Pointless Spirituality

For years on end, philosophers and mystics have walked this earth preaching, what we all perceive to be the word God. Since countless generations, people have believed in a higher power residing somewhere in the heavens and prayed to it for deliverance. For eons, we the humans of this world have kept our faith and unwavering trust in the belief that there is a higher power, an all-perceiving God that sets things to right and grants us absolution and deliverance. However to this day, while many have preached ways to understand Him and reach Him, very few have actually made the effort to understand the point of His existence.
Spirituality aims to teach us the art of fine living; it aims to endow us with knowledge and wisdom that is born out of great understanding and patience. Ultimately it aims to enrich us thoroughly as we evolve through the journey of our daily lives. Hence one can easily contend that the motive behind “being spiritual” is not just realization, but ultimate enrichment of our souls. While there are many who reach the realized state of being, there are few who actually go ahead and enrich themselves sustainably.

The reason why sustainability is a point that needs to be noted is that it is a result of consistent efforts. It is something that endures through the various trials and tribulations of daily life; as we mere humans try and struggle to make ends meet. Realization is a flash of blinding light; it comes to you and leaves you dazed, aghast and at a loss of words; but realization itself does little to change your way of life; or to change the way you shape your destiny; that power still wrests with you.

Spirituality through the power of realization gives you a perspective of looking at things; when you perceive and realize something that is truly extraordinary and beyond this world, your wonderment in the worldly illusions ceases to exist. While many at this point choose to turn away from these worldly illusions, the point still remains that if they choose to conquer them, they still can. Nonetheless, your approach needs to be consistent. If you choose to turn away from this world and walk the path of the ascetic, there must be no lingering regret or temptation at the bottom of your heart; for you will be destroyed in the presence of such temptation as you would feel that all that you have done till now is utterly vain.

Much in the same way, if you choose the worldly path and not stay determined in your approach to conquer the same, your life can be left in utter disarray wherein you feel alienated by both the spiritual and the material world. That is a sorry state; and thus makes all your spiritual efforts utterly pointless.

In this scenario it is better to understand that wise is the man who knows what he wants and thus takes appropriate steps to acquire the same. Spirituality is not based upon denying your desires, but it is based upon rising above them; something that can only be done when those desires are utterly and completely satisfied beyond a shadow of doubt. Hence the important point to understand in this discussion would be that the very act of fulfilling your desires takes you one step closer to fulfilling your ultimate spiritual goals. Ironical as it may sound, at times, your desire is your best friend, for it gives you focus and shows you the path that you must follow.

At the onset of the article I mentioned that there are very few who truly understand the Almighty’s purpose of existence; the reason why saints to this day walk this wretched earth to grant deliverance to wretched souls like us; the reason is enrichment; the reason is evolution; something that can only be achieved through determined efforts on our part.

The entire point of this article is beautifully surmised by the late poet, Harivanshrai Bacchan in his poem titled Madhushala

मदिरालय जाने को घर से चलता है पीनेवला,
‘किस पथ से जाऊँ?’ असमंजस में है वह भोलाभाला,
अलग-अलग पथ बतलाते सब पर मैं यह बतलाता हूँ –
‘राह पकड़ तू एक चला चल, पा जाएगा मधुशाला।’। ६।


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Change, Consistency & Success

In life, many times we feel that change is the catalyst in our journey towards success. We often feel and experience that great success can only be reaped if the individual in question is willing to change and adapt to his surroundings more fluidly than others. Success ultimately depends on your ability to mould yourself to your surroundings and work with what you have to achieve maximum results. Often we see that with such a wholesome attitude towards life, through creative changes or transitions that occur in an individual’s life, he is able to reap great success.

