Starting our spiritual journey

 

In divine creation the whole world is united, the earth is united. It is oneness. In the whole human race there is unity. The search for this unity, the unifying factor, is the real spiritual journey. Unfortunately, the so-called spiritual journey has divided human beings and torn apart the whole society. The distinction between religion and spirituality should first become clear in our minds.

I normally give this example of a banana and banana skin, religion is like the banana skin and spirituality is the banana. People have thrown away the banana and are holding on to the skin.

Religion is outer ritual and habits, a way of life. Spirituality is the quest for the source of life, going back to the source, knowing deep within us we are part of the divinity.

When this distinction become clear in the mind, it is then that our journey towards the source begins. It is when we become human beings. It is then that we become united to that principle which is beneath all existence, which is beneath every happening and has enormous intelligence and orderliness.

In this path everybody has to walk alone. There is no proxy walking. You cannot share someone else’s walk and say, "Oh yes, I have walked". Someone else cannot eat for you or drink tea for you. "I have drunk tea for you, just relax". That doesn’t happen. The quest is the need of the soul, of every growing soul. When a thought comes to us, we don't know from where it comes. Thought comes from some unknown corner, some unknown area of ourselves. 

If our nervous system is stressed, distressed then the thought that comes we call negative. It is distorted. If the nervous system is clear, joyful, pure, smooth, healthy, then that comes we call positive, creative, life supporting. Thought is a spontaneous phenomenon springing from that area. Somebody gets the intuitive thought, "Do this, do this, do this". Every scientific discovery has come from that area.

Every work of art that sprung from that area. Every poem has come out of that area. And that particular area or avenue is in every one of us. That is what we are. That is the true introduction.

All that there, is change. Our body has undergone so many changes. If you look at your own childhood photographs, many times you will have to say, "This is me". Your friends will not recognise you as the same person. You looked very different when you were young. Your appearance has changed. The body has changed in size and shape. Your thoughts have undergone many, many changes. The way you feel has changed, hasn't it?

About a particular thing you felt good some days ago and then you didn’t feel so good and then again you felt good. Your opinions and your ideas, your feelings, your emotions all have changed. You identify yourself by things that change. Probing a little beyond that, when we say, "Oh, I am a very angry person", we usually justify our position of being angry. In doing that, we are hanging on to the past.

Why pray at all?

 

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. It also nurtures values like integrity and honesty. Prayer happens in two situations, or in a combination of situations: when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless.  

If you are not grateful and prayerful, you will be miserable. In either case your prayers will be answered. What you can do, you do. What you cannot do, you pray for.  

It is said the divine dawns in you when you pray for it, when you sing for it. The divine is only waiting for you to dig a little deeper into yourself, because it can then fill you with much more nectar.  

Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cry from your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Those seekers who are strong with the power of knowledge can sing with that joy of what they have achieved. 

The moment you sing in gratitude, in glory of the divine, it immediately dawns in you and fills you up again. One type of people are grateful for all their growth. The other type are helpless and weak. Both will be helped.  

Spirituality is not some ritual, or doing something. It is a very pleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing the whole world as all spirit or consciousness. Use prayer to bring integration to your personality. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and it will always be the best.

The marriage of service and spirituality

 

A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need to make yourself interesting to make people be with you. This will happen when you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service.  

The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others’ sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow. When you expand in knowledge with time then depression is not possible.

The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery. The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking, “What about me and what can I gain from this world?”, think, “What can I do for the world?”  

Silence heals and rejuvenates. Silence gives you depth and stability and brings creativity. Service (seva) leads to the dynamic experience of heart. It creates a sense of belongingness. Lack of service can land a person in depression.

Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If you are not sensitive to others’ pain, then you are not a human being. That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment in life, but service without silence tires you.

Service without spirituality will be shallow and cannot be sustained for a long period. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic the outer activity. Both are essential in life. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you. Seva brings merit, merit allows you to go deep in meditation, meditation brings back your smile. When you sing and pray from your heart, your emotions are nourished and you become lively.

