How Specific Spiritual Vocabulary has chained mankind?

Last updated on: September 3, 2007 at 2:22 am by Desh Kapoor

How Specific Spiritual Vocabulary has chained mankind? 2007-09-03T02:22:49-05:00 Desh Kapoor

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"Ok, suppose that A wants to see data from say, a table X, then we need to access the…" Girish started off.

Glen was quick to stop him "Can you be specific? In our system which is that table "X", and what role with which authorization will access that table?". He wanted specifics.

Have you ever been part of that conversation? If you have studied in India or are from India, the chances are that YOU might have been in Girish’s shoes many times! In fact since my childhood, I have been convinced that we, Indians can think of the most complex problems ONLY in generalities. Once the general context is clear. The specific come easier. So goes the wisdom.

But, let us ask the obvious question – Is specificity helpful for knowing things better? The consensus is clear…YES! It does help. In the world of business, systems and life – it is important to be specific so that everyone in "on the same page" – in other words .. have the SAME IDEA or IMAGE! Words convey little. Ideas convey everything! Words are the windows to the world of ideas / images. In themselves they are useless.

Now, lets understand the role of words from the spiritual perspective. Every religion and sect has a separate name / word for everything – from God, to different stages of growth, to the effects of your action etc. They take their meanings only when the Master / Saint / Prophet provide the "context".. to keep their group on the "same" page…. convey the same – one idea that ONLY the people in that group understand!

This is an interesting situation. For, the group of ordinary average people, this "conveyance of the same idea" helps. For now, he/she get "an" idea of what the world should be like. But then the extension of this act is that the same person is closed to ANY OTHER meaning of that word.

Similarly, anyone else who has not heard or believes in that Master, the same words do not carry any significance. How much significance does a Catholic faithful have for kripan in Sikhism?

It does not matter whether we believe in ideas, images, idols or not.. the basic, foundational existence of every religion is predicated on creating restrictive ponds of ideas and images. For, without the help of SPECIFIC and restrictive ideas of words.. there would be no religion or sect!

I say Namaste, he says Sat Sri Akal, she says Salaam. Same need. Different words and different ideas. It is NOT a "fight" of "Gods" but of man made, restrictive and specific vocabularies!!

Strangely, AFTER we they have created the fundamental differences in the ideologies (collection of ideas) through different and loaded words.. the same Masters and Prophets then tell us – everything is the same and all religions convey the same ideas! Hmm. Really? Then why did YOU start to create another language to begin with when I first came to you?? Where was the need? More importantly.. whose need was it?

I said I am now "X";
So he was a "Y".
But I am good I said;
I still "love" the "Y"’s!

These differences that are at the root of all ideologies and beliefs ultimately separate man from man. I wonder how they could even begin to unite their souls, as often told to us is ostensibly the goal of all religion?

The devil is not "out there". But in the ideas, and the images that are created by the thinkers, Masters and Saints to whom we have "outsourced" our own thinking.. and lived on borrowed vocabulary and ideas.

Again, let us revisit the question again – Is specificity good or bad? If the words of all Saints were deliberately cloaked in generalities as opposed to specifics as the wont has been over most of the human history, would we have seen the same strife? Ask this question. It is important and critical to your spiritual progress and the peace on this planet!

Let’s ask this question another way – were the specifics in the vocabulary created in the different ideologies a need of the ordinary people (who were dumbed down and ended up fighting over the differences) or for the need of those Saints who CREATED them?

I often wonder why is that speaking in generalities is so rampant in India? My take is that it is a vestige of the Vedic times. The only group Open Source Spiritualists that the planet has ever seen.

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