Realm of the sacred

Does God exist? This question seems to matter to a lot of people. An important part of our lives seems to be tied up to this question. Many want this god to exist physically somewhere in time and space, preferably on this planet as an embodied superhero. Just imagine if this were true. The consequences would not be encouraging. If god were discovered to exist physically in some part of this planet then the people of that region would feel blessed while the rest of us would feel depressed. Who owns god would become an international issue. It would soon turn political. We may even have a war on our hands regarding his ownership and ultimate relocation. The queue to see this god and the favours he has to grant would be never-ending. If this god does not resemble the gods we are used to and speak our language that would become a major disappointment for us. He obviously cannot have physical features that satisfy everyone. In a way, it is a great relief that we have not found such a god.

The next best to a physical god is one that is in the heavens, somewhere above those beautiful white clouds as an anthropomorphic father figure in the sky. Since we cannot locate him physically we can only have access to him in our imagination. Which is good in a way. We are free to have any kind of god we want, personalized to our tastes. He can resemble the kind of people we are used to. He can speak our mother tongue. This god would be our own creation, which we can choose with our artistic imagination. He can be of any form or shape, a child, adult, old, or even a symbol. Literally, anything we want him to be.

Some people like to say that God is a power or energy or force or an intelligent consciousness. This makes god somewhat abstract but is nevertheless very useful. When god becomes a power it can manifest everywhere. Since it is everywhere and is intelligent it knows everything. Through imagination, we can feel the presence of this power whenever we want and especially during difficult times. It becomes a source of support for us. But we cannot have a personalized relationship with a formless invisible energy like we can with an image. We relate much better emotionally to a god with a human face.

Actually, it is a good idea to adopt all the three models of god in our lives and not be dogmatic about only one. We can have the best of them as and when the occasion arises. When we go to a temple we can pray to the image and melt in devotion. When we see the Himalayas we can imagine he is there somewhere and hope to catch a glimpse of him. When fear and worry grip us we can imagine a formless presence protecting us. Ultimately the aim is to liberate ourselves from our infatuation with our own limited insecure selves and identify with something that is larger than us.

People are fond of saying that God is everywhere. Maybe he is but how do we get to realize this? How do we feel it so that it does not merely remain an intellectual concept? To give this practical shape we would have to imagine our favorite god image all around the place. You will have to superimpose this image onto a tree, a person, onto every object, to realize that God is everywhere. This is a strenuous job. When your god is restricted to a particular image then the only way you can see the tree as god is when this image is seen in that tree. God then becomes a visual image that has a fixed form. This does not appear to be a very practical way of going about seeing god everywhere. Spirituality is not just about devotion to one particular god. Its ultimate aim is to see the oneness of everything. Not that everything is the same but there is something that unites them all.

Now there is another way of seeing god everywhere. A god that travels with you wherever you go. He is your constant companion. Of the senses, mind, body, and spirit, the most powerful are feelings from a spiritual perspective. Ideas may be powerful but they are intellectual and mind-based. Senses are also wonderful but they are limited in their range. We are feeling people. We define happiness and love mostly as feelings. To say God is everywhere is an idea but to feel god everywhere is the real thing. It will alter our relationship to life in a far-reaching way. So how do we go about reaching our goal of feeling the presence of the divine everywhere and at will?

This is where the realm of the sacred comes to our help. The word sacred is not definable. Other names for it are holy and divine and it is invariably associated with god, religion, and spirituality. It cannot be grasped by the mind. It is not an intellectual concept. It is a feeling that comes from the heart for reasons we cannot fathom. It arises only when we encounter what we consider to be sacred. Though mysterious, it is not something supernatural. It is a conditioning process. It requires repetition. In our culture, many things have been made sacred. Rivers, mountains, trees, music, symbols, images, and animals for instance. When we encounter any of these that have been made sacred, we feel sacredness arising in us of its own accord. There is no effort involved. The moment you see the Ganges or the Himalayas the feeling emerges strongly. It is very strong when we visit a temple or see the image of our favorite god. Scriptures and rituals invoke it. So do chanting, devotional music, satsangs and the presence of a spiritual master. It is there in us waiting to emerge. But it requires a trigger. The greatest treasure bestowed upon us by our ancestors is that they have made many things in this world sacred. We don’t have to start from scratch. We need only to build upon our legacy by strengthening, expanding, and sustaining it. Everyone is endowed with the capacity to invoke sacredness in some degree or the other.

Our task is to make this universe, or as much of it as possible, sacred. If we could do it with one object then we can do it with many others. We need to expand the range of objects that are sacred. The feeling of sacredness is the closest we can get to ‘god is everywhere’. Sacredness is everywhere is the same as God is everywhere. Here we don’t have to superimpose an image onto the physical universe. This feeling of sacredness is a special feeling as it unifies everything, whereas the discriminating mind divides. The common thread that runs through the objects of this world is their sacredness. No two things are the same but the sameness that envelops them all is sacredness. This is unity in diversity. ‘All is one’ can be understood from the perspective of sacredness as All is Sacred. There is nothing but god is what the mystics say. There is nothing but one sacredness enveloping the many is what we can aspire to achieve.