There is no life without enthusiasm

 

Enthusiasm is the nature of life. We often have a tendency to put cold water on others' enthusiasm. Reverse this tendency. Take every opportunity to praise others and support their enthusiasm.  

If you put down others' enthusiasm, the same may happen to you. As you sow, so shall you reap. Recollect how much enthusiasm and joy you had when you went to the primary school. Someone without enthusiasm is like a corpse.  

But as you mature, the enthusiasm curve declines. As enthusiasm declines, we stop communicating. How would you like to see yourself?  

Divine wants you to create more space in you. Cry from your soul for help. This is for those seekers who are weak. Those seekers who are strong with the power of knowledge can sing with that joy of what they have achieved.  

The moment you sing in gratitude, in glory of the divine, enthusiasm immediately dawns in you, and fills you up again. People of one type are grateful for all their growth. Those of the other type are helpless and weak. Both types will be helped.  

Spirituality is not some ritual, or doing something. It is a very pleasant, uplifted state of being and seeing the whole world as all spirit or consciousness. Whatever you do, know that the higher power has the final say and it will always be the best.

Boredom is an opportunity!

 

In life both are essential, the heart and the head. If you are only in the heart, it is no good. And if you are only stuck in the head, that is also no good. Balancing both is Yoga. Spirituality is balancing the heart and head together. Anyone who feels that they are a failure, just wake up! So what?! Life is eternal.

Meditation acts like a bridge connecting your head and heart. Take a few moments to sit down, be open to boredom, and you’ll effortlessly move into a deep meditative state. Otherwise, that boredom might just lead you to sleep. It’s a choice — either you sleep, become more sluggish, or you seize the opportunity of boredom to delve into a deep meditation. There are 365 days in a year and there are so many years in your life. If for one or two days you feel you are wasted, life is a failure, it’s okay, never mind!

On a full moon, if it is cloudy and the light cannot shine on the Earth, the moon does not get upset. If on one full moon night, you cannot see the moon rising, so what? The moon is still there. Like that, inside you there is potential, there is divinity which is so complete. If it has not come to the surface in one day, never mind! You have all the great qualities. If some do not exhibit on a particular day, never mind.

Don’t blame yourself, don’t analyze yourself too much. We start analysing ourselves too much; to the extent that we feel upset and down. We are so hard on ourselves. I am saying this to those who feel bad about themselves. NEVER MIND, WAKE UP! Never mind if these many years are wasted. The future is bright and there is still so much for you to do. All regrets happen only when you are looking at the past. If you are walking and your head is turned backwards, then that is called regret. Turn your head and look forward, and you will see the future is always bright.

Communism and spirituality

 

Communism has three goals: to check the greed of feudal and capitalist societies, to halt the fanaticism and fundamentalism of religious communities, and to care for the needy and share resources with them. However:

• Only spirituality brings fulfillment to communism. 
• Only spirituality checks greed and opens the hearts of the wealthy to help the needy. 
• Only spirituality stops the fanaticism and fundamentalism of religious groups and creates a sense of belongingness with the whole world. 
• Only spirituality cultures caring and sharing.
• Only spirituality brings about open-mindedness and a progressive attitude. 

Communism cannot fulfill its goals without spirituality. It is impossible and time has proved it. Spirituality nourishes communism.

Spirituality is at the intersection of economic systems

 

Do not feel shy to speak about human and spiritual values. The time has come now to call the whole world to these principles. 

The All is calling, 

The ball is rolling, 

Time is milling, 

The soul is willing...

Often business is looked down upon by spiritual people, and spirituality is considered impractical by businessmen. The ancient people realized that spirituality is the heart and business is the legs. An individual or a society is incomplete without both these aspects. Business brings material comfort and spirituality brings mental and emotional comfort. Spirituality brings ethics and fair practice to business.

