Does Spirituality stands for religious practices or knowing ourselves in a better way?

Well for me spirituality is not a process in time. It is not a history of events that take place empirically. It is something quite different from what we are acquainted with in our ordinary life—quite different in kind, not merely in quantity, extent, or magnitude, which is a very important aspect of it to remember. To give an example, it is quite different in kind, like waking consciousness differs from sleep or even dream consciousness. Dream consciousness differs from waking consciousness. . In spiritual progress we seek newer and newer experiences

Knowing that our lives have significance in a context beyond a mundane everyday existence at the level of biological needs that drive selfishness and aggression. It means knowing that we are a significant part of a purposeful unfolding of Life in our universe.

WHY BE SPIRITUAL?

Cultivating spirituality within us in the following ways:

1. Meditation can induce feelings of calm and clear-headedness as well as improve concentration and attention. Meditation helps you to regulate difficult emotions and relieve STRESS
2. Prayer may elicit the relaxation response, along with feelings of hope, gratitude, and compassion—all of which have a positive effect on overall wellbeing.
3. Yoga is a centuries-old spiritual practice that aims to create a sense of unity within the practitioner through physical postures, ethical behavior, and breath expansion.
4. Journaling is another, often overlooked, contemplative practice that can help you become more aware of your inner life and feel more connected to your experience and the world around you.

So above mentioned all activities give a sense of peace, truth, love, righteousness, non-violence wholeness, and balance among the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of our lives. Also, it helps us to grow, or at least gives us hope to grow. A person should have the highest goal is to be loving to oneself and others

According to Albert Einstein

Einstein gave a succinct and beautiful explanation of his views on the possibility of this higher power:

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the Mysterious — the knowledge of the existence of something unfathomable to us, the manifestation of the most profound reason coupled with the most brilliant beauty. I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, or who has a will of the kind we experience in ourselves. I am satisfied with the mystery of life’s eternity and with the awareness of — and glimpse into — the marvelous construction of the existing world together with the steadfast determination to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature. These are the basics of cosmic religiosity, and it appears to me that the most important function of art and science is to awaken this feeling among the receptive and keep it alive.          

  -In an essay broadcast as part of the “THIS I BELIEVE” Series

SPIRITUALISM IN REAL LIFE SCENARIOS

Being spiritual can significantly enhance a student’s ability to perform better in all areas of life by fostering a deeper sense of purpose, focus, and resilience. Spirituality often encourages practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and self-reflection, which help students manage stress, improve emotional stability, and cultivate inner peace. These practices can sharpen their concentration, making them more focused and less prone to distractions. Additionally, spiritual teachings often emphasize qualities like patience, discipline, and empathy, which can aid in both academic success and personal relationships. With a stronger connection to their values and a sense of purpose, students can approach challenges with clarity, perseverance, and a positive mindset, helping them excel in whatever endeavors they undertake.

IS IT IN US?

Spiritual experience is not a new creation. It is not something that comes to us as a privilege or a prerogative of our own; it is a meaning that is already there and comes to our mind at a particular time due to the receptivity of the particular makeup of our individuality.

The Eternal is not born at some point as an event in the historical process of time. It is a principle that eludes the grasp of a feeble mind, and spiritual practice or sadhana is nothing but the enabling of the feeble mind to be receptive to the operation of these Eternal principles we usually call God’s laws.

We must have heard of Buddha’s experiences in spiritual meditation. We always imagine that spiritual experiences come to us only when we close our eyes, but that is not necessarily so. They can come to us even while we are walking on the street or shopping. And they do come, but we do not recognize them to be spiritual experiences. The temptations, the glories and the beauties, the pleasures and the sensations that attract us in the world are a part of our spiritual experience. The terrors and the fears, the miseries and the sorrows that we experience in our lives are a part of our encounter with the Eternal. The Eternal is not merely inside the puja room or the meditation room. It is everywhere. 

OFFERINGS TO SPIRITUALITY

Life spiritual is a sacrifice. It is not an enjoyment through the body or the personality. What do we sacrifice? In India especially, in Bharatavarsha, we regard yajna, or sacrifice, as a supreme principle of the spiritual. Even the highest of the hymns of the Veda, called the Purusha Sukta, regards the creation of the world as a yajna by God—a symbolic interpretation that means that the world is a sacrifice.

When we make a sacrifice, what do we actually do? We sacrifice the erroneous pleasures of our personality for the joys of the spirit, our hidden inner reality. The life spiritual is thus a sacrifice, not merely of our material wealth or so-called possessions, but a sacrifice of the very setup of the values in which we are living. The highest of sacrifices is the supreme knowledge by which we attune ourselves to the existing laws of the Eternal. Nothing can be a greater sacrifice than that. This is also called self-surrender. This is the yoga of Patanjali. This is jnana, wisdom.

WHY SPIRITUALITY IS THE HIGHEST SCIENCE:

The spiritual principle is nothing but the scientific principle existing and operating eternally, for all times, in respect of everyone and everything universally, without distinction. The spiritual life is not a particular kind of life. It is not the sannyasin’s life, the monk’s life, the monastic life, or the yoga life; it is not any such thing as people would like to take it to be in their fashion. It is the only kind of life that is worthwhile and worth living because that is the way of life that is in consonance with the existing system of the government of the universe.

The spiritual system of thinking is the highest scientific way of thinking. All other sciences follow this science. People ask what the relation between spirituality and science is. There is no relation because spirituality is the highest science, and all other sciences are offshoots of this science. Spirituality is the most methodical way of thinking, the most systematic art of conducting one’s consciousness in relation to facts as they are, and not in terms of things as they appear to be.

Thus, a spiritual seeker, a sadhaka, in order that he may be successful in his pursuits through meditation should be very cautious in the sense that he must know what he is actually seeking. Most people do not know what they are seeking. We have only to think correctly, and everything will immediately become heaven. Hell will become heaven, provided our thinking is set right.

Author
Priyal Jain
Student
PGDM 2024-26