I can’t recollect which event or person or idea has sparked my interest in the subject of Higher Energy or The One, though I've always been interested in the bigger picture of things. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I studied in a convent school. Convent schools lay a lot of importance on prayer, ethics and morality, which is ultimately what your curiosity stems from. What is morally sound and what is not? Who decides? Maybe it has to do with the kind of family you come from. My grandfather was a very knowledgeable person of this subject. Even as a small girl, I used to relish our conversations. He introduced me to the larger-than-life dimension of our existence. Over time it gets uncomfortable not knowing the whole thing and you can’t expect knowledge to just come to you, especially given our way of life today, with barely enough time to sleep a decent seven hours a day and all the other time spent amidst a generation of self-proclaimed forward youth. Gone are the Value-Education classes and gone is my grandfather. I decided to help myself.
Understanding Spirituality and Religion in totality is the work of a lifetime or the work of many lifetimes. It helps to have a clear idea of the possibilities at the very least. No one can say with conviction what really happens. Too many conflicting theories exist. The way I look at it, all you have to do is choose a belief that agrees with your mindset and then live by it. The rest will take care of itself.
If you’re not inclined this way, skip this post instead of reading it in the rejection mode. What comes next is what I believe of spirituality based on how much I know of the same, my teachers being my own life experiences, dad, granddad, friends, cousins, TV shows, books (special mention to ‘One Soul Many Bodies’, Dr. Brian Weiss). Here goes.
Our mind functions on different levels. There is a conscious mind and an unconscious mind/ subconscious mind/ super conscious mind or simply, the soul. The subconscious mind is where our past experiences are stored and it is because of the subconscious mind that we feel, think and act the way we do. There are processes going on in the subconscious mind that the conscious mind is not aware of. The thoughts, creative ideas, intuition that you get are a result of the transfer of some of these processes to the conscious mind.
The subconscious mind or the soul is nothing but energy existing on a higher plane. The purpose of the soul is to heal or attain the state of love. The soul always advances spiritually and never regresses. Each life that the soul takes is to learn some more and evolve spiritually towards the state of healing. When the soul has healed completely, it reaches the highest level of energy, some call it Love, some call it God. This state of the soul of merging with The One is what we call Nirvana or Heaven.
When you die physically, the soul moves out and reviews the life it has just lived - the classic out-of body experience. The soul reviews the actions and deeds of its life and reincarnates to correct the wrong or rather make the right choices. This is Karma. When you choose good over bad, peace over violence, love over hatred, your soul spiritually evolves and heals without postponing for a future life. Unhealed souls or bad people have made and may continue making the wrong choices. Their souls will be reborn to suffer the consequences of their choices, to be faced with the same choices again till they resist the temptation of wrongdoing and make the right choices. I think that’s why in every life we interact with essentially the same set of souls, maybe related differently each time. They are called our Soul Family. Sometimes we just don’t get certain people. Maybe it’s because they are on a much lower/higher evolutionary level than us. Maybe it’s for the same reason that we instantly hit it off with certain others. Inspite of all the bickering and arguing, somehow we connect.
You never die. Your body dies and you are not what your body is. You are what your soul is and your soul is immortal. You can learn about your past lives ( hypnotism) because it’s the same soul. The problem areas of your present could have been influenced by a particular event of a past life. This understanding leads to faster healing of the soul. The earth exists to facilitate this process of learning. It’s one huge classroom.
The big question is: Where does religion and its associated practices fit in this scheme of things? Does the theory of spirituality render our culture of over 1000 years invalid?
To be continued.
Understanding Spirituality and Religion in totality is the work of a lifetime or the work of many lifetimes. It helps to have a clear idea of the possibilities at the very least. No one can say with conviction what really happens. Too many conflicting theories exist. The way I look at it, all you have to do is choose a belief that agrees with your mindset and then live by it. The rest will take care of itself.
If you’re not inclined this way, skip this post instead of reading it in the rejection mode. What comes next is what I believe of spirituality based on how much I know of the same, my teachers being my own life experiences, dad, granddad, friends, cousins, TV shows, books (special mention to ‘One Soul Many Bodies’, Dr. Brian Weiss). Here goes.
Our mind functions on different levels. There is a conscious mind and an unconscious mind/ subconscious mind/ super conscious mind or simply, the soul. The subconscious mind is where our past experiences are stored and it is because of the subconscious mind that we feel, think and act the way we do. There are processes going on in the subconscious mind that the conscious mind is not aware of. The thoughts, creative ideas, intuition that you get are a result of the transfer of some of these processes to the conscious mind.
The subconscious mind or the soul is nothing but energy existing on a higher plane. The purpose of the soul is to heal or attain the state of love. The soul always advances spiritually and never regresses. Each life that the soul takes is to learn some more and evolve spiritually towards the state of healing. When the soul has healed completely, it reaches the highest level of energy, some call it Love, some call it God. This state of the soul of merging with The One is what we call Nirvana or Heaven.
When you die physically, the soul moves out and reviews the life it has just lived - the classic out-of body experience. The soul reviews the actions and deeds of its life and reincarnates to correct the wrong or rather make the right choices. This is Karma. When you choose good over bad, peace over violence, love over hatred, your soul spiritually evolves and heals without postponing for a future life. Unhealed souls or bad people have made and may continue making the wrong choices. Their souls will be reborn to suffer the consequences of their choices, to be faced with the same choices again till they resist the temptation of wrongdoing and make the right choices. I think that’s why in every life we interact with essentially the same set of souls, maybe related differently each time. They are called our Soul Family. Sometimes we just don’t get certain people. Maybe it’s because they are on a much lower/higher evolutionary level than us. Maybe it’s for the same reason that we instantly hit it off with certain others. Inspite of all the bickering and arguing, somehow we connect.
You never die. Your body dies and you are not what your body is. You are what your soul is and your soul is immortal. You can learn about your past lives ( hypnotism) because it’s the same soul. The problem areas of your present could have been influenced by a particular event of a past life. This understanding leads to faster healing of the soul. The earth exists to facilitate this process of learning. It’s one huge classroom.
The big question is: Where does religion and its associated practices fit in this scheme of things? Does the theory of spirituality render our culture of over 1000 years invalid?
To be continued.
Like I said before, Hinduism in itself is more a philosophy or a way of life rather than a religion. It is more in tune with what you mention here as spirituality. Religion has been created to make it easier for mortals to embrace "spirituality". Idols and all are like references. In the end, we all seek to attain the same oneness...
ReplyDeleteYes to the Hinduism thing, though there is lots more to it and by 'religion' I'm not referring only to Hinduism. I was talking universally and some aspects of religion do clash with the ideas of spirituality. I will explain.
ReplyDelete“I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.” How many times have we heard that
ReplyDeletephrase?
Spiritual is what one feels. Religious is what one does. So you can announce
yourself as spiritual and never join a community, never visit a home for
shiva, never contribute money to a shrine, Jewish center or
a soup kitchen. In other words, all too often ‘spiritual’ asks nothing of us — it
is the narcissism of non-involvement.
Spirituality allows one to
feel good about oneself.
Having said that, Spirituality alone is sanctimony, unworthy of God’s creations.
Spirituality tied to action is a truly beautiful thing. We have a word for it —
religious.
Shikha, one piece of advice.Do Not stop writing.:)
What a fabulous way to put it! Muah!! That's why I'm saying, you start blogging too.
ReplyDeletei might. soon.
ReplyDelete