One light: Many candlesMy spiritual journey with Sanatana dharma

This is the transcript of the talk by Hindumitra Karen Debrowska on Jan 19, 2025 at Visakhapatnam public library as part of the Hindumitra Foundation event "world is one family".

Namaste

We are all God’s children, part of the  human family,  part of  the greater light. God of hearts, God of our realisation as this period of reflection and meditation comes to an end guide our steps, as unconditional servants of humanity, on the path to the greater light.

I am very honoured and humbled that we are travelling together on the path of Sanatana dharma together. The Vedas tell us truth is one – its expressions are many. There was a video on u tube of two  truth seekers exchanging views.  We will continue our dialogue later one said at the end of the discussion.  About your philosophy or mine the other asked.  Ours was the reply.

What I know about Sanatana dharma can be written on the back of a stamp. I am your

student and  of course very much look forward to hearing about your experiences.  The title of my short talk is My spiritual journey with Sanatana dharma.

The  journey started before I took birth on this earth and will continue when I leave it. But on any journey, there are some especially memorable moments which I would like to share. I am thinking  of my last trip to India when the lady I was sitting next to on the plane asked me: “Why are you visiting South India.”  “To see the temples of Lord Murgan”, I replied. “And when did you convert to Hinduism?” she asked.

Well, I don’t remember converting to anything. “It’s a journey”, I replied.  Sanatana dharma is defined as the eternal everlasting wisdom or principle, the absolute truth. It is something we discover on our journey through life. There is nothing to convert to. For centuries India has been the custodian of Sanatana dharma. There were ancient civilizations: the Egyptian, the Mayan, the Babylonian, the Sumerian, the Aztec, the Yellow Valley in China, Stonehenge – which also conveyed ancient, primordial wisdom but today their teachings are usually only studied by university professors and discussed by academics. India has not lost its link with its glorious past and traditions and Sanatana dharma is in the hearts of its people.

We are all followers of Sanatana dharma. Sohamvidya’s introductory course is “Bring out the best in you – the Sanatana dharma way”; and every human being is seeking to better themselves, to find the answer to the big questions: why are we on this earth? How should we live our lives? What is truth? etc etc. And the concepts of Sanatana dharma provide the answers.

To keep the lady on the plane happy I could have said that my journey started when I read Autobiography of a Yogi. At the time I was commissioned to write a biography and bought a few biographies to get an idea of how to go about it. And in the bookshop the Autobiography of a Yogi was lying on a table, and it looked interesting, so I bought it as well. It is very special book, written in a unique style which brings a voice from another dimension, and I wanted to see Babaji’s cave where Guru Lahiri Mahasaya got Kriya Yoga teachings directly from Mahaavatar Baba Ji.  That is what brought me to India.

But getting to the cave was not without its problems, The altitude was quite high, and I felt unwell. I called my friend in London and told him: “ I can’t walk to this cave.”  “How far did you walk today he asked?” “ Twenty minutes,” I replied. “Fine”, he said. “Buy some chocolate biscuits and some water and just walk for twenty minutes, then have a rest, eat the biscuits drink the water and walk for another twenty minutes. Don’t think about the cave. Just think you have to walk for 20 minutes.”  So off I went. The first 20 minutes weren’t that easy but then the scenery got interesting, a hundred shades of green in the lush Indian countryside and the next twenty minutes became easier. A family of monkeys helped me eat the biscuits, then there was a meditation hall and a tea shop and all of a sudden, the cave was there.

That was my introduction to a very important concept of Sanatana dharma: Nishkama karma. You have the right to perform your action , but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. I realised it is  important to focus on what I am doing  and not on the result. I have been practising tai chi for many years and my focus was on getting the blue belt. But my name was not put forward for the grading, In the end I decided to forget about the belt and just train as best I could. Before this trip the  master asked me if I was planning to travel soon and I said  “yes” so he told me I better do the grading before I travel as I have been training so hard and it’s time for the belt.

On the way to Babaji’s cave we stopped by the Ashram of Neem Karoli Baba with its temple.  I heard temples described as  immersive spaces to experience the spiritual atmosphere  and engage the natural language of the soul. This didn’t really mean anything to me until I started visiting Hindu temples an explosion of colour where magnificent costumes adorn numerous deities. So I was happily taking pictures of gods and temples and sending them on WhatsApp and my step sister replied what is it with you and temples and these gods: they are overdone, over dressed and they are over there.

That is when I realised the importance of explaining what inspired me about Sanatana dharma. My email said:

Yes, they are dressed in very bright costumes. Think that is what  attracted me to them. I love the glitz and the happy religion with its legends associated with the Gods. When I visit a temple I feel a special energy emanating from the statues of the Gods - especially their eyes and the expressions on their faces. I am especially fond of Hanuman.

This God is playing the role of the number two - as I often do and so I identify with him. Shiva has a great power and energy and Krishna and Radha are the embodiment of a happy couple. Sitting in a temple near the statue of the Gods is a very peaceful experience for me -  a magical moment.

The Gods do not have to be seen as Gods. They can also be representations of energies: Laxmi the goddess of wealth can be seen as the energy of abundance and fulness, Hanuman is the embodiment of selfless service, Shantosh is the embodiment of contentment, Ganesh is the embodiment of purification and the removal of obstacles. And there are inspirational stories from the Gods we can learn about. When Hanuman was asked to bring a certain plant he couldn’t find the plant, so he brought the whole island on which the plant grew illustrating the importance of going the extra mile when we perform a service.

