Materialism
and Spirituality: Two ways of Living
=Pt.ShriRam
Sharma Acharya
There are
two aspects of human life: one that relates to the physical body materialism;
and the other that relates to the inner self (the soul) spirituality.
Materialism means an inclination towards acquiring material possessions and
comforts; in short, it is a tendency to lead a life in which pleasures of the
body are given preference above anything else. Spirituality means, centred and
established on the soul, that is, activities in life are decided keeping in
mind the awakening of the soul. Normally a persons needs are fulfilled with
limited materials such as food to satisfy hunger, few clothes to cover the
body, a bed for rest, a house for shelter, etc.; anything over and above the
basic needs either remains unused or is misused.
For
example, if a person who can eat four chapattis for lunch were given eight
chapattis, it would be beyond his capacity to eat the extra four chapattis. A
single bed is enough for a person to sleep on; any more bed space would remain
unused. Considering this, a few hours work is sufficient to satisfy bodys
requirements. The same is true for senses also. There are five physical senses:
touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision. No matter how beautiful a view may be,
the eyes will tire of seeing it after a few minutes. The ears will not be able
to listen to melodious music indefinitely.
A person
will be able to eat only a certain quantity of food of his liking. Thus the
senses have limited requirements, beyond which they become saturated. But
senses are never satisfied they always crave for more. The mind is considered
to be the sixth sense. Its attributes are greed, attachment (moha) towards
worldly objects and people, and egoism. The mind experiences joy when these
three attributes are attended to. Man generally engages his time and effort in
satisfying the requirements of the body and the mind. The mind propels him to
fulfill the three attributes and also employs the body in its schemes. This is
not surprising, since satisfaction of the senses is a bodily requirement, and
the mind is one of the senses.
The mind
is different from the rest of the senses in that it is always unsatisfied and
ambitious. New hopes and ambitions arise once the old ones are fulfilled.
Suppose a person desires to buy a house. He would remain preoccupied with that
thought because there is an attraction in it. Once a house is bought, the
attraction fades. If a person does not have children, he would yearn for them;
once he has children, they appear burdensome. A similar principle applies to
other things, such as household items, clothes, etc and to attachment towards
people. Therefore greed and attachment are attractive only until they are
fulfilled. Egoism also follows a similar principle.
A
secretary in a company feels his job status is low and aims for a higher status
so that he can elevate his standing in the society. It is possible that several
persons within the company may be trying for the same position. Therefore he
becomes an enemy for them, since now he is an extra competitor in the race. In
case he does succeed in fulfilling his egoistic desire in progressing towards
his dream position, mental peace would elude him because there would be several
people scheming to dislodge him. His ego thus becomes his own dangerous
adversary. The worth and importance of a well-mannered, disciplined person is
obviously more than that of an egoistic person.
No
circumstances or individuals can challenge a gentleman, whereas examples of
egoistic people suffering ruin can be seen all around us. A gentleman is respected
while an egoistic person is ignored....
Thanks
GOD, Thanks Sadguru,
Shiv
Sharma
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