With the stress and rapid pace of life in this technological age, many people wonder about the purpose of their life. Surely, technology has enabled us to access a wealth of information from all fields of knowledge with just a few computer keystrokes. But with all this compiled knowledge, are there questions for which one still cannot find answers?
Many people find that what is available through outer knowledge, whether from books or the internet, is not satisfying them, and they may wish to learn a way to explore. Many of them at times stop to consider the questions such as: who am I, why am I here, what is my life’s purpose, and what will bring me fulfilment?
Are we simply the body that we come into this world with, that ages with time and withers away after death? Are we the mind that grows astute with intellectual pursuits only to evaporate at the time of death? Are we our emotions that change as frequently as the weather? Or is there much more to our “selves”?
Spiritual awakening is the moment you begin asking these questions. It marks the start of your quest to find answers.
Saints and spiritual Masters, since time immemorial, have come to remind us that we are much more than the body that we see with our physical eyes, much more than our mind or emotions. They tell us that our true self is the spirit or soul. They tell us that the soul is a part of God, the Creator and that it is the Power that enlivens the body, that animates us, that makes us tick. When this Power leaves us, the body becomes motionless, and we are proclaimed dead. Saints also tell us that there is a way for each of us to experience our true nature. It is not an intellectual pursuit, but one of practice, wherein we can have a direct experience of our true self.
One way people reflect on these questions is by sitting in silence in meditation. Spending some time in meditation opens doors to help us find answers. There is a source of wisdom within you that cannot be accessed through an internet search. It is awaiting deep within you. Instead of logging onto the computer, you can log into your own inner essence, or soul, through meditation. The answers are already within each and every one of us, waiting to be unlocked through the practice of meditation. This will lead you to a source of wisdom that will enrich your life.
Unlimited Wisdom lies within You
What is unlimited wisdom? It is not the intellectual knowledge that we learn from lectures or books; it is consciousness. God is described as being “consciousness.” Our soul, being the same essence as God, is also consciousness. It is a “state of knowing all that is to be known.”
When we access the divine wisdom, we reach a state of all-consciousness, one in which we know the answers to life’s mysteries and our purpose in life. We see life as more than a string of meaningless events, and find a lesson and message in all that occurs.
Those who have tapped into their soul look at life from a refreshing perspective. Rather than be tossed about on the sea of life, dashed by every wave, they watch their life like a movie with subtitles, in which the words at the bottom of the screen let them know what is going on at the spiritual level.
Spirituality is the process of discovering our true self. We normally think that perception is possible only through our bodily sense organs. Nevertheless, when we become spiritually aware, we recognize that we can perceive with the spirit.
The author is the head of the international non-profit organisation Science of Spirituality.
