Hello and welcome to episode 123 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about rules and regulations. Why are there so many rules and regulations in Hinduism or any religion for that matter?
Today’s question comes from Keith asks “Why are there so many rules and regulations in religion? Why can’t it be simpler?”
That’s a really good question and it’s one that a lot of people ask. Here is the answer: The great ones say that when you are not ready for something everything appears as a rule or regulation.
Code of conduct
Let’s take Mc Donald’s as an example. There are thousands upon thousands of them across the world yet there is a standard code of procedure applied in each one. There is a certain way they cook the burgers and a certain way they serve the food. There is a code of conduct for everything across the whole system.
So if someone started working there when they didn’t really want to work there they would see all these codes as rules and regulations. This can be applied to any company in the world. They all have systems, rules and procedures in place.
Someone who is not ready to work there will resent all the rules and regulations that are needed to run the company smoothly even though these rules are probably what makes the company so successful.
Ready or not?
The same applies to religion. Religions are usually successful because of the rules and rituals that are involved. They are usually only required in the early stages before you are knowledgeable. Sometimes people are not ready to get in touch with the consciousness and they just want comfortable religion and then everything appears as a rule.
When you are ready all of these rules appear as a step towards victory. You will see these rules as a stepping stone to doing your job really well. Success happens because of best practice and best practice comes from codes of conduct. So Keith if these rituals appear as rules to you then I’m sorry to tell you that I think you are just not ready to embrace your consciousness just yet. You really need to increase your eligibility.
Purpose
Remember these codes and rules always have a purpose. That purpose is to create a great environment to do whatever needs to be done. This applies everywhere: religion, work and even school. Certain attitudes are needed to create a great work environment.
Religion is all about energy. You must withdraw the gunas and get in touch with the consciousness. This means that the objects are also very important. These objects will help create a great environment. For example it has been proven that plants in a workplace will help improve the productivity of the workers. So this proves that everything is for a purpose. This is why rules are important and must be followed. If everyone just did what they wanted to then there would be chaos and nothing would work.
People who are not ready say “I don’t want to do this” and “I don’t want to do that” but people who are ready say they want to do the right thing. That’s the big difference. For people who are ready it’s not about liking or not liking something it’s just about doing the right thing.
Thirdly there are religious foods which are called sattvic foods. People are required to prepare their own food, offer it to god and then eat it. This is sattvic food. There are even rules around food. For food to be sattvic it cannot just be bought anywhere.
The person offering the food must prepare it in their own home themselves and then offer it themselves. Food is not just about filling your stomach or giving you energy. Yes that is important but what is more important is that food can give you gunas and you want to eat food that will provide sattvic gunas. Food is so important because it is a medium for the gunas to travel inside of you. So best practice is to prepare it yourself, offer it and then eat it. Whenever you have the chance to do it you should do it.
If you are not interested then you are not ready and you are also not ready to get in touch with the consciousness. Remember the great men and women followed all the rules at the start and to be like them we must too. So don’t look at rules, look at what is right and do your best to follow what is right.
There are also rules that relate to the people that you meet. It is important that you don’t make friends with the wrong people. There is a saying that if you show me your friends then I will show you your character. Of course there are exceptions but as a general rule it is very important.
The books you read and the places you visit are also important. You shouldn’t just read any book or visit some place just for the sake of it. Everything we do should be for the purpose of creating a great environment.
Meditate
To create a great environment first thing in the morning you should meditate. This is what will get you back to the shore and back to the consciousness. This will create a beautiful environment. This will help you to be eligible. It’s always better to be eligible early in life rather than to have to overcome all these obstacles first. Don’t worry about liking something or not liking something because there is so much in life that we don’t like but that we have to do anyway. We don’t like paying taxes or bills but we still have to do them!
It goes to every aspect of your life. Some people even have rules about what type of clothes they wear and even what colour they are. Everything is affect but it is for a good reason, to make a happier life for us.
Very few of us are masters and we have to keep learning every day. We are in the midst of a battle field and every day is a challenge and we keep doing things because they are good for us.
So do your best Keith to follow the rules. Try not to think of them as rules but rather as what is right and what will make you happy. Keep increasing your eligibility and your perspective will change if you really want it to.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