However the key to enduring success comes after achieving some form of success to begin with. Often the worst challenge that an individual is faced with in his bid to achieve enduring superlative success is his own inconsistency. Our inconsistencies arise from our inability to adapt with our surroundings. They arise due to our innate nature wherein our attention span towards any kind of task is too limited in both scope and magnitude. The sheer monotony of life, coupled with the natural escapist tendency of any human being always leads to a great deal of inconsistency in his thoughts and actions. This in turn greatly reduces his dependability thus affecting the overall perception that he has in the society.

Success is widely looked on and perceived to be a function of time and consistency. You are more likely to be successful at any venture, if you consistently work at it through a period of time. This is common knowledge that working hard at anything produces consistently good results over time; but most of the times, the problem occurs when we try and apply the same principle to our own lives.

Close self-introspection often reveals that the root cause for any decision often lies in our impatience and unwillingness to cope with any situation. When any situation becomes unfavorable or in a mild sense of the term ‘hostile’ , we immediately try and find ways to work around it; if eventually we are not able to find sustainable solution or workaround to the same, we simply try and change the situation using any and all efforts; in the process losing our dispassionate sense of judgment, which further leads us to grief and turmoil.

The point of the matter is to state that change should never be a result of our incapability to adapt; this is inherently owing to the fact that even if we change our perceptions and realign our choices just because we are unable to deal with the previous change that we made, that change is in turn more likely to lead to further inconsistencies within us; thus greatly reducing our probability of achieving enduring superlative success.

The point is simple indeed; in the race of life; or in the spiritual journey of the soul, it does not matter how hard you run; it does not matter how fast you run; what matters is how long you run. Ultimately Enduring consistency in an environment where change is a routine occurrence ends up yielding you immeasurable success in life.
Amen.

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Determination

Leading up from my last article, I had mentioned that very often our desires and our instincts motivate our actions; and the actions that spur from vile thoughts and selfish desires are in the end the same; they are not benevolent in any way. People often feel that their acts should be transparent; that they should bear no other motive than the one that spurs that action; for example, If an individual loves a girl, that girl would expect that the basis of any relationship that they establish, would be based on nothing but pure love; however in real life, we all know that the waters run much deeper; that there are a thousand different motives to each of our actions; and indeed it should be that way.

The reason why I say such a thing is that often when a single desire is potent enough to spur an action, the gust and vigor with which we get into accomplishing such an act vanishes once the desire goes away. Thus many times, we are left with nothing but regret as we feel that everything we do is utterly pointless. The reason for such a reaction is that we never ever actually sit back and think what the motivation behind any particular act is. Motivation comes from many sources apart from desire; it can come from ambition; it can come from inspiration; it can come from a sheer determination to achieve something that requires a great deal of dedication and effort.

In such a scenario, the factor that matters the most is the source of your motivation and your determination to take any task to completion. Life is a series of unfinished stories; but it is only so because we of our own accord abandon every act before it can meet its justified end. This in the end forces us to come back to this wretched world to finish each of those unfinished stories that we have left in the book of our lives.

Thus the key to being insanely successful in your mundane lives and to be spiritually satisfied is determination. Whenever you undertake a task, be determined and resolute to take it to its completion. One can only accomplish that feat by ensuring that the factors that motivate him are not in any way superficial or frivolous; because in the end , the things that motivate you remain the driving point behind all your acts; thus once you are pure in motivation, you shall be pure in act; and with great determination, you shall definitely achieve that which you desire.

In the end the goal of human life is to attain peace and satisfaction; the goal is to attain unending happiness and bliss; that is what true spirituality is all about; it teaches you the way of life; it makes you realize that life, even though is born out of pain and incompleteness, is meant to be complete; that life in the end is meant to be a fulfilling experience. However we of our own accord fail to realize this; and in this life, we are our own worst enemies; our mind is the greatest culprit; the birthplace of all misery and regret. Determination allows us to go beyond this regret and achieve that state of peacefulness and bliss.

