Is Humanity the Greatest Religion?

Indiaspirituality Blog
Published on: 19-07-2021

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 Is Humanity the Greatest Religion?

Namaste Divine Atmans,

In recent times and since a few decades, there has been an opinion and a narrative, that Religion and
spirituality are two separate things. While Religion is seen as an orthodox and rigid ritual practice,
spirituality is seen as universal practice which allows anyone to practice to the extend they wish to.
This idea became more prominent after the popularity of new-age ideologies like The Theosophical
Society and emergence and popularization of some energy based healing and meditation techniques.

There is another opinion which stresses on high morality and ethics. According to this opinion,
Humanity is the greatest religion or a better way of living as humanitarian work does not involve
biased or hidden agenda behind good looking actions.

Noble acts of helping others, donating money to the needy, supporting poor children by paying for
their education, etc are all noble acts. They fill one with contentment and happiness. Such acts are
indeed praiseworthy and inspirational. However, does the feeling of happiness, contentment and
gratitude remain constantly within us? No, we soon get engrossed in other activities and are filled
with stress and responsibility. What if the feeling of happiness and peace says with us continuously
throughout the day. To add to it, what if in order to feel happy, one does not need to help others?
What if the love is unconditional and keeps radiating and influencing all those in vicinity without any
prejudice or bias. It not only affects humans, but plants and animals too. Such a person is indeed a
living moving temple of peace and happiness. Such a blissful state is indeed rare and the person whose
heart is overfilled with happiness, joy and peace and constantly radiates them is indeed divine. This
state can be achieved in this life in this physical body, if one properly follows the highest teachings of
Sanatana Dharma as mentioned in the Upanishads. Such a human being has transformed from being
‘human’ to being ‘divine’.

But before we understand how this blissful state can be achieved, let us understand a few things and
concepts. This article revolves are the words Morality, Humanity, Dharma, Religion and Spirituality
and Secularism.

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In this article we will understand

✓ Why western world felt the need for a secular approach towards life
✓ Why Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) does not need Secularism
o How Sanatana Dharma is different from Abrahamic Religions
o Understand universal principles of Sanatana Dharma applicable to all mankind
✓ Why Humanity is not the greatest of all religions and
✓ How Sanatan Dharma is different and takes you beyond human values by cultivating divinity
within us which radiates from our heart in this life time in this physical body.

Finally, we will also have a brief summary of this article.

Need for Secularism

This opinion of having a compassionate humane approach towards life and separating religion and
spirituality arose due to many factors. Some of them are

• Claim of Exclusivity
• Active conversion
• Church Crimes
• Superiority Complex of Europeans and Narrowminded of religious people.
• Crimes committed by powerful colonisers on their colonies
• Infighting amongst different Christian denominations

Christians claim that their religion is the only true religion and that one cannot enter into heaven if
they do not accept Jesus Christ as their saviour. Non-Christians will burn in eternal hell. This concept
led to the feeling of superiority amongst Christians. Active conversion was instrumental in committing
the crimes committed by clergy, Government, Army and by all those actively involved in converting
non-Christians to Christianity.

Church had a lot of influence and control over masses. Often their powers were unchecked. The sole
aim of Christian Missionary was to retain the power and extend it to the farthest land possible. In
doing so they often adopted immoral practices. If anyone dared questioning them, such an individual
or a group would face the wrath of the Clergy. Such tight control over the masses did not allowed one
to think freely as one cannot go against the concepts established by the Church. Due to superiority
complex and not being allowed to think freely, often narrowminded creeped into masses. The pious
men were morally and ethically corrupted. We will call the crimes committed by them as Church
Crimes as the crimes were not just an isolated incidents, but the Clergy, senior members of Church
and even Pope had knowledge of these crimes and they tried their best to cover them. Kings and local
governments too had the knowledge of these crimes. This coverup of crimes and the political, financial
and religious backing resulted in the increase of such crimes.

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The Church Crimes

The Crimes committed by the Pious men whom people trusted for the interpretation of Bible and
confessed their sins, are unpardonable. Recently, even Pope had to issue an apology for the Church
crimes.

