A Millennial myself, I am not an avid follower of any religion. Then why should we discuss Spirituality?
We were born at a time when India opened its economic corridors. It helped the Western education and Philosophies get in. It broadened our understanding of the universe and its working principles.
ISRO, Microsoft, Mobile phones and the World Wide Web became our household names.
Schools got more streamlined. The infinite information available out there made available to the students.
Thus, we grew up incredulous to notions that aren’t backed by scientific theories and proofs.
This article is an attempt to dissect the theory of Spirituality wearing science goggles. Also, to relate its aspects to the millennials.
Historical background
The origin of the term spirituality was closely associated with religious principles.
Because of its affinity to Religions, the science inclined people distanced themselves from spirituality.
Instead of having a healthy debate regarding its inception, a dogmatic bubble was created around it, which further pushed the scientific community away.
Later, many theologists and philosophers started defining Spirituality as an Individual concept; independent of the religions. It allowed people to see spirituality without the rules, rituals and guidelines.
Even then, the importance of Spirituality evaded the attention of the millennials as they became busy concentrating on the 0’s and the 1’s.
What is Spirituality?
There is no standard definition for this word. In a way, that itself is a definition of Spirituality.
Without bounding by the virtual borders, it transcends across the whole humankind.
Like water, it takes the shape of the Individual’s Cognisance. Thus it gives the opportunity for every individual from different backgrounds to define spirituality in their terms.
The fluidic nature allows it to update itself regularly and to stay relevant to the present generation. But it is often overlooked because of our fast pacing day to day life.
We, as a generation, lack the patience to slow down and grasp the wonders, spirituality could bring to our lives.
As a science
What is science?.
What constitutes scientific proof?.
How scientific theories are formulated?.
Before breaking down the various forms of Spirituality, let’s try to dissect these questions.
For a very long time, even science was not accepted by scholars.
Aristotle, the great, thought Women’s Menstrual blood is the origin of the baby.
Earth was flat until Galileo said otherwise.
Time was constant before Einstein’s relativity. There are so many similar misconceptions in the scientific community itself.
Before proving a scientific result, it originates in the minds of the theorists. They observe nature and the surroundings to mimic it’s working. After thousands of trial and error experiments, experimental proofs become the basis for theories.
But between the conception of a theory and it’s final proof, the scientists had to keep an open mind on everything around them. It may work or may not work.
They assume some of the things to be constant and some of them, Variable. They tweak these conditions until they obtain the favourable, expected results.
Facts around us
All metals are solid. Mercury is an exception to this observation.
Even in science, we have to accept something as it is.
We should view Spirituality in those aspects. For the understanding purpose, let’s try to define it in relevant terms. Spirituality is about having an open mind on everything that’s around us.
Plants which grew around the joyous people tend to grow healthier and faster than those grown in the other habitats. Plants don’t have a nervous system like ours. They don’t have ears.
We cannot explain this phenomenon scientifically. It’s the spiritual aura of the people that boosts the growth of the plants.
Geographically India and Pakistan are neighbouring countries. We cannot change that.
Accepting each other’s Sovereignty would bring peace to millions of people. It would create more opportunities and prospects for development.
We cannot achieve this result scientifically or militarily. This requires a spiritual acceptance of each other’s presence.
As human beings, we are just a tiny part of this vast universe, and there are only limited things we can keep in our control. Kartarpur corridor is one such spiritual achievement.
Various forms
We cannot buy Spirituality, nor can we learn it from reading a book. It is a developmental process achieved by living and practising as it becomes our way of living.
Spirituality in the form of Yoga and Meditation:
We consciously keep an eye on our mobile’s battery percentage. Because if it runs out of battery, we fall out of our balance.
But we don’t pay attention to our breathing. As it automatically does its job, we take it for granted.
Yoga teaches us to relax and focus on ourselves by giving significant importance to breathing.
Pranayama is scientifically proven to be beneficial for reducing stress, improving lung functions and boosts our brain’s cognisance.
Along with improving our mental health, Yoga also helps us achieve physical balance and flexibility. It guides us to lead a healthy life by including ‘Saatvik’ and nutritious diet.
It assists in attaining good physical strengths and better sleep quality. A combination of good physical and mental health is required to ward off depression.
Achieving self-realisation is a major goal in yogic practices.
It opens our mind in search of our soul and its relation with the universe. It urges us to look for the purpose of our lives and to move forward towards them.
The Character of a human being is not static. It evolves as we go through our life. Spirituality is also one such process.
Self-refinement helps us to cut out the bad habits we pick up as we grow and nourishes our good practices.
Empathy. The word rhymes with sympathy.
There is a clear difference between these words. Sympathy is about seeing sadness when we see someone’s suffering.
It doesn’t long. It doesn’t result in relieving the other’s pain. Empathy is about feeling sad when seeing someone’s suffering.
Empathy is such a spiritual state where we understand the fellow human being as our own.
Minimalism – A form of Spirituality
These are the days where humankind is racing towards material wealth and possessions. We hoard things we don’t need.
Being minimalistic with our possessions helps in correcting our desire for more. We can live life contentedly.
Our environment is getting polluted by the increasing use of non-renewable and fossil fuel sources. Also, by the dumping of massive electronic wastes.
Minimalism shows us a path to rectify these issues and to make the earth smile greener.
Present situation
Because of the Misconception that Human beings are the most powerful in the food chain, we took the planet for granted.
The advanced researches in every field boost this misconception. We gave a panacea status to the silicon valley.
But now and then, Nature takes its time to humble our species.
For instance: Lock-down is a concept unheard to a populous country like ours. We started panicking and became restless as the lock-down was extended.
In these life-threatening pandemic situations, spirituality plays a major role in bringing people together and keeping them calm.
We need the spiritual essence to understand and respect these forces of nature.
In conclusion
According to Mr Ironman Tony Stark’s father, ‘Peace is about holding a bigger stick than the other’. In a macro sense, spirituality is about letting go of those sticks and learn to co-exist with fellow human beings and nature, with minimum disturbance to the universe. It’s about self-refining our physical and mental strength. To achieve our purpose in a non-destructive way in this meta-universe.
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