In the mind-body complex, depriving either the body or the mind of comfort means depriving both of them. You cannot talk of spirituality to the poorest of poor people without taking care of their basic needs. They need to be supported materially. There is no spirituality in the world that is devoid of service and service cannot happen if material needs are ignored. Service cannot happen only through the lips; it needs legs to work.

Every economic system has its flaws. Capitalism exploits the poor while socialism dampens individual creativity, innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Spirituality is the bridge between socialism and capitalism. Spirituality gives to capitalists the heart to serve and to socialists the spirit to innovate.

Why tech needs spirituality

 

The purpose of technology is to harness nature to bring information and comfort to human beings. 

When spiritual values – human values – are ignored and neglected, technology brings fear and destruction instead of comfort. Technology without human values considers nature a dead object. 

Science gives insight into the life of nature and spirituality makes nature come alive. In the eyes of children there is nothing dead in the world – animals, trees, the sun and the moon – they all have life, they all have emotions, they all have feelings. But in the eyes of a stressed and ignorant person, even human beings are like robots – objects. 

Technology without spirituality is destructive. Spirituality is the technology of consciousness and the whole world is the play and display of consciousness.

Being a true volunteer

 

Who is a volunteer? A volunteer is someone who comes to help without being asked. Someone who is self-motivated and inspired becomes a volunteer. 

It is possible for a volunteer’s inspirational motivation to diminish, which can bring frustration. Usually a volunteer’s attitude comes from demand rather than humility, and this dilutes the quality of the service. 

Another downfall for volunteers is that they slip away from commitment, thinking there is no “boss,” thinking, “If I like it, I’ll do it; if I don’t like it, I won’t do it!” It is like the steering wheel of a car – if all the tires say they do not need to be steered, then the car cannot move forward. If you want to construct a building, you have to accept the authority of the structural engineer, the “boss.” 

All these problems can be overcome only by being more grounded in spiritual knowledge. A volunteer devoid of spirituality is utterly weak. 

The following guidelines are essential to be a true volunteer:

• A volunteer needs to remain faithful to his commitment. 
• The integrity of a volunteer comes from his spiritual practices. A volunteer must accept the leader of the project. 
• The strength of a volunteer is based on the challenges he is ready and willing to face. 
• A volunteer moves beyond boundaries when he finds he is capable of doing so much more than he ever thought of doing. 
• A true volunteer does not expect appreciation or reward and he who thinks he is obliging someone is thoroughly mistaken. 

A person volunteers because he derives joy from it. That joy itself is the reward, and it is immediate. It does not come on the first of every month in the form of a salary. When a volunteer realizes this, he is filled with gratitude. When a volunteer waivers from within, his support is knowledge and good friends.

Appreciating the beauty of this creation

 

One who is not amazed by the magnificence of this creation – his eyes are not yet opened. Once your eyes are open, they close, and this is called meditation. 

Tell me, what in this creation is not a mystery? Birth is a mystery; death is a mystery. If both birth and death are mysteries, then life is certainly a greater mystery, isn’t it? Being completely immersed in the mystery of life and in this creation is samadhi. 

Your knowing or believing does not really matter to what Is. This creation is an unfathomable secret and its mysteries only deepen. Getting steeped in mystery is devotion. 

The “scene” is a mystery; the “seer” is a mystery. Deepening the mystery of creation is science. Deepening the mystery of the Self is spirituality. They are the two sides of the same coin. If neither science nor spirituality can create wonder and devotion in you, then you are in deep slumber.

How a combination of passion and dispassion takes place

 

Passion makes you weak. Dispassion is strength.

For your passion to be fulfilled, you must depend upon so many things. Passion and self-reliance do not go together. If you are passionate, you need to forget about being self-reliant. If you want to be self-reliant, you must drop your passion.

Your spirit is what brings together these two completely different aspects in you. The same spirit that wants self-reliance is also passionate. It is only in spirituality that passion and dispassion can happen together. This combination is the rarest.

