Journalism of Courage
At a recent Express Adda in New Delhi, spiritual guru and founder of the Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke at length about the true meaning of spirituality, its relationship with science and religion, as well as the sense of self. Here are some nuggets of wisdom to keep in mind. Read the full text of the Adda here.
Spirituality shapes society in the sense that it develops self-esteem in a person and it broadens one's awareness and vision. It gives you that much-needed patience when things are going bad around you. Read the full text of the Adda here.
We have to speak the language of today — and today's language is of science. Language is just a medium and spirituality does need that medium. Let me make clarity between spirituality and religion. Religion you are born with, your name, all rituals...are religion. But spirituality is something very personal — we are made up of both matter and spirit... a spirit is made up of compassion, love, values, greater understanding. All these human qualities...this is the core essence of all religions. Unfortunately, we have thrown out the essence and are holding on to dry skin. Spirituality always unites people from across religion, race. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Religion talks about rituals, symbols, a style of life, whereas spirituality attends to the core values, to empowering oneself, and realising many faculties — many dimensions are there which we are not using. We should not trash religion. Religion does have some spirituality, but somewhere it's going in the background, especially in urban areas. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Basically there are two types of spirituality in the world. One is the occidental — it says that you believe and then one day you will get the experience. The Orient is completely different. It says you experience; and if you find it experiential, then you believe. Since the Oriental philosophies are akin to science...science also says first experience then believe. Since science and spirituality in the East have the same parameters — or the same modus operandi — there has never been a conflict here. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Sumit Malhotra)
Spirituality is not self-centric. It is seeing the self in everybody. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Oinam Anand)
You can be a universal person — you can be a world citizen — yet be a good subject of your state, a good citizen of your country too. I don't see any conflicts between these identities. We all have several identities. First and foremost, we must know we are part of one light, one divinity. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Vikram Joy)
We need three things in life — Passion, dispassion and compassion. Without passion, it does not implement that there is life. Passion is the sign of life. Dispassion is also essential. If you have only passion, you will land up in mental hospital. You will become schizophrenic. You need to have compassion in you. And passion robs you of your compassion. If your passion has robbed you of your compassion, neither you are happy, nor can you make anybody happy. You can make great paintings, but that is not going to fix anything. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)
Discontentment is not the only thing that would drive you; (it) can create more frustration, and frustrated people’s intentions, intuitions, perceptions and intelligence are blurred. Read the full text of the Adda here. (Express photo by Vikram Joy)