This world is what our mind projects onto it. What this universe is intrinsically we will never know. We can only experience our own projections. We have been endowed with the power to project the universe we want. If we project sacredness onto it that is what it will project back to us. It is like a mirror. It reflects back what we have projected. If we want to experience a divine world all we have to do is project divinity outwards. It is like king Midas who had the power to transform anything into gold by a mere touch. We are all king Midases in one sense. But we cannot make things sacred through just one projection. We need to repeatedly project sacredness onto the objects of our choice. The feeling of sacredness awakens slowly. It has to be nurtured and kept alive through practice. Fortunately, through childhood conditioning, we have built a storehouse of objects that invokes sacredness in us. But it is not strong enough and not varied enough. We now have to invoke sacredness more often and project it onto more and more objects. Projection includes autosuggestion, visualization, and associating the object with the feeling of sacredness. Even gestures like bringing our palms together in reverence can invoke sacredness. So can prostrating before an idol, or the posture adopted for meditation. One can create an anchor, or mudra to awaken sacredness at will. It is easier to invoke sacredness by involving the body. We often see people touching the palm of their hands to their hearts when passing a temple. This is a very simple way of awakening that divine feeling. Worshipping either physically or even mentally generates that feeling. The smell of camphor or the sound of a temple bell can do the same. Roadside temples are a reminder for awakening sacredness. The very thought that this land of ours has been blessed by the greatest number of sacred people can be a source of that feeling.

It is easier to project sacredness onto nature. We must begin with the easy ones first. Don’t begin with man-made objects. After some success, we can move on to more challenging areas. First invoke the feeling of sacredness by any of the above methods. This feeling need not be very strong. It will become stronger as you practice. Accept whatever arises. Then project this feeling onto to something you like. Nothing may happen immediately. You may feel you are not doing it right. Doesn’t matter. You will learn as you go along. If it doesn’t work with one object switch to something easier, something beautiful and aesthetic. A few weeks later you will notice changes. For instance, if you make trees sacred they will come alive for you. Your relationship with trees will alter radically. It is just the same with human beings. When you see your guru as sacred he appears different to you. That which sacredness touches is transformed in our eyes. Scriptures that are considered sacred have more meaning. When the words uttered by wise people are made sacred they have transformative power. A sacred life is more meaningful. You then don’t keep asking intellectually what is the meaning of life. You feel the meaning in its sacredness. Those who work in temples will have the greatest job satisfaction when they consider their work as God's work which is sacred. If you project sacredness onto the work you do, the same will happen. Begin with areas that are visually rich and appealing. We have to begin with sense objects and then move on to concepts, values, and principles. The material world first, then the mental world. Build up some muscle before lifting heavy weights. Those who keep an idol of their favourite god image on their work desk will bring in the flavor of sacredness to the workplace. Most artistes consider their work sacred. Their art then has a different flavour, and does not just become a technique. The space they come from when performing the art becomes sacred. Their Being is imbued with sacredness during the performance. That is the hallmark of a great artiste. And through their art, we the audience, can experience the sacredness too.

One can come from the perspective that this universe exists for us to create and feel its divinity and sacredness. But to transform this material impersonal universe into a sacred one we need to project. It is just the same as what the masters say about love. To feel love, give love. In the case of sacredness once you make an object, say the clouds, sacred then every time you look at the clouds the sacredness will awaken within you. It becomes a conditioned reflex. What you project comes back to you. Just like every time you see someone you love, love awakens in you.

The most sacred thing in this universe is the enlivening life force that animates us. Without it, we would cease to exist. It is normally taken for granted since it is always there. The thinking mind with its memory and capacity to associate and analyze is also sacred. It is working all the time in the background independently, outside of our awareness. It is programmed to protect us. Without this mind, we would not even be able to coin the word sacred. The feeling of ‘I’ is also sacred since it gives us continuity of our identity. When silence is made sacred its beauty and depth increase manifold. But sacredness is not only in matters that are religious or spiritual. Nature, science, art, knowledge, wisdom, work, money, values, relationships, are all sacred. Any activity that enhances the quality of life is sacred.

One of the supreme uses of a temple is to awaken sacredness within us. Once we finish with favour seeking, we need to sit quietly and feel the sacredness of the place. Unless sacredness awakens within us, we are not utilizing the full potential of divine places. A temple is where Bhakti awakens. But Bhakti is normally restricted to a god image and is extremely powerful for connecting. To feel Bhakti for one image is just the beginning. Once it is intensified in that image it needs to be projected outwards. Sacredness is more diffuse. It has the power to encompass everything. Every culture believes in sacred places. In such places sacredness arises powerfully and can be held on to for a considerable period of time. We need to go on pilgrimages for this very purpose. While being in the company of sacred people or during spiritual satsangs we need to invoke this feeling consciously. It can also be invoked just through imagination. Invoking sacredness is a choice we have.

Sacredness is no ordinary feeling. It has transformational power. It dissolves negativity. It creates peace of mind. There is a kind of happiness in this feeling that is different from the other kinds of happiness we normally experience. It is more benign, soothing, and relaxing. It does not create excitement. It is a feeling we can be with all the time without getting bored or tired. It is subtle, working beneath the surface.

The awakening and intensifying of sacredness and its subsequent projection onto the world are the two supreme transformations we can gift ourselves. Sacredness enhances the quality of our life and our relationship to it. A rational life is a dehydrated life. It has no juice in it. Devotion and sacredness give emotional richness to every moment. It is also a people unifier. Once you begin to see the world, including the people in it, as sacred, your relationship to the universe operates from a higher plane. But it will not happen by itself. We have to work on a daily basis for it to happen. Without practice, the feeling of sacredness can diminish in intensity.

One last thought. Once we make five things in our life sacred then life will not be the same again. The five things are our body, breath, space, time, and consciousness. At present we can only imagine what it would be like. Inhabiting a sacred body, which we keep healing with sacred breath, we would be living in sacred space, spending sacred time with sacred thoughts and actions, whenever we choose.