Hindu spirituality requires an explanation in depth, showing what field it covers and how it differs from religion. Everything relating to external forms belongs to religion, while the depths of spirituality are in the interior life. Religion can be practised in a group with rituals and ceremonies closely linked to social life; it can have a doctrine and dogmas. But spirituality is entirely personal and individual; it does not depend on external forms, nor on a religion, it surpasses them all by attaining a level of understanding in which the differences characterising the various religions are effaced.
Nowadays there are many people who want to find out about Indian religions. They find it difficult to understand Hinduism as a religion, because there are no dogmas, but only rituals and ceremonies. The Hindus call their religion “dharma”. Sanatana Dharma is the ancient path established by the great sages, the rishis. It is taught to people. It has the goal of liberation, Moksha.
The devotee sees God alone and the yogi, according to Vedanta, feels the non-existence of his ego. This discipline requires fairly long practice; it is to be under the guidance of a competent master, who directs his disciple. The Katha Upanishad says that this path is very difficult and as sharp as a razor’s edge; one can easily get lost by becoming caught up in psychic experiences. This is why control by a qualified teacher is necessary.
A person who is unbalanced, full of pride and attached to the world, cannot attain realisation A mind full of humility is required to accept the advice of a master and have the will to purify itself. We are very seldom conscious of our own defects. We have to want to find them and correct them. Then the purification of the mind brings an important change which makes us modify our way of thinking.
It is in following the advice of a guru and the disciplines of yoga that all this is possible. Then one looks for the Supreme Lord with all one’s love. It is by practising self-control and meditation that we uncover our true ‘Self”. One day we shall attain the Supreme Reality, we shall know that the Supreme alone governs the whole world.
But it often happens that there is an imbalance between these aspects of a human being. A man living at the physical and mental level is never a complete being; he is not a perfect man. A sage sees the emptiness and deception resulting from ordinary life. What then is the solution to this problem?
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