Adhyatma (Pertaining to body) and Darshan (Philosophy)

A religion consists of two things namely Adhyatma and Darshan.

Adhyatma is a derivative of the word Atma which means the self. Here self (Atma) is certainly different from Atmaa ( the soul). The prefix Adhi made it Adhyatma. Therefore the word Adhyatma means the things pertaining to body. And, what is our body? It is both our physique and mind.

And this body sustains the life.

And if there is no life, how can we achieve anything?

So, all religions put special emphasis on maintaining this body, both the physique and mind. They created many ways of rituals, yogas, dhyan (meditation) etc that essentially pertains to body, and to keep the physique and mind balanced.

Darshan is the philosophical part of a religion. And this philosophical part is the core of a religion. It is the guiding principle of the whole system of belief.

The Adhyatam and Darshan of any religion prepare the ground for the great journey beyond a religion.

This can be understood by the theories of centripetal and centrifugal forces. We now send our satellites from The Earth simply by making centrifugal force greater than centripetal force.

When Adhyatma and Darshan are followed carefully, it prepares us for the great journey beyond a religion itself.

Then the great journey of The Religion of Dharm begins. It is at that time an individual of any religion whatsoever begin realizing the Bliss.

From that point onwards, an individual starts breaking all the fetters, including the fetters of a religion. Thus, in this great journey of Dharm, only the realization of the Bliss is important, nothing else. In itself, it is non-religious experience, a most secular thing that can be attained by all irrespective of their religions. It applies to one and all.

As it is mentioned earlier in one of the writings, this realization of the Bliss, is not dependent on any religion. One can attain it directly without any help of a religion.

To make it more clear, let me put here one of the most important traditions of Brahmins of India. According to this ancient tradition, a sacred fire used to be lit in the household of a Brahmin family at the time of birth of a male child. When the child attained the age of 16, this fire was put on his hand and with two option before him - take Sannyas and go to jungle to attain the Bliss, or go to a teacher to read Vedas, the most sacred scriptures, and after the completion of study come back to live among people and do your social duties.

The first option clearly indicates that there is no need even of reading scriptures and following people's religions to attain the Bliss.

This ancient tradition is now transformed only as a ritual named Yagyopavita Sanskar. No child is now sent to jungle. After Yagyopavita, people follow all worldly things including the path of religion.

The child is simply made to imitate the ancient tradition. The child, the first time, is asked to say that he would take to Sannyas and would go to jungle. Then he imitates going and begging. And, he is pursued to return on the basis of the second option.

The second time, he imitates going to Gurukul (A seat of learning), to study Vedas and other sacred scriptures and begging. However, he is pursued not to go, on the ground that everything will be available to him even in their home.

The third time, when he is made to imitate begging and going around for the knowledge of the Truth, he is actually given the greatest of the learning in the form of the Gayatri Mantra or the Gayatri Hymn with the sacred thread Yagyopavita or Yagyopavitam.

What is this sacred thread for and what is the Gayatri Mantra ?

The Gayatri Mantra is the most sacred hymn, from the Rig Veda, which is the most sacred scripture among the four most sacred religious scriptures of the Sanatan Dharm or the Hindus.

And what does it say?

It tells us the most secular thought that emphasizes on attaining enlightenment. It says, “ Let us meditate on the lovely splendour of the God Savitr, that he may inspire our minds.” The meditation and the enlightened mind are thus become most important things to which a Brahmin child is made to commit.

And, the child is being reminded throughout his life of this commitment by putting a sacred thread on his shoulder, which he is supposed to pick up and hang it on his right ear rounding it thrice whenever he feels natural calls. This sacred thread is thus reminder of his commitments several times a day.

Thus, the learning has become the most important thing for enlightenment or the attainment of the Bliss. From this, a separate branch of theory has emerged that is called Gyan Yoga. It says that one can attain the Bliss through Gyan which is something more than information, knowledge and wisdom all put together.

This way, Dharm is not dependent on even philosophy and rituals. It does not matter if you do not know philosophies and rituals, especially in the way of attaining the Bliss. One does not need either. It is entirely a different journey.