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Swamiji, what exactly do you mean when you
advocate following the ‘spiritual path’?
Life has two parts, the gross and the subtle. The
body is part of the ‘gross’ and the mind is part of the
‘subtle’. Our rishis discovered that the subtle mind is
the pivot on which the gross body exists. Our mind
is responsible for making our body work. Only when
the mind is awake, is the body able to awake and
work. When we realise this, we can understand that
our life is centred on our thoughts and by
changing our thoughts we can become
capable of facing any situation in life. Our
sacred texts such as the Bhagavad Gita,
Srimad Bhagavatam and the various
Upanishads teach us how to handle our
wavering mind properly. Careful study
and observation of the functioning of the
mind, equips us to face any situation that
life throws at us intelligently, and thereby
become joyous, peaceful and strong. Living such an
intelligent life is what I call spirituality.
Swamiji, why do you criticise temple worship
in your lectures?
I have never condemned temple worship. I only
advocate that it be practised as envisaged in our
scriptures so that one’s mind gets elevated! When we
go to the temple and pray, we think that the deity in
the temple has some supernatural powers that will
fulfil our desires and help us to solve any problem.
As per tantra sastras, the deity gets its ‘consciousness’
through the ritual of avahanam (consecration)
conducted by a priest. Thus it is clear that the deity
derives its chaithanyam (energy) from a conscious
human being. But unfortunately, most devotees do
not realise that the ‘power’ of the deity is the power
of consciousness within each one of us. Out of sheer
ignorance we pray for the fulfilment of our mundane
desires. By following such illogical and irrational
practices, we misuse the entire system. Great acharyas
like Adi Shankara always insisted that without
the real knowledge of spirituality, temple worship
and the practice of rituals will never help in our spiritual
progress.
LIFE POSITIVE �AUGUST 2011
What have you got against astrologers
and people who consult them?
Astrology is scientific and reliable; but not
so all astrologers! Only rigorously trained
astrologers can give reliable predictions. If
the astrologer has correctly predicted some
aspects of our past we automatically assume
that his predictions for the future are true
too. Many astrologers have the habit of mis-
“Careful study and observation of the functioning
of the mind, equips us to face any situation
that life throws at us intelligently, and thereby
become joyous, peaceful and strong.”
leading and frightening people and discouraging
them from their endeavours! True
devotees of the Lord do not seek future predictions
– instead they surrender to the
Lord, act fearlessly and accept everything
as His prasad!
Astrology falls in the category of astronomy,
which is the study of the cosmic energy.
But the human mind is a manifested conscious
energy. Though our inherent character,
behavior and attitude are different, all
have the ability to divert the mind from pursuing
negative thoughts to positive ones.
For people who realise this capacity, astrology
will not have any significance. But
astrology comes in handy for the weakminded
as an excuse to cover up their
weakness.
Of what relevance is Vedanta in modern
times?
Even though we have progressed a lot, the
difficulties we face in our social and individual
lives are enormous. Suicide rates are
on the increase as many are not able to
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