And I sent my stepsister a photo of Ganesh in pure white marble, no colour. Didn’t hear anything from her for a while and then there was a message on my phone. “Are you going to India again? Do they export statues of Gods?” “ I guess so.” “ I would like the white Ganesh for my garden.”

So, the focus was on the action not the result of the action. I just wrote the best explanation I could without thinking I want my stepsister to love the Gods as I do.

Ibn Battuta one of the greatest travellers of all time - he was on the road for 30 years and covered 72,000 miles - said the one who read is not like the one who saw. The knowledge that is in the book stays in the book – and he wrote many  books.  Reading spiritual books which contain descriptions of others self-realization cannot be a substitute for one’s own experience.

Swami Yogananda said: “Try to live the truth. Reading sacred literature without following its precepts produces vanity, false satisfaction and intellectual indigestion.”

The Yoga Society at London University recently organized a lecture on Surya Namaskar. A lot of big words and intellectual discussion but not one of the speakers spoke about their experience of Surya Namaskar.

Baba Ji said   I will appear to you in a form which you comprehend. I thought I could not handle seeing such a master. But one evening when reading Autobiography of a Yogi I looked out of my window and saw three lights. No big deal. Just the lights from an adjoining house. But when I was sitting outside the guest house near Baba Ji’s cave three lights appeared in exactly the same configuration.

Things happen. Why was Autobiography of a Yogi lying on a table by the till in the bookshop when I was buying other books? On this trip was my heart was set on going to the Golden Temple. So off I went to the train station to take a train to Southall London’s Sikh area to pick up some literature about Sikhism. Before getting to the station there was a feeling that I am not going to the Golden Temple. At the station the trains to Southhall were cancelled due to a trespasser on the line. Then there was a message on my phone from Om Prakash from Rishikesh Day tour. “The Golden Temple will always be there, but the Kumbh Mela is only once every 12 years, so I arranged a trip to the Mela for you instead.” Like Ibn Battuta said:” A good traveller does not always have  fixed plans.” We  have to  let go and  let God.

Our journey in this life is not such a long journey. From cradle to tomb is not such a long stay. I am 35 years old – plus experience – don’t ask me how many years’ experience but when you get to a certain age you realise that you have already lived longer than you are going live. Thank God my body is still in good working order but it saddens me when  I see one colleague who used to work 12 hour shifts, walk across the park to the office and spend half the night in a café -  now he is  hardly able to cross the road from his home to the café. But why be sad? When our body is no longer able to serve the soul on its journey to the greater light the soul will be served by  another body.

“All the world's a stage,” Shakespeare tells us. “And all the men and women, merely players; They have their exits and entrances and one man in his time plays many parts.” Was he talking about just one life on the earthly stage or many lives on the cosmic stage?

The grandmaster of the Rosicrucians, a western mystical order shared a very beautiful New Year message:  Smooth seas do not skilful sailors make. Ships are safe in harbour but that’s not what ships are for.  

We are here to evolve our spiritual identity. Sailing is a strenuous process and seasickness is ever present until we earn our sea legs and get used to the ceaseless motion of the ship. It is the same with life: we may not be well acclimatised to the tough challenges our karma requires us to face but that is  after all why we are here. Our ship was not meant to stay in the harbour and future lives will prove this.

The picture on the back of the summary of my talk which you have shows seven lights positioned on mountain tops receding far off into the distance, with the faintest luminary representing a life lived seven incarnations into the future.  Each luminary represents the spiritual attainment we reach in that incarnation. In some we reach great heights, in others, where our karmic demands are greater than before we may not reach such great heights as we did in the past. But taken over many incarnations,  the long term progress is towards the greater light.

There have been many questions and many answers on my journey with Sanatana dharma. “Krishna doesn’t like aubergines (brinjals),” I was once told. “Why doesn’t he like aubergines?” I asked. “If you are devotee you don’t ask questions”, was the answer. But as devotees we have to ask questions to gain an understanding of the ancient wisdom. And this is what our respected teacher Dr Srinvasa Malladi has taught us to do.

When I first started my studies with Sohamvidya Dr Srinvasa Malladi asked us to present a reasoned argument for the existence of God. “Does God exist?” he asked. “ I am not sure if he exists, come with proof beliefs don’t count.” At first I was surprised.  A teacher of Sanatan Dharma is asking if God exists. But presenting a reasoned argument was no easy task. My approach was that of a court room: innocent God exists, guilty he does not exist, and there is a third category not proven. Yes I believe God exists but I can’t prove it. There isn’t time now to describe how I reached the not proven verdict but to truly understand the everlasting wisdom we have to ask questions and seek answers.

By the way, Krishna doesn’t like aubergines because his body type is vata. Ayurvedic medicine is based on the principle that each individual is unique, with a specific constitution or dosha which is a combination of Vata (air and ether), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (earth and water). Krishna, like most slim tall people,  has a vata constitution which aubergines do not agree with.

So, there are many questions and answers. Perhaps there are no answers to some questions. Yogananda’s guru said, “not everything is known”.

Who really knows? Nasadiya Sukta asks.

Who will here proclaim it?

Whence was it produced?

Whence is this creation?

The gods came afterward,with the creation of this universe.Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen—perhaps it formed itself, perhaps it did not the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven,Only he  knows or perhaps He does not know.

Thank you