Why is Spirituality Important?

Spirituality means to recognize the Soul, the life energy within each one of us. Why this recognition is necessary? Why is spirituality important in our modern lives? Let’s find out!

Today, it has become common to see people suffering from pain, unhappiness, stress, tension, depression, frustration, tiredness, worries, losses, failures, ill-health, hurt, misery, sadness, sorrow, mental ailments, loneliness, hatred and anger. The suffering is mainly due to ignorance of the Self - this is the biggest cause of any problem. All the confusion in this world is created because of the ignorance of the Self only.

The Self is the Pure Soul! The Soul is eternal; it has infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite energy and infinite bliss; and it is capable of illuminating the entire universe. Yet we experience helplessness, suffering, pain and insecurity.

What’s the reason for it? It is because we are not ‘aware’ of the Self; we are not ‘aware’ of our own energy; we are not ‘aware’ of the authority of the Self. Spirituality makes us aware of it; thus, it is important for living a peaceful and blissful life free of all these problems. This explains why is spirituality important in our modern lifestyle.

Spirituality awakens the awareness of ‘Who am I’

Spirituality is based on the right understanding. In this world, there are so many religions. Many will say that we have to follow some mantra, do chanting, worship God and do fasting. However, fasting or chanting mantra will not give us Self-realization. Nevertheless, these activities or rituals are a part of developing stage; it helps in development of every person.

Ultimately, when we get Self-realization, we get the real knowledge which makes us aware of who am I. This is the key importance of spirituality. Awareness of the eternal is bliss! Nothing in this world can affect the one who lives with the pure applied awareness of the Self. 

With Spirituality, You attain the right vision

For Moksha (liberation), you simply have to change your vision and spirituality enables that change.

One is considered to have entered spirituality only when one has the right vision of the Self, not otherwise. No matter how many spiritual books one reads, that person does not enter into spirituality. However, when one attains the enlightened vision (Samyak Darshan, Self-realization) to see things as is, one makes an entry into spirituality.

What does the wrong vision do? It makes one see, “This person created loss for me; this person caused me a profit; this person insulted me; this person gave me unhappiness; this person gave me happiness and so on.”

Param Pujya Dadashri says, “Really speaking, there is no one out there who can give unhappiness or happiness. Everything lies within only. Anger-pride-deceit-greed are the ones that give you unhappiness and these verily are our enemies. There is no enemy outside. Those outside are all merely evidentiary instruments (nimits). If you get this right vision (Samkit, Self-Realization), then know that you have attained the solution.”

After Self-Realization, we can ‘see’ our own mistakes. Mistakes now come in our ‘vision’! We continue to see more and more mistakes as this vision of seeing the mistakes blossoms. We begin to see even minute mistakes. This is another reason why is spirituality important in our life.

Once we experience our true Self, our vision will automatically become pure. We can then see the Pure Soul in others too. Also, we can see our own faults of ego, pride, anger and so on. When we start seeing our faults, it is due to the fact that the real Self has manifested. When we see our faults, they go away automatically and we become more and more pure.

Spirituality provides a permanent solution to all the problems

In a home which had no power (light) and where we were living our life by lighting a little lamp, will there be any change if full light arrives? Yes, indeed! We will continue to eat and drink but with a difference. Earlier, we were stumbling every now and then. There were clashes between husband and wife along with difference of opinions and conflicts with children. Now, after Self-realization of ‘I am a Pure Soul’, all conflicts go away!

We will continue to eat and drink and our wife and children will be the same. Our life will remain the same but all conflicts will leave from our life. It is because now there is light (of the Pure Soul) in our home!

Eating, drinking, getting up, waking up - these are all functions of the body. One has not come into the inherent function as the Self (Atmadharma) even once, not even for a second. When one does so, he never moves away from God (the Pure Soul) then.

Let’s understand from the below conversation as to what does Param Pujya Dadashri says about the need of Gnani in order to attain spirituality.

Questioner: How does one attain Moksha? From whom do we attain Moksha?

Dadashri: You can attain Moksha only from the Gnani Purush. The One who is himself free can give you freedom. How can a man free others when he himself is shackled? So, you are free to go to whichever ‘shop’ you want to. But you must ask there, ‘Sir, will you give me Moksha?’ If he says, ‘No, I can’t’, then you go to second shop and then to a third one. You have to keep looking until you find one that will give you what you want. What happens if you just stay in one shop? You will just end up taking a beating. The reason that you have wandered around for countless lifetimes is because you have been sitting in just one shop not bothering to investigate: ‘By sitting here, am I experiencing freedom or not? Have my anger, pride, deceit and greed decreased?’ You’ve never looked at that. When you want to get married, don’t you inquire about the family and its background. You investigate everything, but here, you don’t. What a huge blunder this is!