Feb 4, 2004, 12.00am IST
Many people study religious scriptures profusely — which is a good thing. But they feel that the 'scriptural word' is enough. That is a mistake. A scripture is like a map. And a map is not the territory.
What may appear as a beautiful mountainous range on paper could well turn out to be a treacherous obstacle in real life. Similarly, a river painted in brilliant hues of blue on a map, might be infested with snakes and crocodiles in reality.
In the same manner, the spiritual path is strewn with unseen and perilous obstructions in real life.
The very first difficulty faced by seekers arises from the infinite ocean of the scriptures themselves, whether they are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Zen, Muslim or any other.
Individual religions have multiple versions of the holy scriptures, translated or rendered by nume-rous experts. For instance, the Bible has over 20 major translations, besides hundreds of lesser known ones.
The Bhagavad Gita, similarly, has a number of renditions. So does the Qur'an. Which of this bewildering variety of literary works is truly authentic? Which does one follow?
Another complication is that not everything in a scripture can be taken as an eternal truth. Many statements in these ancient texts are contextual. This is what made the original founders of those religions so popular.
Today, many things have changed in the world since the time of the original saintly founders — they didn't have the Internet; nor did they have other sophisticated communication systems.
They were not faced with the ethical and moral questions being thrown up today by evolving genetic engineering techniques: Should we go ahead with human cloning? Is xenotransplantation ethical? Do we have the right to select the specifications of a baby yet to be conceived?
As the wonders of techno-logy in the service of saving, prolonging and enhancing the span and quality of a person's life increase, so will the ethical dilemmas these technologies give rise to.
Neither scientists nor philosophers can give final answers to these burning questions of morality and ethics. Such answers can only come from living saints who can speak unambiguously through the force of their own pure, selfless and loving personalities.
There exists only one method of truly ascertaining whether or not a person is pure and selfless: Through a keen observation of his lifestyle, habits and demeanour.
A truly selfless person can be recognised, advises the Gita. Bhagvan Swaminarayan in his Vachanamrutam sermons says that a saint is recognised through the extent of his physical renunciation of sensual pleasures, the degree of his devotion towards God and the magnitude of his heart.
He will have a heart in which the whole world can live.
Lord Swaminarayan advi-ses all peoples in his Vachanamrutam sermons to "search for a saint who possesses these exceptional virtues of devotion to God, righteousness, service and renunciation — so that you can surrender your body, mind and soul to him — whichever religion you may profess".
Only such saints can guide us safely through the labyrinth of scriptural laws and the subtle dangers along the spiritual path; only they can explain the meaning of scriptures in a more modern and relevant perspective.
And, more than any time in history, when mankind has learnt to harness the prodigious powers of nature and to manipulate its secrets to his material advantage, illumining the dark and shadowy moral arena it has opened will fall more and more upon the shoulders of selfless saints who alone are truly eligible to provide clear-cut answers on what is humane, moral and upright.
Sadhu Vishwamurtidas
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