The crimes include

• Sex scandals, sexual exploitation of nuns, young boys & girls

• Forced stay of Children of indigenous tribes in hostels run by Catholic Churches and forcing
them to pray Christian prayers (refer to Canada’s Frist Nation People)
• Burying the malnourished kids of Indigenous tribes, also known as the people of first nation,
on Church land as recently found in mass graves children in Canada’s Catholic. (refer to
Canada’s Frist Nation People)
• Mass murders of non-Christians and Indigenous people, the original inhibitors of the land in
colonies like America, Canada, Australia, etc. This history is written in ‘red’ ink.
• Killing on Religious grounds, the genocide of Jews. Germany’s council of Catholic bishops has
admitted to the church’s secret involvement and support to the Nazis, giving them spiritual
guidance and were together with the Nazis on the front line of the war, who under leadership
of Adolf Hitler massed murdered Jews. Apart from Jewish Apartide indigenous people living
in colonies of British, Portuguese, Spain, French, etc were also killed by pious clergy with the
help of Government and Army.
• Conversion of Indigenous people by force, use of army, and misusing powers by the colonists
to their Government Officers. Goa Inquisition is an infamous History
• Conversion by Greed or deceit or by offering money – The Rice Bag Christians. Church has a
budget per person to lure them to Christianity.
• Conversion by exhibiting (fake) miraculous healing and denigrating Gods and practices of
other religions
• Superiority complex and racism resulted in slavery and treating them as Second class citizens,
depriving basic human rights to indigenous people.

The caste System of Christianity – Different Denominations

Not only did Christians differentiated themselves from Non-Christians, but from Christians of other
Denominations too. One Christian denomination competed with other Christian denomination. Some
say that the Christians of One Denomination see Christians of Other Denomination as inferior and
treated them as heathens and so they try to convert them to their sect. In India, it is heard that some
Christians do not even marry their daughters to Christians of other sects. If someone did so he has to
face opposition and even ex-communication from fellow Christians if the family has a member who is
a clergy. One denomination doesn’t like another one. Such radicalization is seen more in remote
villages and in tribal converts.

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Even though there is no caste system in Christianity, there is ‘Class System’. Europeans, who consider
them as superior race, did not allowed Indian Christians to bury their dead in their Christian graves.
Some Churches even didn’t allowed Indian Christians to attend sermons and daily prayers.

Active conversion in the name of One True God is one of the main reasons for this crime along with
the superiority complex of the Europeans. When Clergy, Government/Kingdom and Army join hands
to dominate the world and convert people, they have blood in their hands.

The Awakening …

Such crimes did not go unnoticed to the common mass. They saw that Devout Christians closer to
Clergy were more corrupt then an agnostic or a dis-believer or an average Christian living a simple life.
They saw narrow mindedness of the religious people. They saw no advantage of practicing religion as
it would no more focus on making them good men. So people who were Christians by birth began to
accept the fact that there can be holy saints outside Christianity. They discarded many such notions
and practices which, according to them, were morally not acceptable like slavery and stoning to death,
etc. Still, they consider themselves as Christians.

As time passed, Church began to lose it’s control over masses. With Advent of technology, world got
more connected. People began to realise that there are good people everywhere outside their
Christian world and they too deserve respect. People began to question Christian concepts and even
started losing the faith in the religion. They were not as devout as their ancestors were.

Western world has to be credited for their research innovations and bold initiatives critical study of
their religion. After French Industrial revolution the world opened up. There were lots of inventions
and the way of life began to change. Independent critical studies into the religion were done. Christian
scholars who were neutral, Historians and Archeologists began to challenge even the existence of
Jesus Christ and began to question the concepts of Christianity.

All these factors led to the opinion that Humanity is the greatest religion and that religion is not for
scientists or for rational minded people. It is heard that scientific community would laugh at their co-
workers and colleagues if they came to know that a person is a devout Christian. Unscientific concepts
like existence of Heaven and Hell, After life, and Judgement day, birth of Jesus from Virgin Mary, The
concept of Original Sin, the Christian Good News i.e. accepting Jesus as their only saviour, etc were all
rejected by the educated elite class. Religious practices were seen as an outdated and rigid having
little meaning and not focusing on making a better human being. People either started losing faith in
religion or they simply were not devoutly practicing their religion. These days, most people do not
even believe in the existence of God or do not care to think about the existence of God.

