In maintaining environmental balance, we fulfill our duty towards God, says Sant Rajinder Singh
Spiritual adepts teach us those practices which can help us clean off the grime of ages. There are two things which can help speed up the process of purification — the cleansing water of Naam and ethical living. Once we are taught the method of meditation and are given a contact with the light and Sound of God, we need to engage in the inner practices every day. We need to set aside some time every day from our routine activities to commune with the current of the light and sound within. The more we see and listen to the inner light and Sound, the more our soul is cleansed, and the worldly impressions are washed away.
The second helping factor they teach us is to lead an ethical life. In order to progress on our spiritual journey within, we need to overcome anger, lust, greed, attachment, and ego. These are the five pollutants that cloud the purity of the soul. They drag our attention into the world. If we analyse these five negative traits, we find that they are all motivated by our desire for transitory and worldly pleasures. For example, we become angry when anything interferes with attaining our worldly desires. lust is caused by the desire to gratify our senses. Greed results from our insatiable desire to amass either possessions, riches, and power, or name and fame. When we attain any of these we become attached to them and forget the spiritual values and our spiritual nature. Ego arises from pride of our transitory attainments: pride of wealth, worldly knowledge, and power.
To help us overcome these five negative qualities, we need to review our thoughts, words, and deeds each day. This gives us a realistic picture of the pollutants which defile the soul. We can then resolve to improve the following day. Spiritual adepts lay great emphasis on ethical living and speak of it as a stepping-stone to spirituality. Sant Kirpal Singh used to say that it is difficult to become a human being in the true sense; but once we have accomplished this, it is relatively easy to find God. What is required is nothing short of the total transformation of one’s life. If our planet, with its interdependent ecological systems, is to survive, we have to learn to live in harmony with all creation. If we are polluting our world it means that we do not care about anyone else. If we cared about our family, if we cared about our neighbour, we would not do anything to pollute the environment and make life difficult for other human beings.
The whole ecological problem could be solved if we as humans start to realize that each form of creation inhabiting the earth is an embodied soul.
If we realize that the soul in us is the same soul that inhabits every being, whether plant or animal, and comes from the same Source, from the same Oversoul, from God, then we would care about and love every being. We would see the light of God in each living thing. And what does love meanIJ love means actually caring about someone else. love does not mean just a physical attraction. The real divine love, really having love for someone, means you care about that person. And caring about someone means that you do not want to make his or her life difficult. If all of us in this world would start thinking of everyone else as our brothers and sisters, as being of the same essence as God that we are, then we would not do anything to harm other people. We would try to live our lives so that we do not pollute the environment in which other people have to live. Through the process of connecting ourselves to the light and Sound of God, we begin to realize the light of God in all beings and we start believing in the brotherhood of humanity and the Fatherhood of God. Once we attain that state, it reflects in our own lives and helps the society and the country in which we live and the whole world.
We have to develop a kind of respect for our environment in which we do not ignore the claims and contributions of even the tiniest of creatures. Ecologists are sensitive enough to avoid altering anything in the environment which will upset the balance of nature. Similarly, when we advance spiritually, we begin to move through life with sensitivity. We no longer injure the feelings of others. We treat those with whom we come in contact with love and gentleness. As we develop the positive virtues and continue meditating on the Holy Naam, we will find that the imperfections and pollutants that covered us will fall away and we are restored to our original purity. Dedicated ecologists feel a great sense of duty to work towards preserving the purity of the environment. They want to do what they can to live in harmony with nature. Similarly, those who discover themselves and realize God also feel a sense of responsibility. The attainment of the spiritual riches is not an end in itself. One develops a deep love for all creation. One sees the hand of God behind every blade of grass. This respect and love for life manifests itself in selfless service.
Those who realize God do not leave the world to spend it in isolated meditation. They develop an innate desire to serve their fellow beings, and all life. This may come as a surprise to many in the West who think that spirituality is life-negating and meant for recluses and monks. Sant Darshan Singh used to term that approach as “negative mysticism”. He coined the term “positive mysticism”. This approach means that while pursuing our spiritual goals, we continue to perform our obligations to our family, community, nation, and the world, and we do so to the best of our ability. We continue to earn our livelihood honestly so we can maintain ourselves and our family and can help those in need. We remain in the religion into which we are born, but live up to its true purpose — knowing ourselves and realizing God. We raise our families and see that they receive the best educational opportunities in life. We try to attain the best of both worlds. We strive to excel in all our endeavours. While living and working in the world, though, we are always mindful of our spiritual goal. let us devote our time to the spiritual practices so we can recover our innate God-given beauty. Once we develop it, we will reflect that radiance to all those with whom we come in contact. We will, in fact, shower that love on all living things and on our planet earth.
By restoring the ecological health of our soul, we will be purifying and uplifting all creation. Then, this world will return to the divine stage of godly bliss and ecstasy for which we were created. let us conclude with some verses from the poem, “The Cry of the Soul”, written by the famous poet Sant Darshan Singhji:
We are but drops of the same fountain of divine beauty,
We are but waves on the great river of love.
We are diverse blossoms in the Garden of the lord,
We have gathered in the same Valley of light.
We who dwell on this earth belong to one humanity,
There is but one God, and we are all His children.
The writer is a spiritual leader