By Swami Agnivesh
hallmark of spirituality is responsiveness to the given context.
This is what distinguishes spirituality from religion in its common
a matter of fact, religion in itself is meant to be a source of
empowerment for human beings in their effort to make sense of,
and cope with, their life-world. This has four major spheres of
search, struggle and growth.
First, every individual needs to relate to the divine,
and live by the discipline that goes with it. Questions pertaining
to the nature and being of God belong to this order of human preoccupation.
Second, there is a need to understand oneself, where questions
like who we are, what is the meaning and purpose of life, what
is the scope of human destiny, what are the means for human fulfillment
etc. become important.
(c) Third, we need to relate wholesomely to the given social context
where the dynamics of living together with others assume profound
spiritual significance. It is in this context that the dynamism
of our spirituality finds practical expression. The spiritually
enlightened person cannot remain indifferent to the problems and
sufferings of others. Justice becomes the most authentic expression
of spirituality in the social context. This entails a sense of
responsibility for the kind of society we create and the human
predicament that prevails in it.
Fourthly, every human being needs to maintain a healthy relationship
with the material world, the order of creation all around him.
He needs to practice justice in the way he relates to the total
order of creation, taking care of the world around him, respecting
the integrity of creation as an important aspect of our human
vocation. When this is forgotten and creation is exploited in
violation of its sanctity and sustainability, we precipitate the
polarization between religion and spirituality
Spirituality needs to be distinguished in the light of these observations
from the practice of religion, though spirituality is subsumed
in religion. Over a period of time, as religion gets institutionalized,
there comes about a gap between the two, which thereafter tends
to widen. This polarization between religion and spirituality
results from the degradation of religion and further contributes
to it. In the end a stage is reached in which religion becomes
a contradiction of spirituality. So it happens that religious
rituals and sacraments become an escape route from the challenges
and responsibilities of the world around us. It even happens that
religious concepts are employed in justifying and perpetuating
the practice of injustice.
From this perspective, our Vedic heritage presents two contrasting
faces. On the one hand, we have a rich and commendable religious
and philosophical tradition, unrivaled in its sophistication and
subtlety. No other religious culture has scaled the heights and
depths of subjective spirituality (the subtle understanding of
the self) as we have done. On the other hand, the Indian religious
outlook has progressively tended to close its eyes to social realities
where gross aberrations continued to thrive.
Consider the idea of Dharma in the Vedic tradition. Understood
properly, Dharma is essentially a spiritual concept that pertains
to the foundation and sustenance of the created order in its natural,
social and political dimensions. Dharma is that which undergirds
the wholeness of creation and social life. It is possible to understand
this principle either in a "status quoist" or in a dynamic way.
Seen only in a status quoist perspective, Dharma is that which
rationalizes and preserves the existing order with all its strengths
and weaknesses, beauties and blemishes, intact. Dharma in other
words is a preservative. But in its dynamic paradigm, Dharma
becomes a principle of transformation. It aims not only at supporting
the existing scheme of things, but also to bring out the ideal
potentials in the order of creation, which is not yet revealed
in all its scope.
From such a dynamic perspective, two categories of spiritual tasks
become clear. First, there is a need to reinforce what is good
and righteous in the given context. Second, there is a need also
to resist and reduce the aberrations and distortions in the given
socio-economic order. It is because of this that Swami Dayanand
Saraswati emphasized that a sense of mission is basic to the practice
of religion when it is healthy and dynamic. But when the spiritual
fire within a religion dies out, the first casualty will be this
sense of mission, which embodies the dynamism of that religion.
problem with us today is that we have too much of religion but
little of spirituality. And our religions seem to be vying
with each other in justifying Karl Marx's indictment of religion
that it is "an opium of the people". (The sense in which
Marx used this expression is, incidentally, different from what
is popularly derived from it. But that is another matter.) It
is important to take cognizance of the alarming signs of religious
decay in our times. Our religiosity is not imbued with a passion
to resist the forces of evil. It is not ablaze with compassion
for our fellow human beings and for the rest of creation. We watch
mutely the shameless abuse of religion for political profits,
using it as a blanket in this process for all sorts of atrocities
and frauds. If this lamentable trend is not arrested, religion
will be seen by the coming generation only as a liability, reinforcing
the current secular prejudice.
