Moksha is in stillness when you live in the moment – Ancient Indian Scriptures

Spirituality is a Way of Thinking

People see the signs, but pass them by without detecting them. One with a prepared mind, however, can recognize them and then turn them into objects of contemplation.

CV Raman (1888-1970), the renowned Indian scientist, once had it pointed out to him that scientific discoveries were accidental. Raman responded, “Yes, but such accidents occur only when the mind is prepared.” The fact is that all the opportunities for scientific discovery are already present in nature. People pass by them but fail to recognize them. Having a prepared mind, a scientist instantly recognizes and develops any such matter that could be of scientific interest the moment he comes across it. This is how scientific discovery is arrived at.

The same is true of spirituality. Tokens of spirituality are scattered all over the world. Every part of nature, great or small, is invested with spiritual content. People see the signs but pass them by without detecting them. One with a prepared mind, however, can recognize them and then turn them into objects of contemplation. It is ‘discovery plus contemplation’ that adds up to spirituality.

Two friends, Moti Ram and Ram Ratan Kapila, a former jeweller and an AC engineer, were in the habit of taking morning walks together in a quiet part of New Delhi. Once, along the way, they found a glittering object. Ram Ratan Kapila picked it up and pronounced it a piece of glass. Moti Ram, on the other hand, immediately recognized it as a diamond. Although his friend was a degree holder in the science of Air Conditioning, he failed to recognize the object for what it was. On the other hand, Moti Ram, being a jeweller, only took a second to recognize it. This was because he had a prepared mind on the subject of gemstones.

This story illustrates the importance of mental preparedness. Anyone who wants to live as a spiritual person must train himself to this end. One who has neglected to prepare himself will never be able to draw spiritual nourishment from life’s experiences. In the midst of spiritual abundance, he will continue to remain spiritually starved.

What is preparation? Preparation cannot be achieved by means of taking some external course. It is an exercise in self-training. Only those who are ready to engage in self-training can enjoy spirituality. Those who do not do so can never develop themselves as spiritual persons.

There are many aspects of self-preparation, for instance, the capacity to discern the relevant and irrelevant aspects of any given event, so that an appropriate course of action may be taken. An acute sense of what is significant and what is not is essential, for man can never experience spirituality without it.

To train oneself spiritually, the most important thing a person must do is to condition himself to refrain from taking offence. The moment he allows himself to be offended, he closes the door to self-training.

The process of learning always takes place within society. In social relations, a person speaks from his mind, not from another’s mind. Hence it is necessary that, as regards social relations, one should be 100 per cent objective. Where there is a lack of objectivity, there is the likelihood of offence being taken. And one who takes offence shows himself to be incapable of objective thinking.

There are always two options before you – subjective thinking or spirituality. If you are desirous of spirituality, you shall have to give up thinking subjectively. On the other hand, if you are not ready to forego subjective thinking, spirituality will forever remain beyond your grasp.

Spirituality cannot be acquired through physical exercise. Physical exercise is quite unrelated to spirituality, the latter being a state of mind. Only with the right state of mind can spirituality be cultivated, for spirituality is a way of thinking – a function of the mind. One who has the urge to live with spirituality must train his mind for this purpose, otherwise, spirituality for him will remain a distant dream.

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