R. Narayanaswami
Active member
Vedas 110 – Divinizing or Spiritualizing life – 13 July 2021
How human beings can achieve realizable divinity?
By divinizing life or spiritualizing life.
How?
By aspiring to divinize our life by inviting the devas (or gods) of Rig Veda to manifest their powers and presence within the human being.
How to aspire to divinize our life or how to invite the devas?
Rig Vedic Rishis have experienced the presence of devas by inviting the deva or devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva. In other words, Rishis have the experience of inviting the devas to them (to their inner being or to their subtle bodies) by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva and such devas accepting the invitation and taking birth in them by placing an emanation of the deva or devas in the Rishi. Once the deva places an emanation of the deva in the Rishi, the emanation grows within, by continuing chanting the Veda mantras and the aspirations for the deva, just like a seed that we plant sprouts at first, then grows into a plant and eventually to a big tree. And the full power of the deva manifests in the Rishi. All the while, the Rishi continues to do his daily work of teaching his disciples, leading a householder’s life, doing his meditations etc. In other words, Rishis have direct experience of the benefits of inviting the devas by chanting the Veda mantras. Hence this advice and help they provide to the human beings is based on lived experience, or, based on their ‘anubhavam’ or experience. In other words, they have experimentally proved their hypothesis that inviting the devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva will ensure the deva planting an emanation in the chanter. Rishis have also felt that the emanation of the devas can be nurtured by continuing the daily chanting of the Veda mantras. This in turn allowed devas to transfer their psychological powers to the Rishis, which, divinized them and helped them perform all their tasks with perfection. Some of the devas are known as ‘ṛṣikṛts’ (meaning: Rishi makers) and those devas have helped make them Rishis. Human beings need not doubt the statements of the Rishis because these statements are based on their lived experience.
Thus, the road map for the human beings to aspire for divinity and to invite the devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva (whom the human beings want to invite) is laid down in the Vedas based on the lived experience of the Rishis. The human beings can continue doing whatever job or profession that they wish to pursue. The human beings who aspire for the devas and who chant the Veda Mantras for those devas will start observing that as the deva or the devas grow within, more and more of the tasks performed by the human beings become divinized and approach the all-round perfection of the task. The human being also will rise in consciousness levels which will help to see the tasks at hand with more and more clarity and the solution of such tasks becoming increasingly more perfect (because tasks completed with fuller understanding due to greater clarity).
It must be noted in this context that the divinization discussed in the Vedas by the Rishis and the devas, in the Sanatana Dharma context, is different from the divinization term used in the Semitic religions. This is because in the Vedas, the devas are defined as supra-physical beings with consciousness, (psychological) power and force and thus, the devas can transfer their psychological powers to the human seekers who aspire for the divinization. Some of these psychological powers and the associated devas: will-power (Agni), luminous mind (Indra), truth and harmony (Surya and Mitra & Varuna), emotional energy (Vayu), delight (Soma), intelligence and aspiration (Saraswathi) etc. Without having a strong will-power, it is difficult to begin and complete the tasks undertaken. It is also necessary to have ‘will-power with vision’ or ‘divine will-power’ because ‘human will-power’ may not be able to know what is good for the human being in the long-term. So, all human beings must aspire for, and invite Agni who has the psychological power of ‘divine will-power’, who is known as ‘kavi kratu’ as per RV (1.1.5). Having a ‘divine luminous mind’ is equally vital. Hence Deva Indra. There are 2,000 Mantras for Agni and 2,500 Mantras for Indra (out of total of 10,552 Mantras in the Rig Veda). One must also aspire for intelligence and aspiration. Hence goddess Saraswathi must also be prayed for. Thus, human beings aspiring for divinization and seeking the help of devas by chanting the Veda mantras for those devas and living a life of simplicity of satyam, tapas and shraddha (meaning, truth, disciplined spiritual practices and focused attention) will be granted such divine psychological powers possessed by these devas, as per the lived life of our Rishis.
Achieving all-sided perfection, according to the Vedas, is thus an expanded practice of aspiring for divinity and inviting the devas discussed in the previous paragraph and termed herein as spiritualizing our everyday life. Leading a life of simplicity or frugality of satyam, tapas and shraddha (Sanskrit compound word consisting of ‘shrat’ meaning our effort and ‘dha’ meaning supports, thus shraddha means ‘an intense faith which supports our efforts’), aspiring for divinity and inviting the devas by chanting of the Veda mantras, recognizing the existence of the Supreme Spirit (‘tat ēkam’) pervading and energizing every aspect of existence and invoking this Supreme Spirit in daily activities are ways to spiritualize one’s life.
