My Spiritual Journey: Apples to Oranges

Until recently, I was very fond of store-bought orange juice. I loved the pleasant, tangy flavor, and it gave me a boost early in the morning, to get my metabolism going. Sometimes, I would opt for store-bought apple juice, too.

One day, just out of curiosity, I looked at the nutrition labels at the back. To my surprise, I found both had the same nutritional content, per serving. They had exactly the same percentage of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins. Even the recommended serving size was the same. I knew, of course, that both were highly processed drinks, and the nutrients were probably added separately.

Nutritionally, they were both the same, in essence, except for the added flavor.

Then I realized that, perhaps, most religions are made up the same way. They are all highly processed, and the nutrition content is about the same. Only the flavors are different, some stronger than the others. Also, may be some are fermented over time, to make them even more intoxicating and addictive.

Many other things in life have the same essence, just carrying different labels.

This realization of the sameness of things was a major turning point in my spiritual journey. I realized there is spirituality everywhere and every spiritual path is similar, even if it looks different from the outside.

Just look at this verse from the saint Mirabai.

Aisi lagi lagan, meera Ho Gai magan

Vo to Gali Gali Hari gun gane lagee

Translation

Meera was so lost in divinity that she roamed the streets praising her lord Hari.

How is this any different, in essence, from Rumi’s description of the wandering faqir?

Na mein behooda girde koocha o bazaar mi gardam

Sharab e shaukh me naasham, bagirde yaar me girdam

Translation

I do not wander aimlessly in the streets and bazaars, whirling round and round

I am drunk with desire, around the form of my beloved, I whirl round and round

Om Swamiji often talks about his parampara (spiritual lineage) and about Sanatana Dharam that has given him so much. However, he never disparages any other path or any other spiritual tradition. He has only praise for the path of devotion that Meera followed. He often quotes from the Sufi saints, and, of course, Mullah Nasruddin is his all-time favorite.

In every spiritual path the eventual goal is experiencing oneness with everything, with every being, with every tradition. Why not start from this goal itself and then work our way backwards to specific techniques of self-realization?

My spiritual path has largely followed this trend. I was born in a conservative Hindu family. My grandmother was very spiritual, and the Tulsi Ramayana was her beacon of light. She told us stories from the Ramayana, she pretty much knew every verse in the book. She was a strict vegetarian and a very kindhearted lady. She even fed the ants around our house with sugar, saying it was good karma.

I remember one incident in her life very clearly. She walked into a church by mistake and started doing her puja. We told her it was a church, but she simply said it doesn’t matter, God is everywhere.

My father was a more exposed to western culture, working for an English newspaper. He made sure his sons got the best possible education in the best possible schools; in those days, these schools were run by missionaries. Our school day started with a prayer to our heavenly father. The priests didn’t actually teach Christianity, but came very, very close.

My father also made sure we read a lot of books; he maintained an extensive library in our house that included, among other books, the principal Upanishads in English translation. This became my favorite book, as soon as I was old enough to understand it.

I also read a lot of poetry as well as adventure stories – not too many Hindi books, though. Hindi remained my poorest subject, but I made up for it later in life when I wanted to read the Bhagavat Gita in its source language. For this, I learned Sanskrit on my own.

I seem to have married just the right person. My wife Anila also comes from a conservative Hindu family. However, she once kept Roza with a Muslim neighbor who happened to be her best friend. Together, we visit a church in Montreal and find it to be a very spiritual place, a place for healing. We have visited ashrams together in India and abroad, as well as other sacred places. The journey never stops, and we hope to travel together in future lifetimes, too.

During my spiritual journey, I met many self-realized people, including the Bengali saint, Anandmayi Ma. We went so many times to her ashrams in Varanasi, Dehradun, Haridwar and New Delhi. During her gatherings, people from many faiths would come to attend, and take part in spiritual discourse. I remember she once had a lively spiritual discussion with a Sufi saint, or Pir, from a nearby dargah.

Whenever we visit an ashram in India or abroad, I find people from all faiths there. At the highest spiritual levels, the religious differences simply do not exist.

It is often said that digging many shallow wells will not get you to the reservoir of spirituality. It is better to take any well and keep on digging until we get to the reservoir of the water. However, when we meet a self-realized person, we get a glimpse of an artesian well, where the spiritual water rushes to the surface. I have been very blessed, having seen the artesian well from a distance. One glimpse is enough to change our lives completely.

I am now thinking of giving up store-bought apple juice and orange juice completely. These juices contain too much sugar, and my body cannot take it anymore. Maybe I should switch to fresh, natural juice whenever I can find it, or just stick to fresh, wholesome water.

After all, the essence is the same.