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Western world realized that they need a philosophy, a way of life, that has to be broadminded,
embracing all mankind and at the same time giving freedom to practice what an individual wants to
and to the extend one wants to. One should be tolerant to the views of other people and to the people
of other faiths. Thus, there was a need for secular approach towards life. It is the western world that
coined the word ‘Secularism’. France adopted the secular model in their constitution and so banned
any religious symbol in Government Buildings.

Hinduism Viewed from Abrahamic Lens will always give incorrect

picture

The western scholars were also hired by the Britishers to translate Hindu Scriptures into English and
other European Language. However they were hired the maligned intention to discredit the Hinduism.
They wanted to rule India and spread Christianity. In order to rule India, they realized that the entire
education system and the way of thinking of Hindus had to be changed. The entire system had to be
replaced by Western education so that the Indians will think and work like the westerners. To do so
they interpreted Hindu scriptures in convoluted way often denigrating it and began to spread their
work. This made Hindus to feel inferior to the Europeans. Inferiority complex made easy for both
Britishers and Church to carry our their agenda. This also resulted into biased views by common
westerners for Hindus and Hinduism in general.

However, Sanatana dharma is very different from the Abrahamic religions.

Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is different

Though there are sects and sub-sects within Hinduism, and there is also caste system (varna
vyavastha), the people of Bharat practiced many other dharmic traditions which co-existed with
Sanatana Dharma and were practiced since more than 2500 years. Jain Dharma, Baudha Dharma
(Buddhism) and Sikha Dharma existed peacefully with Sanatana Dharma. We will call these four
traditions (including Sanatana dharma) of Bharat simply as ‘Dharmic Traditions’ or ‘Bhartiya
Traditions’. Though there were conversions within different Dharmic Traditions, they were not done
in a cruel way, the way Church did.

Dharmic Traditions lay great emphasis on logic. In fact, in Sanatana Dharma there is a separate school
of thought known as ‘Nyaya’ and ‘Vaisheshikha’ which focus only on Logic. Nyaya is the school of Logic
and one of the six main schools of Sanatana Dharma. There is a well known work on Grammar known
as Panini’s Astadhyayi which has a commentary by Maharshi Patanjali. Everything that is said in
Sanatan Dharma can be challenged, every school of thought can be challenged, and the objections
can be attempted to be refuted in polemical debate and not by force or by the way of sword. Sanatana,
Baudha (Buddhist) and Jain Dharma extensively use Grammar and Logic in their philosophy.

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Dharmic Traditions lay more emphasis on Practice then mere believing or in dry theory. So Yoga and
Sadhana (meditation) or Abhyasa (spiritual practices like reading and contemplating on shastras is
prescribed) are an integral part of the culture. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali lays great emphasis on the
control of mind and so does Bhagavad Gita. Both shastras lay importance on high moral and ethical
values. Adhyaya 16 (Chapter 16) is dedicated to the divine and demonic qualities. Gita also lays
emphasis of developing unconditional surrender, disassociation with worldly objects and living a
detached and peaceful life.

Rather then the commandments or direct orders, shastras are the collection of innumerable
experiences of infinite saints since time immemorial. Through examples, logic, stories, hymns and
poetry, Saints have conveyed their experiences and state of realization of their true nature and the
path to achieve this blissful state. The essence of shastras were divinely revealed by the supreme
Godhead to the saints. Saints explained them in the way they experienced truth and, in a way palatable
to the masses. The teachings are to be embedded in our life too in order to excel on the path to seek
our true nature and be one with Ishvara. Sanatana Dharma is more of an experiential nature then
being just belief based.

