What does being spiritual mean?

 

My definition of spirituality is loving God unconditionally and not getting bogged down by the religious definition of God. To focus not on the Gyan (knowledge) about God but on the Bhakti (devotion) to God. This requires unconditional love. Speaking to God and also getting your answers through your inner voice.

I’ve raised many such questions since my childhood, with my gentle mother trying her best to give me answers. My mother is my first guru. She has always been my guide and my confidante. I did not need another friend because I have her in my life.

You could say that I’ve been blessed to have spirituality in my life from a very young age. Furthermore I was blessed that my mother understood my yearnings and channelled them correctly. My mother provided me all my answers through her words, her actions and also through her own spiritual progress. She has always been ahead of me and hence could guide my ways.

My spirituality made me stronger and I could face all later hardships with relatively more ease. Be more resilient and always bounce back quickly. Becoming earth quake proof.

I’ve always taken this for granted. Feel blessed but took this for granted. Furthermore, I had been surrounded from a young age by other spiritual people with the talk on God and blessings. My mother’s friends belonged to different religions but their devotion to God and their conversation was always inspiring. I assumed everyone had this same childhood and found their answers in their surroundings. One such friend was Renu aunty. She was so advanced in her spiritual progress that chance strangers would look at her and seek her blessings. She was child like in her behaviour, so innocent but so wise. I loved spending time with her.

It is only recently that I’ve realised that my childhood was unique. Also that spirituality is a blessing ONLY because I had a guide who understood me and was herself a beacon who could guide.

In the absence of my mother, I too would have floundered. I don’t believe others would have understood what I was talking about and I would have been labeled as mad. I was told by many of my friends that I’m crazy to talk about God at such a young age. Their words did not matter because at home and in my surroundings, I was receiving all the validation my young soul needed.

Additionally, our home was filled with many saintly visitors from the Sikh faith. Saints who gravitated towards my mother. They would call her their daughter or sister. She accepted this as her due. She did not go out of the way to defer to these saints. She was even rude on occasion. I recall one incident where a most revered saint visiting from Punjab had been invited to have tea at our home. My mother had invited all her friends for the occasion and made elaborate preparations.

At the last minute, the saint called and asked if he could possibly delay the visit by a couple of hours. I’m sure others in a similar situation would have deferred and accepted this with devotion. Not so, my gentle and could never hurt the feelings of a fly, mother. She stated bluntly, it’s better to cancel. I’m not going to ask my friends to wait around. You gave me your word and are now not honouring it. Furthermore, I’ve prepared food for tea. If you come late, this will mean preparing food for an early dinner and that is unacceptable to me.

What was the result? The saint came over at the appointed time and apologised to my mother. He repeated multiple time in Punjabi, ‘Behenji nu naraaz nahi kar sakde’ (he couldn’t upset his sister, my mother). I was a witness to multiple such incidents. People gravitate towards her. Her love of God shines through her eyes. She has since retired but as a healer, ran the Kohli Magneto Therapy Clinic at Pali Hill in Mumbai for 21 years. This was a clinic founded by my maternal grandmother in memory of her husband. Many of her patients would claim that my mother had a healing touch. I’ve seen her treat people from the slums in exactly the same manner as celebrities, and there were many of each category and lots others who visited her clinic due to its prominent location.

I believe I was 13 or 14 when she placed the book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramhansa Yogananda on my lap, open at the chapter ‘Two Penniless Boys at Brindaban’. This chapter made me eager to read the entire book. This book has provided me with multiple answers in each reading and has been my constant companion ever since.

I went through numerous personal awakenings and all were shared and discussed with mom. I had this one person who helped, supported & guided my own spiritual journey. We did not always agree but respected the other’s view point.

Spirituality in my life was a blessing because I had someone whom I could speak to and who could guide me. However, spirituality can become a curse if no one understands you and can label you as mad.

When Spirituality Can Become A Curse

I recently received a reference of a client who has been on drugs for schizophrenia for the past 10 years. During his discovery call, imagine my surprise and shock to realise, his reason for being labeled as schizophrenic was his spiritual interest. He was going through a spiritual transformation and was seeking his own answers. The process requires a lot of guidance and clarity. He was receiving incomplete answers from his surroundings and from the books he was reading. His incomplete knowledge made him seem crazy to his family.

In their love and concern, they turned to professionals who saw fit to start him on a regime of drugs. What was the biggest blessing in my own life turned a curse for him because of the incomplete knowledge of people around him.

His 10 years on a medicine regime have shaken the spiritual seeker to the core and made him question his own awakenings and yearnings. I can’t even comprehend the numerous side effects of the medicines he was made to ingest.

I hope that with time and coaching, he can leave behind his now addiction with these meds and can truly embrace his spiritual side. Spirituality is definitely a blessing but can become a curse if not understood and incorrectly labeled.

I’m also upset with the psychologists who are quick to prescribe medicines. This is not the only client whom I have seen wrongly diagnosed and being prescribed with medicines to dull the brain. I’ve personally helped people with so called bipolar disorder that were only going through anxiety, panic attacks or depression. These issues can occur and as these issues are related to the mind, have to be treated only at the mind level and not through medicines that are ingested at the body level. Medicines just dull & sedate the mind and manage the immediate problem. They cannot resolve the issue and cannot be prescribed rampantly as is the case nowadays.

I hope I’m now able to help this so called schizophrenic to reclaim his life and truly follow his path. His spirituality, when understood and embraced correctly, will provide him with his answers and will also heal him. He just needs someone who can guide him along.

Spirituality is definitely a blessing and can heal and create inner transformation. Spirituality is the inner core that gives you the strength to handle all that life throws at you from the outside. If it is properly understood, used and implemented. Not everyone will be spiritual but they can all imbibe certain spiritual practices that can become the turning point in their lives.

 

Image Source