From the India Today archives (2005) | Spirituality is the food of every human being: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's speech at the 2005 India Today Conclave. His Art of Living is celebrating its 45th anniversary
Spirituality is neither a halo nor hoax. When you say halo, you are limited only to a few people. Spirituality is the food of every human being. Since we are made up of both matter and spirit, anything that uplifts one's spirit, enthusiasm and joy is spirituality. It is lack of spirituality that leads to violence in society and to suicidal tendencies.
Today you see suicidal tendencies are on the rise only in those parts of this country where spirituality is at its lowest and violence, highest. I make a distinction between religious fanaticism and spirituality.
Religious fanaticism is not caring for the spirit. So, the question whether spirituality is a hoax or halo does not apply in India. This is a land of spirituality. We often glorify people who are dead. We create a halo around them and those who are living, we brand them a hoax.
Mahatma Gandhi, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Meerabai, Dongre Maharaj... there have been a host of spiritual people guiding this country time to time. Basically, Indians are spiritual. That is why they are secular. A spiritual person handles three roles-he is a counsellor, a role model and he is also a doctor. Psychosomatic illnesses are the biggest problem today and when people find somebody in whom they can confide, they just tell their aches and pains.
They get themselves relieved of this. Devoid of spirituality this country would have become like Congo where ethnic conflicts are on the rise. It is spirituality which is binding this country in one string and helping people to move ahead.
Of the two lakh swamis and saints in this country, theremaybe10-15who are in the garb of spirituality but may be exploiting people. That is a fact. But people know what is genuine because the heart knows. The head cannot relate to spirituality. It is the heart which relates to spirituality.
In times of difficulty, it is spirituality that gives people strength. In the past five years, in the US alone the interest in spirituality has gone up by 500 times. Again, many people come to spirituality not just for spirituality but even for material pursuits. They want solace. People who are miserable come to spirituality and so do those who have a quest for truth, for reality. This spirit of inquiry is a sign of intelligence.
So, when intellect matures, there is a natural urge to know about life, to know about the world. And spirituality is the solution to that quest-who am I, what am I, where I have come from, what is life all about? This spirit of inquiry is something that pushes one towards spirituality and I won't call that genuine spirituality.
The question would come, what is the need of a teacher or a guru to be spiritual? You may be a surgeon yourself but you need a surgeon to operate on you. The role of a teacher is prominent and people in this country had realised this. That is why they gave the third place to the teacher or guru- father, mother, acharya and then the guest, all the four have to be treated, honoured and learned from.
I do agree there are many who misguide you. But we cannot assume the whole field of spirituality is a hoax. We have to start on a positive note that good people exist on this planet and the guilty have to be proved guilty.
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Spirituality is neither a halo nor hoax. When you say halo, you are limited only to a few people. Spirituality is the food of every human being. Since we are made up of both matter and spirit, anything that uplifts one's spirit, enthusiasm and joy is spirituality. It is lack of spirituality that leads to violence in society and to suicidal tendencies.
Today you see suicidal tendencies are on the rise only in those parts of this country where spirituality is at its lowest and violence, highest. I make a distinction between religious fanaticism and spirituality.
Religious fanaticism is not caring for the spirit. So, the question whether spirituality is a hoax or halo does not apply in India. This is a land of spirituality. We often glorify people who are dead. We create a halo around them and those who are living, we brand them a hoax.
Mahatma Gandhi, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Meerabai, Dongre Maharaj... there have been a host of spiritual people guiding this country time to time. Basically, Indians are spiritual. That is why they are secular. A spiritual person handles three roles-he is a counsellor, a role model and he is also a doctor. Psychosomatic illnesses are the biggest problem today and when people find somebody in whom they can confide, they just tell their aches and pains.
They get themselves relieved of this. Devoid of spirituality this country would have become like Congo where ethnic conflicts are on the rise. It is spirituality which is binding this country in one string and helping people to move ahead.
Of the two lakh swamis and saints in this country, theremaybe10-15who are in the garb of spirituality but may be exploiting people. That is a fact. But people know what is genuine because the heart knows. The head cannot relate to spirituality. It is the heart which relates to spirituality.
In times of difficulty, it is spirituality that gives people strength. In the past five years, in the US alone the interest in spirituality has gone up by 500 times. Again, many people come to spirituality not just for spirituality but even for material pursuits. They want solace. People who are miserable come to spirituality and so do those who have a quest for truth, for reality. This spirit of inquiry is a sign of intelligence.
So, when intellect matures, there is a natural urge to know about life, to know about the world. And spirituality is the solution to that quest-who am I, what am I, where I have come from, what is life all about? This spirit of inquiry is something that pushes one towards spirituality and I won't call that genuine spirituality.
The question would come, what is the need of a teacher or a guru to be spiritual? You may be a surgeon yourself but you need a surgeon to operate on you. The role of a teacher is prominent and people in this country had realised this. That is why they gave the third place to the teacher or guru- father, mother, acharya and then the guest, all the four have to be treated, honoured and learned from.
I do agree there are many who misguide you. But we cannot assume the whole field of spirituality is a hoax. We have to start on a positive note that good people exist on this planet and the guilty have to be proved guilty.
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