Santhigiri Experience

Secular Spirituality of santhigiri ashram

The secular spiritual movement initiated by Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru is a concept and practice most suitable in the present age. It is independent of all existing religious beliefs. The Guru is able to evaluate cosmic time and enforce epochal changes in the practice and understanding of spirituality. The secular spirituality of Santhigiri Ashram can address the societal, familial, moral, environmental and health problems of the people. The Guru taught that the spirituality of Santhigiri Ashram is not a formal religious function but a corrective spiritual exercise.

y In the beginning of time there was original divine law, governing human thoughts and actions. Man and Nature were in perfect harmony, enjoying the abundance and bliss of the Supreme. Wrong spiritual perceptions and free will of mankind caused the beginning of spiritual fall. The great spiritual debacle in the Manu Parampara was marked by a deviation in Yuga Dharma and the establishment of ritualistic religions based on the appeasement of gods and goddesses. In 1973, during his spiritual ascendency, Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru got the following revelation regarding the spiritual debacle that had happened:

‘In the 3rd chaturyuga of this manvantara a great preceptor in the tradition of Manu perceived that there is no action in this world that is not Manu’s. He saw this in all planes - the subtle, corporeal, the cause and effect. Out of this experience came the chaturvakyas, the four great enunciations. The very first one is, ‘Aham Brahmasmi’— I am the Brahman, the Absolute. He proved it to the people with the power of logic. He was full of his oneness with the Brahman, which he went on to mistake for himself being the Brahman…. Thus was blurred his awareness of the Will of the Absolute”

The earliest spiritual reformers were the Upanishadic seers who condemned ritualism. They spoke of the metaphysical Truth through a Guru-Disciple culture. However this highly philosophical discourse was inaccessible to the common folk, who formed the majority. In this milieu, the priestly class gained the upper hand in society. This situation led to the social and spiritual degeneration, marked by slavery, priestly excesses, polytheistic beliefs and superstitions. Counter spiritual movements took birth in India and elsewhere in the world. The religious movements of Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism in India and Christianity and Islam in other parts of the world marked the emergence of the 3rd Era of Redemptive Spiritualism.

The 3rd Era of Spiritual Awakening marked the beginning of an egalitarian society propagating social changes. Scientific discoveries and technology flourished in those parts of the world where the egalitarian concept of God spread, i.e. Christianity in Europe and Buddhism in South-East Asia. Unlike the West, India could not benefit from the 3rd Era of Spiritual Awakening due to the prevailing divisive social customs and traditions. Centuries after the 3rd Era of Spiritual Awakening, the theory of God, as promulgated by various religions, has come under increasing scrutiny. Dissatisfied with mechanical religiosity and scarce spiritual experience, people all over the world are seeking ways to peace and spiritual fulfillment. Thousands of cults and groups have emerged to promote alternative spirituality, yoga, meditation, healing and so on in the West

The West looks to the East for spiritual guidance. The metaphysical explorations of the Upanishads, the yogic practices, Buddhist and Sufi methods of meditation and innumerable other alternative spiritual practices developed with a freedom of choice and rational belief. This new change in the spiritual outlook of man, which has come about after centuries of industrialization and mechanization, is ushering in the 4th Era of Spiritual Awakening, reducing the relevance of institutionalized religions.

The life mission of Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru was to establish the foundation for a workable counter-civilization. The teachings of Guru inspired thousands of people to find ‘Meaning’ and ‘Structure’ in life in a fundamental way. Guru taught that society can be improved only by the self-development of individuals, spiritual emancipation of women and uplift of households.

.practical aspects of secular spirituality

Social harmony can be brought about only when there is unity of human hearts and actions. Human unity cannot be built upon an unequal social system based on mutually conflicting ideologies. An apolitical and supra-religious ideology irrespective of racial, religious, linguistic, class, caste and regional differences, only can meet the challenges of this age. The 4th Era of Spiritual Evolution is about this new secular, experiential spiritual ideology.

The experiential, secular spiritual movement initiated by Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru has brought about a silent renaissance, putting people back on the soul-nourishing track marked by the wisdom of the rishis (sages with direct spiritual experience). They have become the first inheritors of this 4th Era of Spiritual Awakening. The main characteristics of the Spiritual Awakening and Secular Spiritualism propounded by Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru are the following:

Concept of God and Humanity

Buddhism, Christianity and Islam marked quest for a new spiritual platform. Mankind is now looking beyond mere religious discourse for rational theories on God, Life and Existence which could also be subjected to one’s experience. There are conflicts and internal splits in all religions based on different perceptions of God. The idea of Oneness of God and Oneness of Humanity is an unrealized dream. The aspiration of the human soul to experience the oneness of Man with God, Nature and its creations is the essence of Secular Spiritualism propounded by Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru

3.2.Faith in the Divine Preceptor - Guru

Since the Supreme Power is abstract, unknown and indefinable, it can interact with human beings only through a human medium, the Guru. The Will of the Supreme is conveyed through the Guru by way of spiritual revelations and visions. A Guru is like a mirror that reflects the power, wisdom and joy of the Supreme. The manifestation of such a human medium takes place according to epochal evolutionary principles as ordained by God through the concept of Yugadharma in the Manvantara order. The secular spiritualism of Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru is based on a divinely ordained Guru-Sishya (Guru-Disciple) order.