Passing on the Knowledge – The Tradition

These teachings are passed on from one generation to the next. Guru would teach his disciples
(shishyas) and the worthy one who has realized his true self and the essence of shastras along with
good grip on scriptures and who is a good orator is chosen as the spiritual successor to the tradition.
The shishya, who is now a Guru, would then teach this knowledge to his disciples and then chose a
worthy, Self Realized Disciple as his successor. Thus the knowledge would be transmitted from
generation to generation in an unbroken succession. In this way the knowledge is retained with the
Guru who are the living examples of the blissful state of Self Realization, the essence of shastras. So
the Guru is not only well versed in tradition and in knowledge of a shastras, but has realized the
Ultimate truth that the shastras teach. In other words a true guru is not a mere scholar of scriptures,
but a living example the essence of scriptures. It has to be noted that though the successor can be just
one, there can be many disciples who are Self Realised and are free to spread the teachings or open
another ashram or a matha.

Corruption Exits in Sanatana Dharma too

This is not to say that there is no corruption in Sanatana Dharma. Corruption exits when in astrays
from the path of dharma. A sloka from a popular text, Guru Gita, a part of Skanda Purana, says, “There
are ever so many Gurus in the world who rob the wealth of their disciples. But I consider that Guru
a rare one among Gurus who removes the afflictions of the disciple’s heart. (162)”. This indicates
that our great forefathers, the composers of Shastras, knew that such a thing could happen and so
they have warned us against them. They knew that saints are held in high esteem and reverence and
so Guru Gita goes on to say that it is not a sin if a person does not bow in front of such corrupted,
immoral Gurus, rather it is better to stay away from them. In other words, such corrupted men in garb
of saint deserve no respect from society. (ref slokas 104-109 - link) These slokas were not edited and

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removed indicates that there is every attempt to protect shastras and give correct direction to the
seekers of truth. The reason for corruption is the deterioration of dharma in due course of time.

We can say is that fundamentally, Sanatana Dharma is of experiential nature and that one must be
careful before devoutly believing in any saint. Sanatana Dharma is unorganized and so one can easily
leave such a guru and search for another saint. One still fundamentally remains a Hindu and is right in
doing so. Saints have to earn faith of common men for society to be devoutly respectful to them.

Now let us move towards the universal principles of Sanatana Dharma which are applicable to all
mankind.

Law of Karma is applicable to all irrespective of belief

Abrahamic religions are faith based. Once you pledge your belief in the saviour, then your actions does
matter much. The instructions are for the people who accept the religion and not outside it. Similarly
the rewards of their actions are dependent upon their faith in their book and saviour. Unlike
Abrahamic religions, the law of karma is applicable to each and every individual whether one is a
believer or a non-believer. As per Sanatana Dharma it is possible that an atheist can secure a place in
heaven for his good deeds. In Sanatana Dharma, stay at Heaven and Hell are temporary and one has
to return to the earthly plane and continue the spiritual journey after enjoying the fruits of merits and
suffering the fruits of sins in heaven (svarga) and hell (narka) respectively. Heaven is not the final
resting place. Infact, moksha is achieved by one who does not have any desire to enjoy fruits of heaven
and wish to transcend the kingdom of heaven. In Hinduism, Heaven is not the topmost realm or
kingdom or loka. The topmost loka is Brahma loka. All Jivas in this loka are initiated by the Creator of
Universe, Brahma dev ji himself and attain Brahma jnana i.e. attain Self Realisation. Even during their
stay in this loka, they experience constant bliss.

There is also a place for atheists in Sanatana Dharma. Karma is central to one’s fruits and spiritual
progress in Dharmic traditions. Believing in any Ideology does not make one bypass any karma which
one is supposed to do for spiritual progress and to live a responsible life accepting both Rights and
Duties, Freedom and Responsibility. The path expects a disciplined approach to be finally free of all
rituals, all customs, move beyond varna and ashrama vyavastha, and finally rise beyond dharma and
attain moksha. In other words, we do not get any concession or a reward for following any
philosophy or getting initiated into any mantra.

We are responsible for what we are suffering and we are responsible for our future

What we are now suffering or enjoying are the fruits of past karma that has ripened now. The way we
perceive situation now and the decision we take will decide our future as the karma that we are now
doing will bear fruits in the future.

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The Path of Karma and Character Building – Cultivating Divinity within oneself

The path of Karma aims to inwardly purify oneself. Each one of us has positive and negative qualities
or gunas. Our shastras divide the qualities in each individual into 3 – tamasic, rajasic and sattvic. Our
journey is to increase the sattva guna in us.