May God and Guru help us in our lofty endeavors…

Love,
Aj

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Taking Ownership

Life is a gift that has been given to us by God; it is an opportunity for us to earn all that we have yearned for through the ages and often it happens that life itself leads us onto wild journeys that we hardly ever cognize. I have often thought that life is naught but a series of incidents that happen with us; a series of misfortunes or a series of unimaginable opportunities; take it as you will, the fact remains that life is a great chance that God gives us to truly understand ourselves and to truly realize what we are. Our desires and the cognition of what we truly want out of life, finally lead us to realize what kind of a person we are. Ultimately those things lead us to realize who we are and where we belong.

I have often said that life is naught but an illusion; a dream, however living through that dream with an inescapable grip on reality is equally hard. Many times we end up being lost in that dream and in the paradox that lies between the dream world and the real world; at the end of it all we stay brooding on what is truly a dream and what is reality… If this life we take to be a dream, then we realize that the dream itself is so real; however if we start taking life seriously and think of it to be real and potent, we understand that it is indeed not so; we start to realize that in the end, all that we live for is completely useless in death; we are left with naught but a cold sense of realization that still ends up leading nowhere as we never knew what it was that we truly lived for. Such is life.

Most of us live our lives as peas scattered on a windy day; we live life without bearing any conscious sense of bearing or ownership. We know not what we truly desire and by the time we get to know that, we have already committed some acts that lead us to perpetual misery and regret. Thus the first part of truly living a happy, contented and satisfied life is to take ownership of that life and to truly understand what you seek of it. However that is easier said than done; the principal reason as to why we can never understand our own desires is that we do not know that desire in itself is very fickle. It is nothing but an intense and overbearing sense of restlessness and incompleteness; and directed by our senses and instincts, it leads us to lands where we would never otherwise go.

Thus when the very thing that motivates us; that guides us and drives us; our desires; when that very thing turns out to be so fickle, guided by the same, our life too ends up being naught but a mockery. It is of great importance to realize what these desires truly are and to address them before the urge to satiate them gets out of hand. However this needs to be done in a very systematic way as action in itself is the root of all karma; and driven by false ends, one can never realize the truth. Thus the next step in taking ownership of your life lies in taking ownership of your actions. Again, as I said before, easier said than done… We often feel that our actions are not resolute enough in their execution; put shortly, we often feel that we are not determined enough in acting which inadvertently leaves any task that we undertake incomplete; be it your career, your personal life or the mother of them all, your spiritual goals.

Taking ownership of your own actions mean taking complete and utter responsibility for all your acts. You are responsible for your acts, for in the end your acts of the present determine your future; they determine the graph of your life; hence the most important thing to know is to not let your actions be deviant or derogatory in any way; there is one simple law of life, that goodness spurs from goodness; and from vile actions, there can be nothing but vile results. But when our instincts define our desires; and when our desires drive our actions, how on earth can we hope to be pure in our acts…for deep down we all know that we are neither pure in thought…nor in desire. That in itself turns out to be the undoing of all our actions.

More on this in the next article…

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Peace, Satisfaction & Life

I have always been meaning to write about this subject; but somehow never got down to it. Maybe it was that I was never actually ready to write about it in the first place. There are some things in life that you get to know only by experiencing them; this is one of those things. Often it happens that there remains a void between the practical side of things and the philosophical. Prudent is the man who knows when to be practical and when to be philosophical.

Spirituality is naught but an understanding of this subtle art of living. In life we often see that life hardly ever turns out the way we envision it to be. Often we find that life at times surprises us at every point, as we wander aimlessly through its varied and twisted turns. However the one fact that often stands out is that in the end, life gives us that which we desire; it gives us that which we need the most.

Again, there are subtle differences between what you want and what you need; there is a popular saying that states it almost perfectly. God shall give you what you need; but not all that you want. That is simply owing to the fact that desire itself forms the driving force that in a way sustains life. Without desire, without incompleteness, there would be no life; it is in a way ironic, but most of the times, life starts out as a journey towards completion.

