Spirtual Awareness

WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF LIFE

RELATIONSHIP  WITH GOD

A human being is not merely a body made from  flesh and blood. There is presence of a divine spirit  which is generally known as SOUL (ATMA) or SELF. In Hinduism it is believed that God resides in everybody in the form of soul that is why our Saints term everybody as God. Our Learned  religious Gurus teach  us  that I am God (AHAM BRAHM ASTI). Thus God is inseparable part of our life right from the time we are born (even before birth i.e. when a life starts breathing in mother’s womb) and remains with us till our last breath. Rather we are able to breathe because there is God in the form of soul in us.  It is the  soul  in womb that prays and promises God that once born it will strive hard not to be born again.

Soul After Death

Our soul is eternal, indestructible and invincible. It cannot be grasped with senses. According to Our great Saint Sukhdev ji maharaj our soul never dies. In fact when a soul enters a body it is termed as birth and when it leaves a body it is known as death. Thus birth and death is for body only not for soul. After death it traverses on one of the two paths depending upon our KARMA which is not only of this lifetime but many of our earlier lives. The Paths are known as Sun Path and Moon Path. Sun path is attained by doing Good deeds and remembrance of God in our earlier lives. This is called Salvation and such souls are not born again. It is purely due to the grace of GOD that sun path can be achieved. Soul traverses Moon path if our deeds are not good. Such souls have to be born again.

Bhagwat Gita and ultimate goal of life

No weapon can kill Atma, Fire cannot burn it, Water cannot dampen it and wind can not dry it. This divine spirit resides in every being. Our Shastras define  this as eternal and the only truth i.e. the one who is born has to die. This holds good for body made of flesh and blood  but not for the soul as there is no birth or death for it.

The SOUL leaves the old body and enters a new one as we change our clothes. Thus death is not a tragedy but a natural process in the existence of life.

There is a question which arises in the mind of a mature soul, “What is the ultimate goal of my life ?”

Different people may have different opinions to this question depending upon their age, upbringing and environmental conditions. Thus their answers may differ depending upon the life he is leading. A person engrossed in worldly pursuits wants to be happy and have peace of mind. Usually they derive this happiness by fulfillment of their desires. They want tangible possessions like a car, a costly jewellery, a luxurious house, money, name and fame. Students long for academic success and a good job. Businessmen want a flourishing business. These desires are never ending. Fulfillment of one leads to another. Everyone is suffering from a disease called “Much wants more”.

The happiness that we get from materialistic possessions is temporary or momentary, It may last few minutes or hours or may be there for days, weeks, months, or years however it may not last forever.  We become  comfortable and complacent as long  these possessions are there with us. Slowly but surely arrogance also creeps in a person having such possessions.

Such persons become unhappy the moment they do not have what they want and this leads to sorrow and even bitterness. It is then followed by anger and irrational behavior. At this point of time we start questioning even God, “Why did God let this happen to me?”

Renunciation is not  required to attain salvation. If one wants to be a sincere seeker he must renounce evils like anger, greed, lust, arrogance, attachment, fear and malice.

According to Bhagwat Gita the ultimate purpose of life is to attain everlasting love, peace and happiness, realize God or real self which is SAT-CHIT-ANAND swaroop. This can be achieved by serving God  through serving his creation.

Lord Krishna says in Shrimad Bhagvad Gita (11/55)- “One who makes me supreme goal of life, who performs all his actions for me , who is fully devoted to me and  lives in my consciousness, who is free from attachment and enmity (malice) towards all beings and friendly to all, certainly attains Me”

A person whose mind and intellect are completely merged with God, fully devoted to him, who have full faith in him and have God as supreme goal of his life then all the sins are totally destroyed and becomes very pure.

Those who are free from arrogance and attachment to the materialistic world, Desires and duality like pleasure and pain attain the supreme state.

Desire, anger and greed are the three gateways to hell. Therefore one must abandon these negative emotions (Gita 16/21, 2/62,63). <>Once these selfish desires are abandoned  he becomes free from feelings of “Me” and “Mine” (Ego and  attachment to materialistic world) attains Supreme peace.( Gita 2/71).

Such self purification and self transformation of mind can be achieved by following these steps

  1. Keep  company of good people who have same goals. Be a part of spirituality UNDER GUIDANCE OF A MENTOR or SADGURU.
  2. Make a commitment to yourself to attain SALVATION the ultimate objective of life. Maintain self-discipline.
  3. Focus on self improvement and observe that you are progressing towards your goal.
  4. Keep away from vices like anger, Fear,  Lust, greed, arrogance, attachment and hatred.
  5. Perform every action selflessly as a service to God.
  6. Develop unconditional love for God and his creation without any expectation.
  7. Chant God’s name every moment (Naam Jap) as in Kalyuga reciting God’s name is the only way to attain Him (KALYUG NAAM ADHARA)
  8. Surrender unto God.
  9. It requires sustained efforts to achieve Salvation. It may take years, a whole lifetime or many more lives.