Grateful to you Swami ,there is such clarity in your talks 🙏🙏🙏🙇♀️❤❤❤,religion -this term is greatly misunderstood especially by the youth today..Your talk is excellent as always❤❤❤
Thank you for this clear articulation, Swamiji! 🙏 One problem with terms like 'spiritual' and 'relegious' is that both are usually left loose, undefined and unexamined, and yet people identify themselves with either of them. Its only when people make the time and effort to examine these lables critically, they are likely to arrive at a positive synthesis and adopt it.
Wonderful lecture. It helps me understand the “Prosperity Gospel” (it evokes repulsion in me which I hope to tame) as similar to other religions who perform rituals for purely worldly benefit. It’s not “bad” to believe like that because at least they are thinking of God, correct? Not from falsity to truth, but from lower truth to higher truth? I think finally understanding this will ease the revulsion I feel about this Christian movement. I grew up in the late 80’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smack dab in the middle of the “seed faith” and “blab it and grab” movements of Christianity. It is one main reasons I left Christianity: Greed and worldliness. At last, maybe I can see them in a more loving light. 🙏
I feel so much gratitude for those lecture, thanks a lot swami ji. I can relate too this perfectly, because of my own path of questioning and researching for more knowledge beyond the Islam which was the main religion in my upbringing. But my parents always encouraged to search for more information besides other religious books, to seek more wisdom. But there was a period where I had left the Islamic path, trying to be more spiritual. But there was something lacking, although I did various kind of practice on my spiritual path. Only after following the vedanta teachings, I realized what was missing and so without leaving my spiritual practice, I began to pray as I had learned during my Islamic upbringing. Now I feel a deep kind of peace and respect for all religions and people. This lecture has eliminated all my doubts too, so thanks a lot 🙏 🙂
That's an interesting. You wrote: "...I began to pray as I had learned during my Islamic upbringing." Did you actually return to Islam? If so, what do you think about the orthodox Islamic belief that all non-Islamic religions have been abrogated and superseded by Islam? I ask in light of your statement that you now "...feel a deep kind of peace and respect for all religions and people." Thank you.
The longing of the "finite" to lose itself in the "Infinite" is the essence of spirituality. The intense restlessness to break out of the suffocating prison of genetic, self-centric existence is the essence of spirituality.
Pranams Swamiji. Thank you for making clear how essential it is for us to adhere to our eternal philosophy, and not to be going behind the new movements that are baseless.
I really enjoyed this lecture, because I'm a confused soul, lol. I also used to identify as SBNR, up until I discovered Lord Shiva. Then I thought to practice Hinduism, but for some reason, after about 2 years of trying to fully immerse myself into bhakti yoga in the traditional way, I started to feel like I'm not doing things the right way, and I also didn't feel comfortable with the traditional rituals. So I gave up on the rituals. But I still consider myself a Shiv Bhakt. However, towards the end of this video, Swamiji said that spirituality without religion is laziness. So now I'm wondering, did he hit the nail on the head, or did I misunderstand what he meant by spiritual practices? Are rituals part of spiritual practices? It would be nice if he saw my question and replied, lol. 🙏🏽
"Religion" comes from the Latin phrase "re-ligare" to re-unite. The "finite" has (seemingly) split itself off from the Infinite. To re-unite itself with the Infinite is the essence of religion. It is also the essence of spirituality. There is no difference between spirituality and pure religion.
Thank you for this lecture. I use to be "spiritual, but not religious". Then I found myself more religous in a way, but still couldnt really accept it fully. This made me realise, I can be both :) Its interesting, how I could integrate religion and science more easily long time ago, but for some reason, it didnt occure for me, the concept of religion and spirituality instead of religion or spirituality...
good discussion Swami! Vivekenanda was referencing the transcendental movement at the time (1896) but the comparison to SBNR is still appropos. I have maintained for some time that ALL religion is a tool for guiding and the particular mythos was of each but a story describing the same model of action but from their particular cultural perspective. This accommodates the forest vs. desert religions debate/dichotomy while still allowing each to have their affirmation. I like your use of Swami Vivekenanda's work to support. I'd urge anyone so interested to also check out Yuval Harari's "Sapiens" in support as well. I also find Sri Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Saram to support it as well as the Astavakra Gita (through Byrom's Heart of Awareness). excellent material. thank you so much for your insights!! namaste
Spiritualism to me is experiential. It is recognising and connecting with our true self. You don’t have to belong to any region to be spiritual. religion on the other hand is ritualistic. religious people can be spiritual too.
