Brij Mohan Sharma
To start with, it may be pertinent to clarify that’ shreya’, ‘preya’ and ‘kriya’ of this write up are actually Sanskrit words made mention of in our scriptures, and have nothing to do with persons christened as such.
The term ‘shreya’ means that which conduces to true welfare and is ul timately beneficial, the term’ pr ey a! means that which is pleasant and immediately attractive, and’ kriya’ means a certain action or ri tee
Preya, according to spiritual, ethics and philosophy, is described as shortsighted selfishness which believes only in pleasures and pure self-interest. On the contrary, shr-ey a is characterised as far-sighted selfishness and enlightened selfinterest.
Preya demands freedom of the senses whereas shreya demands freedom from the senses. Shreya is identified with knowledge and preya with ignorance.
In sum, shreya is an ethical pre-condi tion to spiri tual striving and realization whereas preya is considered below ethics.
Unfortunately, most of us, knowingly or unknowingly, opt ‘preya’ as the be-all and end-all of life, and thus stray away from the real evolutionary direction.
In any casa, shreya has two levels, namely, the’ good life’ and the ‘true life’. The good life alone is not an ultimate end in itself. It must lead to the realization of ‘true life’.
So, ethics is the first stage in man’s spiritual evolution, and society is the venue where he receives the ethical education. It finds expression in his effort to manipulate economic and sociopolitical conditions in order to ensure good life for himself.
Since this process is simply a stepping stone for higher evolution and not the real purpose of life, man has to be overcautious not to carry it too far. If he fails to listen to this warning, he is bound to fall prey to ‘preya’ and become a problem not only to himself but to the society and humanity as a whole in spi te of all the security and wel fare buil t up by him from the outside – a trend being experienced and evidenced in modern human behaviour.
Anyway, after having ensured ‘good life’ for himself, the next stage for man is to set in motion the process of its transformation into ‘true life’. This is possible only if man makes an effort to approach his self from the within instead of from the without. This approach from within will help him to release the energies of his immortal divine self within.
You will naturally ask: How to approach this Self within? The answer is : The preachings of all our great religious scriptures and the teachings of all our Self-realized masters are the real guides to lead us to our inner self. Though the paths to be moved along may be different, the Goal is one, viz., the realization of Self. As the saying goes: “Infinite is God and infinite are the ways to reach Him.”
‘Earnestness’, nevertheless, is the key to this journey inwards. We cannot have butter out of the milk unless we churn the milk. So is the Case with Sel f-realization. AIi ttle diving is necessary to reach the attractive depths of Truth.
Great spiritual teachers of India, long ago, discovered a psychophysical scientific method of Self-realization known as Yoga. One of its most effective techniques is Kriya Yoga.
Paramahansa Yogananda was one of such world teachers. Born on January 5, 1893, this son of the soil grew up to be a great spiritual figure of history. He illumined the path of countless souls by imparting the highest truths of life. Though major part of his life was spent outside India, still he takes place among the great saints of our country. He had imbibed the spirit of universality through the realization of the Divine in man. His misston in the East and West was to rouse men and women to an awareness of their Divine nature and the unity of man which alone Can bring peace to this world torn with hatred and strife.
By his selfless service to humanity, he taught millions of people the time-tested yogic technique of Kriya Yoga which, according to him, is the easiest, most effective, and the most scientific avenue of approach to the Infinite. Kriya consists of body discipline men tal control and medi tation on God. Its practi4e can go a long way in liberating man from his three-fold sufferings: physical disease, mental inharmonies and spiri tual ignorance.
‘Kriya’ enables you to achieve the desired state in which the mind succeeds in stilling the clamour of the senses and itself becomes concentrated, steady and pure. This is the stage that spiritual seekers throughout the ages have striven to attain.
The dynamics of Kriya finds its true expression in the path that leads to light and life, to the infini te and the eternal. Bereft of this attainment, man is apt to fall deeper and deeper into the morass of materialism (preya) which takes him away from light and life.
Whatever your religious affiliation, you are sure to benefit from this scientific and non-sectarian technique of Kriya yoga. Yoga, according to Paramahansa Yogananda, is like the healing light of the sun whi ch is beneficial equally to men of the East and the men of the West. Its techniques are not meant only for certain types and temperaments, nor does it require any formal allegiance.
A yogi does not necessarily mean a person with ochre robes on, or a renunciant sitting cross-legged in a forest immersed in meditation. An ordinary householder Can also be a yogi if he engages himself in a defini te procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined and the soul gradually liberated.
“A true yogi may remain dutifully in the worl d, there he is like butter on water, and not like the unchurned, easily diluted milk of undisciplined humani ty. Fulfilling one’s earthly responsibilities need not separate man from God, provided he maintains mental uninvol vement with egotistical desires and plays his part as a willing instrumen t of Di.vine,” explains Paramahansa Yogananda.
How beautifully, eruditely and with brevity has he defined the genuine meaning of ‘true yogi’ ! A person conscientiously performing his work in this world and yet immersed in the inner beatitude is, indeed, an epi tome of all that is great and good. And, this is the sum total of t shreya’, ‘preya’ and’ kriya’.
Curiously enough, some persons want to get out of the muck of sensate lives and follow the spiritual path, but they doubt their worthiness to do so because of their dark past. The advice of Paramahansa Yogananda to such persons is to forget the past and make an earnest spiritual beginning. They will see things will definitely improve.
You cannot change the past, but the future is yet in your power. It is, therefore, high td.m e that you ‘welcome shreya, say no to preya and practive kriya.’ This is the mantra that will take you to the water of life.
(The author is former Addl. Secy. to Govt. of J&K).
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