There are many things which we aspire for and even worship, which have no intrinsic value. They have value inasmuch as they are attached to values, and thus can serve perverted or promoting aims. Thus, though they have no value, they have a use. These things which we attach value to, are actually tools for values to be attached to. For example, a knife is neither good nor evil, but can be used for good or evil. It has a use, but no value.
What is it that we worship as human beings that is essentially without value, but is merely a tool? Intelligence is in this category, as is its effect- knowledge. Wealth, also. Fame. Beauty, definitely. Strength, physical and psychological. All these desirable things have been used to further human happiness and evolution, or to retard it. And yet, though they are essentially valueless, we strive for these things and worship people that have them, whom we call “celebrities”. Am I going too far when I say that we worship them? In the temples of India, people line up to get a glimpse of the Lord in His deity form-similarly people will line up to get a glimpse of their favorite celebrity. In the scriptures of India, God Who is known as Bhagavan, is defined as one who possesses unlimited wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, beauty and renunciation- the qualities of a celebrity exactly (maybe without the renunciation bit, though they do seem to change partners often…) So what people are mad after, are the qualities of God, yet the qualities themselves are neither good nor evil- they are neutral. They can be used for good or for evil.
Does it not make more sense to strive not for that which is neutral, merely a tool, but for the values themselves which can turn the tool into something of value? What is the use of a nutcracker when all one has to crack is stones? Only attached to an edible nut, does the nutcracker have value, indeed it is foolish to try to design a nutcracker if there are no nut trees! Similarly, it is foolish to try to acquire knowledge, wealth or fame, unless one has a good reason to acquire them. When added to such values as kindness, empathy, forgiveness, tolerance, the respect for all life, and love, in short when attached to the striving towards the well-being and evolution of all things, these tools have value. That is what the sastra refers to as the mode of goodness or sattva guna- those values that end in happiness. When attached to self-centered values, the striving toward happiness at the cost of others, such as the desire for power, prestige and influence, these values give a temporary sense of happiness only, which quickly dissipates in the loneliness of self-centeredness. That is what the sastra refers to as the mode of passion, rajo-guna. When attached to evil propensities, the striving towards the destruction of self and society, these tools are extremely dangerous- they are the values of the lowest mode, tamas, which ends only in misery and madness. Hitler thus misused his fame. Openheimer, his intelligence. President Bush, his wealth. Many a psychopath has misused physical and/or psychological strengths. Women- and men- can misuse beauty to destroy themselves in the market of prostitution.
We have a tendency, despite all that, to worship not values, but tools, and we strive our whole lives to acquire them. This is the foolishness of a society obsessed with nutcrackers without access to nuts, or to keyboard and mouse designs, who have no interest in getting a CPU, or to wires and electrical tape, who have no interest in getting an electricity supply. We are not mad, but our obsession goes beyond reason- it is an obsession of the heart for God- for we are craving His qualities exactly. To this natural obsession, God gives wise counsel- add to it the values that ensure our own good- and thus pervading every revealed word of God, the message to develop kindness, empathy, forgiveness, etc, is echoed…
When we began to divorce religion from education, we lost what was essential to the survival of the human race. The mad race for tools was then on, without any guidance as to how best to use them, for the guide books for our survival were reduced to quaint myths in the minds of men. In ancient Vedic times, only to those who had developed the values conducive to happiness and growth- the sattvic qualities- was higher education an option. Now it is a legal necessity- for all- and also a legal necessity that no revealed word of God be taught, in the name of secularism. Now we have come to the utter insanity of creating nutcrackers en masse, while all nut trees and books on how to grow them, are banished.
The revealed word of God describes certain values- or things to be attained which are inherently valuable. Yet these revelations themselves can be used as tools and manipulated according to the whim of the believer. When religion is separated from its essential values, it becomes a tool- a thing of vice in the hands of a vicious person, a thing of virtue in hands of the virtuous. This, we have seen in the course of history.
Religion’s Essence
But it may be asked that if religion is nothing but essential values, then how can it be separated from the same? How can goodness become neutral, or to put it another way, how can an active principle embodying goodness, become a passive principle of neutrality, and thus be used for destructive purposes?