However many of you would be knowing that it hardly ever ends in completeness; for if it would, why would we be here in the first place? Why would I be writing this? Why would you be reading this? The answers to all those questions is but one; that we are all woefully incomplete; that we are all in search of consummation and happiness; but above all we are all in search of satisfaction.

Then again, satisfaction is one thing that is quite elusive in itself. I mean of all the mystics who have roamed these lands, there have been few who have been able to clearly elucidate on the ways to attain satisfaction; hardly any of us are ever able to unearth that secret and reveal that mystery. What on earth would satisfy the unending thirst of human desire? But then again, we come back right where we had started off; should we finally be satisfied, should the waters finally stand still in the tumultuous and roaring seas of life, would we be truly at peace? Would we truly love that existence? An existence with no desires…

That again is a question that I ask myself and the answers I confess to be more deluding than anything else. The answer is that man never truly seeks for satisfaction; he only ever seeks for happiness, that he desires to find in success; success that he hopes to find in the mundane desires of this world; the desires which once again lead him towards incompleteness thus completely rendering his search for true bliss pointless. Such is life… the moment you start searching for completeness, it renders that search incomplete, for in that search itself it leaves you desiring and craving for the things that can never truly grant you bliss. Such is life. I muse to myself and ask of the lord, how would a man be truly at peace… and the reason is that he just has to be at peace; he has to believe and he has to trust. At one point, man just needs to sublimate into his existence and not pursue it like a hungry hound.

Then you shall realize that there is no incompleteness left, because there is no search for completeness; there is no search, for you find that completeness within yourself; only when you stop to seek for the same; you find it bloom from your midst like a flower in the spring, bringing with itself unending joy and ceaseless mirth. Such an existence is truly a blessed one and one that is coveted by thousands… yet hardly few ever live it…

Simply put, life is to be lived and not to be filled; for the more you seek to fill it, the emptier shall it be; within yourself shines the brightest light and within yourself exists the darkest night. What you shall embrace is upto thee, for the burden of thy choice lies on thee …

May the Lord light our ways with peace, wisdom and eternal bliss… Amen.

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Adaptability

It’s often said that a wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. What does that truly mean? What does the word adaptation imply in terms of spirituality and the journey of life? Is adaptation some sort of compromise on part of the individual who decides to somehow settle for something else when in his heart, he truly desires something that is completely different? Does our capability and willingness to adapt to a particular situation showcase our cowardice or our inability to truly strive for something that we desire? Today we find the answers to these questions and many that shall arise through this discussion.

Change is the law that governs life. As a man progresses through the varied stages of evolution through his life, he somehow starts to experience that many things that he holds close to his heart wither away with time. Eventually, he realizes that there is indeed nothing that truly stays with him; something that he can truly call as his own; something that is constant through all the change. Man on his part, gradually discovers that if he is to truly survive the changes that occur in his life, he has to adapt accordingly; he has to change with time and he has to fall in line to the new demands of his reformed life.

Adaptability is the naught but the degree of comfort and ease that a man can bear through the varied transitions that take place in his life. These transitions are necessarily not something that he truly desires; but in a way the changes are the result of his own desires. Such is the irony of life that the moment a man gets something that he knows he has desired for long; he loses all desire for that particular thing. Desire in itself is such a fickle sentiment that it changes through time; and every single moment that it does so, it brings with itself a new wave of change. That in a way answers the first question; when you adapt to a situation, are you settling for something that you never desired? NO, because the change itself is a product of your own desire; and the reason that you no longer feel happy about it is that maybe deep down, you never truly desired it.

Such is the irony of life. Spirituality teaches us to be aware of this irony so that in the end, we learn that change is a result of desire and thus desire in itself is the cause of inconsistency. Adaptability, thus is naught but the attribute that represents our determination to cope with the change and to work pro-actively to ensure that we derive success from it. So in no way does our adaptability showcase a weakness or cowardice. On the contrary it shows great strength of mind that enables us to rise to the occasion and prove our virtue in an environment that is entirely fresh.

