What Does Spirituality Teach Us?

You see, we are all living in this great flow—called life. And we also realise that life is a messy affair. It’s full of trials and tribulations, pains and sufferings, sorrow and death. Of course, there are occasional moments of great joy and fulfilment also, but they are so fleeting, aren’t they? 

So, our whole life is a struggle to survive the high tides and low tides of our lives. We grapple with life every day. And life is full of contradictions—that break our heads. We often seem lost and bewildered. I think this is where spirituality comes in. 

We are social animals, born and brought up in this socioverse which conditions us in million different ways. We have our needs, desires, aspirations and fears. We have duties to fulfil, bills to pay, people to look after and a life to get! Meanwhile, we face all sorts of challenges, failures and downtime. We experience both pleasure and pain during this journey. And we find ourselves incomplete without the love and support of others, and constantly look for the right and stable relationships.

Isn’t this the whole movement of our life? 

After going through all this, the only question that ultimately matters is this—are we happy? 

Most of us can’t proclaim a confident ‘yes’! Even after having all the knowledge of the world, wealth and many relationships, how many people can confidently say—I am happy‽ Very few. 

And this is precisely what spirituality teaches us—how to live so that we become happy! 

Let us be very clear from the beginning. Spirituality has nothing to do with believing or disbelieving something or following an idea. Spirituality can’t and isn’t supposed to solve all our worldly problems. Problems are an integral part of life. We can’t avoid them; nor can we stop them from coming. What’s the use of spirituality then, you may frown. 

Spirituality teaches us to look at life with clear eyes. It is essentially a clarity of perception. It’s like constantly being in the trail of light—the light that dispels our confusion and illusions. 

When you have this clarity, you know why and where you’re going; what’s happening here—inwardly and outwardly; what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to navigate through this messy jungle of life. That is what spirituality can teach us. And it’s all the purpose there is—to be able to live here—anywhere—being enlightened. 

Without this light (of spirituality) we’re eternally lost. And the funny thing is, in this lost state, we don’t even realise that we’re lost! It takes a jolt of life to wake us up to our blind condition; or it can happen if the inherent intelligence is awake at all times, not dead in slumber. This intelligence, in fact, is non-different from that light, which I am describing and which grows within us as we understand life. For it to grow, we have to constantly soak ourselves in truth—in our every action and thought; we have to be ever mindful of what’s happening with us and in the world. In short, we have to live consciously, sanely, being ever watchful of the whole movement of life. 

If this clear light is always ON within us, life’s vagaries and dichotomies would not baffle us. While others will be lost in the mist of life, our vision will be clear; and without this clarity, we can’t go anywhere! 

And finally, let me say this to you: you can’t be spiritual by doing anything. On the contrary, whatever you are doing, that in fact constitutes your life; and if you do everything consciously—from the smallest act to the highest—spiritual wisdom will dawn upon you. It’s ignorance and illusions that muddle our inner vision and we get lost. Spiritual wisdom brings that clarity and inner stability which give us the right direction to follow. 

I shall end this discussion with the Gayatri Mantra because it beautifully sums up everything I have said here—

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः

 तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं 

भर्गो देवस्यः धीमहि

धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ।।

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ swaḥ

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

bhargo devasya dhīmahi

dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.

***

Meanwhile, you can check these other posts: 

1. The Power of 3 D’s https://os.me/short-stories/the-power-of-3-ds/

2. Life’s Purpose.      https://os.me/short-stories/lifes-purpose/

3. A Seeker’s Song    https://os.me/short-stories/a-seekers-song/

Thank you for your time.🍁

Feature Image Credit: Adobe Stock. Edited by Me.