(( 7 Spiritual Lessons learnt from Chandrayan Mission ))
Sharing my analogies on spiritual lesson learnt from the recent Chandrayan mission conducted by ISRO (Indian Space and Research Organization).
Since Man saw the birds flying — we bowed a seed in our minds in the form of a desire to fly!
We being intelligent creatures, we possess the power of self-progress unlike other species and thus we succeeded to fly by inventing Aircraft! We strive to progress further and thus, we envisioned not just to limit ourselves to what Birds can do but also to go beyond. Yes, to think outside the thick atmosphere and breaking the barrier of Gravity force — to go in Space and beyond!
We succeeded even to travel in space and creating a little home named the International Space Station! Orbiting around Earth was not the limit as we saw even further — the Moon and Mars!
By firmly believing to go to Moon — even if it seemed quite an impossible dream — we achieved to land on Moon! The journey goes on and on further to step on the Mars soon..
Being an Aeronautical Engineer and Spiritual enthusiast; while I was witnessing the recent mission to Moon “Chandrayan” by ISRO; I was able to connect some sheer similarities between the journey to Moon and Journey towards God (The journey of our Soul). Here are my analogies:
1. We need faith (Vishwas or Shraddha):
We need a strong belief and faith in both the missions. Before we start the journey to Moon, we need to believe that Moon exist. We also need to have firm faith that “we can” reach Moon! Similarly, on the path to God, we need to believe in the existence of God and a belief that “we can” reach God’s abode. “Without belief — a dream is not born neither the passion to achieve it.”
“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work..”
- APJ Abdul Kalam.
2. We need knowledge (Gyan):
We need to have knowledege of Maths, Physics, Aerodynamics, thermodynamics, Newton and Kepler’s law, escape velocity, etc. to prepare and execute the mission to Moon. Similarly, on the path towards God, we need the knowledge (Gyan) of true Self — the Atma, the higher entities like Ishwar, Maya, Aksharbraham and Parabhraham. let’s just understand only the first entity “Atma” or Soul with this example: The first law of thermodynamics (Law of conservation of energy) says, “Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another”. Similarly, our Soul is eternal! It can neither be created nor be destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form of body to another.
“We don’t carry Soul, we are the Soul — we carry body”.
3. We need to follow the laws (Dharma):
To reach Moon we need to follow the laws of nature. In today’s time, we call it as Newton’s laws, Kepler’s Laws, Laws of Thermodynamics, etc. To make sure that we abide to laws or else if we make a micro mistake, we may lose our track and may not reach the Moon — may get burn or lost in space. Similarly, on the path to God, we need to follow the Dharma — the rules and commands (Agna) set by God! By abiding the laws or rules prescribed by God, we can remain on the path of spirituality without any distractions or loss. If not, we may deviate and get lost in infinite space of Maya. We follow very specific trajectory of the rocket and do not deviate even slightest from the path, as we know we cannot afford to deviate on such a critical mission. Similarly, we need to abide to disciplined and ethical path on the spiritual journey with utmost sincerity.
4. We need to perform rituals (Bhakti):
To reach Moon from Earth, we cannot go into straight path. We launch the Rocket or Launching vehicle with an escape velocity of Earth (11.2 km/s). Then, as soon as we reach the periphery of earth atmosphere and final influence of gravity pull, the satellite or object needs to make several circular orbit around the Earth to increase the velocity to reach the Moon — as per pre-calculated velocity and angle of path. Similarly, on the path to God, we need to offer devotion in various forms (Navadha Bhakti — 9 types of devotion) — one of the form of bhakti being “the Pradakshina” (The circular walk around the idol of God).
5. We need to embrace detachment (Vairagya):
To reach Moon, we need let go Earth! Similarly, we need to let go the attachments of Earth and its related objects, desires, ego, greed, and many more worldly attributes to attain God. We need to come out of influence of the gravity to realize the power of space — similar, we need to come out of the influences of the pleasures of senses and mind to realize the bliss and happiness of the Soul and God.
6. We need to apply lot of efforts and rely on scientists (Purusharth and Guru):
To undergo this amazing journey, we need to put several years of efforts and we need to rely on Scientist to assist us all the time — True and very knowledgeable scientists who posses all attributes of a leader and great knowledge of Science & Space. Similarly, on the path to God, we need to put several year or several life of efforts and we need to rely on true Guru — who guide and assist us all the time. A Guru who is present and resembles all virtues of God + posses divine attributes like Nishkam (Non-Lust), Nirman (Ego-less), Nirlobh (Greed-less), Niswaad (Absolute win over taste sense), Nisneh (Detachment). Just as we wait patiently to see the lander vehicle on moon for several days, months; we need to work hard with perseverance and keep on our journey on the path of spirituality to get the final fruit.
7. Last but not the least — we need unity (Samp):
Going to Moon is not an individual’s task — it is a Teamwork! We need to rely on each other — on so many people around us to endeavor a successful Moon mission. Starting from a visionary, the designers, the scientists, the manufacturers of parts, the launch vehicle team, the software team, and many more! It is a collaborative effort from many like-minded people for several years — as we saw the control room packed with lot of scientist and engineers. We also need to rely on the very last person who contributed directly or indirectly to achieve the feat — like someone who cooked good food for all the engineers and scientist. A strong unity leads us to success. Similarly, on the path to attain God, we need to rely on everyone around us who are on the same path, having same zeal and same mind-set. We need to discuss, share and practice spirituality with other like-minded seekers. We stay together in failure or success, in praise or insult — we stand united! As our goal is same. We keep unity with peers to make sure our Journey to God is successful.
“I think we’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul… we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.”
— Neil Armstrong.“The worldly path is not difficult. Anybody can master it. However, to understand and tread the path of spiritual wisdom is indeed difficult. And that, in fact, is the only thing to be done!”
— Swami Ni Vato 2/101 — Aksharbraham Incarnate Gunatitanand Swami.
My prayers with this blog is — may we all succeed in the journey to Moon & Mars and even more critical our individual’s true journey to God’s abode.
Thanks for reading, share with friends.
Ketul Chauhan
