowledge.
Step 2: Manana – Deep reflection upon spiritual teachings learnt in step 1,
with application of rigorous logic to develop a firm conviction about the
subject matter learnt. This will remove any doubts and prepare the seeker to
confidently move to the next step. 
Step 3: Nididhyasana – Contemplative meditation on attributes of the
divinity. This is the ultimate step required for realising the Lord.
 
Note that Step 1 provides the basic ingredients of spiritual learning, and
 
Step 2 places the learning on a strong foundation of conviction. These two
steps are subservient to, and are the prerequisites for, one to undertake
contemplative meditation which leads to direct vision of the Lord Almighty
and self-realisation.

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