The journey within!
“Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends.”
What is spirituality?
The textbook definition says it is “being concerned with the soul more than with material things”
I’d like to start by confessing (and not to appear modest or anything) but really confessing that I am as far removed from spirituality at present, as one can be. I barely manage to keep myself sane and functioning. Also, I am convinced that people who appear to be meditating, with beads in their hands and clothed in hippie clothes may be far, far less spiritual than some of my friends (myself included) who frequent the pub every weekend. It all boils down to your actions and intents. But having said that, I also feel that I am now a little qualified to pass on the knowledge that I have gathered through reading widely on the topic and knowing what it is and what it isn’t 😊
Had I read earlier and more (how I wish), life wouldn’t have seemed a never-ending series of “Oh, why did this happen to me?”. Instead, it would become, “This had to happen to me, there was no other way. It happened because I was a certain way. I lacked the innate wisdom and so this was bound to happen…No worries though, ab aage kam/nai hoga”😊
While neither may bring immediate peace, with the latter approach, you at least take the first step by understanding that whatever happens to you happens because of you. The weight of this responsibility is huge and may break you, it really may, because it is so much easier to complain and crib about things or blame it on the person/persons in your life, but in truth, it is all you, only you, always you.
With this in mind, and with the hope that writing and continuing with articles on this topic, I’d actually put them to use- practice what you preach 😁), I will pen down my thoughts.
The plan is to break them into a structural pattern which doesn’t bore the reader and yet drives home the point. I will divide this topic into several ideas, practices, actions throughout various articles.
At the heart of spirituality is the understanding that there is more to us than appears to the eye. Behind this endless drama of waking up each morning, working, falling in love, marrying or not marrying, having kids or not having them, being happy or feeling lost, following your passion or being stuck in a rut and amassing a lifetime of material possessions, fame and success is a whole other world that’s there- the world inside us. The “soul” world, our inner world, which many of us neglect and ignore and neglect and ignore till at some point, it feels suffocated and starts indicating that it’s time for a change. The indication comes in various forms — it can manifest itself in physical diseases, mental disorders or a collapse of life as you knew it. We keep numbing the pain with addictions- drinking, partying, working till we drop dead at our desks, mindless dating- whatever works for the moment to keep this pain at bay, but then one day its back again, this time with a boom and no longer avoidable.
If you have never experienced such disconnect, it is great or not so great depending on a or b.
a. You are already very connected to your inner world which keeps you so aligned with your core that there never rose any emptiness/ struggles
b. It will come, at some point if not now, if you keep ignoring your intuitions and keep silencing your heart
If you could relate to any of this, it is time to dive within, in other words, to dive into the world of spirituality and see if it holds the answers (at least some answers)
Ok- having set the basis for what’s to come, and without further ado, let me end the first article here 😊
If the topic interests you, watch this space for more.
