1) Vedas suggest there are
three paths to God realization.
2) a) Karm Kand (through work); b) Gnaana Kand (through knowledge); and c) Upasana Kand,
also known as Bhakti Kand (through devotion).
3) It is also said God has
three forms of energies: Sat (truth), Chit (knowledge) and Anand (bhakti or devotion) or Satchitanand.
4) Do all the three paths lead
to the same goal? Or is there any secret underlying the three paths?
5) God can be realized by following
any one of these paths, depending on one's abilities, eligibility and inclination of one's mind. But one should not
adopt a mix of these paths to realize God.
6) Following one path for some
time, and then shunning it for another path, will not help one to realize God.
6a) A well-digger will
find water when he persists and keeps on digging, rather than giving up after digging just three feet. Another well-digger
who discovers there's no water three feet deep may move on to another spot. After digging three feet at the
second spot, and again not finding water there, he may move on to third spot. And so on. Even if he digs 30 pits in such manner,
at the end of his efforts (involving a great deal of time and energy), he still won't find the fruit of his labour. Instead,
had he persisted with the first spot and continued to dig on, he would have found water at, say, 15 feet depth.
6b) Likewise, once you carefully
select the path to God, persist with that path. You will realize God, sooner or later. Perhaps, sooner than later.
7) When Vedas talk of Karm
Kand or karm dharm, karm here does not mean the work we do in offices. Scriptures say most of the people
are eligible for karm dharm. But the same Scriptures also say those who perform the karm dharm go to the darkest
places. There appears to be an inherent contradiction in the Vedas on this subject. Or is there?
Click here for the salient points of the discourse on Day Four
