Many of us turn to spirituality with the hope that spirituality will help us live with peace and bliss. With the hope that it will help us live with meaning and purpose and, finally, take us towards God. Indeed, spirituality changes the paradigm of life.
But first, what is spirituality? Spirituality is the science of the Soul, the Spirit, the Atman. Spirituality helps us understand who we are and why we are here. It helps us to realize that life is a drama, an illusion. That we are not the body, mind and ego. We are the Divine Soul. With spirituality, we transcend the body, mind and ego. We live ever connected with the Divine. Spirituality helps us realise that God is not who we think God is, but SIP, the Supreme Immortal Power. God is not a person, nor a saint. God is formless and nameless, beginningless, and endless. God is a Power, God is energy. We must also understand that spirituality is different from religion. Religion is only a kindergarten — it introduces God to us. We must go beyond religion to spirituality to realise the truth about life, about us, about God.
Simple tips to start making spirituality a part of your life:
Be passionate about spirituality and earnest in seeking it. We must want it beyond anything else — intensely and whole-heartedly. Inevitably, this translates into a yearning for the Divine. The intense passion for the Divine is called Mumukshutva. We must yearn for nothing else but the supreme immortal power we call God.
Ask questions to life, existence, birth, death, God. This constitutes to our spiritual journey. Questions like: Who am I? Why was I born? What is the purpose of human life? Who is God? Where is God? What is God? Ask, investigate and then, we will realise the truth.
Focus on overcoming the ignorance that we live with. Unlearn what we have learnt over the years. We have been fed with myths. Lies such as God is like a person, with a name, and form. We must sharpen the sword of the intellect and learn to discriminate the myth from the truth. Along with activating the intellect, we have to silence our mind. We have to make it still. We must meditate everyday. Meditation is about making the mind silent. It is about taming the monkey mind and making it a monk. So, sit in silence every day. Try to bring down the number of thoughts that the mind produces. Every time the mind wanders, gently bring it back. Observe the mind. Watch it, catch it, and latch it. It is in the state of thoughtlessness that we experience peace, spirituality and be enlightened.
Practise yoga and be in yoga. Yoga is not about practising asanas, exercises or pranayama, breathing techniques. Yoga is Yuj or a state of being in union with the Divine. There are four known states of yoga: Karma Yoga (the yoga of action), Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion), Dhyana Yoga (the yoga of meditation), and Gyana Yoga (the Yoga of Education). I discovered the fifth state of Yoga, the Yoga of Divine Love, Prema Yoga.
Seek the guidance of a Guru. A Guru can take us from the darkness of ignorance to light of the truth, that is, from ignorance to enlightenment. The word Guru comes from the words Gu, which means darkness and Ru, which means light. A true Guru can guide us on our spiritual quest. A Guru is an enlightened soul, one who has realised the truth himself and who always lives in consciousness of the truth.
(Spiritual leader and Founder of AiR Institute of Realization and AiR Center of Enlightenment)