Namaste Swamiji, I think one reason we sort of rebel against institutionalised religion is because once the goal of the religion is reached,we do not know what to do next ,eg if reaching the Christ consciousness is the spiritual aim of Christianity, and if there are thousands who have already reached it,in thier last life,what do they do next? It's like clubbing the doctorates and the kindergarten together in one group forcefully.Then either they become atheists,or sceintific rationalists, or start looking elsewhere for that knowledge to evolve to the next level, while Christianity or Islam or whichever religion, itself has answers, they need to open up the spiritual aspect more and keep thier own flock together,,in other words it is Advaita but from thier perspective,desha kaala etc .. They perhaps did not do this,ie open up the spiritual aspects of thier religion to laypersons, at that time in history for fear of political persecution ( because after basics of religion as in ethics etc are perfected,the spiritual levels are common experience for all religions andl it begins to sound like Advaita,which would be catastrophic when trying to prove colonial superiority ,more civilised etc 😀) . Now that the political power has shifted to business and economy, religion is no longer a top tool on the colonising list,it has been replaced by lifestyle, culture are ,( otherwise India would have no Hindus left by now) and in a way the religious institutions are more free now to open up the spiritual aspect of thier religion..and bring back thier own rebels to the fold, instead of converting others to show numbers. Eventually it may sound like Advaita only 😂😂 , but learning it through thier own religion,will be faster and less culturally disorienting, because we Hindus eventually do bring in the devatas ,multicoloured,multiarmed, the works , because it's our Swadharma,😀 Srk even though a vijnani,still worshipped Kali 🙏and that sort thing of flummoxes the western rnind at this level,further up they will surely understand🙏 I also see they are moving to self-help kundalini etc,which is most inadvisable for thier present mind set.It can only cause confusion. Opening up the inhetent spirituality in religion by separating history and spirituality in the religious books could also rein in fundamentalism which could be like frustration expressed by the most brilliant students in the class,who are forced to toe the general line. Jai ma 🙏
All Institutional Religions, fundamentally are upholding the Divine Spiritual Truth Tenets! We may have to be cautious ONLY REGARDING THE FALSE FOLLOWERS 🌺💟♉️🛐♈️✝️✡️⛎🔯☪️⚛️☯️☮️🕉️🕎☦️☸️🌺
Moksha is markedly different than theosis in the West. Universalism is appealing to our egalitarian sensibilities , but it doesn't really hold up. There isn't a common underlying metaphysic.
Namaste SwamiJi, my reason for being more spiritual as opposed to religious, is because since a small child, visiting India from the UK, I have noticed how Indian culture and especially within India itself, females/woman in general are treated like second class citizens and looked down upon. I think it's disgraceful how some Swami's will not go near a woman (Swami Narayan faith); from whom were they born, as in who gave birth to them in the first instance, right?
Same thing I noticed when I visited Europe , woman are treated like prostitutes , mother , daughter, sister all of them work in porn industry . And their family is ok with it. In indian culture woman are treated like devis , goddess. Which is not posible in western culture. Western woman are more progressive, because of various feminist movement from last 400 years . Where as in India it will take time to reach that stage . But indian woman will never be treated like hoes . Just like Eve who was blamed for eating apple in Christianity.
Actually instead of " spiritual but not religious "" ,the movement should have been for " SPIRITUAL BUT NOT FANATICS "". Swamiji said so during 1897,that'swhy dogmas were placed by Him as secondary .But that aspects,unfortunately, not well explained by Revered Monks, even of RKM ,but thankfully, now Medhananda Maharaj beautifully explained. Pranam Maharaj 🙏 🙏.
"Vedanta validates all the world's religions... it wants the Christian to become a better Christian, the Buddhist to be a better Buddhist, the Hindu to be a better Hindu..." etc... So... Vedanta wants the Satanist to be a better Satanist? If Satanism is defined as the worship of evil, this can only mean Vedanta wants the Satanist to be more evil... Seems to me that Vedanta tries to side-step the problem of finding truth by declaring 'everything is true'... which, of course, cannot be true, since we know lies exist, and some religions are actually based on lies... some on mistakes or misunderstandings, or perhaps misinterpretations sure, but some are based on outright lies, merely for the sake of the self-aggrandisement of their founders and/or priests/preachers. To suggest that 'all religions are true' is to suggest that it is unimportant whether or not your religion is based on truth... Try telling that to the followers of Jim Jones, or of the Heaven's Gate cult... or any number of cults or 'religions' which are created merely to enrich their founders and/or priesthood.
Often ,a question arises whether extra intelligence in human beings is a boon or curse . I am sure that God must be very unhappy seeing the foolish brains of humanbeings who are doing more harm than good to his creation in the name of Religion. People are forgetting their original identity of being humanbeings and confusing themselves with the concepts of Spiritual identity and Religious identity. I believe that if you remain as a simple human being, you will automatically become devine.
Christians have now atleast realized that Biblical stories may not have any historical significance or record but spiritual truth which makes them less fundamentalist/fanatic but as far as Islam is concerned, the typical muslim mind is still rooted deeply into accepting quran and hadiths as the historical truth to validate Islam as the only perfect religion and hence breeding fanatism and terrorism. Therefore its not just my wish as a Hindu but also thr wish of all Ex muslims to not include or equate the word "Allah" with Ishwar, Kali, Shiva or Brahman as Allah is nothing but the Ego of the islamic prophet Muhammad. If you read thr quran which the islamic tradition considers as the word of Allah and the hadiths(book based on the life of muhammad) which is a series of volumes of books written by the sahabas (prophets contemporaries and well wishers) you will find that both quran and hadiths disclose a similar character of Allah and Muhammad.