A person with predominant Tamas guna has revengeful attitude, sleeps late at night, wakes up late, is
lazy and self centered. A rajasika person wants to have glory, name and fame. He or she is a dynamic
person eager to work hard. A sattvika person has kind heart. Such a person has divine qualities like
forgive and forget, let go of issues of the past, compassion, and peaceful heart. Such a person likes to
stay alone and work quietly without getting noticed. The path includes Character Building too as first,
one has to be a good human being, that of helping nature in order to cultivate satva guna. Good
character is the foundation of spirituality.

The path of karma is to purify ourselves inwardly so that the predominant quality is sattva guna. A
sattvika mind is capable of chanting mantra. It is capable to renounce worldly issues from mind and
stay detached.

Transformation and not Conversion

We have to understand that an initiation into any mantra or any kriya or any sect does not make
one pure. Each person has all three gunas. A person who is initiated may get grace of guru and
accelerate his or her spiritual progress, but he / she has other gunas too. Bhakti is just one guna that
anyone can have. Even a criminal can have faith and devotion towards Ishvara. So faith in Ishvara
or any philosophy does not indicate purity of mind. Seeker of truth has to take care of other
emotions like anger, jealousy, fear, greed, etc and get rid of ego. With practice and proper character
building, gradually Tamasika and Rajasika gunas decrease and have less impact on mind and in decision
making. Satvika guna becomes predominant guna influencing our most decisions and so the direction
of our life. It is the intention behind the action which decides if a karma is good or bad. An outwardly
looking good karma like helping other is done with hidden intention of getting rewarded in future,
then it is not a good karma.

It has to be noted that each and every karma and not just karma done for spiritual purposes shapes
our character and is responsible for inner purity. So if someone gets converted to any religion by
greed or by force, then such a conversion cannot be justified. It is a bad karma and both the one
converting and the one getting converted are said to be doomed. The simple reason is the person is
not accepting new religion on the basis of truth but by greed or fear or any other immoral reason. So
technically such a person has no interest in the new religion.

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God is said to be the truth. In order to find truth and walk on the spiritual path that leads to the
ultimate truth, the foundation has to be built upon truth and not on greed, deceit or fear. There can
be no hatred too. For this reason, Hindus have a natural tendency not to disrespect or hate any
religion. If one argues that though they lure you into their religion it is for their greater good, then this
argument is false, as even after the conversion there is no transformation. A person with the hope
of getting cured of a disease will not get cured after conversion, nor one’s mind will get pure after
conversion. The person remains the same with all good and bad qualities still intact his in heart and
mind. As said earlier, having belief in God and the saviour does not make one good person, our own
deeds do. Sanatana Dharma believes and stresses on the inner transformation and not conversion.

Inner purification is Important, Rituals and Customs are important for

inner purification

Dharmik traditions emphasize more on dealing with mind. They teach one to purify one’s mind and
become a sattvika person. Since the working of mind is universal and the law of karma too is universal,
Hindus cannot accept that just pledging a belief in One God, One Prophet and One Book is enough to
deliver one from sin and have a permanent stay in heaven. As said earlier, faith is not the only emotion
that a person has. Each one of us has tamasika, rajasika and satvika qualities. Each one of us have
to strive hard to purify our mind and make it satvika.

Rituals and customs are designed in such a way that they bring disciple in our life and progress
spiritually. Inner purification happens when they are conducted properly with proper understanding
faith. The mantras of karma kand are designed in such a way that if chanted properly, they purify the
nadis and pranamaya kosha and manomaya kosha. This helps in to progress spiritually and lay
foundation for japa or nididhyasana.

Rituals help in Character Building and bring harmony with nature.

Rituals help one become disciplined in life. Other qualities like compassion, humility, gratitude, loving
kindness, etc. It induces positive divine qualities within us like respecting nature and well wishing for
the entire world including plants, animals, birds and all living beings. Nature likes to be in harmony. It
wants to retain balance. For example, if low pressure is developed in atmosphere, air from higher
pressure with rush towards lower pressure until an equilibrium is established. In the same way, rituals
and chanting of mantras help retain this balance by inculcating respect and love for nature and other
living beings. Rituals also help our ancestors helping them to progress on their spiritual path. Mantras
dedicated to Gods and Goddesses have an effect on our pranamaya and manomaya kosha too.

