By There’s no religious text or scripture that is as deeply ingrained in the DNA of Indian culture as Ramayan. Literally translating to “The Journey of Ram”, Ramayan chronicles the life of Lord Ram – a life lived so exceptionally in alignment with discipline, righteousness, morals, and values, that it earned Lord Ram the title of Maryada Purushottam (The Man of Supreme Integrity). But sadly, time has eroded the significance that those values once commanded in our culture, leaving behind only stories and plays that fail to serve any deeper purpose than entertainment. Let us understand the signficance of Adhyatma Ramayana with Sri Guru.
With the Satsang series of Yogvashishta Maharamayan, Sri Guru’s vision is multifold – reviving the spiritual essence of Ramayan and its stories, reinstilling Lord Ram’s values in our culture, and showing us that they are not idealistic in nature or reserved only for Saints and Yogis. Rather, they are practically applicable principles that the modern world is in desperate need of. Why? Good question.
Challenges of the Modern World
In today’s world, almost every individual is facing some grave challenges impacting their lives at four different levels:
- Personal Challenges: At the personal level, issues such as anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. are rampant due to the insatiable thirst for excess of everything. Excessive lust, greed, desires, possessiveness, and emotions lead to dissatisfaction. Eventually, individuals often feel disconnected from their true selves and struggle to find fulfillment and meaning in their lives.
- Societal Challenges: Our society faces a range of issues such as discrimination, inequality, and social unrest caused by materialism, greed, and a lack of empathy. Societies are made up of individuals, and problems at the personal level can become amplified at the societal level. Furthermore, society is often dominated not by righteous individuals, but by those who are deeply entrenched in lust for desire, fame, power, and money, with little regard for spiritual values. The common people often try to emulate these individuals, which further perpetuates the degradation of society.
- National Challenges: A nation is nothing but a collection of societies, and societal problems bubble up to the entire nation. Today, instead of focusing on the holistic and harmonious development of the nation, every society is trying to seek maximum benefit for itself, leading to issues such as riots, terrorism, corruption, economic inequality, political instability, poverty, and unequal distribution of resources.
- Global Challenges: The excessive focus on materialistic desires and possessions has led to global problems such as climate change, environmental degradation, and social injustice. The lack of cordiality and cooperation between nations has also led to global conflicts, wars, and pandemics.
Lord Ram – Our Saviour
It is clearly obvious that the root of all problems lies in our desire for excess – all other problems can be systematically weeded out if each individual can take the effort to uproot their own vices.
A sub-section of the final chapter of Ramayana, Yogvashishta Maharamayan is an epic dialog between Shree Ram and Guru Vashishta – a dialog that holds the secret of the transformation of Prince Ram to Lord Ram. To overcome our own shortcomings and lead a righteous life, we all need to awaken the Ram within us. And we can only do that by understanding how greatness was ignited within Lord Ram. So come, let us join Adhyatma Ramayana with Sri Guru on this epic journey of transformation!
