NikithaRecently I got asked this question. Even though I call myself spiritual all the time, I had difficulty describing it in one sentence. I replied, “Believing in a power higher than yourself”. But my definition is a lot more than that. So here is an essay which I can share next time someone asks me, “What do you mean by spiritual?”
Disclaimer: Whatever explanation I have provided here is a philosophy and understanding I developed through the endless theory I read and my own experiences. The standard definition might be different. Your definition might be different. You are free to disagree with me. This post is for those who are looking to understand or form a definition for spirituality and not for those who don’t want to believe it and want to mock it.
Basic Principles of Spirituality
1.Experiencing energy
When I first started with heartfulness meditation, there was this one specific day when I felt a huge surge of negative energy leave from the top of my head just like they show a ghost leaving from a body. It was a huge force. It is not just about the energy but also how I felt after that meditation session. I was in a super focused state for the next 6 hours. It was an absolute bliss. When I narrated the incident to a couple of my friends, it is a similar state of high they go into when they are into drugs.
My experience with energy was not a one time event. Everyday when I sit for meditation, my hand chakras open up and I feel an envelope of energy protecting me and providing me peace and calmness. On my bad days, I see how layers of energy around me get cleared. Glass breaks in my house most of the time I bring to the surface the patterns which don’t serve me anymore.
Being a spiritual person means to me that we are all energy beings. Based on the amount of negative emotions we hold inside, we all vibrate at different frequencies. When you meditate day after day, you sort of let go of the negative energy and achieve a little bit of higher consciousness.
If you find the concept of energy difficult to understand, just do a quick scan of conversations you had with multiple people in the last one month. There might be a couple of folks around whom you feel uplifted and a few others who simply drain the life out of you. These are the folks who could be vibrating at a higher energy and a lower energy than you. It is said that you are the average of the 5 folks who you surround yourself with. Make wise choices if you want to uplift yourself.
For those who look for a scientific explanation to the concept of energy, there have been some experiments which were done to prove the same. Before I could experience energy centers, I was curious and skeptical of the reality of chakras. Only when I experienced chakras, I know that it is for real and not a story being made and being proved by science.
Spirituality is not about being proved. You can read theory and verify the truth. But only when you experience you feel that enlightenment of the truth.
Without digressing more, coming back to energy. This is the same energy which is talked about in the book ‘Secret’. I read ‘Secret’ may be in 2018. I was amazed at how we could just manifest by wishing but failed in most of the experiments. But I understood the truth of manifestation only after I started meditation. To manifest your dream, you should vibrate at that energy. Only then it comes to life. If it is a temporary increase in energy, it is like attracting a lottery which gets expended in a month. Because you have not raised your energy permanently to that level.
After I started meditating, I noticed how my increased energy levels helped me become more productive at work, get a raise and improve my health and relationships.
I am a spiritual being because I believe that by changing the energy I vibrate at, I can create my desired reality.
2.Learning Soul Lessons
The purpose why we take birth and lead a life on this Earth is because our soul has chosen to learn a few lessons in this lifetime. In order to facilitate these lessons, we choose our parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends and enemies. Some of the people who you choose make your life very difficult while you are on Earth to remind you of the lessons you need to learn. While others, stay with you in difficulties to comfort you and bring you out of the rut.
What is the proof of existence of life after life?
I can’t prove it for you. Because unlike a few who can remember their past life in their childhood as published by University of Virginia, I never had such experiences. But a few incidents and stories strengthened my belief.
a) Books on past lives
One of the key milestones in my spiritual journey was reading Many lives Many Masters. It opened up a psychological way of knowing that the afterlife is not a mythological story but it happens for real. I read a few more books of Brian Weiss and felt enchanted at the lessons I learnt from each of them.
b) Psychic channeling
I read a few more books by psychic channellers who explain the soul lessons behind the most difficult areas of life. Since I can’t channel, I don’t have proof for you again if you ask me what if it is only their imagination. I found it to be for real. You got to check it for yourself how it makes you feel.
c) Astrology
My initial experience with astrology was to decide a potential groom based on the birth chart. With an endless list of unmatching grooms, I wondered if Astrology was even worth a metric to consider.
Later, when I started reading Astrology in depth, not just mine, but also others, I was amazed at how planetary combinations in your chart can explain a lot of details about your current life and previous lives.
I look at astrology as a report card from your last life. It tells you what you did well previously and what are the lessons scheduled for you in this life. By embracing this, it is easy to focus on the right path.
Your birth chart can also indicate your level of spirituality.
d) Past life regression
After reading books by Brian Weiss, I wanted to try it out for my own life. I set an intention to discover the reason behind the most difficult problem area of my life. I was surprised at what I saw and how it clearly explains whatever I am struggling with in my current life.
These are just a few things which strengthened my belief on the purpose of learning soul lessons. This also changed the way I look at life. I no longer feel like a victim to problems in life.
- Struggles in life are the lessons I don’t want to learn. The moment I see a problem as an opportunity for growth, it changes my perspective of the problem completely.
- Whatever I can’t experience in this life is something my soul experienced in previous life and this life doesn’t have to be that again.
- Karma is for real. It doesn’t have to be from this life.
- As a kid, I was told that based on my deeds from this lifetime, I will go to Heaven or Hell. But Heaven and Hell are not elsewhere. It is present right here on the Earth.
In a nutshell, I am a spiritual being because I don’t believe that my role on Earth is decided by society – to study, get the best ranks, become rich, marry, start a family, raise kids and die. I believe that there are soul lessons to master and increasing the energy vibration of my body is what takes me closer to the universal consciousness.
Note: If you would like to learn to meditate in a group, you can request for a workshop here.
Happy discovering Spirituality!