Spirituality is all about connecting to the spirit. Spirit has no form or shape. It is a part of the consciousness from which the entire universe takes birth. If consciousness is the ocean, the soul is like a drop of the ocean. That is what our scriptures like Bhagwad Geeta tell us.
13.33 यथा as, सर्वगतम् the allpervading, सौक्ष्म्यात् because of its subtlety, आकाशम् ether, न not, उपलिप्यते is tainted, सर्वत्र everywhere, अवस्थितः seated, देहे in the body, तथा so, आत्मा the Self, न not, उपलिप्यते is tainted.
13.35 क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोः between the Kshetra and the Kshetrajna, एवम् thus, अन्तरम् distinction, ज्ञानचक्षुषा by the eye of knowledge, भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षम् the liberation from the Prakriti of being, च and, ये who, विदुः know, यान्ति go, ते they, परम् the Supreme.
Thus, spirituality is all about connecting to the spirit, that is the "Kshetrajna", the knower of the body and mind. That requires letting go of the fixation or identification with the body and mind and all the modifications thereof. However, the biggest challenge in the process is to let go of the identifications. In fact, we hold on to even the concepts about spirituality in the name of spirituality.
We just want to hold on to the mind, and the mind wants to hold on to one or the other thing in this world. It holds on to the body very tightly because it knows that its entire existence depends upon the body. That is the reason that any disease or pain in the body makes our mind restless and the mind diverts all its attention to the body.
The mind also holds on to different concepts and stories it has formed since childhood such as the concepts of security, right and wrong, morality, power, religion, good and bad, and so on. When somebody moves along the spiritual path, sometimes, it so happens that many of these mental concepts get dropped, however, new spiritual concepts get formed and the mind holds on to these concepts. It seems as if the mind is not ready to let go its supremacy and keeps making different concepts to maintain the commanding position. That is the reason why almost all religious and spiritual places are flooded with symbols. Every visitor makes his own mental meaning of these symbols. We see many Sadhaks assign great value to the experiences along the spiritual path, while most of these experiences are just hallucinations and imaginations of the mind to again maintain its supremacy.
Probably, the only way out is continuous observation of the mind and its contents. We may keep flowing with the endless river and never happen to observe, however, the moment we observe the river, we are out of the same. Mind and thoughts are also the same. So long as we keep identifying with them, we keep feeling the pleasure or pain. Thoughts of betrayal by a friend conflicts with colleagues, the arrogance of the boss, insensitivity of the teachers, fear of failure in the examination, and every other similar thought makes us sad. Similarly, thoughts of appreciation, promotion, medals and prizes, care, and every such thought make us happy. However, the moment we observe these thoughts, rather than holding on to them, we are out of the grip of the mind.
Observation is not easy since we have formed very strong habits of flowing with the river. We can see others flowing with the river, but when it comes to ourselves, we can hardly see ourselves too flowing with a different river. Sitting on the bank of the river requires letting go of the fixation on the pleasures. Pleasures and pains coexist and it is not possible to hold on to the pleasures without suffering from pain. It appears that we seek pleasures because we are deprived of the joy of connection to our souls. The act of observation brings that connection back. Once that connection is cleared, we get the joy internally and live life as an observer. It gives us immense freedom to explore the world like Krishna did while playing with the Gops and Gopis in Brij, fighting with Kansa and Jarasandha, setting up Dwarka, helping Pandavas, and fighting the battle of Kurukshetra in his own style. We call them all Lilas of Krishna because he lived life unafflicted by pain or pleasure, in a witnessing mode, always full of inner joy.
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