A new year prompts us to make resolutions. While many of us will continue to resolve to earn more and achieve fame and fortune, some of us will choose a different path. Having realised the futility of material pursuits and in search of peace and happiness, some of us may choose to turn to spirituality. But before we make a list of our spiritual aspirations, we must understand what spirituality is and what a spiritual sojourn entails.
In order to imbibe spirituality and embark on a spiritual quest, we can take the following steps:
Pray meaningfully: True prayer is a two-way communication with God, where we not only talk to God but also, in silence, listen to the divine voice. When we shut off the noise of the world, we will be able to hear the divine voice. True prayer is not asking God for favours for wish fulfilment, but for the grace of God so that we can be enlightened with the truth and become one with the divine. We must seek God intensely and passionately.
Ask questions and investigate the findings: Instead of blindly following religion or what we have been told, we must ask pertinent life questions: Who am I? Why am I born? What is the purpose of life? Who is God? Where is God? Are there hundreds of Gods? Where are heaven and hell? What happens after I die? What is karma? How can I be free from karma? What is moksha? How do we attain it? These questions are critical in our spiritual quest. Once we find answers, we must investigate our them. Only then will we realise the truth.
Read, learn and assimilate spiritual knowledge: We must read spiritual texts and listen to discourses or watch spiritual videos. But we must not blindly believe what we see or hear. Using our intellect, we must reason and discriminate the wisdom acquired. The most critical piece of learning is through the four mahavakyas of the Upanishads. They hold the key to our existence: Tat Twam Asi, Ayam Atma Brahma, Prajnanam Brahma, Aham Brahmasmi. This means: I am the Soul; the Soul is the Supreme Immortal Power or SIP; I am SIP or the Supreme Immortal Power; Soul is in all.
Practice silence and meditation: Meditation is not about sitting still, cross-legged, spine erect on a mat, with fragrant candles around us. It is about stilling the mind. The mind is like a monkey. It jumps from thought to thought. We have to bring down the MTR—the Mental Thought Rate—from 50 thoughts per minute to one thought a minute. Once the mind is transcended, it can no longer make us miserable. When it is in a state of thoughtlessness and consciousness, our intellect is activated and we can discriminate between black and white, wrong and right, the myth and the truth. It is in this state that we are awakened and enlightened and we experience peace and bliss.
Be in yoga: Yoga is not about doing asanas or physical exercises or practising pranayama or breathing techniques. It means to be in union with God; to be ever-connected with God, just like a good SIM card is connected to the satellite. We can be in yoga through the five states: Dhyana (meditation through silence); Karma (action through surrender); Bhakti (yoga of devotion through yearning for the divine); Gyana (education through wisdom or realisation) and Prema (divine manifestation through love).
Get the guidance of a guru: While we may acquire spiritual knowledge or wisdom from scriptures, books or discourses, we still need a guru to take us from ‘Gu’ to ‘Ru’; from darkness to light. Without a true guru, we may stumble and err in our spiritual journey. Of course, a guru cannot make us enlightened. As the Buddha said, ‘Appo deepo bhava (We have to light our own light).’ But a guru gives direction that helps us to be spiritually awakened.
Imbibe spiritual learnings in everyday life: We must apply spiritual learnings in our lives. For instance, one of the truths we realise is that nothing belongs to us. We come empty-handed and return empty-handed. Hence, we learn to live with detachment. We realise that nothing is real. Everything is a drama, a show. We come and we go. Whatever unfolds in our life is because of karma. With this realisation, we learn to live with acceptance and surrender.
By imbibing spirituality in the ways discussed above, we can not only begin our spiritual sojourn, but evolve and attain enlightenment and God-realisation, the ultimate goal of life.
The author is a spiritual leader and founder of the AiR Institute of Realization