By Dr. J. Das
There are two kinds of worship – Outer and Inner. People of all religions take part in one or the other. However, most religious people will engage in the outer form. In the outer form, there are:
1. Places of worship: church, temple, mosque, gurdwara, a holy shrine etc.
2. Scriptures: Quran, Bible, Torah, Guru Granth, Gita, Buddhist Canon, etc.
3. Prayers: Every religion has a number of prayers in various languages. They are directed to God or to the founder of the religion, or to some saint, in order to derive some type of benefit.
4. Rituals: People of the different religions have their prescribed rituals to propitiate various gods and goddesses, or to powers of nature, in order to gain some benefit.
5. Repetition and chanting: There are certain sacred words or mantras that religious people will recite, sing or chant with or without music, or the use of a rosary (mala).
6. Pilgrimages: Devotees of the various religions have certain holy shrines, temples, rivers, mountains, relic sites or saintly abodes, where they go on pilgrimages, and feel that they have derived spiritual benefit.
7. Fasting: Different religions have different days or months for fasting, often based on the lunar calendar. During fasting, people try to purify their thoughts, words and deeds. They try to become more spiritual.
There are of course other forms of outer worship depending on the religion e.g. ancestor worship, idol worship, scripture worship etc. The common denominator in all of these types of worship is that they are external. They depend on a place, use of articles, a language, a travelling, a use of money, a holy personage, a congregation, a priest, music etc. The mind and senses are generally interacting externally. The mind may even wander and not be in tune with the worship. The worship may become mechanical (empty rituals), and not taken to heart. The anticipated benefit may not follow, since the worship has not created a change in the heart. People may spend a lifetime in such worship and show no spiritual growth. This is regrettable.
Now let us look at Inner Worship. The mind and the senses are withdrawn from all external things, and turned inwards. You no longer worship outwardly as described above. You now control the mind and its thought waves and, in stillness, centre the mind on consciousness of the soul and God’s presence within. Certain inner values need to be developed:
1. Deep feeling of love and unity with God.
2. Deep feeling of unity with all beings.
3. Surrendering the ego and developing humility.
4. Surrendering all material possessions to God, and be like a manager of all that you possess, and use them wisely.
5. Develop a non-violent nature towards all living beings.
6. Meditate with a pure mind, free from all passions, and realize your true and eternal nature as the soul. You transcend the body consciousness. Soul and God are always united, and there is no duality. Atma is eternal, and Paramatma is eternal Atma, so both are the same in spiritual nature. This is enlightenment or liberation, or moksha. Satguru Kabir said to Dharam Dass:dharam dass pat khol dekho tattva men nihatattva hai; kahe kabir nihatattva darse awagawan newarie (O Dharam Dass, remove the veil and see that in the body made of the five elements is the Being beyond the elements. When you realize that which is beyond the elements, then you will be free of birth and death).
In worship, you need to look at the mind. Does the mind have pure thoughts? It is the mind with thoughts that make you do things. In outer worship, your mind is going outward, concentrating outward: You see and hear things outside. You are looking at that temple, or at that mountain. You are interacting outward all the time. But in inner worship the mind goes inwards. You withdraw your senses from the outside, and begin to purify the mind, character, conduct, habits, desires, and tastes, and improve yourself in every way possible. You do all of these through the mind. But first you have to know the path to get there.
People all over the world are doing the outer worship anyway. But how many do the inner worship, and touch the soul by going into meditation? When you withdraw your mind from the outside and bring it inside, then you will find that that is where God dwells. You concentrate on a point between the eyebrows with eyes closed. This point is the trikuti, or spiritual eye. When you withdraw your mind from everything outside, and centre it there, then you will find there is nothing outside of you anymore; you are not aware of anything. Your mind is totally concentrated in your own self as pure consciousness. When you reach that state of inner consciousness, there is only peace. When you get in touch with the soul, there is no hate, greed, jealousy, or violence. All these are discarded, because the soul is free of them. The soul is pure. But the soul is trapped in the body, and the body is trapped by the senses, passions, desires and ego. The body makes you do all kinds of wrong things, but when the mind is pure, it can control the body to do the right things. But the mind has a controller too; it is called intellect orbuddhi. When the buddhi acts on the mind, the mind does the right things. When the mind does the right things, then the body will begin to do the right things. When the body does the right things, your conduct will become right. Then you will realize the merit of meditation. When you experience meditation, then you will understand what Guru Kabir said: bund samana samund men, janat hai sab koi; samund samana bund men, jane birla koi. When your soul, like a drop of water mixing with the ocean, connects with God, and God connects with the soul, the two become one. Hardly does anyone realize this. Again Guru Kabir said: jal men kumbh, kumbh me jal hai, bahar bhitar pani, phute kumbh jal jalahi samana, aisa gyan birle jani. A jar is in the ocean, and water is in the jar; break the jar and both waters become one. Just so, when you transcend the body and ego, you will find that the soul and God are already united. Get rid of the idea of only the material life, and know that you are a spiritual being and have right understanding. When you get right understanding and knowledge, you will realize your connection with God, and all the barriers will break, and you will be free. You will have spiritual knowledge. But you are not getting it because you are too busy doing outward worship; you do not have time for inner worship.
From the above discussion it becomes clear that outer worship is good, but it does not confer the inner awakening of knowledge that sets you free. The whole world is suffering due to negative karmas. Guru Kabir said: jahan dekha mai duhkiya dekha; sukhiya dekha na koi. (Everywhere we look, we see suffering; we do not see true happiness). If we wish to have peace and happiness, then the inner path is the way to go.
Dr. Das is a retired medical doctor. He is president of the Kabir Association of Canada, and of The Global Clergy Association of Canada, and is a member of the Surrey Interfaith Council. He teaches meditation and lectures and blogs on spiritual topics. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit www.kabir.ca.
