Our World
Viewpoint
By
Sri
Swami Atmaswarupananda
Each one of us has our own individual world viewpoint,
the way we see the world. If we were born in a very rich family, we see the
world in a certain way. If we were born in a very poor family, we see the world
in another way. If we were born a Hindu, we have a certain world viewpoint. If
we were born a Muslim, we have another one. During the cold war, if we lived in
the West, we saw the world from one point of view. If we were living in Russia,
from another point of view.
Unfortunately these different points of view, which
usually depend upon our circumstances of birth, frequently lead to clash and to
quarrel. But actually, there is less difference between those of us born in
different circumstances than we would think. We all think we are individuals,
we all think we are separate from other individuals and that God is somewhere
else.
The real difference we actually have is with the
scriptures and the saints. They are the ones that have a radically different
point of view than we do. And often throughout history we have treated the
saints and prophets like enemies-persecuted them and sometimes even put them to
death. But even when we worship them, honour them, love them, we don't
recognise how different our viewpoint is from theirs. We see everything as
separate. They see the oneness of all things.
We talk about the oneness of all things, but we don't
see it. Why don't we see it? Because there is a tremendous force within us that
doesn't want to see it from that point of view. There is a tremendous force
within us that wants to be separate, that wants what we want. We don't want to
be the same as everyone and everything else. When this is discovered, then, so
to speak, the gauntlet is thrown down. We are called on to face up to what we
profess. Do we really want God; do we really want the saint's point of view or
do we not?
If we do, there is a battle to be fought. Our teachers
tell us that the Puranas are only about us. The battle between good and evil is
not some battle outside, but it is a battle that each one of us has to fight
within ourselves. And it is literally a fight to the death. That force of
separation has no intention of giving up easily. Kill it one place; it appears
in another. Kill it there; it appears somewhere else in another form. It is a
never-ending battle and a battle that all the scriptures tell us can only be
won when, one way or another, we take refuge in the Lord.
But however we view it, the real battle of life is not
with those who think differently from us, the real battle of life is against
our limited view of ourselves. We must fight this battle until we achieve the
world viewpoint of the scriptures and the saints.
Compiled by Nathan Mohanan
