The Three prerequisites and Stages of Spiritual Knowledge

   The Three prerequisites of Spiritual Knowledge

   Among so many people in our human society, very few get the oppertunity to acquire spiritual knowledge.  Now a person having a human body must also have the following three aspirations.  

Pranipatena : That is an aspirant should have a sincere desire to know Him, a sincere longing for Him.  Then we will say that one is ready to do pranipatena. Pranipatena means complete surrender.  So one will have to withdraw all psychic propensities moving towards cruder objects and guid them towards the Supreme Entity. This is pranipatena. 

Pariprashnena : Pariprashnena means " question". That you know sometimes just to quench the thirst of your inquisitiveness you ask a question and sometimes just just to befool the other person you ask a question. The answer is known to you but just you befool the other party you make an inquiry. And sometimes you ask a question meaninglessly.  They are not pariprashnena. Pariprashnena has only one meaning ,only one impor , and that is that you are to ask a question in order to get a certain reply.You ask the questions knowing that you will act according to the reply. 

Sevaya:  Sevaya means " through service" When you want to learn the spiritual science from Parama Purusa ( only Parama Purusa knows the spiritual science , and He preaches spiritual knowledge thought a physical body which we know as the Guru. So actually , the science is known to Parama Purusa and to nobody else) when you want to know something from Him, you will have to satisfy Him. The entire living world is His progeny. He is the Progenitor. So to satisfy Him you will have to selfless service to His children. 

     You know , our transactions are of two kinds: You give something , and at the same time you take something- this is called a commercial transction.  In English seva is unilateral or one-sided.

   There is another way of explaining it.  Now if you want to take the most costly article from Him, You will have to pay Him the highest sum.  When your giving is unilateral . and when you are giving your everything to Him and receive spiritual knowledge , in both cases, it is " seva".

   So in order to acquire spiritual knowledge and enjoy spiritual bliss, three actions are to be done by you. They are Pranipatena , Pariprashnena and sevaya. This is the process of spiritual approach.

The Three stages of Spiritual Progress

        Sarve cha pasavah santi talavad bhulate narah ,

           Tesam gyanam prakashaya viirabhavah prakashitah ,

           Viirabhavam sadaprapya kramena devata bhavet.

   Every human geings goes through a period of infancy after birth. At that stage, as the intellect is not yet formed, there is no developed faculty of judgement and one remains infantile in all respects. 

    When the baby grows up and becomes a little child it develops some intellect and beings calling its elder sister by her name. It sounds pleasing and the elder sister enjoys it. But when that little child becomes older , neither the sister nor the other menbers of the family further appreciate that.  There you must call me " elder sister" But when children are little, no-one [ condemns] their faults and neither should they. 

The inner spirit of this initiation is that one should pray to Parama Purusa(God) " O Lord , show me the right path." Well the one who seek a path will surely find it. In the Gayatri Mantra it has been said.....

The next stage is the initiation according to the Tantric system which occurs when one is eligible to be taught Ista Mantra and Guru Mantra.  In fact after the prayers is made to the Supreme Entity, it is Iishvara who makes arrangements for imparting diiksa ( initiation) and Isata Mantra.   Those who have not joined the path of spiritual practice remain underdeveloped beings. Thought endowed with a human body, they are no better than animals. 

 Later on after joining the path of spiritual practice, one is confronted with obstacles and hindrances on all sides. Even one's families, friends and relatives create obstacle.  At this stage one address Parama Purusa as Viireshvara". To the devotee having attained the mentality of a hero , He is no longer known as Pasupati. 

" Kramena devata bhavet" . One becomes God in due course. That is , one attains Godhood. Rising step by step from viira bhava ( heroic stance) one becomes a varitable god and reaches divya bhava.  Such a person proceeds far along the path of evolution and one day merges in Parama Purusa,and becomes Parama Purusa Himself. These are the different stage of spiritual practice.

 Those who utilize this potential are intelligent but those who do not, and like animals, will be born as even more inferior creatures in the next life.Animals have no intellect and therefore cannot work intellectually. Humans however, are already endowed with intellect and the faculty of judgement. So if they do not act properly or fail to follow the path of spirituality, they are no better than animals. It is therefore the duty of every sadhaka to propagate dharma so that humans will not make this mistake but will follow the path of spirituality. This should be our inherent nature.