who subscribe to the Vedic World View, as I do, have a lot to
answer for themselves vis-à-vis the institutionalization of injustice
and systemic oppression in the name of Hinduism. In one sense,
our society has been a peaceful one. Different religious communities
have been living, at least till recently, in remarkable amity
and harmony with each other. But in another sense we are one
of the most violent societies in the world. No other society has
kept as many millions for as many centuries in a state of subhuman
subjugation and exploitation as the low caste people in all religious
communities have been in this country. Even today, fifty years
after the attainment of freedom, millions continue to suffer under
the yoke of caste oppression and bonded labour. Millions exist
like living ghosts under the epidemic of poverty and avoidable
diseases. 46% of our people today are illiterate. They outnumber
the total population of India at the time of our Independence.
tragic thing is that what makes suffering, enslavement and exploitation
so endemic in our context is also our basic strength: our resilience
as a people. Ironically we have been weakened by our strength.
People put up with a lot in this country. They have the patience
of mountains. They endure mutely on the edges of extinction. For
far too long we have romanticized this slow suicide only because
it served the interests of the status quo, of those who had everything
and did not want to share the available resources with their neighbours.
All religions have done it. Christianity turned the fierce biblical
ethics into a tame and toothless thing, understandably castigated
by Nietzsche as too mild and humane to be useful. The Church
has had no use for the Jesus who exploded with indignation at
the site of exploitation and overturned the tables of vested interests
in the Temple premises. Instead, all through, the Church has
been preaching self-denial while practising tyranny and opulence.
point in making this reference is to emphasize the need to radically
re-value our orthodox ethical dogmas and assumptions. To do this
meaningfully, we need to strike a balance between our habitual
otherworldliness and the need for dynamic this-worldliness. The
dishonest practice of selling the hope for a better birth or heaven
in lieu of minimum human dignity and personal fulfillment in this
world needs to be questioned. Those who cannot extend a helping
hand to those who suffer and wither in this world have no moral
right to insult them with the mockery of "a pie in the sky when
you die". This needs to be seen as the bottom line for evolving
the contours of social spirituality.
Fundamental to the question of social spirituality is the distortion
of ethics effected by the religious establishment. As the religious
establishment gets stronger and stronger and as class or caste
vested interests supersedes the spiritual ideals of a religious
tradition, we find the revolutionary aspects of religious ethics
being diluted. Ethical principles begin to be re-oriented in the
direction of preserving and propagating the status quo. Ironically,
it is the establishment, both religious and secular, that is keen
to preach ethics. The willingness to practice ethics in this connection
is inversely proportionate to the eagerness to preach it.
few illustrative cases here
pro status quo nature that is imparted to religion is incompatible
with its true vocation, which is to transform individuals and
societies. Transformation is not just any change. It is, instead,
change directed towards the maximum fulfillment of human beings
as human beings. Fulfillment in the human context, in other words,
is a great deal more than mere material possession, indulgence
or consumption of pleasure. In its social context, transformation
acquires a revolutionary character. It implies the 'spiritual'
duty to engage and reform institutions, systems and practices
that are subversive of our humanity. This is the essence of righteousness
in its dynamic sense. Dharma is not merely a state of having
some nice sentiments. It is an active orientation that refuses
to compromise with forces of evil. It excludes indifference to
the suffering of one's fellow human beings.
this point we need to reckon with a basic aspect of spirituality.
The spiritual is different from the material in this respect that
to be authentic the spiritual needs to be embodied. The material
object is there whether or not it is used or invoked. A man
who has a million rupees in the bank balance is rich, even if
he maintains the lifestyle of a pauper. Not so in the case of
things spiritual. If someone says he has love in his heart, but
never cares to express it in his life time, he is a liar.
It is, hence, integral to the logic of spirituality that it needs
to be embodied in the given context. In that sense, we do not
have to say "social spirituality"; for spirituality is also 'social'
than recognize and develop the transformative dimension of religion
- that is, the spiritual dynamism of religion - the priestly class
in all religions prefers to promote its escapist aspects. Religious
obscurantism is born out of this outlook. 'Obscurantism, as the
word implies, involves a disengagement with the world of realities.
