Talk given by Dr. Pal Dhall, Delhi Conference on Unity of Faiths
11th-12th July 2009

Spirituality and Human Values

Introduction

We are living at an interesting period in the history of humanity. We are facing the consequences of the wrong set of values towards which we directed our efforts in science and technology. At the same time there is distrust and misuse of religion and this deprives humanity of its main method of dealing with human existential problems. In contrast, because of the well documented enormous benefits of spiritual activities on mental and physical health a new enthusiasm is emerging for Spirituality as the way forward. Now is the beginning of a revolutionary understanding that Spirituality is the heart of all religions and has the potential of uniting humanity in a new paradigm of brotherhood.

I will begin by summarising this talk: Spirituality is the final common denominator of all the religions and Human Values are the final common pathway. Spirituality and Human Values are what transform criminals into saints. They are the elixir that transmutes base metals into pure gold. The rest of this presentation is mainly explicating this summary statement.

Spirituality has several constructs. Principally an enquiry into meaning and purpose, its one construct is that it is the capacity to see beyond the physical and material to the transcendental and the mystical. This requires a pure heart and a pure mind. The practice of Human Values is the mechanism for preparing the mind and heart so that human personality evolves to its fullest and expresses in a heart full of love and compassion, a mind saturated with wisdom and enlightened and hands that are ceaselessly busy with selfless service. Human Values enable us to see unity of faiths and give faith in unity.

Spirituality: Anterior to Religions

Spirituality is anterior to religions which have grown around a core of Spirituality

Religions have many distinct dimensions - ritualistic, mythic, doctrinal, cultural, ethical, institutional and artistic. Although they appear different because they emphasise different dimensions they are analogous in having spirituality as their core.

Structurally every religion has three elements:

Firstly, all the religions claim to be directed by an objective Ultimate Reality, not human agency. Different religions give different names to the Ultimate Reality - God, Divinity, Inner Motivator, Pure Consciousness, Pure Being and Unitive State of Oneness etc., depending upon their philosophy - of dualism, qualified dualism or non-dualism. For the purpose of this presentation I shall call this objective Reality as the Ultimate or the Ultimate Value.

It is not always obvious that the Ultimate is a value. However, it is a value because it gives vaue to human life. All religions claim that the ordinary life has lesser value, is a state of suffering, sin or ignorance or delusion because the mind is enslaved by the material. There is a better life through forming an abiding relationship with the Ultimate. However, the Ultimate is beyond the material and the mind. Nonetheless it is possible for humans to experience the Ultimate not through the ordinary mind but through an evolved and prepared mind. Spirituality is thus not only a capacity to see beyond the physical and material, beyond the social and emotional but it is also a goal-orientated, self directed activity. This involves transformation through diligent preparation of the mind and heart and elevation of consciousness beyond the mundane and the gross through the agency of spiritual practices and Human Values. Values have to be continuously practised to retain any gains.

Secondly, all religions claim that the attainment of the Ultimate is the highest purpose or Goal of life. It is vital to appreciate that the purpose of life that the humans discern is set by the Ultimate, not by humans themselves. All religions claim that humans have unique constellation of qualities to attain their goal of life, become co-creators of their own destiny.

Thirdly, scriptures of the religions give guidance on values that will further the attainment of the goal and the behaviours that are to be eschewed. However, the scriptures are merely the road maps and memorising them does not constitute spiritual living. Spirituality is the experiential journey that the seeker has to make by living a life grounded mindfully moment to moment in the Ultimate purpose and choosing Human Values to attain the Goal of life.

Since the Ultimate is Omnipresent the Ultimate is an inner witness to our every thought, every situation, every moment of time in life. Every moment therefore is pregnant with sacred possibilities. Human Values and spiritual opportunities thus permeate the very stuff of everyday social exchanges, concepts, statements, explanations and actions. Thus another construct of Spirituality is that it is not a state but a process and values are means to evolving human consciousness towards the Ultimate.

Spirituality engages four interrelated domains

It should be clear from what has been said that spirituality is an exceedingly dynamic construct which embraces human psyche in all the domains - of enquiry, a reflective culture in which feeling, experience, understanding and action - all subserve to evolve consciousness and enhance communion with the Ultimate, in fact to merge human consciousness with that of the Ultimate. Thus spirituality is experiential, it provides a cognitive framework for interpreting experience and it is the most important goal directed human activity in human flourishing.

There are four interrelated domains in spirituality - personal, communal, environmental and transcendental, each with its own values. The values of each domain build and enhance those of the other domains in progressive synergism and each subsumes the next. The personal domain gives meaning and purpose through self awareness, the communal domain emphasises morality and culture, the environmental domain gives connection to Nature while the transcendental establishes faith and devotion which lead to the mystical and the numinous.