When you are dispassionate, you have strength, and strength is self-reliance. True self-reliance is realizing that nothing is excluded from the Self. And when you realize everything is part of the Self, then you can be passionate about everything.

To fulfill your passion, you need to rely only on the Self, for Self alone is non-changing. In truth, there is neither reliance nor passion. Usually, you are either passionate or self-reliant. But in an elevated state of consciousness, you can be neither, or both.

Why natural disasters take place

 

From time to time the earth shakes and in its shaking wakes up the man who is in slumber, the man who not only misuses Nature but puts his faith in bricks and mortar. Your true security is in the Self, not in bricks and mortar. Perhaps this is what nature wants to convey to you. Earthquakes, floods and volcanoes all drive home the truth that nothing is permanent and you can find no security in that which is impermanent. Disasters come to you as a shock and wakes you up. 

When such calamities occur, we try to understand their cause so that we can blame someone. Strangely, when you find someone to blame, you feel comfortable, but with natural calamities you cannot blame anyone. They come to you as a shock. With wisdom, shocks can make you grow in leaps and bounds. Without wisdom, a shock can only lead you to negativity and depression. 

Why would nature destroy small innocent children? Nature just does its job. It does not discriminate between young and old.  

Instead of questioning nature, wake up and see the opportunity for seva, or service. See what happened in Gujarat. Hundreds and thousands of people engaged in service activities that would not have happened otherwise. The reconstruction of Gujarat would not have taken place if not for earthquake. Out of the destruction, a freshwater spring has appeared in a region that has been continuously drought prone. 

Wisdom is considering the Earth as your Valentine. Whether it shakes or breaks, it is dear to you. You always see good coming from it. 

The five elements, other than space, create turbulence from time to time. If you depend on them for support, they will shake you and lead you back to space. Finding security in inner space is spirituality.

Waking up from depression

 

Lack of idealism is the main cause of depression among young people today. Life appears to be so meaningless to these children, who are either too scared of the competitive world or bogged down by heavy stimuli. They need inspiration, and spirituality is that inspiration that can keep the spirit up.

Depression sets in if there is a lack of zeal to fight. Aggression is the antidote to depression. Depression is lack of energy. Anger and aggression are bolts of energy. When Arjuna was depressed, Krishna inspired him to fight and thus reinstated life back into him. 

If you are depressed, do not take Prozac - just fight for any cause. If aggression crosses a certain limit, it leads you back into depression. That is what happened when King Ashoka won the Kalinga War - he became depressed. He had to take refuge in Buddha. 

Wise are those who do not fall either into aggression or depression. That is the golden rule of a yogi. Just wake up and acknowledge you are a yogi.

Nourishing your emotions

 

A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need to make yourself interesting to inspire people to be with you. This will happen when you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service. The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others’ sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow.

When you expand in knowledge with time, then depression is not possible. The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery. The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking, “what about me?” and “what can I gain from this world?” think, “what can I do for the world?” Service leads to the dynamic experience of heart. It creates a sense of belongingness.

Lack of service can lead a person to depression. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If you are not sensitive to others’ pain, then you are not a human being. That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment in life, but service without silence tires you.

Service without spirituality will be shallow and cannot be sustained for a long period. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic will be the outer activity. Both are essential in life. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you.

Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile. When you sing and pray from your heart, your emotions are nourished and you become lively.

Understanding spirituality

 

Life is eternal; we never give a thought to this truth. When someone dies we declare that the person is immortal, but the truth is we ourselves are immortal too. That is why we do not feel that we have grown old. No matter how old a person is, he feels he is never going to die. If someone else dies, we say, ‘oh that poor fellow died’. ‘Everyone else dies but I won’t’, this feeling is there somewhere. There is a stream of awareness within us that cannot be destroyed. To acknowledge and observe that stream is spirituality – 'I have not changed, I have not grown old, I am just the same.'