This happens when something is separated from its essence. Returning to our example, a nut is essentially a food, which is life giving, but it can be stuffed into the trachea and inhibit breathing, causing death. Food and the values of religion are life-giving, but separated from their function, they lose value and are reduced to tools, passive utilities for an active principle which may be antagonistic. Thus so much viciousness has come about from religion -which is supposed to embody values that are good for all of God’s creation.
Therefore, in the Bhagavad gita, even religion is described as within the categories of goodness (sattva), passion (rajas) and ignorance (tamas) (Bg 17th chapter) . Everything is influenced by these modes of nature to elevate, stagnate or deteriorate the human condition, but Krishna declares throughout all these changes the modes alone are active- everything else is in a passive tool-like state (Bg 14.19, 14.22-25)
Is Religion essential, anyway?
Then it may be asked “if religion is not essentially valuable, if it is no more than a passive tool, then why have it at all? Why not just separate out its essence, the values therein, and throw out the rest? Is not a person who is kind, generous, open and loving, a religious person, anyway?” Indeed, in the sastra, the platform of God consciousness is called suddha sattva- all these principles in their pure state. When a person is good only for the sake of being good, kind only for the sake of being kind, etc that is purity of principle, or the principle of goodness in a fully activated condition.
The problem is- where is such a perfect person to be found? We all have the tendency to less than fully embody the values we strive towards- thus we see, so often, youthful idealism later on frustrated by the defeat and hopelessness of realizing one’s limits. The usual response of the individual is to then return to mediocrity and be happy to blend with the crowd… by his middle age, the striving is over, or replaced with endeavour that is separate from idealistic perfection…most people striving for tools of neutrality, such as wealth…
How did this happen, this tragic accident on the royal road to perfection? The mistake is very subtle….If one sees oneself as the source of the values of love and empathy, for example…if one is being loving and caring because one identifies oneself as a loving and caring person, one will always be disappointed by one’s limits. Furthermore, that limit is even more limited, because the values are being used by the ego to boost up one’s sense of worth, they are being used as tools, though on a very subtle level. On the other hand, if one sees the Lord as their source, and oneself as a mere conduit, one is humbled to be touched thus by the Lord, and whatever one can do, is proof of His mercy. One feels not oneself to be loving and caring, but that the love and care of the Lord is so overwhelming that it can flow through any channel, however limited it may be…in this way one naturally avoids using religion as a tool- rather one is a tool for the active principle of religion to flow through.
Thus, the gita recommends values be suffused with devotion that is without expectation of reward from God or man. For example, trying to be tolerant for the sake of being tolerant, means that one does so only because one values that value, and wants to mould one’s life around it. One does not want to use it for a tool, for recognition or whatever, but essentialize it, internalize it, and live it. Doing so, brings one into the light of God, as He Himself declares in the Bhagavad gita that one who internalizes such attributes is very dear to Him. (Bg 12.13-20) This process is naturally joyful, because the Lord in one’s heart Who witnesses everything, all one’s innermost thoughts, actions and motivations, is pleased by that striving, and, like a lover, will ignore any of its faults. This helps the devotee overcome the hopelessness of his limits, and thus there is reassurance and delight from within, which ensures that he will not fall from the process.
Of the Lord, for the Lord…
So in terms of tools, religion must not be separated from its function which is to please the Lord. In its lowest form, in the mode of ignorance, religion is used to destroy people- physically through jihads and crusades, or psychologically through guilt-tripping, damning and judging (Bg. 17.19). In its stagnating form, the mode of passion, it is used to augment one’s ego- one wants to be perceived as a great and holy person, and thus be admired by all (Bg 17.18). In its purest form, it is used to help people evolve- and this is when religion’s values are internalized, lived, not used as a tool of manipulation or falsity of ego (Bg 17.17)
Religion is then very close to fulfilling its purpose, and to a certain extent it does so, for being used in this way, it is very pleasing to the Lord. But when it is consciously used to serve the Lord, knowing the Lord to be the source of all goodness, empathy, kindness, equality of vision etc- when thus kept, in its pure form, only for the pure purpose of pleasing the Lord, Who dwells in all hearts as the witness, it has become stripped of all that covers it and regains its very essence.
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