Contrary to the belief that Rituals make one rigid minded, they help one to become disciplined,
increases faith, increases humility, creates a sense of duty and responsibility towards nature and
makes one live in harmony with nature. Rituals purifies one’s mind and make way for the road to
freedom. In order to understand that Rituals and Spirituality are interwoven, a proper study of

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Upanishads, Puranas and texts belonging to Rituals has to be done. There is no ready reckoner or a
troubleshooting guide. Rituals are complementary to spiritual progress. Rituals are not for the
lifetime. After achieving sufficient inner purity, they may be dropped as the purpose of rituals is
fulfilled. Sri Ramakrishna has said that Sandhya Vandana ends in Gayatri, Gayatri ends in OM and OM
ends in Samadhi.

Sandhya Vandana is the daily ritual which has to be done 5 times a day. However,
it is popular that it has to be done 3 times a day. If not three times, then doing 2
times is enough. In today’s scenario, many do this ritual once in the morning.
Sandhya means sandhi kala or the time joining two kala. Night and day are kala
here. The transition from night to day i.e. early morning is one time for Sandhya.
Another is the transition from day to night i.e. evening is another Sandhya. So
Morning and Evening are two times sandhya Vandana has to be done. Noon time
is the third time for Sandhya as the day begins to transit into night after noon. The
Fourth time is in early morning before Sunrise and the fifth one is in the afternoon.
In case of five times the interval between two sandhyas is 2 hours 24 minutes (ref:
https://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part17/chap12.htm)

Inner purification is what transforms a person. Inner purity helps one progress spiritually. It is the
satva guna that brings inner peace and steadiness as the mind no longer craves for worldly objects nor
does it have worldly ambitions and wishes. Such a mind is capable for doing japa (chanting mantra).
Chanting mantra leads one to have divine vision of beloved Ishta devata (chosen deity) and / or it leads
one to know one’s true nature.

From Humanity to Divinity

As explained earlier, our journey is to keep a check on negative qualities and increase positive
qualities. The journey is from Tamas to Rajas to Satva Guna. More the percentage of satva guna in a
person, more his or her actions are selfless and triggered with divine qualities like love, compassion,
forgiveness, let go and devotion. The mind is purified as one practices dharma and becomes self
contented for worldly objects. Desires reduce, likes and dislikes get neutralized. Basic requirement to
a live life reduce too. Life becomes simple and less demanding.

So the spiritual Transformation is rising from having lower animal qualities to having human
qualities then to radiate divine qualities from our heart. Finally one’s consciousness rises beyond
gunas, beyond maya into infinite bliss and deep peace.

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The Hindu Fundamentalist is very peaceful

We have now understood the basics spiritual path in brief. Those who meditate i.e. do japa or
nididhyasana know that one has to detach oneself from thoughts and emotions by being a witness to
the inner (mental world). As minded gets more and more detached, likes and dislikes are neutralizes
and the ever demanding mind calms down. Peace and bliss begins to flow through us. As one
progresses on the Sanatana Path, mind becomes cheerful, happy and peaceful. It becomes contented
with worldly objects and no longer craves for them. So a student of Vedanta, who practices according
to the directions of Upanishads with all his heart and soul becomes peaceful and filled with bliss. It
would not be an exaggeration to say that a Fundamentalist Hindu is the most peaceful one. Our
Achayas like Sri Adi Shankara, Sri Ramanuja, Sri Madhva, Sri Abhinavgupta, et al are living examples of
scriptures put in practice. Acharyas of other dharmic traditions like Sri Mahavir Swami and other
Tirthankars, and Lord Buddha are another examples of living and preaching a dharmic life. They all
taught us to live a life of peace and harmony, accept what our prarabhdha offers and practice
Nishkarma karma.