Experiential Interactive Spirituality

Experiential Interactive Spirituality is a comprehension of spiritual truths under the guidance of Guru, either through one’s practical life-experiences or through mystical visions. The reasons behind one’s life-situations can be “seen” by Guru through His astral powers.The instructions of Guru are aimed at unwinding or undoing the karmic, spiritual and ancestral bindings and enhancing the deposit of inner virtue (punya) in the seeker. It is the depletion or absence of this deposit of inner virtue or ‘positive soul essence’ that causes internal and external problems in the life of man. Virtues nourish life with positivity whereas vices produce afflictions and tragedies.

.Spiritual Empowerment of Women

Guru emphasized the fundamental need for the spiritual emancipation of women for building a model home and society. Guru gave women opportunities for skill development and self-development. Guru chose Janani Amritha Jnana Thapaswini, as His first successor. The elevation of Janani Amritha Jnana Thapaswini as the first Sishyapoojitha (venerated among the disciples) emphasising the spiritual advancement of women.

.Family Reorientation

The family is the basic unit of the society. Happy and Healthy families can make good society and a prosperous nation. The strong base of Santhigiri Ashram is the large community of householders living and working together with the Guru’s inspiration. Women have an important status in the households of Santhigiri. It is through the householders, and their lifestyles enshrining the Guru’s teachings, that Guru is spreading the 4th Era of Spiritual Awakening. An important aspect of this reconstruction is the spiritual deliverance of families from the bindings of negative astral, ancestral and genetic influences through ‘Gurupooja’ – a unique spiritual intercession of Guru being performed at Santhigiri.

.Sustainable Development

A simple lifestyle in harmony with Nature is the core of sustainable development principles followed by Santhigiri Ashram. Protection of environment and a sustainable use of natural resources constituted an important concern of Guru. More than a decade ago, Guru implemented a rain water harvesting project in the Ashram, which has become an inspiring model for many environmentalists and affiliated institutions. Guru initiated various eco-friendly projects such as bio-farming, dairy unit, agriculture, weaving as well as coconut, spices and coir products units in the Ashram.The concern that Guru showed for the protection of trees is unparalleled. Guru treated trees and plants like living beings and taught that sinful actions and lifestyles of mankind can adversely affect nature and cause natural disasters and environmental problems.

Secular Spirituality

The soul of man has no religion, caste, class, colour or gender. All souls can approach Guru and accept His guidance without any formal rites and rituals. All have the freedom to retain their beliefs, traditions and customs. Secular Spiritualism is established on three fundamental aspects, viz. spiritual omniscience, its secular nature and experience. Therefore, the Guru should be the authority of omniscience. Second is the secular nature of this spiritual interaction, in which one’s religion does not become a limitation. The individual is initiated into the noumenal experience of omniscience. Third is the rational underpinning which should take the individual to an understanding of the concepts of spiritual hierarchies.

The Experiential Secular Spirituality of Santhigiri never negates any religion.The truthful spiritual theory and practice of Santhigiri Ashram that attracts people from all faiths to this spiritual movement, proving that the age of spiritual amalgamation of humanity is not very far off.

Health in secular Spirituality

Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru said: “This body is the layers (physical encasement) of a soul’s evolution formed through thousands of births. The lack of virtue (punya) in the soul manifests in the form of different diseases in the objective body. Such karmic diseases are eradicated by the dharmic path that earns virtue through right action.” Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru propounded the New Dharma of Health (Nava Arogya Dharma Siddhantham) which emphasized that the soul and its inherent virtue are the fulcrum on which the state of one’s health, happiness and prosperity is established.

Guru infused a new awareness and insight on the spiritual basis of ailments and causation of diseases. The most fundamental contribution of Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru to the science of Psychoanalysis is the identification of the soul’s pathology to the lack of punya (merit) in the jeeva and other factors and entities in the backyard of the Self that are at present imperceptible to modern scientific method. For example, genetic disorders are caused by karmic and spiritual impurities in the ancestral tree as well in one’s accumulated baggage of karma. Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru has proved the controllability and cure of such psychic and physical disorders through the medium of spiritual intercession and integrative therapy. This method of therapy includes elements of omniscience and clairvoyance, which at present are unavailable to the analytical method of science. However, it is hoped that the time is not far when science puts its conclusive seal on the science of consciousness and its all- encompassing capacity for providing durable peace and health to mankind.