Spirituality and Morality

‘Guruji, Mataji had mentioned that ‘a spiritually awakened, morally regenerated, economically prosperous and politically strong Mother India will be a mother of love and a princess of peace in the world family of nations. She also told me that this is what you are promoting..…. 

‘You had told that my own mission is to awaken Mother India to this her destined divine role in the world family of nations…… 

‘Revered guruji, can you please first of all explain to me what is the difference between spirituality and morality?’ 

Atma Prakash asked the Baba next time when they sat together for their ‘Guruvar Satsangh’. 

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The Baba closed his eyes for a minute, as if praying. 

He then opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of his disciple, and said:

‘Spirituality and morality, my son, are like science and technology. Technology is practical applications of scientific principles. The same scientific principles are used in many technological applications and innovations…

‘Scientific principles do not change until they are proved inadequate to explain the concerned reality. Till then they hold good, and are considered universal. But the technological applications of these scientific principles change often, from time to time and place to place….. 

‘Technologies are need-based and area-specific. For example, a car, an airplane and a rocket apply certain common scientific principles, but modified to suit their specific functions and purposes, and areas of operation. Laboratories and Research Centers mainly work on scientific principles. Industries and Training Institutes often work on their different technological applications…… 

‘Spirituality is eternal. It is the science of the Spirit, of the transcendent reality that manifests itself in, with and through the material world. The spiritual principles are universal. Whereas ‘morality’ is the practical application of spirituality in time and space. Moral values are based on spiritual principles. But these moral values can be different for different times, different situations, different cultures, different countries and for different levels of consciousness….. 

‘Spirituality and spiritual principles are person-centered, that is, they are presented and promoted by ‘sovereign spiritual persons’ who have experienced, and are witnesses to, the ‘divine grace’ that is ever present and active in creation. They see and represent God’s living presence in human history. Do you understand this much my son?’, the Baba asked.

‘I am hearing this term ‘sovereign spiritual person’ for the first time. What do you mean by ‘sovereign spiritual person’ guruji?’ Atma Prakash wanted to know.

The Baba replied: ‘By the term ‘sovereign spiritual person’ I mean here a spiritually awakened and morally upright person who is able to stand firm on his or her own spiritual experiences, and hold fast to the spiritual principles and moral values that he or she is convinced about….

‘Sovereign spiritual persons are those whose consciousness have evolved to the level of unitive divine consciousness….

‘At the lowest level of the evolutionary ladder of consciousness are those whose consciousness are centered on their own individual selves. We can refer to this level of consciousness as the ‘ego-consciousness’…. We can also refer to this level of consciousness as ‘I and mine’ consciousness. Constant conflict of interests with others is the visible characteristic of those at this level of consciousness …. 

‘From this level of ‘I and mine’ consciousness we evolve to a level of collective consciousness or ‘we and ours’ consciousness ….. Religions, political parties, ideological groups and nation states exist at this level. Members get their identities based on their affiliations to their religions, political parties, ideological groups and nation states. Religious conversions, political rivalries, ideological conflicts, and wars to protect or expand national boundaries etc. are the visible characteristics of those at this level….

‘From this level of ‘we and ours’ collective consciousness we evolve to a level of universal consciousness or ‘earth family’ consciousness ….. We go beyond our religious, political, ideological and national identities at this level. Religious conversions, political rivalries, ideological conflicts, and wars to protect or expand national boundaries etc. will not appeal to those who have evolved to this level of universal consciousness. They will see the whole world as one family bound with a common destiny..….

‘Above and beyond the universal ‘earth family’ consciousness is the unitive divine consciousness or spiritual consciousness which sees ‘All in One and One in All’…. Sovereign spiritual persons are those who have evolved to this level of unitive spiritual consciousenss…

‘Sovereign spiritual persons are impartial, selfless, free and fearless spokespersons of truth and goodness, and of the oneness of reality and the sanctity of all life. They are persons of great love and compassion, of deep understanding and empathy. Every human person, everyone of us, is called to be, and destined to be, a sovereign spiritual person….. 

‘As we grow spiritually we also grow and evolve in our consciousness. As we have already seen, from indiviualistic consciouness, which is the consciousness centered on the self, we evolve and unfold into a group or community consciousness. Here we will identify ourselves with a group/community/religion/nation. From the group consciousness we further evolve into universal consciousness and from there to unitive divine consciousness. At the divine level we are able to identify ourselves with God. A sovereign spiritual person is one who has evolved into such a unitive divine consciousness. He/She is one with God……

‘Great and powerful sovereign spiritual persons appear on earth at different stages in human history by special divine grace to guide humanity towards its destined role and purpose in the divine plan…Such great and powerful sovereign spiritual persona are referred to as ‘Avatars’, ‘Incarnations’ or ‘Prophets’…’ 

The Baba stopped for a while and looked at his disciple.

Excerpts from Integral Revolution