It is worth stating here that ‘divinizing or spiritualizing one’s life’ does not mean that the human beings are requested to chant the Veda Mantras 24 X 7. No, not at all. Each human being has many other responsibilities like earning a living, raising a family, doing things enjoyable in life that make him/her and all members of the family lead a happy life etc. The Vedas encourage all human beings to do whatever makes them happy. Thus a substantial part of the human being’s time available in the day may be, or is, used up for his/her professional work. Beginning the day with worship and with chant of the Veda Mantras, whatever time each human being is able to assign for this activity, is part of spiritualizing one’s life. The Vedas state that the human beings while leading their life recognize that ‘tat ekam’ and the devas are ready to help if they aspire for their help. Whatever time one devotes to chant the Veda Mantras in each day is fine. The Rishis have shown by their living a householder’s life, teaching their disciples the Veda mantras, doing their meditation and receiving ‘revelations’ of Veda mantras and helping everyone – that one can do all these as part of their daily ‘spiritualized life’.
All human beings go about doing their tasks and daily life using their ordinary consciousness. Based on the individual’s levels of such ordinary consciousness and efforts (both quality and quantity), the task at hand may be completed with success or failure or mixed success and failure etc. What the Vedas teach is that by divinizing or spiritualizing life (as indicated above), human beings can elevate/transform ordinary consciousness to spiritual consciousness. Tasks done under the guidance of spiritual consciousness will rise to levels of perfection, even all-round perfection.
In other words, we must work on both: our ordinary consciousness that we feel always and act on results of what such ordinary consciousness of ours tell us to act or do. Vedas say that, in addition, we must expend our efforts to spiritualize all aspects of our everyday life. Once we are able to do that, per Vedas, we become part of spiritual consciousness that pervades the entire cosmos and its activities. Just like all cosmic activities work with clock-like precision, with harmony and all-round perfection, our activities will also begin to attain such all-round perfection and precision and harmony. And we will be able to lead our lives with harmony, perfection and happiness.
How human beings can achieve realizable divinity?
By divinizing life or spiritualizing life.
How?
By aspiring to divinize our life by inviting the devas (or gods) of Rig Veda to manifest their powers and presence within the human being.
How to aspire to divinize our life or how to invite the devas?
Rig Vedic Rishis have experienced the presence of devas by inviting the deva or devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva. In other words, Rishis have the experience of inviting the devas to them (to their inner being or to their subtle bodies) by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva and such devas accepting the invitation and taking birth in them by placing an emanation of the deva or devas in the Rishi. Once the deva places an emanation of the deva in the Rishi, the emanation grows within, by continuing chanting the Veda mantras and the aspirations for the deva, just like a seed that we plant sprouts at first, then grows into a plant and eventually to a big tree. And the full power of the deva manifests in the Rishi. All the while, the Rishi continues to do his daily work of teaching his disciples, leading a householder’s life, doing his meditations etc. In other words, Rishis have direct experience of the benefits of inviting the devas by chanting the Veda mantras. Hence this advice and help they provide to the human beings is based on lived experience, or, based on their ‘anubhavam’ or experience. In other words, they have experimentally proved their hypothesis that inviting the devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva will ensure the deva planting an emanation in the chanter. Rishis have also felt that the emanation of the devas can be nurtured by continuing the daily chanting of the Veda mantras. This in turn allowed devas to transfer their psychological powers to the Rishis, which, divinized them and helped them perform all their tasks with perfection. Some of the devas are known as ‘ṛṣikṛts’ (meaning: Rishi makers) and those devas have helped make them Rishis. Human beings need not doubt the statements of the Rishis because these statements are based on their lived experience.
Thus, the road map for the human beings to aspire for divinity and to invite the devas by chanting the Veda mantras for the deva (whom the human beings want to invite) is laid down in the Vedas based on the lived experience of the Rishis. The human beings can continue doing whatever job or profession that they wish to pursue. The human beings who aspire for the devas and who chant the Veda Mantras for those devas will start observing that as the deva or the devas grow within, more and more of the tasks performed by the human beings become divinized and approach the all-round perfection of the task. The human being also will rise in consciousness levels which will help to see the tasks at hand with more and more clarity and the solution of such tasks becoming increasingly more perfect (because tasks completed with fuller understanding due to greater clarity).
