What is spirituality ?
There are many definitions of the word 'spirituality' just as there are for the word 'yoga.' People sell parts of spirituality and yoga as it suits their needs, mostly drawing their own interpretations and borrowing some philosophy that has worked in their life. Some think spirituality is another form religion, some think it is a cult, some believe it stems from Western hippie culture, while others think it involves woo-woo magic. Let me clarify: all of it is true.
It has to be, as we already know that each of us has a unique perspective and faith. You have every right to have any opinion about spirituality. This newsletter is to shed light on my take on spirituality and to clear up some misconceptions about it.
If this is the first time you are reading about it, I am excited for you. Spirituality stems from the word 'spirit'; we know that all of us have spirit, and the maintenance of that spirit is spirituality. What are the qualities of the spirit, and why do we need to maintain it? We are already doing so much for the physical, emotional, and mental, and now we need to maintain our spirit. Where does this end? Could be your immediate thoughts. Or if you have a cynical mind, the question might be: where is the proof that there is a spirit, and nothing makes sense because we will be dead in a few years. Cheers for that :)
These are valid questions and assumptions. This is not about me trying to convince you about how spirituality helps one's life journey on this planet, but rather an invitation to self-inquiry or going inward to find answers.
The qualities of the spirit are love, peace, light, and radiance. Imagine your spirit is white in color; every day when we interact with others, there are some splashes of their spirit/problems/intentions. It might be colorful or a splash of black, but it is not yours. At the end of the day, if we don't scrub it, there will be an accumulation of everybody's color or energy stuck on our spirit, and over time we forget what the qualities of the spirit are.
We will get influenced by others' experiences, habits, stories, ideas, and lose ourselves. There are many ways to keep it in its original form: meditation, journaling, movement, nourishing food, good sleep will help it restore into its divine self.
All the religions' core philosophies are the same; in spirituality, we don't give too much importance to the medium, but to the message. Imagine all the religions in a circle, with spirituality in the center of it. You can be religious and spiritual. You can differentiate yourself from other spirits, in animals too. Spirituality treats everybody as the same beings.
Ego is the 'I' of our being; it always wants to feel superior. 'My belief, my experience, my truth, my life.' Spirit feels interconnected with others, feels we are all part of the ocean, we are specks from the energy of the universe. Spirit is the 'we'. It sees everybody the same because we are, after we have peeled away our identity, gender, nationality, and career. We are left with the spirit, which doesn't have a name, gender, thoughts, or bias.
Whenever there is a rise in any powerful entity, there are people who are ready to use it to attack the vulnerable and spread misinformation, spreading a misinterpreted version of it. A caution: if you are seeking spirituality or seeking wisdom around this, you need to be careful. You can practice this at home without anybody's help.
Especially if you are seeking in case of a loss, or desperate for an answer, the best way is to seek it yourself alone. It can be painful or uncomfortable to sit and meditate, to change habits. But remember, there is no shortcut to this journey. You need to do the work every day. If someone is selling you a package or workshops to attain knowledge in 2 weeks or 2 months, run in the other direction. If you are in a situation of unknown realms and someone is asking you to try anything, pay attention to your inner voice; your intuition is your best guide. Don't mask it and take an informed call.