It obscures the element of human responsibility and the need to
respond in practical terms. Rather than take the policy decision,
for example, to wipe out illiteracy from India and pursue it vigorously
through administrative action, we could go on chanting Saraswati
Vandana. We could go on worshiping the goddess of wealth, and
yet not develop a healthy work culture or sense of disciplined
management of our material resources. Instead, we could improvise
all sorts of rituals and practices by which the gods could be
coaxed and cajoled to overlook our lapses and continue to bless
us in spite of ourselves!
is because of this that we face an embarrassing contradiction
today. India is a land of profound spirituality. It is also a
land of extreme inequality, injustice and dehumanization. The
sublime philosophical reach of the Indic soul has not found its
social expressions. Social realities have gone almost in the opposite
direction from the flight of this Indic soul. The Indian religious
traditions, more than the Semitic religions, recognized the spiritual
value of the female principle. But the plight of our women, especially
of the widows, has continued to be lamentable all through. Hospitality
has been a great value with us, but the dalits have never found
a place in the architecture of our social outlook. It is here
that the seed of our all-round poverty lies.
are at least three major reasons why we need to develop social
dimensions of our spirituality.
(1) Our country stands in need of social empowerment. A country
in which millions are socially enslaved and disabled cannot hope
to progress and attain its fulfillment. In this context, issues
like endemic illiteracy, poverty, disease and inequality need
to be seen as spiritual challenges. The caste system is a patent
violation of social spirituality. Dismantling this oppressive,
inhuman practice is a pre-condition for the fulfillment of our
destiny as a nation.
(2) We need to create a rationale for our unity and oneness as
a people. Disunity and social tensions are unavoidable when social
justice is overlooked. The true index to the healthy status of
a society is its commitment to social justice. Unity and dynamism
are its by-products. Today we are a lamentably fragmented society,
wherein ironically divisive manoeuvers are being made to promote
artificial unity! That is why the Hindu fold is sought to be united
using various hate objects, improvised from time to time.
(3) We need to build a participatory culture of development within
which the total human energies and resources available to us are
deployed in nation building. The extent to which the 400 million
illiterate people in this country can participate in or contribute
to nation building is minimal. From the point of view of active
participation or resource sharing the population of India must
be reckoned in terms of a few millions. This in itself is a massive
finger pointing to the levels of social injustice prevalent today
in our context.
The need to create a dynamic social order has become all the more
compelling in the context of globalism. Egalitarianism and people's
participation have been major factors in the socio-economic dynamism
of the developed societies. Today they are in a position to derive
the best out of the emerging global order. The Market is not a
place of sentimentality, compassion or charity. We have to deliver
the goods to be taken seriously. Gimmicks like exploding nuclear
devices will not cover the nakedness of our social underdevelopment
by which we shall continue to be judged and condemned.
Those who claim to be spiritually enlightened cannot any longer
shut their eyes on the weeping wounds of our society. The situation
today is such that we have to launch a new "Liberation Movement"
in India. For vast segments in our country, the attainment of
political freedom has not meant much. Millions await to be liberated
from bonded labour, child labour, illiteracy, poverty, ill-health,
exploitation and conspiratorial neglect at the hands of the State.
Millions more need to be liberated from superstition, religious
obscurantism and fundamentalism. Above all our society needs to
be liberated from the prison house of communal hatred and hostilities
and the inevitable dissipation of energies and resources this
rise of religious fundamentalism is made possible only by the
dilution of our commitment to social justice.
of the foremost needs in the Indian context today is to reform
the very idea of religion. Our tragedy is that we have too much
of religion and little of spirituality. Religion without spirituality,
especially in its social dimension, tends to be a system of oppression
and exploitation. It was against Christianity without a commitment
to social justice that Karl Marx issued his informed indictment.
Human history, including the Church, has been the richer for that.
It is time that a similar spiritual ferment took place in our
context too. But that will not happen as long as this is left
in the hands of professional clergy and the hangers-on of the
religious establishment. People whose hearts are set ablaze with
compassion and truth need to devote themselves to the task of
impacting our society from a spiritual perspective and produce
the fruits of the resultant transformation so that the religious
establishment is forced to take note of it. While religion can
be the exclusive preserve of the religious, spirituality is under
nobody's monopoly. He who gives a glass of water to quench the
thirst of another is spiritually more evolved than those who chant
their scriptures with their eyes closed on the giant agony of