Updated on October 4th, 2022
Why is Spirituality Important
I was never a spiritual person. In fact, I never understood what spirituality really meant. To me, being spiritual was synonymous with being a religious person who is always engrossed in prayers at home, temple or church. I felt that spiritual persons depended too much on God for all their achievements in life.
I always believed that human beings are architects of their own destiny through dedication, hard work and constructive employment of their time. Taking refuge in God for meeting your challenges and for achieving success in life was not my cup of tea.
I always felt that one’s purpose of life was to be engaged in productive and fulfilling activities which would ultimately bring success and contentment in one’s life. To me, seeking help form spiritual powers for achievements of one’s goals and success in life appeared to be lack of self confidence and will power.
Turn-around from Non-Spiritual to Spiritual
I was not an atheist. At the same time I had never been a religious person but always believed in God as some superpower that controls the entire universe and all forms of life and activities therein. But then came a time in my life when I turned to spirituality.
What brought this turn around? Even after achieving a satisfying career and reasonable degree of success in all my endeavours, I still found hollowness and lack of meaning in my life. Even after having met nearly all my mandatory responsibilities, many a times, I still felt restless, anxious and insecure. After retirement, with more free time at my disposal, these feelings occurred more often.
Unable to control my wandering mind, I started perceiving that there was more in life to just being busy and being engaged in worldly activities. I realised that the path to lasting calmness and peace was in spiritual pursuits. Researching on the subject of spirituality, I was fully convinced that this was the only path towards achieving lasting peace and contentment.
Meaning of Spirituality
Spirituality may mean different to different people. For some it is total belief and surrender to the will of God, some others may relate to their passion for an activity they love, and for some it is moral conduct and a life of principles.
Some take it as a means to achieve some greater meaning in life. But at it roots, it narrows down to acquiring wisdom of answering the following questions: what is my relevance in this world? What is the purpose of my live? What gives meaning to my life?
Spirituality teaches us that contentment and peace of mind lies within us and is not dependant on external factors. It involves love, devotion and alignment to that higher spiritual power to realise it.
Man tries to find a solution to his physical and mental problems from outside through more money, medical and technical advance which provide him with all all material luxuries of life. But as a matter of fact the solution lies in tapping the invisible untapped potential of human body and mind. Spirituality shows you a path towards harmonious development of your latent capacities of the body, mind and soul.
How to Achieve it?
Meditation is the Key
While theory and philosophy of spirituality has its place, but to really understand and appreciate spirituality, one has to experience it. Meditation is a known scientific technique for focussing and concentrating your mind on higher spirit to make your soul become one with the divine spirit of God. Experiencing this within you through Meditation and Prayer gives you the real effect. Once you feel the divine cosmic power flowing within you, the joy and positivity that you get will be far higher than any material pleasures of life.
Everyone’s goal in life is to avoid pain and acquire happiness, peace and wisdom. Man seeks happiness in wealth, love, sex, entertainment, liquor and even in drugs only to be disillusioned as all these pursuits do not bring a lasting joy but disappointment and distress in the end. Regular practice of Meditation will bring your body, mind and soul in perfect harmony and will give a greater physical and mental power to achieve a successful, happy and peaceful life.
You may believe in any God or religion. You may even consider God as an impersonal spirit, an all powerful intelligent force providing and governing the universe. Meditation is the tool which will remove all doubts in the existence of God. In Meditation, you can perceive God as an infinite light or vibrations from universe which bring divine qualities of wisdom, love and joy.
Today there are scientific techniques and methods as against blind beliefs of the past to realise God and truth within you. You will need a Guru who will guide you in your quest for God Realisation. After a lot of Research and some experimentation, I have been guided by my inner voice (which I consider it as divine intervention) to chose the path given by Yogananda Paramhansa through YSS ( Yoga Satsanga Society) and SRF (Society for Self Realisation Fellowship). I have benefitted immensely and feel Blessed having chosen this path.
Known Benefits of Spirituality
Spirituality and Purpose of Life
Having a clear purpose of life is the key to achieving contentment and eventually peace of mind. Spiritual People have a clear purpose which makes their lives meaningful.They realise that the purpose of life is to find Happiness which is means communion with God. The joy and calmness one achieves with this communion cannot be expressed in words.
They are clear on: “Why am I here?” and “What kind of Impact do I want to make in the world?” They enjoy strong relationships, are self confident and have a high sense of self respect.
Spirituality and Health
Studies have proved that spiritual people enjoy a better health and live longer. Such people are always calm, mentally strong and have a better immunity to cope up with illness and suffering. Spirituality helps in healing their bodies through effective control of mind rather than the physical methods. It helps in reducing stress as they have a better emotional state and a good support system within their spiritual community. Being always positive and morally strong slows their ageing process.
Spirituality and Fear of Death
Fear of death is a common concern for everyone. However spirituals do not fear death as they don’t see death as an end but a new beginning. They believe that “I am not my body but I am a soul in my body” and the soul never dies. The body is known to be mortal and it has to die one day. So why fear loss of one’s body. Death is only a transition as soul get a new body through reincarnation. Thus they are always free from the psycological fear of dying which is a common cause of worry and anxiety amongst the non-spiritualists.