The Divine Spark

The Greek philosophers had understood the essential nature of human beings in its most profound manner, when they said that every human person has a divine spark in him/her, and we cannot exclude anyone from this category. All of us are born with the divine face, but this face is marred in the world, as we come in touch with the notion of good and evil. Unfortunately it is only the human beings who have this sense of distinction between good and evil; look at the plants and animals, for them everyone is the same; there is no difference between friend and foe, they go beyond this marked distinction, and that is what makes them so happy and contended with life on earth. They have nothing to grumble about, nothing to complain about. All is well with them.

One of the most important role and function of religion is to help humanity recognize the divine spark in them, and attain it through a disciplined way. In very simplistic terms, all religions show us the way to recognize that we have the divine spark in us, and it is possible to regain it. And the Bhagavad Gita, one chapter of the epic poem the Mahabharata, shows us one simple way, which is possible for every person. In chapter 9 of the Gita, Lord Krishna teaches his disciple Arjuna the path to eternal friendship with the Lord. Answering the question who is dear to the Lord, Lord Krishna shows his disciple the path of equanimity, or to use an Ignatian term ‘indifference’.

We are so used to black and white distinction, that we cannot think of grey, the in-between, and strangely the Lord teaches Arjuna he has to be untouched by happiness and sadness, not desiring holy and unholy; the one who is the same to friends and foes, to cold and heat, such is dear to the Lord. Ultimately what matters is that the devotee is able to offer himself/herself to the Lord of the Universe, in whose hands is our destiny. But it is not easy to reach this stage, and it is next to impossible to find persons who have reached this stage. We could call the people who are close to this stage as saints and sages, and it may be possible to find one or two persons during one’s generation.

The spiritual sages of our nation have shown that the path to freedom and sanctity is not easy to reach; one has to renounce everything, including the desire to attain complete freedom and remain in perpetual ananda. When we seek this freedom, we realize that everything on earth is equally good and valid pathway to reach the divine in us. We realize that the divine spark is in all beings, both animate and inanimate, and the moment when we realize the divine even in our foes, those who do evil to us, and relate to them as if we are relating to the divine personality, then we can be sure that we are closer to reaching our destination.

It is true that true saints and sages would talk to the plants and animals, stones and rocks as if they had life, just as human beings. What is more surprising is that often they believed they received a positive response from these so-called inanimate and animate beings too, which is quite unintelligible to us mortals. It is possible that we do not take pains to learn the language of the birds and plants, stones and rocks; it might take just a life-long sadhana to really understand their language, and that is the language of divinity. For when we have mastered this language, everything around us becomes divine, and the whole world is charged with divinity. We become part of God-head, and we are gods!

Friend in Need

Science and technology have developed all sorts of sophisticated machinery to make our lives cozy and comfortable; we were able to even intrude into the complicated biodiversity, and change the very nature of plants and animals. The more we make our lives comfortable and cozy, the more lonely does humanity feels. In the ratrace to acquire more money and wealth, the rich have forgotten to rest, and the middleclass do not want to give chance to fate; and the poor keep pushing themselves beyond their capacity in an effort to come to terms with what life has in store for them. But ultimately the plight of the poor is far more manageable than that of the wealthy.

What the modern world cannot create is friends, the proverbial people who can change our lives drastically. To have found a faithful friend is equivalent to have found a priceless treasure, and it is not easy to find one with whom our hearts would jel. Unfortunately there are no set rules and criteria to find if the so-called friend is truly a friend or just a selfish, self-centered opportunist. There is no better criteria to test and examine a friend than life itself, and it would be sad if there are people in the world who do not find time to discover a friend for themselves. The world will never lack true friends, just as it would never lack the sun, moon and stars to keep us going.

I have realized that in human relationships, and especially in a lasting friendship, we want our friends to dance according to our tunes; we become defensive as soon as something critical is voiced. We know the popular adadge, a friend is the one who knows our weaknesses and yet accepts us as we are! The role of true friendship does not stop with reflecting my true image, but also goes to reflect my other half, the undisclosed part. We can find life becoming more enjoyable, when we permit our friends to play the role of devil's advocate!

I have learned so much in life about being friends that for the sake of a true friend, I would be prepared to give up all that I possess! But there are more misconceptions about friends and friendship than there are in actuality. If there is someone who claims to have more than a hundred friends, I would not swollow his/her words too easily. They cannot be friends, but mere acquintances; all those I am in touch with and relate to cannot become my friends. Here is one simple way to test who my true friend is/are: when I am in a crisis situation, the first person/s I think of in order to seek asylum or counsel or help, s/he or they are my true friends.

I like the expression, that the true friend is the one in front of whom I would not hesitate whatsoever to strip myself naked, and present myself as I truly am. Of course this means I cannot have the audacity or the guts to strip myself naked before everyone I am relating to; if I do that, then I am not a friend, but merely an exhibitionist. When husband and wife become friends, the friendship that exist between them is raised to a higher level, and the love that exist between them reaches yet another landmark location in life. Today is a day to toast for all our friends, all who have come our way since birth, and for all those who are waiting to enter into our lives!