This brings such courage and strength in life that nothing can shake you. Examining your life, observing it is spirituality, it is ‘satsang’. Satsang is not just singing bhajans but pondering on the truths of life. The most important truth of life – there is an element within me that does not perish, does not diminish and is deathless. If you direct even the slightest attention to it, life becomes easy and uncomplicated. The second truth – everything changes. The body undergoes many changes, as does the mind, so do our thoughts.

Knowing that everything is changing stabilises you. When you are established in this truth, such a smile blossoms from within you that can never fade, cannot be robbed. To sit in an effort to gain this knowledge is satsang. If we change ourselves, we can change our environment, our society and this world.  ‘God knows Gurudev, how many lifetimes it will take for me to gain this awareness’ – do not harbour such thoughts. Now that you have come for satsang, believe that you have already gained it.

Once you are on the train, know that you will reach the destination. That is for sure. How do we make this smile unshakable? How do we make our time on the planet meaningful? Being human we all have certain needs and certain responsibilities. If your needs are more than your responsibilities, there will be unhappiness in life, guaranteed! If your responsibilities are more than your needs, life will be peaceful. What you need to do is reduce your desires and take on more responsibility. And when in our life, personal needs disappear and desires no longer exist; an extraordinary, mystical ability is awakened within us that enables us to bless others.

When we do not want anything for ourselves, we develop the strength to fulfil the desires of others. This is the second step you have to climb. First, become aware of your desires and whatever desires are left. Have the confidence that by God’s grace they will be fulfilled. The next step is, ‘I want nothing.’ When you want nothing, you will become so strong that whatever you say to anyone will become a blessing to them. If you bless anyone, it will manifest.

When we die, only two questions remain: how much love have you shared, and how much knowledge have you gained. One day or the other, we are going to die. But we have to make sure, we all come together and create a divine society till the time we are in this world.

Nourishing your emotions through seva

 

A person without emotions is like wood without any juice. You need to make yourself interesting to inspire people to be with you. This will happen when you nurture yourself with music, prayer and service. The way to expand from individual to universal consciousness is to share others’ sorrow and joy. As you grow, your consciousness should also grow.

When you expand in knowledge with time, then depression is not possible. The way to overcome personal misery is to share universal misery. The way to expand personal joy is to share universal joy. Instead of thinking, “what about me?” and “what can I gain from this world?” think, “what can I do for the world?” Service leads to the dynamic experience of heart. It creates a sense of belongingness.

Not being of service (seva) to others, can lead a person to depression. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Pain is physical. Suffering is mental. If you are not sensitive to others’ pain, then you are not a human being. That is why you need to serve. Service alone can bring contentment in life, but service without silence will tire you.

Service without spirituality will be shallow and cannot be sustained for a long period. The deeper the silence, the more dynamic will be the outer activity. Both are essential in life. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through seva, good vibrations and blessings come to you.

Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile. When you sing and pray from your heart, your emotions are nourished and you become lively.

Maintaining harmony in relationships with others as well as with oneself

 

It is important to know what keeps and what really disturbs interpersonal relationships. The relationship gets disturbed when disagreement begins.

Just look at yourself. You had some idea yesterday; today you may have a different idea. Five years ago, you had other ideas that do not necessarily agree with the ideas that you have today. So, when you have disagreement with yourself, why should it not happen with someone else? The ‘someone’ you have a disagreement with is just a photocopy of your old or the new self. So you need to take a look at your own thought patterns and emotional patterns; there is a rhythm in them and in the consciousness.

We need to find harmony between all these rhythms within us and that’s what is called spirituality. For maintaining interpersonal relationships, you have to first have a relationship with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is called integrity.

Secondly, being informal keeps your interpersonal relationship strong, for it gives space for mistakes to happen. You cannot expect perfection in any relationship or situation. Today one of the biggest problems with the world is emotional instability. When we create an informal outlook and cordial environment around us, we grease the friction and become the master of our environment and not feel helpless about what is happening around us.

Life is very complex. There is no set formula. When you think that you are very honest and righteous, you become a little stiff inside without even realizing it. When you recognise that there are flaws in you, you are then able to accommodate the flaws in other persons.

