Some thoughts on Spirituality

 

Let's do some soul-searching: do we really need God? Or are we 'thinking' that we need God? We need to answer this very honestly to ourselves. Then begins the real journey of Spirituality. Do we really crave for Him? if yes, for what?

Some thoughts on Spirituality

Actually in my understanding of Spirituality, it is Universal, an approach to go beyond everything. There cannot be Spirituality without Meditation. And hence Spirituality is synonymous with Meditation; they go together.

Let's explore Meditation. nd its purpose. It is an evergreen topic and almost the buzz word of today as someone said.

The very purpose of any Meditation is to regulate the ever-wavering mind; It is all about regulating the thought traffic. Meditation is also about transcendence to go Beyond into higher realms of Consciousness, that can makes one a better and better human being and then turn into a Divine being. In fact, the mind helps one to evolve his/her Consciousness if regulated.

The purpose of life is To Evolve Everything in this Creation is evolving Consciously or Unconsciously. Evolution is a Natural process. Therefore Nature always supports Evolution. A Spiritual Process is one that helps one to Evolve Consciously; and one will discover the cooperation Nature immensely. A Spiritual process or an ideal method of Meditation helps the seeker to hasten this process of Evolution. And human being is the privileged creature that evolve consciously and attain greater evolutionary heights. There is no end for Evolution.

Gross, Subtle and Causal Bodies

The human system comprises of Gross, Subtle and Causal Bodies. Gross body is the physical body; Subtle Body or bodies mainly are Mind, Intellect, Ego and Consciousness. Causal body is the subtlest body without whose presence, the other two bodies do not exist.

What is that which evolves in this human system

Gross body or the physical body cannot evolve; it can only age. Its evolution if at all is very limited. Causal body or the Soul/Atma is already said to be pure and therefore nothing to evolve. Therefore it is only the Subtle body that evolves and has no limitations whatsoever.

Three States of Consciousness that a man dwells in

There are three levels in which a human being dwells generally:

1) Waking State (Jaagrudavastha)

2) Dream State (Swapnavastha)

3) Deep-sleep state (Sushupti avastha)

There are other states that can be achieved through yogic processes such as Meditation:

4) The Fourth State (Turiya)

5) The Turiyaateet

and beyond; there is no end.

Evolution of Consciousness

As said earlier, it is the subtle bodies that evolve viz., Mind Intellect, Ego and Consciousness. Chit, Manas, Buddhi, and Ahankar in Sanskrit. All these 4 Subtle bodies are collectively called Anathakaran in Sanskit. It is the evolution of Anatahkaran that happens through systematic Meditation techniques under an able guide.

Chit or Consciousness can be understood as sky in which Mind (Manas), Intellect (Buddhi) and go (Ahankar) are embedded just as planets are embedded in sky. Therefore when the Mind, Intellect and Ego are purified, there is evolution in Consciousness to that extent.

Spirituality, Mysticism, Sufism, Yoga

They all speak the same thing and approach is same - looking within. Yoga or Spirituality is both art and science of looking within.

The Need for Guru or Guide, an Adept in this journey is crucial in this inner-exploration

As in any other field, a seeker needs an adept who is familiar with the Path to guide and support to trek the path. Guru is like catalyst in this process.

How to search for a Guru

We cannot search for a Guru, Guru happens. We cannot decide who can be our Guru with our limitations. We just wait for the Guru to happen with hunger for spirituality.

How to know whether the Guru we found is right for us?

The heart recognizes immediately. Our rational mind rebels. Nevertheless we need to convince our logical mind. We can test him/her the way we feel and arrive at a conclusion. But we should not waste our time testing Guru all our life. Once we are convinced, we should bind ourselves with him forever and start obeying him.

My suggestions however

Talks on the Gita - Vinobha Bhave Publishers: Sahaj Marg Hierarchy Publication Trust

The Supreme Yoga - Yoga Vasishtha Swami Venkatesananda Motilal Banarasi Das Publishers

Ashtavakra Gita - Ramakrishna Mission Publications

Authentic Yoga - Yoga Sutras of Patanjali PY Deshpande Publishers: Heartfulness Education Trust, Kanha Shanti Vanam Hyderabad

All books are available in Amazon