Ultimately man has to realize that no matter how hard he tries to evade the change in his life; it is ultimately going to set in. Change is law that governs life; without change, there would be no life; for there would be no desire to justify our existence. Spirituality truly leads us towards this realization so that through the turmoil of change, we finally come to a place in our life, wherein our desires completely stand still and finally all that is left to life is peace and satisfaction. In the end, such result is only achievable if we learn to mould ourselves and adapt to the situation that surrounds us. This in a way ensures success in both the spiritual and mundane realms; an enviable balance that epitomizes the perfect life.

Amen 🙂

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The Silver Lining

There is quite a popular saying that goes with life; they say that every dark cloud has a silver lining. What it simply means is that every bout of grief that life brings with itself has to it a sheen of happiness; a sheen of positivity. We humans as a collective, often fail to realize this and hence tend to look at life more pessimistically. However if we but try and look at it objectively, we would realize that life is indeed much more fair than we make it out to be.

People often think of grief in terms of the failure that they face in life. We often tend to equate failure with personal loss and this makes the grief associated with that failure that hard to accommodate. In the realization of that grief and in its mourning itself is the better part of our glorious life wasted in vain. If truth be told, then at times we realize that we of our own accord are responsible for any failure that life deals us. Failure does not walk into our lives; we are the ones who walk into its lair. Fate plays the role of setting up the trap. We are the ones who willfully walk into it.

If that be the case, then it indeed would be possible for us to avoid grief at all costs; to avoid failure and to make our life a great success story. Well it indeed is. Success in the end is determined by nothing else but the satisfaction that you have within yourself. Many people would tend to disagree with this; but if truth be told, success cannot be measured in relative terms. If I have a scooter and my friend has a car, it does not necessarily mean that he is more successful than me. Success is relative to the surroundings in which it takes shape and hence the definition of success differs with every person. So at the end of the day, the only thing that either makes you successful or otherwise is simply the amount of satisfaction that you bear in your heart; that in itself is what life is all about.

Satisfaction is something that only comes with deep understanding. You have to realize that you can’t win all the battles all the time; you have to realize that as a human being you have to lose some and only then will you gain some. Looking at life in an optimistic way ensures that the joy of the win is not overshadowed by the grief of the loss. A positive approach in life makes us realize that every loss brings with itself some form of gain and some form of knowledge. I always say that Life is full of small defeats that have great victories lying in their wake. It is up to us to ensure that the small defeats do not tarnish the joy of the great victories; for then it would indeed be an irony in itself.

Hence do we come at the point of the matter for this verbose exercise of spiritual dissertation. It is always important for us to see the silver lining in the dark clouds of life. Only then can we hope to survive the bitter journey that awaits us; only then can we hope to still have in our hearts that unconquerable sense of joy and satisfaction, when all we have with us is but our conviction that we indeed are on the right path in life. Every cloud has a silver lining. You just have to find it for yourself; for that in the end is what will bring you back from the groveling pits of grief and despair to the illustrious and luminous heavens of joy and bliss…

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Amen!

Mea Culpa

Nobody is perfect in this world. We humans as a collective are prone to mistakes. These mistakes are necessarily caused at times by our lack of morality, lack of judgment or simply due to a lack of empathy for our fellow human beings. In religious terminology, that mistake is termed as a sin; and as is the law of the nature, once you have committed the crime; you are automatically subjected to the repercussions. Through the documented history of the human existence, man has always tried to find a way in which he can escape the karmic law of nature; thus allowing him to keep a complete disregard for its rules and regulations. However he has failed miserably thus far.

Man indeed fails to grasp the gist of the entire cosmic dream which singularly aims at bringing the individual out of his illusory existence and impressing upon him his true nature. Realization is simply the momentary cognizance of the same; the wave of truth interspersing the bright illusory mosaic of life. However man, ignorant that he is always fails to register this truth and implement it in his life. Such is the case with perpetual sinners as well. I use the term perpetual sinners out of necessity, even though at this point it is safe to say that we are all sinners; that we have all committed mistakes at one point or the other; that all of us in one way or the other have made someone suffer.

