Taking Refuge

The topic above can just appear to be confusing coming from me, a person that emphasises the knowledge of scriptures like the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. How can a person like that be talking of taking refuge in someone or something else other than the Self? Well, all of that is true and I would say that all of those perceptions are still there, I still rely on the Self, however, I heard something interesting today. 

I heard this speech by this monk who was narrating the experiences of a very renowned thespian where the thespian was asked about the Vedas once, and also asked why him being such an intellectual and scholarly person would he only chant the name of the Lord? People would even ask him why would he even believe in supernatural powers when he hasn’t even seen them for himself.

He would listen to all arguments, smile gently, take the holy books to his forehead, pay respects and say that to him all the Vedas, Upanishads, and all kinds of scriptures were the Lord himself. No sooner did he say this, than he ran into a state of ecstasy and the spectators reported that it seemed as if he was one with God. 

The monk further revealed that he himself was an ardent follower of knowledge and said that he himself was a scholar who would carry the holy scriptures with him always and would reason when required with regards to what the scriptures said, but he also said that taking refuge in the Lord, and going down that path seems to be a more easy and convenient option. 

He added that this could be applied to people like me too who are the so-called practical, but honestly there are times when our feet stumble and when life throws challenges at us, and we do not know what to do. In all those cases the monk said that we must try and surrender ourselves before a higher power. 

And, how do we go about doing that? 

We must try approaching the higher authority to give us strength, and power and also ask him to remove all kinds of impurities from our hearts so that we could operate with the fullest capacity possible. In case, you are thinking about whether this kind of approach is going to work or not, the monk assured that it is going to work for sure, we just have to try it for once. 

Starting today, I am going to try it out, and will share in sometime whether that worked, and if it did, then how.

Image courtesy: Pexels