Nishkama Karma – Karma done without any expectations

Humane actions like helping strangers in difficult situation, working hard to protect our environment,
plants and animals is considered as noble action. Donating money to orphanages, paying school and
college fees of poor children or orphans, etc are indeed noble actions. Helping families in need, raising
donations for them, etc are shows that we, as humans, value life and are social in nature. Helping our
community is considered as noble act.

Why Nishkama Seva is important – The emotional nourishment and contentment

These Selfless actions have a unique in their own way. The donation is indeed a donation without
any expectation to get a good return. In other words, donation is not an investment. Donate and
forget. The outwardly looking good action is done with good intention. Second, For such noble acts,
there is emotional nourishment of both giver and receiver. The one donating or helping feels
contentment in their heart and the one receiving the help feels gratitude and trust in humanity.
They no more feel isolated from community. Third, there is no binding on the part of receiver to do
something for the person who helped. No pressure to convert or change the belief, no obligation
whatsoever. Such noble acts do not produce stress in the mind of receiver. There is goodness
everywhere. Hence such karma are bound to influence the onlookers who appreciate the actions.

Same happens when working for welfare of animals. You do not expect any returning favour from
them. With plants and environment, it is the same feeling. Such donations give freedom and let people
continue their life journey freely.

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This type of karma is known as Nishkama Seva. Here seva means service and not help. The word seva
increases value of karma, as it is done with humility and with the intention that service to mankind is
service to God. The word ‘help’ is not appropriate as both the giver and receiver are benefitted, the
both are emotionally nourished and filled with positivity.

But does our heart constantly feels contended or is filled with gratitude? Does it continue to be
filled with and radiate unconditional love? No it doesn’t. Soon it gets occupied with other emotions
and the happiness fades away quickly. What if this happiness stays in our heart and radiates
throughout the day everyday. Karma of helping the needy is has an ‘a priori’. Someone has to be
poor, someone has to be in need or in a position to be in helpless state or in dire need of help for our
heart to be filled with compassion and loving kindness. What if our heart continuously radiates this
happiness without such a pre condition? If a short lived positive emotion of helping others or simply
watching such videos and hearing stories of random acts of kindness inspires us and fills us with joy,
imagine our mental state when our heart is constantly filled with happiness and peace. When one
progresses on spiritual path by practicing intense sadhana (meditation), one gets purified to such an
extend that our heart overflows with happiness, with divine joy and experiences deep peace. The path
of Sanatana Dharma is such that such a change of heart is natural. By meditation, one’s heart becomes
divine and radiates divinity. This is the reason why Saints and Ascetics are highly respected in the
Dharmic Society, no matter they be a Hindu, Jain, Baudha or Sikh saints. Dharmik Traditions guide us
from being ‘human’ to being ‘divine’. Renunciation and Practice (sadhana, study of scriptures) are
the two wings necessary to fly into the infinite sky of eternal freedom.

Journey of Sanatana Dharma is from to transformation from humanity to divinity. We are essentially
divine and our final destination is to be established in our own Self resulting in the constant state
of bliss and deep peace.

We will now summarize the contents in brief

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Summary

Secularism is the word coined by Westerners. Since centuries, Western world experienced the
immoral acts of the Clergy and the Church. The control of the Church was so strong that they didn’t
allow men to think freely. Anything that contradicts the bible and their interpretation was not seen in
good light. When Church, Government and Army joins hands, there is blood in their hands. Church
crimes range from forced conversions, to converting people by greed and deceit. It also includes sexual
exploitation of women, and children and also mass murders of indegenious people who were not
following Christianity. With passing of time, there were different denominations within Christianity
who now started competing with each other. As time passed, with the advent of technology, the world
opened up as Church began to losen up the grip from the masses. The core principles of Christianity
and the concept of heathen began to be challenged. The crimes of Church and Clergy didn’t go
unnoticed. The revolution happened and the world found a need for a broadminded all-encompassing
way of life that didn’t discriminate amongst religion, race and ethnicity. Thus there was need for
secularism approach towards life.

However, Sanatana Dharma and the other dharmic traditions of India like Jainism, Buddhism and
Sikhism didn’t had this problem. They co-existed Peacefully. The conversions did happen but not by
greed, deceit or by way of sword. They happened through polemical debates. Sanatana Dharma and
other dharmic traditions extensively use logic and Hinduism has a special branch dedicated to learning
of logic known as ‘Nyaya’.

