What is your take on spirituality in today’s world?
In today’s world, the understanding of the term ‘Spirituality’ is very distorted. Unfortunately, majority of humans, especially those with power/ authority/ education market ‘spirituality’ as something very ambiguous that needn’t be pursued at all. Rather they promote materialistic dreams to the common mass and define life and success as something to do with bank balance, number of bungalows and cars in one’s possession!
So those people who can work and be employed, have their priorities clearly defined by the world around us – esp. by the media, entertainment and advertising world! They create commodities and define fashion trends and also propagate the fact that if one is not following the current trend – however dumb that may be – is outdated and belongs to a backward society whose future is very bleak!
Therefore, afraid of being pushed into oblivion by the ‘supposedly’ trendy society, people tend to blindly follow fashion/ comfort/ luxury trends and make a complete mockery out of themselves and the society as well as the nation they belong to!
Although this is also true that India (and other parts of the world as well) is very rich in spiritual heritage but unfortunately it just remains as some matter of discussion by the intellectuals in their living room.
And of course there are charlatans in every country who are busy marketing superstitions and delusions in the name of spirituality. And because majority are quite unaware of the concept of true authentic spiritual science, they are easily duped by the frauds and they land up suffering endlessly!
What does spirituality mean to you?
In simple words, spirituality is the ‘science of the divine’ and as science is totally based on detailed understanding of any subject, so is ‘spirituality’ a very deep understanding of the techniques devised by the Creator (aka. God, Almighty, Allah, Eishwar etc) to run the Universe as well as experiencing the presence of divine blessings in the form of vibrations.
I came to know of the concept of manifesting your own divinity by reading various books on enlightenment written by our spiritually inclined and enlightened ancestors. It is through such books that I came of know about ‘Kundalini Shakti’ (coiled dormant serpent energy) lying at the base of our spine that needs to be awakened by a True Spiritual Master. Just like we have different body systems (respiratory, circulatory, muscular etc.) working in perfect synch with each other, so do we have a Subtle System, made of Chakras, Nadis (Energy Wheels and Energy Channels) and the dormant spiritual element (Kundalini Shakti) in all of us.
Therefore, just like the other body systems work in exactly the same manner in all human beings, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, color of skin, gender, country, academic qualification or financial status, so does the Subtle System function in a similar manner and helps us connect with the Creator.
Do you think there is a difference between Religion and Spirituality?
Yes, religion is a set of rules and regulations set up by spiritually enlightened souls so that people could follow certain protocols and remain on the righteous path and be eligible to be blessed by the divine. Some examples of such spiritually enlightened ancestors/ masters/incarnations that our world has witnessed are Moses, Socrates, Lao Tse, Confucius, Guru Nanak, Prophet Muhammad, Sant Kabir, Zoroaster, Gautam Buddha, Shri Mahavir and several others.
All religions talk of love, compassion, forgiveness and universal brotherhood. But unfortunately, some power-hungry uncouth people maligned the very essence of religion and thus people are suffering in the name of religion!
Which one of these do you think you are leaning more towards?
Of course spirituality! I am a Sahaja Yoga Meditation practitioner. Please visit www.sahajayoga.org.in to know more about it. I am also an Author, Blogger, Vlogger and Freelancer. In my seeking of a True Spiritual Master, I did Art of Living, Reiki and eventually reached my SadhGuru, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.
Do you think spirituality has evolved over the years?
Yes, it has grown immensely. This was anyways predicted in the Nadi Granth that the Age of Aquarius will herald the coming of the Golden Age (Satyuga). The transition period (Krita Yuga) will be an age of exposing of all falsehood and establishment of truth. We can see clearly, with the advent of Internet and so many other technologies, the fraudsters are getting caught and sent behind the bars where they rightfully belong!
If so how?
Since I follow Sahaja Yoga, I know how it all began way back in 1970 (5th May, 1970) – started in India and spread all over the world – singlehandedly by Shri Mataji – who was a simple housewife and mother, but today Sahaja Yoga is followed by more than 100 countries and we are also conducting Online classes for the seekers of truth.
Please visit the website http://sahajayogascience.org – where you can see the scientific research works done on spiritual experiences, press conference, and Journal articles on the science of spirituality and experience of divine vibrations in the form of ‘cool breeze’.
Lot more information – https://sahajaonline.com/
In your opinion, How can we bring spirituality to the forefront so that the Youth of today can be more aware of it?
If pen is mightier than the sword – then multimedia is mightier than the most advanced Nuclear bomb!
With Television, Internet, OTT platforms, Films – we can effectively reach out to the youth in the form of edutainment – educate the mass with the spice of entertainment. Engaging short films/ documentaries should be made and promoted so that the youth become aware of this whole new world of divine vibrations!
It is time we all embark on the journey of becoming a Superhuman – get our self realization and work our way up to the Kingdom of God….or the promised Land!
As Sahaja Yoga Practitioners, we have a creative wing engaged in making such films and documentaries – Please visit iihf.in (Immaculate Ideal Human Foundation)
Name – Aparna Gangopadhyay, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Author, Blogger, Vlogger
kalyugbriefs.com, aumaparna.com, sahajayogabengal.com
Became a seeker of divinity way back in 1992. Read many books of our enlightened spiritual ancestors, did Art of Living, Reike and finally in 2002, I found my SadhGuru (True Spiritual Master) – Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. I have been practicing Sahaja Yoga Meditation since 2002.
