Cover Story

Religion is an inner experience which changes, transforms a person’s life. It infuses in you a spirit of meekness and compassion and love. Then out of you emanate vibrations which spread peace and happiness, wherever you go.

There is an amusing, little story told us concerning Abu Hasan, a Sufi mystic of Islam. I reproduce it in the words of Beloved Dada, Sadhu Vaswani.

There came to Abu Hasan, one day, a man who said:

"Thou art a dervish of God. Give me the clothes thou hast worn and I shall wear them."

And Abu Hasan said, "May I request you, first, to answer one question? If a man wears a woman’s clothes, does he become a woman?"

"No," said the man.

And the dervish asked again, "if a woman wears a man’s clothes, does she become a man?"

"No," was the answer.

"Then," said Hasan, "how can you, by wearing a fakir’s clothes, become a fakir?"

And Abu Hasan proceeded to tell the man that he could not become a fakir until he had first a longing for God. In yearning was the seed of realization.

How true it is, that by wearing a woman’s clothes, a man does not become a woman! I learnt this lesson when I was a little boy of four. A puja was performed in the house of a neighbor: To it he invited all who lived in that area. He sent a word specially to the little girls—the Kumaris—to be present at the puja, adding that each one of them would be given a two-anna coin. In those days, two-anna coins were made of silver and had great value. Several small girls attended the puja. My two elder sisters said to me: "Why don’t you also come, dressed as a girl? You will get a two-anna coin!" I yielded to the temptation. I put on a skirt and a blouse, and accompanied them to the puja. When the puja was over, all of us lined up to receive the coins. When my turn came and I received the coin, my sisters could not suppress their laughter. This made the man, who handed the coins, suspicious. He stared at me and exclaimed: "I have seen through your game! Dare you cheat me by putting on girl’s clothes?" He snatched the coin from my little hand and boxed my ears.

It was then that I learnt that merely by putting on the dress of a girl, a boy cannot become a girl.

I also learnt the great lesson that money and castigation go together. Since then, I have never sought money, and always feel happy and satisfied with whatever the Lord sends.

Likewise the holy man, Abu Hasan, teaches us that by wearing the garb of a fakir, one does not become a fakir. One must have intense longing for God. In yearning is the seed of realization.

Religion, true religion, is nothing "outer". Religion does not consist in wearing a particular dress or subscribing to a creed or dogma. Religion is realization. Religion is not the cowl of a monk, nor the ritual of a mosque. Religion is, essentially, an inner experience: Until you have received this experience, you are far from religion. You may read the scriptures every day, you may visit the temple and chant hymns, you may turn the beads of the rosary, that will not make you religious. Religion is an experience. Unless you have a vision of God, the experience of the One-in-all, you have not reached the goal of religion.

A girl came to me. With deep sadness of the heart, she said to me, "My mother-in-law comes to the satsang every evening and, when she returns home, she starts abusing me!"

The mother-in-law came to the satsang everyday, but was far from the spirit of religion, which is the spirit of compassion and love. And I said to the girl, "It is true, your mother-in-law comes to the satsang but the satsang has not yet come to her. Your mother-in-law comes and sits in the satsang but the satsang does not sit within her heart."

Religion is an inner experience which changes, transforms a person’s life. It infuses in you a spirit of meekness and compassion and love. You become an entirely different person. Merely by looking at you, people exclaim: "Here is a good-man!" Out of you emanate vibrations which spread peace and happiness, wherever you go. It is not the ochre robe but the interior state of consciousness that makes one religious or otherwise.

This sublime truth has been emphasized by all the great ones of humanity. Listen to the words of Guru Nanak:

Wherein lies true religion?

Not in repeating mantras or turning beads of the rosary.

Not in visiting tombs or places of pilgrimages,

Nor in taking bath in the sacred rivers,

But the secret of religion lies in the selfless service of God and man.

It was Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa who pointed out that the way to the Ganges was strewn with trees. When people took bath in the Ganges, their sins left them and perched on the branches of trees. When the people returned, all their sins came back to them!

How true, it is, that a bath in the Ganges does not cleanse a person’s heart. It is the heart that needs to be washed white as snow.

