No doubt there had been religious dimensions to conflicts and battles across the world. The dangerous situations in many parts of the world today are largely grounded in religious antagonism. Why? The reason is that we tend to ignore the most essential part of religion. What is that? It is spirituality - the core of every religion.
Danger comes when non-essentials swallow the essential. It's time to focus on spirituality -- the soul of religion. But what is spirituality? Spirituality is about believing that each person is potentially divine. One is spiritual when one sincerely believes that any person belonging to any religion or race can unfold their divine potential, their goodness. However, mere believing is not enough, doing is absolutely necessary. To believe in something and not to live it is dishonesty. It must get reflected in our work, in our daily life and in our dealing with people around us. A man of spirituality must ask himself - Am I trying to be unselfish? Am I ready to sacrifice my privilege? Do I uphold human dignity? Do I feel joy in giving a part of my income to charity? If the answer is 'yes' to these queries, then one is indeed a spiritual person and glory to humanity.
To be pure and to do good to others is the sine auonon of spiritual living. One may be a daily goer to temples or churches or mosques and put on religions marks all over one's body, yet one is furthest from God if one is narrow minded and selfish . As rightly observed by Swami Vivekananda, “Man thinks foolishly that he can make himself happy, and after years of struggle finds out at last that true happiness consists in killing selfishness.”
Me-first, me only people are indeed most miserable and the worst sufferers in life. On the contrary, every act of charity, every thought of sympathy, every action of help, every good deed, leads us to bliss and closer to God.
A man of spirituality is also introspective. He makes sincere efforts to discover a deeper understanding of who he is. He is not just a mere earth-bound helpless creature, a little physical thing. He possesses limitless inner power to overcome temptations and fear. A man of spirituality knows how to live protecting himself from the blows and shocks of life. Indeed, spirituality leads us to a life richer and loftier than the life of desires and impulses, not by rejecting our earthly existence, but by raising it to a new height.
It is said that little drops of water make an ocean. If we live each day keeping in mind and following the words of Swami Vivekananda, this little planet of ours will certainly be a better place to live in.
“If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of single person, that much alone is true;... all else is mere moonshine.”
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