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Could Indian spirituality have helped Mother Teresa?

Mother Teresa has done unparalleled service to India. Could she
also have benefited from theunparalleled spiritual wealth of India?
Yes, definitely!
Although Mother Teresa lived in this ancient land of rich spiritual
heritage, she stayed away from Indian spirituality and remained an
island unto herself. It is not uncommon for spiritual seekers to
lose sight of what is happening inside them when they get involved
in serving others.
Whether many so-called religious people are really on the spiritual
path itself is questionable. They neither acknowledge nor recognise
the conflicts and agony that one faces on the spiritual path.
Mother Teresa has been so sincere and honest to herself that she
expressed what she was experiencing. On the spiritual path, what is
most important is to be honest with yourself and recognise what is
happening within you.
Serving others uplifts one's energy, but it does not alleviate one
from the inner torment. For that, one has to understand the
mechanics of consciousness and their relation with pleasure or
pain. This knowledge is found in many Indian scriptures such as the
Upanishads, Yoga Vashistha, Ashtavakra Geeta and Tripura
Rahasya.
The knowledge of Vedanta could have helped Mother Teresa get over
her doubts and quench her intense seeking. All the states described
in her letters are mentioned in the nine obstacles to yoga
enunciated by Maharshi Patanjali.
Mother Teresa would have benefited immensely from Maharshi's
enunciations on how to face the obstacles of Vyadhi (ill-health),
Styana (procrastination), Samshaya (doubt), Pramada (carelessness),
Aalasya (laziness), Avirati (craving), Bhranti-darshana
(confusion), Alabdha Bhumikatva (lack of any spiritual attainment)
and Anavasthitva (emptiness or agonising state of mind).
Mother Teresa seemed to have gone through the
agony of these states of consciousness without the knowledge of
spiritual science. This is akin to a person suffering from malaria,
not knowing what medicines to take.
What Mother Teresa experienced is not different from what many
saints from different religions, including Sri Ram, went through.
Sri Ram found his guidance from Maharshi Vashishtha in the form of
Yoga Vashishta. In the scriptures it is said that only one who is
well versed in some practice of samadhi can help one to overcome
spiritual torment and misery.
When orthodox beliefs limit us from looking beyond, it becomes an
impediment on our spiritual journey.
One on the spiritual path should have an open mind and, at the same
time, honour orthodoxy. Spirituality beyond the boundaries of a
religion can help one to cope with loneliness, isolation and
emptiness. It need not be seen as a betrayal of one's own religion
or philosophy.
Spiritual practices like yoga and meditation do not in any way
conflict with one's religious beliefs. Take the example of Father
Bede Griffith who came to India and studied yoga and Vedanta
philosophy in Trichy. These teachings helped him to overcome
obstacles on the spiritual path while remaining true to his faith
as a devout Christian monk.
Being orthodox, Mother Teresa perhaps thought she would be
betraying Jesus if she searched for answers to her dilemma in
Indian spirituality. A seeker has to keep the goal in front and if
there is a block on the path, he or she has to find an alternative
route to the goal.
When we see God as an object of perception, that is when we are
totally lost and misery follows. From the scene to the seer, from
the object of perception to the perceiver... that shift of
consciousness makes all the difference on the spiritual journey.
This is how the real joy, which is the nature of consciousness,
gets kindled. And all the barriers, mental blocks and intellectual
inhibitions that our understanding imposes can be transcended by
experiencing the precepts of Vedanta.
It is unfortunate that people are not open in their thinking. I am
sure that just a few sessions of pranayama and meditation would
have helped Mother Teresa to overcome those days of darkness and
inner torment. Thousands of seekers on the spiritual path
experience this state, but they overcome it once they practise
dhyana.
The Indian philosophy talks of three types of misery - physical,
mental and spiritual. Spiritual torment is the worst. The agony and
torment that one experiences is at the level of the mind and to go
beyond the mind, go beyond thoughts, is the very purpose of
samadhi. Mind is the cause of both bondage and liberation. Unless
one knows how to quieten the mind, it is impossible to achieve
inner peace.
The mind can be transcended through yoga
sadhana. Yoga is not asanas alone; pranayama and meditation are an
integral part of it. Patanjali Yoga Darshan, Adi Shankara's Drig
Drishya Viveka, Vigyan Bhairav Tantra of Kashmir Shaivism,
Thirumandiram of Saint Thirumula all offer different techniques
that help one overcome spiritual torment and misery.
Ayurveda, yoga and Vedanta respectively are the three remedies to
eliminate mala (impurities in the body) vikshepa (disturbances in
mind) and avarna (veil that covers the light within). While
ayurveda helps people to calm their thoughts, pranayama and
meditation help one become happy from the core of their Being.
Happiness is only a sign of connection with the divinity deep
within. Through these Vedantic practices, you can experience the
scintillating consciousness that you are. It is a simple
recognition of what is and has always been in us, and with us, as
our self.
The basic principle of Vedanta is that what you
are seeking is already there, like the air around you. You don't
have to go somewhere searching; you only need to become aware. In
the same way divinity, or the consciousness, bliss, love, is
already present in you; it is only a matter of recognising
it.
Scientific temper and Vedantic knowledge together make one whole
and bring inner stillness. And that is the essence of Indian
spirituality. Critics often ask what use is spirituality if the
underprivileged are not taken care of. What they fail to see is
that wherever there is genuine spirituality, a component of seva or
service has always been attached to it. And this can be seen
through the length and breadth of this country.
In the realm of consciousness, as you sow so shall you reap. If you
think suffering is an important tool for uniting with God, then you
are bound to attract it. If you sow a seed of suffering, that
multiplies. The lack of experience of dhyana (meditation) and
samadhi (equanimity) can keep a seeker morose and dull. To overcome
this, one needs a shift in understanding about heaven and hell, and
about the consciousness that is all pervading. Spirituality alone
can bring that shift.
In the Eastern philosophy, experience comes first and then faith
follows. In the occidental way of thinking, belief comes first and
then experience. Mother Teresa had faith but was struggling for an
experience. And it was experience which turned atheist Vivekananda
into a swami. Ironically, Kolkata witnessed both in the same
century!
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Hindustan Times
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