It is not only your vices or bad qualities that will harm you, even your good qualities can make you stiff, rude and angry. That is why you should surrender both bad and good qualities. Take life as it comes. Sometimes you are upset or angry; it is OK. Relax and let go. Life does not stop for anything; it moves. Just move with the flow.

Cooperation will lead to general good of all

 

A peaceful society is the basis of a prosperous society, and I am happy that world leaders are placing a great deal of importance on recognising and addressing these issues. The theme of this year’s WEF ‘Cooperation in a fragmented world’ resonates with the vision of The Art of Living which started 42 years ago to unite people through a regeneration of human and spiritual values.

Conflict, division and chaos have to be countered with commitment, caring and collective resolve. This can happen only when leaders cultivate the mind to be calm and take considered decisions. We all need to recognise that we live in an interconnected world. There is no substitute for cooperation for the general good of the world.

Yoga and spirituality - India's gift to the world

 

Yoga and spirituality are given tremendous respect all over the world today. Regardless of the country, people all over are rapidly adopting and integrating Yoga in their lives.

If you go to the city of Tromsø in Norway, which is the last point of the country closest to the Arctic Circle, where the sun shines for just two months in a year, even there, people are practicing pranayama, and meditation. The chants of Om Namah Shivaya are resonating even in such a faraway place.

In the same way, the last city in the Southern hemisphere of the Earth – Tiera del Fuego, after which begins the Antarctic Circle; there also you will find thousands of people gathering together to chant Om Namah Shivaya and practicing the Sudarshan Kriya. This is India’s gift to the world.

India has made a place for itself in every home in the world (by virtue of Indian Spirituality). Our rishis (wise sages) have said, "krunavanto vishwam aryam". It means, "we will grow and spread glory through the world".

I see their dream turning into a reality today.

Let time celebrate your presence

 

“Sound stretched is Music…

Movement stretched is dance…

Mind stretched is meditation…

LIFE stretched is celebration”

A poor man celebrates the New Year once a year. A rich man celebrates each day. But the richest man celebrates every moment. You don’t need money to celebrate life. If you just have the trust and faith that you will be provided what you need tomorrow, you start celebrating every moment. That’s the real sign of prosperity.

If you don’t know you are loved by the Divine, you will not be able to celebrate life. You will live in insecurity. With insecurity, greed comes. With greed, selfishness becomes strong. And with that comes anger.  With anger comes lust.  And with that comes all sorts of sadness, miseries one behind the other, like a chain.

Turn back and remember the whole year that has gone by. Do not run away from anything. Do not reject anything. Do not go away from anything.

At the same time, let your attention be on the self. This is a delicate balance. That balance is yoga. That balance is spirituality. Some people think being silent is spirituality. Some people think only celebration is spirituality. Spirituality is a harmonious blend of outer silence and inner celebration, and also inner silence and outer celebration!

The celebration that comes out of silence is real celebration. Celebration is the nature of the spirit. Any celebration has to be spiritual. A celebration without spirituality has no depth. Silence gives depth to celebration.

Every excuse to celebrate is good. In celebration, you are not just having a party, you remind yourself of the wisdom. If sacredness is attached to a celebration, that celebration is total, complete. It’s not just body and mind but also the spirit that celebrates.

The year 2022 was fortunate because you were living at that time! Let time celebrate your presence. You keep smiling as ever. When you let time celebrate you, you are a witness amid celebration. The heart always longs for the old, the mind for the new. Life is a combination of both.

Allow the space for creativity to dawn. The year that has gone has taught us many lessons; what we should do and what we should not do. Every pain that we went through in 2022 brought us some depth, and all the joy and pleasure gave us a new vision of life and hope the future.

“The year gone by saw plenty of rainy days. In 2023, let there be sunshine—both in our lives and in society. Let us all have a determination to create a violence-free, stress-free society. May your life be filled with peace, joy and happiness!