The Sacred Tradition-Part II

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2. The discovery of truth must enrich the person and the society. It should make life prosperous and happy. This is very important. Nowadays, we see in the world of science many discoveries taking place, but they are threatening the very existence of the scientists and the whole word. The discovery should bring well-being and welfare to the world.

One has to be trained to know the truth, and then to make use of that knowledge. Even though a man's intellect is bright and well developed he may not be able to discover things and make the right use of it by himself. Through tradition the intellect is prepared to see, judge, analyze, and come to the right conclusions. First training is given; then man has to discover, and with the discovery enrich his life and that of others.

One may be bright, but if the mind is not pure, that is, if noble values of life are not lived, then the knowledge of even great truths will be dangerous. We can see how money and political power can be dangerous when the mind is corrupt. Therefore, we find in the Upanishads that knowledge and purity are asked for before praying for wealth.

3. If tradition is maintained then alone knowledge is preserved. Great sources of knowledge have disappeared in the course of time only because this tradition was not maintained. It was due to the great parampara that we used to have quality in music,dance, and so on, which are now being lost. Even the true import of the purana is not known and they appear as mere fanciful stories in the absence of a parampara.

Again not only knowledge is preserved but the generations that follow are also enriched by it. If tradition is not there, then every time man has to start right from the beginning and commit the same mistakes. The gurus who have walked the path, know the obstacles and the techniques to get rid of them. The student need not waste time in already experimented things.

Tuning the Mind

In India there used to be the Gurukula system where not only spiritual knowledge was imparted but also basic knowledge of dharma was taught, along with various aspects of education given to different students such as the princes, the brahmins and others. Thus the students received not only degrees but also values of life. At present, people have education but no vows, no goal, and no austerity in life. Now, how can one know the Truth? Tuning the mind to the subject is the only method.

By tuning the mind we mean total identification or love for the theme, the subject matter one wants to understand. There must be love and devotion for (i) the knowledge (ii) the source of knowledge that reveals the truth and (iii) the teacher who imparts the knowledge. In India, on Guru Purnima day (Guru Vyasa's birthday) not only the spiritual teacher is worshiped, but musicians, dancers, and other artists also go and worship their teachers.

When there is reverence for the above three then alone the method of learning is right, culminating in the gain of true knowledge. This Guru Sishya parampara is one of the most sacred features of the Hindu culture. Unless this parampara is revived, there is no way to revive our culture and give any meaning and purpose to our lives.

About the author

Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. He is an outstanding teacher of Vedanta and an accomplished poet, author, and composer.