Spirituality & Enlightenment FAQ
The following are answers by Acharya Shree Yogeesh to frequently asked questions. Some answers are transcriptions of questions answered on YouTube.
Is your teaching religion or philosophy?
I teach neither. How can I teach religion if you consider that throughout history most wars were started and conducted because of religion? Religion puts you in a small box and those that are in the box will think that their religion is the right religion. And they will consider other religions inferior.
I do not teach philosophy either because philosophy is based on logic and argument. Logic does not work with my teaching. My teaching is to find where the real self is hidden and how to discover it. The real self is hidden inside of you and my teaching is about inner phenomena. Finding the souls is a backward journey, not a forward journey. This teaching has no path and no milestone. It is
unknown. You have to jump into the unknown if you want to learn.
Who is a Truth Seeker? Who is Spiritual?
A truth seeker is someone that is trying to discover himself; who he really is. A truth seeker is not seeking God, Jesus, Mahavira, or Buddha. He wants to know why he is here, why he is human, and where he comes from. The seeker wants to find the purpose for his life. Seeking is a curiosity, which will eventually bring answers. For sure, we are all coming from somewhere else because this body is not eternal. Even children are very curious about themselves. They want to know what their body is. They look in the mirror and question themselves. These children are spiritual seekers but it is unfortunate that they find religious teachers instead of spiritual teachers. If these children had the opportunity to find spiritual teachers they would really blossom, become beautiful people, and their growth can be special. It is unfortunate that they find madrasas but not the real spiritual schools.
It is not easy to find a real spiritual master either. The world is full of disciples but real masters are few. Teachers will teach traditions, sadhus will teach drugs, but none of them teach others how to blossom. Among all seekers there are only few that really blossom, they ask the real questions and they are very lucky if they find a live master who can have a real impact on their life where their lives fully transform.
In life, to be a truth seeker is very important and meeting a live master can be the greatest blessing to the person.
How can someone be spiritual in our current society?
Society is afraid of the real spiritual seeker. When a seeker begins to blossom, under the influence of the teachings of a live master, society looks down on him. He is considered crazy and it is difficult for society to accept him. All live masters are considered mad because they do not fall into the norms of society. People who follow New Age teachings are not considered spiritual because they are confused and they fall into the trap of religious teachings.
Those seekers who have a live master are very fortunate. They are with the master for one reason only and that is to learn. Their curiosity is for learning. This makes it very difficult for society to accept them but at some point society will have to realize that only the spiritual person can bring peace. If thousands of spiritual people in the US come together to sit in meditation and they send out positive energy, peace will prevail throughout the country. Contrary to religious people who pray to ask God for things, spiritual people work in society selflessly. Spiritual people are natural, they flow and they learn. They grow and they blossom.
Religion versus Spirituality
There is confusion about religion and spirituality. Religion is not spirituality and spirituality is not religion. Religion teaches a way of life in society. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism have different paths of teaching. People think that by connecting or conversing with God or by following a certain code of dress they are in religion. Every religion tries to bring peace in the world but they want to do it through their own path. The more they insist on their way the more wars they create. A teacher recently was jailed in Africa because her students wanted to name a toy teddy bear Mohammed and according to Islam you cannot name a teddy bear by the prophet’s name. Religion doesn’t bring peace despite all the good teachings.
Religion is like a garden that is full of various flowers, most fragrant and a few not so fragrant. As soon as religion starts to brainwash its people they will fight until death for their ideas. Religion’s role is to bring goodness to people only.
Spirituality is the better way because it avoids the pitfall of religious teaching or a way. Spirituality is the pathless path. It takes you on a backward journey into yourself. When you search deep into your being you are spiritual. This focus, not the focus on others or the outside world, into the depth of your soul will lead you to God. This is not a belief; it is a knowing. Being spiritual allows you to blossom. It brings peace to the person and to the world.
The soul, atma, for which there is another word, Parusha, is the light inside of you. It is the force that drives the body. The body cannot be alive without this light no matter if the organs and the senses are still present. The soul or atma can be elevated to mahatma, the great soul and to paramahatma, the expanded soul or consciousness. When this peace is achieved through spirituality you can bring peace to the world. But first be a peaceful person yourself. Don’t try to change others.
Spirituality is the best way of understanding and if the world becomes spiritual peace will prevail. Once you understand spirituality and expand the soul it can travel to other planets because the soul, the light, does not need oxygen to survive. In spirituality the soul will blossom and expand and there will be no differentiation between you and God. Spirituality is blossoming not brainwashing.