The wholesome approach for God realization

A disciple asked the master, “Dear Sir, in the past, I have heard from many Saints that praying to God, singing the songs of his glory and Naam japa (Bhakti Marg) is the  superior most path of realizing the God. But, you always stress upon the wisdom of the Self (Gyan Marg) in your discourses. I am a little confused – Can God be realized just with the help of sharp intellect?”

The master started laughing and said, “Son, if God realization could be achieved with the help of sharp intellect, then Attorneys and Professors would be carrying the secret in their pockets. The Self realized Saints of Sanatan Dharma praises all the paths that lead to inner peace and to God – be it Gyan Yoga (path of knowledge), Karma Yoga(Path of selfless service), Dhyan Yoga (Path of Meditation) or Bhakti Yoga(Path of Devotional love). However, the spiritual wisdom has it’s own importance in all the paths. Even in daily worldly life, there is an importance of wisdom. Come with me and let me show you, how.”

The master took the disciple to an old room in the corner of the Ashram, and opened the door. Once the dust settled a bit, he told the disciple to enter into the room. The disciple stumbled in the dark and hence, the master advised him to switch on the light. After coming out of the room the master said, “If I tell you to finish this room, then how would you proceed about it?”

“Dear Sir, I would need a wholesome approach. For cleaning the dust I would need a broom. For finishing the floor, I would need a cement filler to fill the cracks and to begin with, I would need light in the room to help me perform these chores,” replied the disciple confidently.

With a smile on his face, the master said, ”You mean to say that you need a wholesome approach because you cannot clean the room with filler or light, you need a broom. Similarly, you cannot fill the cracks with light alone, you need a filler.”

The disciple nodded in affirmation.

“Son, similarly for enlightening your heart, you would need a multi facet wholesome approach. To begin with, you would need wisdom of the inner world to enlighten your path. There are three shortcomings in the mind- mal , vikshep and aavran. For cleaning the dust of the past sanskaars (mal), selfless service will help. For getting over vacillations of mind (vikshep), you would need help of Yoga and Pranayaam. For removing the veil of false ego(aavran), devotional love(Bhakti) would help. In this wholesome approach, the proper understanding or the wisdom of the Self and God has its own significant importance just like for cleaning the room, light plays its own significant role.”