The five elements of spirituality

Spirituality is the science of the spirit, the soul, the atman, the life energy within us. It is being aware, being conscious of our true self. It is realising our true self. If we do not live a spiritual life as the divine soul that we truly are, then we live life of illusion, darkness, and ignorance. It is this very soul that causes us to live, that gives us breath. If there were no life energy within us, then we would be dead. The only thing that truly exists, is this life energy.

We think that we are the body that we appear to be, that we are the mind, but in reality, we are this divine spirit. The purpose of spirituality is enlightenment, switching on the light within. Enlightenment happens when we realise that we are not this body that we always thought we were, we are not even this mind — the mind is just a bundle of thoughts. Where is the mind, we cannot find. If not the body or the mind, then who are we? We are the divine spirit, the soul, the atman. this is also the ultimate goal of life. this realisation of the truth liberates us from the triple suffering - the pain of the body, the misery of the mind and agony of the ego. It liberates us from the cycle of death and rebirth.

The five elements of spirituality that will lead us to enlightenment, the ultimate goal of human life are:

M: Mumukshutva. This is a deep yearning for the divine and liberation. We must create a passion for spirituality and seek it beyond anything else

A: Asking questions. We must embark on a quest, a talaash with questions like: Who is God? Where is God? What is God? Who am I? Am I the body? Am I the mind? Where are heaven and hell? What is the Soul? What happens after I die? Is there an afterlife?

G: Guru's guidance. We need a spiritual mentor, a guru. The word guru comes from the words gu which means darkness and ru, which means light. A guru guides us on our spiritual quest, our talaash, our journey, and takes us from darkness to light. A guru is an enlightened Soul, one who has realised the truth himself and who always lives in consciousness of the truth.

I: Ignorance eradication. We must overcome all myth, the ignorance that we live with. Most of us live in ignorance, oblivious to the truth. We must unlearn the myth that envelops us. In the scriptures, the cosmic illusion that we live with and our ignorance is referred to as maya, mithya, avidya.

C: We must remain conscious of the truth. It is when we are conscious of the truth that we are in a state of satchitananda.

These elements constitute spirituality. In fact, these elements create the magic of spirituality that enables us to achieve the ultimate goal of life, Moksha.