Hinduism and tolerance/ non-discrimination
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Ishvar, who controls everything
Ishvar pranidhan and abhidhyan
Shri Shri Anandmurti, June 6, 2019: The Times of India
Intense Meditation And Spiritual Evolution
Spiritually realised people are respected as mahapurushas by society and placed on the high pedestal of honour and reverence. In philosophical terms, these people, having traversed centrifugal and centripetal paths, have ultimately reached their cherished desideratum. That’s why they are widely venerated. They have attained the highest spiritual stance through intense meditation.
Those who impatiently preach, “Our God is the only God – others are false,” encourage communal differences directly and indirectly. Such defective teachings, baneful exhortations, have caused many bloody battles in the name of religion. Even today we find a reoccurrence of this distressing situation. The self-motivated misguided handful of ‘religious’ leaders is at the root of these abominable incidents.
All great personalities of different religious communities deserve equal respect. They are the collective glory of human society. We may have built new paths for the progress of society according to the needs of a particular age – paths which may be somewhat different from the one on which the great personalities trod – but that does not mean that we will not extend our respect to those venerable personalities.
How can people acquire this non-discriminatory knowledge? The answer is, through the practice of Ishvara pranidhana and abhidhyana. There are several interpretations of the word ‘Ishvara’. According to some, “Ishte yah sah Ishvarah”. That is, the one who controls everything is Ishvara. According to Maharishi Patanjali, the entity which is not assailed by klesha, afflictions; karma, reactions; vipaka, serving of reactions and ashaya, bundle of unserved reactions is called Ishvara.
Whatever these definitions of Ishvara may be, here, we mean the Supreme Controller of the universe, the Supreme Object of ideation for all living beings. Hence Ishvara pranidhana means to let the entire psychic energy flow towards Ishvara as the object of Supreme ideation. And dhyana means anudhyana. When sadhakas feel that the object of meditation – which is their life and soul – is trying to escape, they immediately run after Him and try to catch Him. This is called anudhyana.
Pranidhana and anudhyana together are called abhidhyana. Through abhidhyana the unit mind remains continuously absorbed in ideation of the Supreme Entity and finally merges in Him and consequently overcomes the influence of Vishvamaya, the creator of numerous differentiations. At this point the sadhakas finally attain non-discriminatory knowledge. To attain this stage, worldly knowledge, social position and skin colour are of no importance whatsoever. Even the different systems of worship, sacrifice, incantation and ostentatious devotion are insignificant.
In psycho-spiritual practice, the mind plays a vital role; external rituals have no place. Just because a person has a holy dip in the Ganga and then puts on a sacred garment does not necessarily mean that he has attained to non-discriminatory knowledge. The water may cleanse the body, but can it purify mind and soul? Fishes are having a holy dip in the Ganga every day. Does that help them to attain non-discriminatory knowledge? Hence the external observances, rolling of holy beads and smearing foreheads with colours are not the means to attain divine knowledge.
Although all mahapurushas are equally venerable, different individuals have love for different personalities. Hanuman was well aware that Narayana and Ramachandra, were the same entity. Even then, he was more attracted towards Ramachandra.