Now don’t get me wrong, man being subjected to the laws of karma also suffers in turn when he makes someone else cry. However man’s ego and self-adjudicatory attitude fails to make him realize the reason as to why he suffers. He suffers for he has made someone else suffer and thus he must suffer. However without the realization of what made him suffer in the first place, man ends up committing even more sins, thus inescapably getting entwined into the recursive cycle of misery and suffrage.

The only way out of this uninventive play of karma is realization and acceptance. Mea Culpa in Latin means’ My Own Fault’. It is but a humble acknowledgement of our own sins; not just a cursory one but one that registers deep within our own consciousness and takes us away from our erring ways to better ends. It is acceptance that suggests that the mistake committed was something that was avoidable if the individual was but diligent. It suggests that the sin could indeed have not been committed in the first place if man himself had not shed all bonds of morality and brotherhood.

Mea Culpa means a humble acceptance of the truth and a promise towards change. Change can only come after acceptance and retribution. The latter is received befittingly owing to the law of karma; it is only the acceptance that we find hard to acknowledge. We don’t need to declare it publicly; for it indeed would be a suicidal move from the worldly point of view; however silently acknowledging it in your own heart would surely yield a lifetime of peace. Denial in its wake brings only disquiet and dissatisfaction. Acceptance enables you to fluidly move on and mature to bigger and better things. Consider it… 🙂

———-
Thus follows the biblical scripture quoted from the ancient Roman text.
Confíteor Deo omnipoténti et vobis, fraters, quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne:
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa. Ideo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem,
omnes Angelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.
———-
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters,that I have sinned through my own fault.
In my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
and I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Amen!

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Keeping it Real

Through our brief stint here on the last pilgrimage weblog, we have always tried and find ways to live life in a wholesome manner. We have always exhorted seekers to try new and innovative ways to ensure that they stay creative and productive in their way of life. Ultimately spirituality is nothing but an ideology that promotes and propagates an ideal lifestyle; at least that is what it accomplishes at the basic level. Going beyond, the realms of advanced spirituality know no boundaries. A fully evolved spiritual master indeed possesses more power and knowledge than what we can even imagine with our puny intellects.

Thus looking at the entire scope of spirituality, at times it indeed becomes hard to segregate it into packages that can be sustainably delivered to an engaging audience. Simply put, one indeed finds it to be an arduous task trying to decide what to show and indeed what to hide. Owing to this the realm of spiritual teaching has always been somewhat of a misguided tour into the journey of life. Point of the matter is that spiritual teachings of any sort are not essentially something that can be dispensed over the counter as a proprietary medication. No; it’s a more complex method that involves meticulous teaching and ceaseless dedication. In the absence of both, spirituality ends up becoming naught but the target for social ridicule at the hands of ignorant imbeciles.

Now given the absence of a good delivery method, any ideology runs the risk of being deprecated at the hands of the world. That is essentially what has happened to modern day spirituality. Upon looking at the way that spiritual teachings have evolved over time, it indeed seems to be of little surprise that in the current day they hold little appeal to general public. The reason for the same being that human beings have almost reached the zenith of their worldly evolution; the fact that man has indeed accomplished much is indeed an understatement. Hence in the frenzy of that accomplishment, man essentially forgets his true identity and his true nature, let alone the true purpose of his very existence. Man’s psychological identity is molded into existence by the illusions that he lives with; and hence wrapped in this pseudo-existence of his own illusory dream, man indeed forgets all that is ‘real’ in his life.

Through the years, when such events have occurred in the world; when humanity has indeed been endangered by the darkness of ignorance, saints have walked these lands to ignite in the hearts of men the passion and yearning for knowledge and realization. However those times have since passed us by and we are left with naught but worthless imitations of a species that has long since become obsolete. Why did such a thing happen? How did it come to this? Where are the saviors of the current generation? Where are the saints of today?

