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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

http://sulekha.com/chpost.asp?for...ilosophy&show=0&cid=73771

One reader has written:

Is it possible to approach the end of the path without a human
spiritual guide? I do practice daily prayer and meditation. I am
currently reading Gita (again) Although I have read much I have not
studied the Vedic literature extensively.

I am the product of my up bring. My father who began as a Pentecostal
preacher as a teenager and transformed into a devout Buddhist by the
time he was 21 years old. By the time I was born he had perfected
Sanskrit and was being requested to speak on Hinduism and Buddhism in
local colleges and universities. It was the decision of my parents to
expose me to as much as possible concerning religion to give me
options. Almost every Sunday we attended Hindu pujas, and on random
other days we attended everything from Quaker meetings to Islamic
prayer services. And for fun we would go to the local Catholic
church. I know it doesn't sound like it would be fun, but there were
lots of children my age and it remained me of the family orientation
of the Indian Community which gave me comfort.

I went through all of that in order for you to understand that I have
had quite a journey myself and have been exposed to a variety of
cultures and religions. This, in my view, goes hand in hand. I am not
the scholar in my family and I don't claim to be an expert, but being
raised around all this, some things have jump out at me through the
years. In my view culture colors how one perceives religion and god.
Where one comes from gives a person a perspective on how they are
going to handle their surroundings. A sort of rose colored glasses if
you will. Though it is not only culture of a certain ethnicity or
even geography that colors our vision but also that which affected
our view points as children and adults (experiences combined with
surrounding belief systems).

So, in conclusion when you ask if you need a guide, I would in your
shoes first ask myself what I am looking for before I ask myself what
I need to do to acquire it. Do you need fellowship, do you
desire "truth" for truth sake, do you desire something close to
enlightenment, or are you merely trying to find a way to fill the
emptiness we all sometimes feel?

My experiences and perspective on this subject is quite simple. No
matter what religion you associate with they all have one thing that
stands out for me—when one has the purity of heart and loves god (or
the force as it is called in star wars—which to me quite
appropriate.) with selflessness then dogma, politics and other people
can not stand in the way. Some believe that living the best you can
is the true being of all truth paths. A day to day experience. Robert
E. Lee once said that the first step to finding the trueness of heart
is to learn to deny yourself. Hinduism says, "renounce, renounce,
renounce."—as does Buddhism. The Sufis and the mystics of the
Catholics would agree as well. When I was around 8 years old I
decided that all suffering in the world was caused by selfishness—
even the selfishness of wanting enlightenment above and before one
duty. But, in the end you will only find the answers in your own
heart.

Self control, purity of heart and love of god.

Maybe you are right in saying that too much scholarly indulgence can
cause confusion but in the end we are all traveling a similar path.

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