Welcome home to yourself. Through these pages you’ve learnt that spirituality is not about becoming something or someone else. It’s about becoming you , the truth of who you are. The power of satsang, the presence of divine Truth, is that it opens the space for us to recognize the truth within ourselves. Through the questions and answers in this book, I hope you have had the experience of delving into your own truth and a deeper, fuller and more spacious experience of your own self.
Now you have to keep this in your heart and live it. Spirituality is not an academic exercise. The point of embarking on a spiritual journey and walking a spiritual path is not to merely imbibe semantically the wisdom of others. It’s not about reading, listening and then being able to say, ‘I’ve read such and such’, or ‘I’ve learnt such and such’. Spirituality is not measured by how many authors you can quote or what tips you know. It’s measured by how you live. It’s measured by the light and peace you experience within yourself and exude in the world.
Through these pages you’ve read questions that people like you have asked regarding topics and situations that probably apply to your life as well. It may not be an exact match. Someone may have a grudge against a parent while you have a grudge against a sister-in-law or co-worker. Or perhaps someone is struggling with her husband and you are struggling with your adult child. The experiences vary from person to person, but the teachings are the same. The truth is the same even when circumstances differ. We must learn to be energetic transmitters of love and peace regardless of whether the negativity in our lives comes from our in-laws, our neighbours or our colleagues. We must let go, forgive and unhook our peace from other people’s actions, whether they are our spouses, our siblings or our extended family.
We’ve spoken a lot in this book about the power of our own minds to create our destiny. Remember, no one is injecting you with misery or anger, jealousy or resentment. When you feel those emotions it is because you have chosen to co-create that reality for yourself. Just as we stay away from food that we know will upset our stomachs, we must avoid engaging in thought patterns or communication patterns that will poison our minds and hearts with misery. Indigestion, vomiting and diarrhoea are not worth it, no matter how appealing the street food may have been. Similarly, inner discontentment, tension and conflict are not worth it, no matter how irritating or upsetting the circumstances may be. Just as we have the power to say ‘no’ to unsafe food and choose to eat an apple instead, in order to protect the health of our bodies, we must realize we have the power to say ‘no’ to thoughts of resentment, jealousy, anger and greed. We must choose thoughts of love instead, and protect the health of our minds and hearts.
Ultimately, as you move through the world—regardless of the roles you play—the connection to the truth of you , the depth of you , the fullness, wholeness and divinity of you , is what will determine whether you live in peace or in pieces, whether you feel whole or full of holes. The boundless, borderless, eternal consciousness that is you is accessible whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a CEO, married or unmarried, twenty or seventy. Each of us has the same purpose in life—to discover and experience the truth of ourselves, the highest, deepest, fullest Truth that is one with both the Creator and all of Creation. It’s never too early or too late. The right time is now.
Take some time and allow yourself to actually implement and live these teachings. Take this book as a course of Peace 101 or Happiness 101 for your life. It’s a course to be engaged. So take these teachings and live them. I know it’s a lot to bite off at once. Begin anywhere. Begin with whichever question or answer touched you the most deeply as you read. Start there and see how you can implement that teaching today. Then, tomorrow, take another one. If need be, take a week to fully absorb the meaning and depth of each question and answer.
Spirituality is not a race or competition. It’s an unfolding. Think of the way rose petals open to the sun—slowly, gracefully, but fully. That is the point. Open fully. Let it be slow if that’s what your heart and mind need. But let each petal of you, each aspect of you that causes suffering to yourself or others, each aspect that is rooted in ignorance and illusion, each aspect that is running on autopilot rather than deeply present, let each aspect open fully to the light of Truth. And then, like a rose, share your fragrance with the world. The dharma of a flower is to be fragrant. There is a beautiful line in a Khalil Gibran poem that reminds us to give as the flower gives its fragrance even to the sole of the shoe that crushed it! Give off your light like that. Give not for what you’ll get in return, but give because it is your nature to share your light, to share your fragrance, to share your love.
And if you have found these teachings inspiring, share them with others. One cannot actually gift wisdom or spirituality to someone else. But we can gift books that impart wisdom and enhance spirituality. That is what most people need, much more than another sweater, picture frame or handbag. So gift this book to your loved ones and friends. Have a study group where you take one question at a time and discuss how this applies to you in your lives.
And come home to Rishikesh. If, as you read the book, you could feel as though you were sitting on the banks of the Ganga, at Parmarth Niketan ashram, if you could feel the sacred breeze that flows off the tops of the towering Himalayas and across the waters of the rushing Ganga, then my goal has been achieved. But there is something uniquely special about actually being here. So come home. Come and sit in satsang and together let us dive even further into the divine ocean of Truth. You are always welcome.