Vedas and Vedānta were penned down several millennia ago. It might have been the doctrine for the people of those times but is it applicable to men and women of this so called highly advanced civilization we are currently in?
To answer this question, one needs to understand the different planes of spirituality.
The lowest level of spirituality is atheism, the denial of existence of God. You might wonder how atheism comes into the picture of spirituality when the basis of atheism is denial of God’s existence. Atheism is like the darkness that disappears when light shines. When ignorance of atheists is dispelled by evidence of God’s existence, they move into the next higher spiritual plane. People in the plane of ‘belief in God’ accept that God exists but does not associate themselves anyway with God. The next higher plane is ‘faith in God’ where people not only accept God’s existence but have their whole-hearted trust in Him. Most people on this planet are in the spiritual plane that regards God as an existence higher than us thereby revering Him through prayers and sacrifices. Very few people with extraordinary love for God see Him not as being above them but beside them as a friend or as a relative (brother, sister or even a spouse). Even fewer people in this world believe that God is not above them, not beside them but within them. This self-realization leads to nirvana or enlightment where there is neither suffering nor desire and is a transcendent state of pure heavenly joy
“True happiness lies in spirituality and not in materialistic desires and pleasures” - Vedas will always be relevant until this truth is understood by each and everyone on this land
To answer this question, one needs to understand the different planes of spirituality.
The lowest level of spirituality is atheism, the denial of existence of God. You might wonder how atheism comes into the picture of spirituality when the basis of atheism is denial of God’s existence. Atheism is like the darkness that disappears when light shines. When ignorance of atheists is dispelled by evidence of God’s existence, they move into the next higher spiritual plane. People in the plane of ‘belief in God’ accept that God exists but does not associate themselves anyway with God. The next higher plane is ‘faith in God’ where people not only accept God’s existence but have their whole-hearted trust in Him. Most people on this planet are in the spiritual plane that regards God as an existence higher than us thereby revering Him through prayers and sacrifices. Very few people with extraordinary love for God see Him not as being above them but beside them as a friend or as a relative (brother, sister or even a spouse). Even fewer people in this world believe that God is not above them, not beside them but within them. This self-realization leads to nirvana or enlightment where there is neither suffering nor desire and is a transcendent state of pure heavenly joy
The purpose of these scriptures, the Vedas and the Vedānta, is to help an individual to move from lower planes to the highest plane progressively to attain bliss. The Vedas with its historical and celestial stories, hymns, mantras, sacrificial procedures and practices helps to elevate an individual from the plane of atheism to the plane of belief in God as a friend or relative but not beyond that. It is the Vedānta that comes to the rescue of the individual for self realization. As indicated in Mundaka Upanishad, Vedas help in crossing only half the river of samsāra to reach the banks of the Imperishable Brahman.
Considering these facts, I feel that the Vedas and the Vedānta are all the more relevant and necessary in the current materialistic era where gadgets and robots have become the best friends of people rather than fellow human beings and spirituality becoming a time waster.
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