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Tag: what is spirituality

Spiritual Fiction. Or reality?

Christopher Nolan is perhaps one of the greatest Hollywood directors of all time. Partly because his films are so awesome, and partly because his ideas and concepts are so complex that most audiences do not understand a thing – yours truly included. I almost feel foolish watching his movies but I still love them. There was some tesseract in Interstellar, which I just could not fathom. The ending of Inception – a spinning top cliff-hanger – again I could not make head or tail of. Memento was just unbelievable, and then an Indian version called Ghajini was made – which just paled in comparison.

Spielberg is a little easier – like his Avatar movie was way more palatable. Titanic of course was not sci-fi.

Spirituality too can have plenty of sci-fi elements. If one were to read books like Yoga Vashishtam, the Aghora series or Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master or even books on Kundalini shakti etc. (all of which are outstanding books), there would be no dearth of apparent science fiction.

While these are great to read, and also lead me to hope that one day I may experience even a fragment of the True Oneness, my Guru is clinical in his advice. He says only 2 things are needed. Give up desires. Give up attachments. These two are the beejas (seeds) for everything else. The only permanent way to exit from our delusionary state is by realizing the futility of all our worldly pursuits. There is no other way.

Nolan himself has the last say in his most recent movie Tenet, “Don’t try to understand it. Feel it.”

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Living in uncertainty

Spirituality is often misunderstood. It is neither about spirits nor about rituals. Rather, it is simply about accepting life as it comes, without being affected by it. While reading about this on a blog might make it seem all too easy, implementing this is the hardest thing in the world.

Imagine you are in the midst of a lecture, addressing a group of students. Suddenly you get a call, and are informed that a loved one has just passed away. What would your state of mind be? Would the whole world just come crashing down in an instant? Yes, highly likely. But not for my Guru – who just continued his lecture as though nothing had happened. This is not to say he has no feelings. Far from it, because he is the most empathetic human being I have ever come across. He used to whimsically take his car out on extremely hot days, so that he could pick labourers up, give them a bottle of water to quench their parched throats, and drop them where they wanted to go. These labourers would otherwise spend hours walking under the scorching sun, almost having their skins peeled off. But my Guru is able to beautifully practise what he preaches – that there is an innate futility of linking ourselves to our material body and possessions.

Living in uncertainty alone is spirituality, as he says. And this is not only in the case of bad news. For good news too, practising restraint is extremely difficult. Imagine someone comes up and says you got a special out-of-turn promotion and bonus that you never saw coming. We quickly take credit for the entire success, and sometimes go so far as to think, “Good, but this itself was a bit late – it should have come last year itself.” Such thoughts never keep us grounded, and our own ego gets in the way of progress. For the good events in life, my Guru credits 100% of the results to God / super-consciousness / Nature / Creation. This too is not because he doesn’t enjoy the moment. Far from it. He revels in every moment – even just while breathing the air around him. However, he realises that revelling too much can only bring attachment, desire and downfall therefrom.

Many seekers nowadays take to spirituality hoping that its various practises will bring them success. In reality, spirituality may not bring success. But it surely prepares the seeker to handle success. And also failure.

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Here is a 10,000 year old spiritual secret!

Thank you for paying the 100 dollar fee. Here is your secret mantra. Do NOT share it with anyone. Repeat it 10,000 times every day for 1 month. You will get whatever you want, guaranteed.

“Nommm Oleem Nleem Sring Eringaa Ninpaa Szzuuupaaa Elaraaum”

Exciting? Want to try it?

Spirituality is way too often associated with voodoo and mumbo jumbo and the arcane. For good reason though. Because the good ol’, and the plain and simple, just won’t sell.

We can wear a monk’s robes and go to the Himalayas to meditate. But if the mind and senses aren’t under control, mosquito bites will be just as irritating there, as they are right here at home.

What then is spirituality in its essence? A few ideas:

  1. Living only in the now, forever!
  2. Accepting and revelling in the circumstances, however hard that might be.
  3. Not just living in, but also embracing, uncertainty.
  4. Living in the world, without being affected by it (which means not worrying about the neighbour who has a bigger house and a better car!).
  5. Maintaining a balance, in everything.
  6. Our minds do not control us, we control our minds. Which means consciously putting 1/2/3/4/5 into practise.

If we do this, then we need no mumbo jumbo. No 100$ fees. No first letters of the above mantra.

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Could it be

Could it be, that we are asked to show devotion to a deity, so that we forget ourselves for a moment?

Could it be, that we are asked to show sympathy to the destitute, so that we forget ourselves for a moment?

Could it be, that we are asked to show gratitude to a benefactor, so that we forget ourselves for a moment?

Could it be, that we are asked to donate to charity, so that we forget ourselves for a moment?

Yes, it could be.

Because spirituality is all about forgetting ourselves to know our true Self.

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