The Bearded Mystic Podcast
Rahul N Singh host of The Bearded Mystic Podcast explores the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta or Nonduality in a very simple, direct and practical way.
Episodes include discussions into eastern scriptures like The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads etc and discussions about everyday spirituality.
Rahul has been on the spiritual path for over 20 years and has an open-minded approach to spirituality and finds that there is no one size fits all approach.
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The Bearded Mystic Podcast
The Illusion of Exclusive Spiritual Paths: Finding Your Way to Truth
The concept of a single truth with multiple spiritual pathways is often viewed as controversial in religious circles. Many spiritual traditions make exclusive claims about being the only pathway to truth, creating a dichotomy between those who are "saved" and those who aren't.
• Exclusive spiritual paths can make followers feel special but may actually create delusion and keep people bound to samsara
• Many religious institutions claim to be the only place to find truth or realization
• Vedanta accepts various pathways including Abrahamic religions because they contain elements of faith and devotion
• Consciousness is fundamental to our experience and shapes our world depending on its relationship with mind
• Multiple valid spiritual approaches exist: devotional practices (chanting, puja), intellectual understanding, karma yoga (observing our actions)
• Nobody can follow any single spiritual path 24/7 – we naturally incorporate multiple approaches
• Those claiming exclusivity often remain heavily invested in the material world they claim is temporary
• Spiritual exclusivity often leads to arrogance and ego rather than humility
• If the One became many, it's logical that many paths would lead back to the One
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If I said that there's only one truth, but there's many paths that are leading to the truth, that could be seen as rather controversial, in fact somewhat not acceptable or not acceptable my words. So I want to talk about this because it seems to be that, regardless of what religion as leading to the truth, whether they speak of the truth is one thing or another, but at least they're leading to the truth. But there are some paths which are, like, purely exclusive. It's either our path or there's a door to hell or to wherever, to the next life, and this type of path, if you follow, that's really exclusive, it can make you feel special, can make you feel like really honored. But could it set delusion, could it actually harm you in the long run? What if the exclusive path that you chose or that, or what if it chose you, ends up being not so exclusive but in fact keeps you bound, keeps you stuck in the cycle of samsara, of the world of birth and death, birth and death. And we continuously go through that cycle and I've been thinking about this a lot because, you know, often we hear that this is the only place you can get the truth. I've been to so many places that say that we are the only ones that have this Brahm Gyan or this knowledge or this. We are the only path that can make you realize God. We're the only path that Is accepted by Sri Krishna. And you know, whenever that's heard, especially today, even for me, it just comes across as a little bit culty. Let's be honest about it, because the truth couldn't be farther from that.
Speaker 1:In fact, the reason why Vedanta would even accept even Abrahamic religions as a pathway, as a as a a realistic path, is because somewhat there is some element of faith or devotion going on, so it would accept it. It will say you know what? There is a faith towards a personal god, there is worship of a personal god, so something is happening. And say that the heaven is true. Well, you're going to that heaven. You claim its eternity, that's where you want to be, but we know that heaven is never eternal. You know, you can say that for a very long time, but you will come back on earth. Now, obviously, that would be the Vedantic viewpoint, but the fact is that we'll still be able to see it as a pathway, a genuine path, now, when it comes to really understanding this reality, and not just understanding it, but understanding, but realizing that you are this absolute, you know, formless consciousness, and that this consciousness is the fundamental existence of our experience, of our lives. Without this we would not be able to function. Consciousness is inherent within everything. It just, and, depending on the mind and its relationship with consciousness, is how consciousness shapes the world that we live in.
Speaker 1:That that, for me, requires many ways to get there now. For, for example, you may be of a devotional mindset, so you doing chanting or uh puja or some sort of um worship is absolutely fine. You may sing kirtans and that will get you there, and that's brilliant. That's a pathway. Yours may be like intellectually understanding this wisdom. Therefore, it takes a lot of mind power to understand and then to transcend into the intellect and then transcend that into direct realization, and it's possible. That's a pathway when we become the observers in our actions of karma yog. That is a genuine pathway.
Speaker 1:You could have a mix of many paths within you, and and that's what I really want to point to, is that nobody has the exclusivity of the truth. Everyone follows different paths. Now someone may say well, you know, I'm a hardcore uh, such and such in such religious institution there that you belong to Now. I'm a hardcore follower of so-and-so, but guess what you'll notice with those people? They are just as invested in the world, as that they claim is a testing ground or is not real, or is not the place where we need to always be, where sin is possible. If you think about it, they are totally invested in the world. And when you have many paths and you accept that there's many paths to the truth, one, you've automatically become boundless by your just mindset, just mindset alone, which then leads a door to open up boundlessness into even experience.
Speaker 1:Trying to make is, if you think your path is exclusive and just one and that this is the only place you can get it, then you fundamentally will have to accept the world as it is the reason why I'm saying I know I'm probably jumping so many steps like to get to what I'm saying, but what I'm trying to say is that you cannot be exclusive just to one path. You may claim that the one person that you're following is the ultimate Messiah and is the only one, and that's the only one of today and there's no one else, and that may be true to you. That's what's real for you, right? So I'm not questioning that. But are you worshipping 24-7? Are you practising your devotion 24-7? Are you practising your path 24-7? And see, nobody can follow any path 24-7. We're always doing multiple paths. Now, for example, when you're sleeping, you can make that into a spiritual practice. Just remember the ultimate in that moment before you fall asleep, and you know that will be churning in the background. You see, we have to keep working on this. We have to keep working on understanding that there's many paths within our own practice and therefore, if those paths are leading us to that one truth, then that's all that matters.
Speaker 1:And anyone that then belittles other people's paths because they think they're inferior, because they have a superior path one, you've opened the door to comparison and to a super ego. So you don't necessarily become humble in that light. You actually become more arrogant and egotistical. And that's what I found, not only in my own life, through my own reflections, whenever I felt like something is the only way and what that brings, and especially when I see other people. And you know, when people say that theirs is the only path and they can guarantee, and all this stuff, I actually doubt that they have fully, you know, have that full, 100% faith. I think there's more doubt than there is faith, because those that are comfortable in knowing that they have the truth and how they got to the truth and how they are practicing the truth, they never have to make someone feel inferior or make themselves feel superior, because, in the end, it's that one same truth that's playing the whole game and it appears to be many, and that's the funny part of this. So, and and just to just since I've got the thought, if the you know, let's say that the one became the many. Well, if you think about this fundamentally, if the one can become the many, then why is it that there's only one path towards one truth? Why is it that there's only one path towards one truth when, obviously, the one created many or manifested as many, then many will be the path to that one. Anyway, let me know what you think.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Beard of Mystic podcast. I'm your host, rahul N Singh. I always forget to mention this. Now, I'm always meant to mention it after the hook line, or my supposed hook line. It's not really a hook line, but I always forget to mention this. I'm always meant to mention it after the hook line, or my supposed hook line. It's not really a hook line, but I always forget. But anyway, do like this video or the podcast, do comment, do subscribe and you know, you can follow me on any Of the social media apps. I'm on there somehow and Buy my merch and hope to see you in the next video. Okay, take care, namaste.
