Holy texts and sacred scriptures are blue prints with information on how to live life and walk the divine path to God. A vast number of books are available today for every religion in the world. These are studied by all – the priests, gurus, disciples, preachers, housewives, students, workers, management and others. Many have a natural liking and inclination for learning the sacred scriptures and delight in quoting them. For some learning and quoting the sacred scriptures is an obsession and they relish quoting chapter and verse with eloquence.
Self realisation is about the highest goal to be achieved by mankind and it cannot be achieved by mere words. Those who practiced diligently the teachings of their Gurus achieved the towering goal and in doing so gained depths of understanding of God and Universe which are not to be found in books. Our books are after all written by those who understood and realised God through inner experience in meditation. When we walk on on the path of God through daily practices, we find in ourselves, a new wisdom which makes the working of universe and life more clear. Those who merely talk eloquently without practice have no power of realisation or of even inner understanding of God or Life as is given in the story below:
Once there were two men who entered into the monkhood of Buddha at the same time. They were both very different in their approach and goals. The first monk studied the sacred doctrines and became very proficient in them. He always had a group of admirers thronging around him to hear him speak. The second monk believed in regular practice of the teachings of Buddha and eventually due to sincere practices attained enlightenment. He was not a great talker and did not advertise his exalted state to anyone. These two monks met each other when they once went to visit Buddha.
The first monk was unaware of the exalted state of his brother monk and wanted to ridicule and embarrass him by asking him questions which he would surely not know as he was not a scholar. But he was not aware that by insulting a realised being, he would pay the heavy karmic price of being reborn in a lower world. Buddha could read the first monk’s mind easily and in his compassion he decided to prevent this from happening. He decided to ask the questions himself. He asked questions on higher states of meditation. The first monk could not answer them as he only preached and not practised. The second monk has no problems in answering the questions. He spoke humbly but with great authority of inner experience. Buddha praised the second monk and did not mention the first one. Later on when Buddha was questioned by the other monks as to why he did not praise the scholarly monk, Buddha explained that knowing the sacred scriptures by rote was not enough. One must live in accordance with Dharma.
Those who just preached and not practice the sacred scriptures are like the spoons which stir delicious food. They can only stir and serve others but not taste for themselves. They are like shop vendors who remove cartons of milk and other foods but serve others. Those who practice are like the owners of the food. They can eat and relish the taste of different tasty foods at anytime of their choice and can also help others to eat and relish the same food through sharing.
The scholars and lecturers will enjoy the popularity , fees and service their admirers bring them. But they will not receive grace or become enlightened. Those who practice the teachings receive inner knowledge and experience which gives true wisdom and in-depth understanding of the teachings, universe, life and Divinity. All talk is no power. Those who practice get power plus wisdom to talk well. A person may know little but forsaking lust, hatred, anger, delusion, pride and attachment, if he practices the teachings, he becomes truly wise and gets the blessings of a holy life. Let us diligently practise the SitaRam Mantra, meditation and teachings of the Guru and achieve this grace.