In the teaching of the Rishis of ancient India there is emphasis on brahmacharya. "Brahma" is "God" "Charya" is "to walk". Brahmacharya is "walking with god." We have to walk with God. We have to live and move and do our daily work in the radiant presence of the Lord. In this connection may I suggest to you three things:

Each one has his or her duty to do. In the measure in which we perform our duties sincerely, honestly, earnestly, faithfully—in that measure do we grow in perfection. What matters is not what I do, but how I do it. I may be a sweeper, sweeping the streets of Pune. If I do my work sincerely and honestly, and make of it an offering of love to the Lord, the portals of perfection will be open to me as easily as they would be to the greatest amongst us, provided he does his duties sincerely and well.

Garfield was one of the presidents of America. One day, during an election campaign, as he addressed a gathering, someone said to him, "Garfield, you aspire to be the President of the United States. Is it not true that sometime ago you worked as a cobbler?" Quietly answered Garfield: "It is true I worked as a cobbler. But I cobbled well!"

Whatever be your duty, do it well. Your duty is the role you have to play in the ever-unfolding cosmic drama of life. If you will not play your part well, the drama will be spoilt. I remember how, as a boyscout, I had to take part in a variety entertainment show. In one of the scenes I played the part of Napoleon, the great emperor. I had but to lift up a finger and hundreds of my soldiers would rush to find out what my command was. In a succeeding scene, I played the role of a boy-servant in the employ of a big land-owner. He imperiously asked me to fetch a glass of water. I felt tempted to say to him: "What do you mean? Only a little while ago I was the great emperor Napoleon, and you were one of my common soldiers. How dare you order me to bring for you a glass of water!" I am happy I resisted the temptation. Had I yielded to it, I would have spoilt the show.

Your duty is the role you have to play in the great drama of life. Play your part well. Even if your duty be an ignoble one—says the Lord in the Gita—and the duty of another be a noble one, you must not renounce your duty to do the duty of another. "Better death in the discharge of one’s own duty. To follow another’s duty is full of danger." Do your duty! Each one of us has his or her duties to perform. The father has his duties, the mother has her duties. The children have their duties. The teachers have their duties: The pupils have their duties. The employers have their duties: The workers have their duties. If only each one of us were true to his or her duty, what a wonderful place this world would be! Today there is confusion, there is chaos around us. Because today the emphasis has shifted from duties to rights. Each one claims his or her rights. No one seems to think of their duties. Women say to me, they must have their rights. Yes, my sisters, you must have your rights: But what about your duties? Men claim their rights. Yes, my brothers, you must have your rights: But what about your duties? If only each one of us performed our duties well, there would be no need to claim our rights.

The second point to note is seva, service of the poor and suffering ones. We must realize that we belong to the larger family of humanity, and it is our duty to extend our hand of helpfulness to those in need. He who cooks for himself alone is a thief — says the Lord in the Gita. If in my home there is no bread for a hungry one or for a tired wayfarer, am I any better than a thief? There are certain words I read several years ago: They have clung to my memory. "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not deter it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

The third point to which I would wish to refer, today, is practice of silence. After you have done your duty, after you have helped someone in need, come and sit in your silence-corner. Do it everyday, preferably at the same time and at the same place. It is your daily appointment with God. You have a number of appointments to keep everyday. Never forget to keep your appointment with your True Self, your Higher Self, your Nobler Self, in the words of the Gita, the Self Supreme, which, for want of a better word, we call God. In the beginning, practice silence for 15 minutes. Gradually, increase the period to at least one hour. Sitting in silence, pray, meditate, do your spiritual thinking. As you practice silence, more and more, you will sink deeper and deeper within yourself until, one blessed day, you will behold a bright patch of light in your forehead. This will grow into a full orbit of light which will appear in your plexis of thousand petals––the sahasrar chakra—in our head—and your entire inner self will be illumined. And you, my brother, and you, my sister, you too will behold God face to face. And you will have the strength from God to serve the poor and broken ones in the right spirit.

And then, what then? When in different parts of India, we have such men and women, who do their duty sincerely and honestly, who serve the poor and broken ones beholding in them pictures of God, who through their daily practice of silence have beheld God, face to face, then will speed across the length and breadth of India a mighty revolution of the Spirit. Then, and not until then, will India have the strength to go out on her mission of help and healing to the nations.

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The Secret of Religion - J P Vaswani