The Warm Embrace of Spirituality

Spirituality is a kind of divine intoxication. When I look back and reflect on how I entered the path of spirituality, I am astonished. After enduring countless struggles, emotional turmoil, financial collapse, and physical suffering, I found myself drawn—beautifully and mysteriously—towards spirituality. Only then did I realize that this had always been my true destination. It was as though the Master, by whatever means necessary, had ultimately called me to Him.

What does spirituality give us? Why should we embrace spirituality?

The very first thing it offers is a positive understanding of oneself. What does the worldly life do? The world constantly tells us: “You cannot do this. You are incapable of that. This is beyond your reach. You are flawed.” Such is the nature of worldly judgment. Spirituality, on the other hand, says: “You can. The power already resides within you.” Spirituality slowly accepts and transforms even a criminal or an ordinary individual at the deepest level. The world cannot do that. That is why Ratnakar, who could not even utter the name of Rama properly, eventually became the sage Valmiki and composed the Ramayana.

Secondly, something almost magical begins to happen. As a person gradually develops the realization that “I am a part of the Divine; nothing is impossible for me,” they also become profoundly compassionate towards others. They lose the urge to criticize or condemn. Instead, they learn to accept everyone and embrace all beings effortlessly.

Thirdly, from my own experience, I have understood that spirituality unifies the face and the mind—it creates harmony between thought, speech, and action. In other words, there remains no contradiction between what I say, what I think, and what I do.

Then comes true knowledge—the realization of who I truly am. Once that awakening occurs, no sorrow can really touch that person anymore.

For example, both of my kidneys have failed and are practically non-functional. I must undergo dialysis three times a week. Due to severe diabetes, my eyesight has also been damaged; I cannot see anything through my right eye. My favorite foods are forbidden to me now. Money is flowing away like water, and I realize that within a few months I may become completely bankrupt. Yet my joy does not diminish. Because I remain constantly on the path of the Master and in the presence of the Master, I find myself strangely detached from my terrifying circumstances. Despite the financial catastrophe, I somehow know that everything necessary will come from somewhere. This is indeed a strange intoxication.

The sole purpose of my life now is to know myself—to realize my true nature. Spirituality rarely arises out of success; more often, it is born from despair. That is why the first chapter of the Gita is called Arjuna Vishada Yoga—the Yoga of Arjuna’s Despair. This sorrow itself becomes a sacred path, one that introduces me to my own self.

I do not know whether I shall ultimately unite with God or not. But this reconciliation with myself, this inner union, this ability to accept others, this freedom from being crushed by physical suffering, this detachment from worldly misery—I would never have understood any of these had spirituality not embraced me so warmly and graciously.