Chandra Bhanu Satpathy

  At times, people claiming to be on the spiritual path, say that they have no use of money and matters. On the other hand, people carrying on with material pursuit say that they need money & material things always. This is a mono-theistic view towards life and not a practical one towards human existence. The European writer Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel proclaims the theory of “Spirit Alone Is” whereas Karl max proclaims “Matter Alone Is”. Life is a synthesis of matter and spirit. A balanced life means the maintenance of a balance between the spirit and matter in the right proportion. It is the spirit or soul which holds a dynamic human body in an organic form. Without the medium of a material body, the sprit cannot manifest itself and without the spirit within, organic body is nothing but a dead substance. One need to have a strong body to carry on with the spiritual practices. Therefore, the Yogis of Yore always emphasized about the maintance of physical excellence. Yoga and pra

Shirdi Sai Baba used to spend a lot of time conversing with His devotees in order to teach them ethics, religion and a pious way of leading their lives. An analysis of many of His activities reflects His spiritual and universal approach. Baba wanted to break the barriers and walls that we create between us and others based on differences in caste, religion, wealth, education, profession and status. He wanted us to abandon the sense of duality and distinction that prevent our spiritual progress. He used many different methods to help us to do this. One method that He used was to eat with groups of devotees and smoke a hookah with them. After taking a few puffs He would pass His hookah around to those sitting with Him — Hindus or Muslims, high or low caste, rich or poor. His purpose was to break human barriers between His devotees based on religion, caste, creed and temporal differentiation. His compassionate nature tells us that any activity done in the name of Baba is not fruitful unle

  The Path towards the Sadguru is the real path towards spirituality, needed much in this age of conflicts, contradictions, and acute materialism. As Swami Vivekananda said, like different rivers leading to the sea, all the paths that men take lead to Him, the God eternal. The paths that are mostly adopted by the seekers are  Rajyoga ,  Gyanayoga ,  Karmayoga ,  Bhaktiyoga ,  Hathayoga ,  Layayoga ,  Nivruti Marg ,  Pravriti Marg  etc. There are even  Avadhootas ,  Kapalikas , Aghoris, and many other types of spiritual seekers. Different religions have different approaches. In this multiplicity of approaches towards the understanding and realization of God, there has to be something common and universal that binds us together. The seekers with such a universal approach make spiritual progress with comparative ease relative to others. Sitting in Dwarakmayee masjid in Shirdi, Shri Sai Baba said that there are many paths, but one of the paths leads to God through Dwarkamayee. When one ana

  I f one examines the lives of the Saints, Gurus and Sadgurus of different religions and paths in India and abroad, one would discern that they all tried to evolve human souls to the state of excellence while also serving those around them in every possible manner. They stood between the devotees and their pain. Service, not only to mankind, but also to the animal world, particularly the ones in distress and that were uncared for, has been the motto of Sadgurus. They follow various methods to render such help. One of these is that, Shirdi Sai Baba demanded Dakshina from the devotees and used to help them and other devotees. Swami Vivekanand collected funds by delivering speeches in USA, even when he was in a very bad state of health. The funds were meant for rendering help to devotees and for philanthropic purpose. They lit a human candle hoping that these candles would light many more in future. Light should pervade otherwise the darkness of ignorance would continue in the world. The

  Time flows and the year passes by. The past proceeds to the future through the present. Life is a time continuum. Its linearity stretches up to infinity with loops and lines of circularity, like a stretched coil. Nothing grows by itself or ends by itself. The blueprint of everything including its dynamics is stored in the bosom of a mighty creative and dynamic force that is perceived as God by some. Through its long struggle, the human race has been able to comprehend a little about the nature and features of that all engulfing, omnipresent, and sovereign power. ‘Ah, the New Year has come’, we say, with wistful thinking and a hope for a better future when compared with the past. How strange that the calendar we follow and with which we begin a year so hopefully, is just a game of numbers written on the canvas of time. We want the inedible and painful markings of the previous year to somehow be wiped out of our memory, by the advent of a better year. The fact is that time continues, a

  S ince millenniums, great spiritual personalities like incarnations and saints of different religions have declared that ‘search within and not outside is the real path of spiritualism’. Search ‘outside’ includes all aspects of the manifested world including religions, places of worship, mundane existence, and all connected material aspects. These things help one to begin his journey from the ‘world outside’ and slowly move towards the ‘world within’. The outer world is understood through our cognitive faculties that nature has endowed us with. However, ‘search within’ is that which leads towards ‘Aatmanusandhan’ (Self-Search), ‘Atmanubhuti’ (Self-Experience), and ‘Atmagyan’’ (Self-Knowledge). One reaches that state of experience through ‘dhyana’ (meditation) which brings about control and focus of mind in the ‘hridaysthal’’ (heart-centre). The Guru will always be of great help towards the entry and movement of the disciple in the unknown path at the initial stage. The Sadguru is one