Point of the matter is that spirituality is all about evolution; it is about adapting to the changing times and rolling with the punches as they fall in line. It is no surprise indeed that in the bid to evolve the estranged seeker, even the ideology has to evolve; and with it the way in which it is propagated indeed needs to evolve. Many times people ask me; why did the west not see a single messiah after the passing of Jesus? However the point of the matter is that there was always a messiah on the face of this earth, who was keeping in check the delicate balance within the cosmos. However the fact that the messiah never appeared as one is indeed corroboratory to the observation that yes; even spirituality has evolved and with it so have its messengers. A new era is indeed upon us; wherein the son of God would not be the one wearing a bloody loincloth but would indeed be someone porting a suave Armani jacket. However the fact that he would be bleeding the same is indeed of little relevance to us; for we would still be content in calling ourselves the most evolved species on the face of this earth; content in our illusions and warped in our pseudo-reality as we condemn our fellow spiritualists asking them to keep it REAL…

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Being Divine

Throughout our time, here on the last Pilgrimage weblog, we have discussed about spirituality as a means to reach out to the divine. We have discussed about spirituality as a means to reclaim the lost divinity within each and every one of us. However in the course of this entire journey, not once had we ever touched base on what divinity truly accomplishes. We never answered the question. What next? How would a seeker’s life be after being touched by divinity? Indeed how would a seeker’s life be once he made the transition from being simply human to being divine?

The answer to that question is indeed surprising. Believe it or not, the transition from being human to being divine is what constitutes the entire struggle of the redundant and repetitive human existence. That transition in itself is a journey that is driven by an incessant desire and an innate craving of the divine. That desire in turn takes the seeker ever closer to achieving that state of divinity within his own self. It takes the seeker ever closer to completely evolving in the end. It is that very desire that finally unites a seeker with his eternal soulmate; himself.

Throughout this journey, as a seeker starts to progress on the path that leads to self-realization and enlightenment, he starts to observe the subtle changes that happen within himself. The spiritual path completely transforms and transfigures an individual both intrinsically and from the worldly perspective. It affects the very constitution of an individual, redefining his traits and characteristics, as the individual himself starts to experience the present of an alternate consciousness within himself; as he starts to experience and feel God within the confines of his own mind.

Extrinsically, the individual starts to feel a difference in the way that the world perceives him. There is a certain amount of prejudice veiled underneath a snide demeanor of falsified curiosity in the eyes that behold him. This happens owing to the fact that the subtle intrinsic changes affect the seekers behavioral patterns, thus making others around him conspicuous of the change. People don’t like change for it makes them feel uncomfortable; and the degree of change that any phenomena brings in depends on the ingenuity of that specific idea. Spirituality in itself is the single most ingenious and revolutionary ideology that an individual can imbibe in his life. The changes that the spiritual revolution brings about in an individual are indeed varied and beyond comprehension. Hence the silent rebuke from the society.

However a true spiritualist never really cares about the opinions of the others; for he knows in his heart that the path he treads is a path known to few; for indeed few have the courage to stage the spiritual revolution against lifetime’s worth of oppression that they have suffered at their own hands. Few have the drive to renunciate the worldly rot for the kingdom of joy that reigns within; and no matter what you do this is certain for a fact. Once touched by divinity; your life will never be the same again. At one point it will happen that you will renounce the world; or the world will end up renouncing you. However in both cases; you would be well off.

The renunciation that I speak of here is the renunciation that comes from within. It is the feeling of supreme happiness that accompanies the knowledge that there is indeed nothing in the world that can truly make you feel aggrieved; the knowledge that you are truly and completely free of all the bonds that bind you to this existence; the bonds that make you suffer. In such ways the silent and yet incredibly effective spiritual revolution reinstates the power to its rightful owner; the soul. Thus ends the journey from being simply human to being divine…

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