As mentioned, spirituality is not a static concept. As with cognition, morality and motivation, spirituality also has a developmental progression from the pre personal to the personal and then to the transpersonal. It is in transpersonal spirituality all the values of the different domains are able to evolve consciousness fully towards the Ultimate. Because of enormous health and personal benefits of spiritual practices one of the major problems in popular Spirituality is the tendency to focus solely on one or two of the domains, particularly the personal, communal and the environmental as if this is the totality. This is just not so.

I have stated that spirituality is a life long commitment to constant inner work on the mind and heart. The unprepared mind is rigid and enslaved to the material, the heart is narrow and self centred and the consciousness is focussed on the worldly life. Thoughts have unregulated speed and momentum. These nullify mindfulness of the purpose of human life. This becomes an obstacle to establishing an abiding relationship with the Ultimate. The challenge is to work on these in the knowledge that the mind is also the key for spirituality.

Intentions, values, processes and goals are a part of a single hierarchy. Intention to experience ie the Ultimate is realized through values and the processes of Spirituality. Indeed processes in spirituality are nothing other than operationalising Human Values in constant evaluation, judgement and decision making. Values do not become "spiritual" on account of special labels. All the values that support the striving and the effort in raising consciousness for a direct experience of the Ultimate are Human Values.

There are hundreds of values. We need a framework for easy comprehension. Human Values and the spiritual processes in all the religions are similar. The values may be placed in a framework of five interrelated Human Values of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-violence. This framework has been given by my Spiritual Master, Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Human Value of Truth: Searching for Enlightenment, Quest for Truth

The Ultimate or Truth is beyond the physical and material. Human existential search centres round the questions: What is Ultimately Real? Who am I? What is my relationship to the Real? These questions lead to self awareness, love for Truth abiding mindfulness and constant remembrance. It is a life that seeks the Ultimate in the ordinary, in the entire creation as the body of the Ultimate. Life is lived consciously recognising the delusion of permanency of ordinary life. Honesty, integrity and mindfulness overcome the negative energy of the mind. This leads to a state of Constant Integrated Awareness, mystical and numinous experiences.

Human Value of Right Conduct: Cultivating Detachment

Right Conduct demands we assume responsibility for our spirituality with a strong will, discipline, determination and courage and use discrimination to assess the spiritual consequences of all our actions. In ordinary life right conduct is for a regulated social life but in spirituality, Right Conduct is a preparation of the mind and heart for an experience of the Ultimate. Spirituality does not require withdrawal from active engagement in life. A fully dedicated action makes the most ordinary action into an act of worship and surrender to the Ultimate. Conscience is cultivated when the intentions of actions are aligned to the Ultimate Value.

Human Value of Peace: Tackling Emotions and Dismantling of the bureaucracy of ego

Ordinarily there is unrelenting emotional inner drama in which the ego is the central character, easily bruised. Ego is at the opposite pole of the Ultimate. As long as the ego occupies the central place on the stage of consciousness the Ultimate cannot be attained. Spirituality requires us to stop this inner drama of the ego which is perpetuated by the negative emotions of frustration, anger, lust, greed, envy, jealousy. These need to be pacified through self regulation and self control. Inner emphasis must be shifted from ego-centred living to others. Selfless service and positive emotions such as humility, gratitude and contentment counter the negative emotions. Introspection, meditation and devotion are techniques to multiply the positive inner reserves and elevate the consciousness beyond the ego into the numinous.

Human Value of Love: Living in Love with the Ultimate

To experience Love of the Ultimate for the creation spirituality requires us to make a constant flow of love towards others in the recognition of their unity and oneness with us. This love must embrace all the four domains of spirituality, the personal, interpersonal, environmental and the transcendental. It results in a soft and tender heart full of empathy and compassion for the sufferings of the others and shows in values such as helpfulness, caring, and loving kindness for the whole of creation. It gives feeling of reverence, awe and connection with everything in creation.

Human Value of Non Violence: Seeking Interconnection

This is a supreme value as it involves the development of consciousness of universal interconnectedness with the whole of creation. Non-violence includes non-violation of natural resources. It involves control over tongue, both in speech and food, putting a ceiling on desires for excessive and wasteful use of money, energy, food and time and becoming mindful of the issues of sustainability.

Summary

There is a recent upsurge of interest in Spirituality. Traditional religions are being re-examined for their core spiritual message. Comparative religious studies show a broad similarity and a common structure in all religions: they all affirm the existence of an objective Ultimate Value, accessible by human effort. The pathway to the Ultimate involves consciously living a life engaged in spiritual practices. Human Values are those values which enable us to live a life in consonance with our highest purpose.

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