The Spiritual Bug

Well, we all agree that spirituality is vast as a concept and varies from human to human. Some might agree that it is a transcendental experience while for some it is sacred. For some it could be simply feeling alive and some could put it as a deep sense of interconnectedness with something deep within.

To me it was a bug or an itch!
 

Yes, you read it correct. A bug or an itch. It all started somewhere around twenty years back when my Mousi (maternal aunt) started her spiritual journey with Osho. In fact, she is the one who introduced to me to this very word ‘spirituality’. My parents are lovely people but they are simple and plain religious people, not the fanatic type but the regularly praying type and observing a few fasts during the year. Now, I am not saying that religious people cannot be spiritual because trust me, I am both. But it was different for my parents – praying and god fearing, they were. And to them spirituality was something that had something to do with monks, sanyasi (hermit), vairagi (recluse) etc. However, I was exposed to it as my maternal aunt continued her journey and I started picking up on what spirituality meant, what it felt, what it was all about.

Obviously, Osho was my first and only point of reference in the initial years. But soon I realized that spirituality is a calling and not a family heirloom that can be passed down the generations. So, what did wonders for my maternal aunt stopped working for me after some time. And by saying this, I don’t want to hurt any sentiments, but this is what I felt. I listened to Osho discourses regularly and I would proudly say that his words amazed me, they challenged my mind, his words motivated me to challenge and question the norms and patterns of society. But I failed to feel anything in my heart. And since that spiritual bug kept tingling me from the inside, soon I found myself bouncing around, finding my path to spirituality, trying different things, different paths, different people.
 

And after years of journey, I still cannot say that I have found the right formula or something. But I am in a way better place and much more in touch with myself than ever before. I have become ‘khichadi’ (an Indian staple dish where rice, lentils and veggies are cooked all together). I have found a perfect concoction for myself. I meditate daily, my love for and believe in my Shivji (Lord Shiv, one of the principle deities of Hinduism) is unshakable. And I believe that I am not a human being but a spiritual being. I am part of the bigger picture, I am part of the supreme power (some call it God, some call it universe or mother nature) and one day I will immerse in that supreme power.

I will be one with my Shiv ji!!

In the end, all I can say is that we all need to find our perfect concoction because spirituality is not just a practice or just a lifestyle or some habit that you cultivate but it is a discovery. It is a seed that is born the day we are born, it is within us, waiting to blossom, to give us that overwhelming, powerful, blissful and beautiful experience that we were born to live.