Morality & Spirituality (Part 1)

Morality & Spirituality...Do they co-exist or are they the antithesis of each other? Is one superior or are both equal? Is there a transition involved or are the two at the same level? Various questions galore, considering esp. that while there seems to be a fine line between the two, upon greater scrutiny, the two seem quite different...but then again in my opinion, not as different as they are made out to be.

One of my dear friends Girija had sent me an article about Morality and Spirituality. The essence of the article was that the two are different because while Morality is rigid and does not allow for variations, spiritualism is at the level of the individual and free for interpretation. Morality is essentially human, and spiritualism divine. Classification of worldly subjects into good or bad, as done by morality, is a vain attempt...as these things are relative and not absolute - What's good for one may not be so for the other.

A few points come to mind. The classification of things into good and bad is done so as to (a) bring order into the society and (b) set people on to the path of realization. Morals give direction to society, give rise to civilization and safeguard humanity, because we all know that inside every man is both a good aspect and a bad aspect (Something like the angel-and-devil conflict depicted in cartoons and movies). Morality, therefore, is essential for us to control the devil aspect and make the transition from homo sapiens to human beings. Those who look at morality as inferior are not thinking of the society and the world at large, especially the spiritualists - at least they ought to know better...its like the college graduate looking down upon primary education! Even Gautam Buddha, in his 8-fold path to remove suffering caused by desire (the essentiality of spiritualism), prescribes a whole lot of "right" things to do - right thoughts, right action and so on. The question is not whether morality is inferior or superior...it is just what it is - the start of the journey that later transforms into spirituality, which then transcends into realization. This journey is like a river's journey - the change from morality to spirituality to realization can be seen as a river changing from a gurgling one to one gently flowing, to ultimately becoming one with the sea.

As to morality being man-made, even spirituality is something that has come about gradually as a result of man's increased questioning, awareness and realization. So would it be wrong to call it as man-made? Spirituality is referred to as "divine", but divinity is also an idea thought up by man. So let us rest this point of divinity vs man-made.

The real question is - Can morality be the be-all-and-end-all of life? Can one be a good person, a righteous person upholding essential human values, not care about the spiritual aspect of life and still gain the essential human experience? The answer is not easy. It depends on one's interpretation of morality. And there lies the problem with morality - while it is perceived as rigid and universal, it is not constant and keeps changing. If one understands that and acts accordingly, then it is fine. Otherwise, it is better to be more spiritual and look within yourself before going out and practicing and preaching values which are ambiguous and antiquated. Rigid morality is definitely a problem. And an even bigger problem is when conventions and customs slowly develop into morals. Any type of Self-righteousness is quite a bit, if not as much, of menace as immorality.

But that is not a victory for spiritualism. The other question - can spirituality be the be-all-and-end-all of life? - also presents its share of problems. The answer depends upon one's interpretation of spirituality. Some might think worshipping daily is enough, some will perform yagnas, others will keep fast and visit pilgrimages. But the common thing is that most of them never ever have any realization of their own self, which is the aim of spirituality. Spiritualists will argue that the things I'm talking about are external features, more to do with religion than spiritualism, and that the real spiritualism is different from it all. I agree with them, but then i'm not talking about the theory, i'm talking about the ground reality. And in reality, these very external things that were supposed to carry one towards realization (the agents of spiritualism if you will) take him away from it. Similarly, ideal practice of morality means to keep track of changing times and changing with it, keeping some universal desirable values as they are. But in reality, morality's degradation and rigid interpretation and practice is there for all to see.

So what is the purpose and the connection of morality and spirituality? and what kind of morality should a man practice, given the times we live in? Let's address this in the next one.