Spirituality: Not Just Yoga and Meditation

A lot of people believe that spirituality just means Yoga and Meditation.

Actually, it is not so.

Yoga can give us a flexible and healthy body. I myself practice it and gladly recommend that you try it out and see if it works for you. I also meditate when I see that my mind is restless and I need to quieten and focus it. You can also learn to meditate and use it to your advantage if you wish. Just make sure that you learn from good schools. Yoga needs to be practiced correctly and meditation should be such that it increases your capacity to focus. There are a lot of people trying to teach these today with half or no knowledge themselves. You have to be alert about this and evaluate the effects of what you learn on your body and mind honestly.

However, a flexible and healthy body and a quiet and focused mind are just the first step 😊. They only form the basis 😊.

A spiritual life itself starts with wisdom.

When the intellect soaks in wisdom, it starts understanding how to approach life. It gets clarity on what is long lasting, what is fleeting, and gives everything its due importance. No more and no less. It understands that it's perfectly alright to enjoy life but there is no point in allowing the world to make us mad. It understands very very clearly that time and life are limited, that we are not here forever. With this sense of urgency one seeks clarity on what interests one deeply, what one wants to do in life and what not, and resolves to live and act with 100% attention and awareness every moment.

As the temporariness and fragility of life crystallize in one's awareness, a clarity dawns that owning more than what one needs is actually an unnecessary burden! One's inner state of mind starts becoming important, desire for power gets replaced by a willingness to take responsibility, and one steadily realizes that it's just not worth compromising one's character, integrity and cleanness of conscience for anything. It's like giving away diamonds in return for a few pennies. Just isn't worth it.

With this wisdom and clarity the whole of life becomes spiritual. A spiritual life does not oppose life in the world. We have all the right to pursue our dreams, our goals, and live the life we want to. But it gives us perspective and balance. It grounds us like nothing else.

So an intellect soaked in wisdom along with a flexible and healthy body and a quiet and focused mind: that's comprehensive spirituality. And it's within everyone's reach 😊. It's not something difficult and other worldly 😊. It's simple and practical knowledge that we can apply in our lives on a day to day basis.

Ravan was a great Yogi, meditator, extremely knowledgeable about various subjects and an excellent administrator. He had developed tremendous powers, known as Siddhis, through his Yogic practices. He built an entire country of gold. Yet, he killed his own sister's husband to retain political power. Such a shallow pursuit of power 😊. Why?

Because his intellect was not tuned to wisdom at all. Lot of Yoga, meditation and knowledge. But no spirituality whatsoever 😊. No depth of personality 😊, no character 😊.

So, develop all three: A wise intellect, a flexible and healthy body, and a quiet, focused and insightful mind. With these three for your support and guidance: Live 😊! May all glory be yours 😊! In life and death 😊!