Sanatana Dharma is more of experiential nature. The concepts are universal in nature like the Law
of Karma. The purport of Vedanta can be experienced here itself, in this life, in this physical body.
Sanatana Dharma focuses on character building and training our own mind. The journey of Sanatana
Dharma is to transform from lower animal nature to divine qualities. Each one of us has three gunas
or qualities. Tamas, Rajas and Satva. Tamas guna has qualities laziness, revengeful attitude, etc. Rajas
guna has qualities like achieving name, fame and glory, etc. Satva Guna has divine qualities like
devotion, faith, surrender, let go, forgiveness, compassion, etc. Our journey is to keep a check on
Tamas and Rajas guna and cultivate Sattvik qualities within us. Shastras like Bhagavad Gita and
Patanjali Yoga Sutras lay great emphasis on character building and for achieving control over mind.
Thus practicing Sanatana Dharma devoutly increases morality, ethics and makes one simple minded
and big hearted.

If one follows the path of Dharma, then one is naturally having high moral and ethical standards.
However, if morality and ethics take back seat, then corruption happens and the pious men who are
considered as torch bearers of Dharma get corrupted and begin exploiting masses. Conversion does
not change a person. One still has all other emotions that one previously had. Devotion or faith in
God does not earn respect in society. Even a criminal can have faith in God. Faith in God or pledging
a belief in a saviour is not the barometer of ‘piousness’ or a spiritual achievement. There are no
shortcuts for spiritual progress. Sanatana Dharma focuses on Transformation and not Conversion.

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We all are essentially divine. We need to know our true nature. In this process, as on progresses
spiritually, heart gets filled with bliss and peace and it begins to overflow with these emotions. In
advanced meditators bliss and peace constantly radiate from their heart. In order to reach this blissful
state, we need to act in a structured and disciplined way which is taught to us by following the
procedures of Rites and rituals. Rituals do not make one rigid, but the lay foundation for meditation.
They are an important part of our spiritual progress. They induce positive qualities like humility,
compassion and teach us to live in harmony with nature. Practicing rituals properly will make us
respect all life forms. Mantras when chanted properly purify subtle bodies. Once sufficient inner
purification is achieved, rituals have served their purpose and mind begins to turn inwards to find
peace and in this process tries to reach the source from where it is gaining the power to function. This
source is supreme consciousness known as ‘Brahman’ and to be awar of this supreme consciousness
is known as the state of Self Realisation. The state of Self Realisation is said to be the ultimate state
which is beyond the realm of heaven or hell. It grants one eternal freedom and one can experience
this blissful state in this life time while staying in this physical body. We all get inspired by noble acts
of kindness like helping the needy, feeding the poor, supporting orphans by paying their school and
college fees, etc. The donor experiences contentment and happiness while the receiver experiences
gratitude and faith in community. But such a state of happiness and gratitude does not last long. Soon
we get occupied with our daily routine and are filled with stress and other emotions. Practicing
Sanatana Dharma and meditation makes this blissful state permanent that too without any external
stimulus. It does not need someone to be poor or in helpless state for our heart to feel compassion. It
is without this condition that our heart is filled with bliss and experiences deep peace. With practice
one’s heart constantly radiates this bliss which is independent of any external stimulus.

We all wish to be happy. We all knowingly or unknowingly search for happiness. But we search it in
other people or in external objects. There is nothing wrong in this. However, Sanatana Dharma teaches
us that this happiness in out outside, but it is inside us. The person in need of help is outside, but the
triggering or motivating force or emotions are inside us. The fact is our very nature is Bliss. Our journey
is to constantly abide in this state and be eternally free from the cycle of birth and death and attain
moksha. Surely this ‘Divine’ God-intoxicated state is much more than ‘Humanity’. ‘Humanity’ or
‘nishkama seva’ are just few steps of ladder to become divine. We are much more capable of then just
being human. We are ‘divine’, then why stop at being just a human?

Hari OM Tat Sat

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