It must be noted in this context that the divinization discussed in the Vedas by the Rishis and the devas, in the Sanatana Dharma context, is different from the divinization term used in the Semitic religions. This is because in the Vedas, the devas are defined as supra-physical beings with consciousness, (psychological) power and force and thus, the devas can transfer their psychological powers to the human seekers who aspire for the divinization. Some of these psychological powers and the associated devas: will-power (Agni), luminous mind (Indra), truth and harmony (Surya and Mitra & Varuna), emotional energy (Vayu), delight (Soma), intelligence and aspiration (Saraswathi) etc. Without having a strong will-power, it is difficult to begin and complete the tasks undertaken. It is also necessary to have ‘will-power with vision’ or ‘divine will-power’ because ‘human will-power’ may not be able to know what is good for the human being in the long-term. So, all human beings must aspire for, and invite Agni who has the psychological power of ‘divine will-power’, who is known as ‘kavi kratu’ as per RV (1.1.5). Having a ‘divine luminous mind’ is equally vital. Hence Deva Indra. There are 2,000 Mantras for Agni and 2,500 Mantras for Indra (out of total of 10,552 Mantras in the Rig Veda). One must also aspire for intelligence and aspiration. Hence goddess Saraswathi must also be prayed for. Thus, human beings aspiring for divinization and seeking the help of devas by chanting the Veda mantras for those devas and living a life of simplicity of satyam, tapas and shraddha (meaning, truth, disciplined spiritual practices and focused attention) will be granted such divine psychological powers possessed by these devas, as per the lived life of our Rishis.
Achieving all-sided perfection, according to the Vedas, is thus an expanded practice of aspiring for divinity and inviting the devas discussed in the previous paragraph and termed herein as spiritualizing our everyday life. Leading a life of simplicity or frugality of satyam, tapas and shraddha (Sanskrit compound word consisting of ‘shrat’ meaning our effort and ‘dha’ meaning supports, thus shraddha means ‘an intense faith which supports our efforts’), aspiring for divinity and inviting the devas by chanting of the Veda mantras, recognizing the existence of the Supreme Spirit (‘tat ēkam’) pervading and energizing every aspect of existence and invoking this Supreme Spirit in daily activities are ways to spiritualize one’s life.
It is worth stating here that ‘divinizing or spiritualizing one’s life’ does not mean that the human beings are requested to chant the Veda Mantras 24 X 7. No, not at all. Each human being has many other responsibilities like earning a living, raising a family, doing things enjoyable in life that make him/her and all members of the family lead a happy life etc. The Vedas encourage all human beings to do whatever makes them happy. Thus a substantial part of the human being’s time available in the day may be, or is, used up for his/her professional work. Beginning the day with worship and with chant of the Veda Mantras, whatever time each human being is able to assign for this activity, is part of spiritualizing one’s life. The Vedas state that the human beings while leading their life recognize that ‘tat ekam’ and the devas are ready to help if they aspire for their help. Whatever time one devotes to chant the Veda Mantras in each day is fine. The Rishis have shown by their living a householder’s life, teaching their disciples the Veda mantras, doing their meditation and receiving ‘revelations’ of Veda mantras and helping everyone – that one can do all these as part of their daily ‘spiritualized life’.
All human beings go about doing their tasks and daily life using their ordinary consciousness. Based on the individual’s levels of such ordinary consciousness and efforts (both quality and quantity), the task at hand may be completed with success or failure or mixed success and failure etc. What the Vedas teach is that by divinizing or spiritualizing life (as indicated above), human beings can elevate/transform ordinary consciousness to spiritual consciousness. Tasks done under the guidance of spiritual consciousness will rise to levels of perfection, even all-round perfection.
In other words, we must work on both: our ordinary consciousness that we feel always and act on results of what such ordinary consciousness of ours tell us to act or do. Vedas say that, in addition, we must expend our efforts to spiritualize all aspects of our everyday life. Once we are able to do that, per Vedas, we become part of spiritual consciousness that pervades the entire cosmos and its activities. Just like all cosmic activities work with clock-like precision, with harmony and all-round perfection, our activities will also begin to attain such all-round perfection and precision and harmony. And we will be able to lead our lives with harmony, perfection and happiness.
