Journey within

Spirituality is our only hope of finding peace in today’s hectic life. It helps one get into a mental and emotional state of balance. I never had to learn the importance of spirituality from anyone around me. I was born with this realisation. Though it is a very personal matter, I’d still like to share my experiences here, because I want people to know that spirituality has the answer to all of life’s questions. It teaches you to live with yourself and gives you immense pleasure out of doing NOTHING. Spirituality helps you attain whatever you want in life, it improves your communication and relationships, helps you grow as an individual and makes you so powerful that your enemies will never find a chink in your armour.

I was lucky to get a taste of spirituality very early in life. I used to have long conversations about life and spirituality with my teachers during my school days. These conversations influenced me to take a deep interest in various scriptures and the Vedas and Puranas. I also began to understand the importance of connecting with one’s own soul.

Vipassana

I heard about ‘Vipassana’ from a friend during early days of my professional life. This word comes from Pali, the language of the Buddha, and it means ‘SEE IT AS IT IS’, i.e. without any alteration or denial of the truth. Vipassana is a 6000-year old practice of achieving inner liberation that was revived by the Buddha about 2500 years ago. Sadly, it disappeared from India about 500 years after he attained nirvana. However, Vipassana remained preserved in Burma in its purest form of ‘guru-shishya parampara’.  It was brought to India again by Mr. S. N. Goenka.

When I went for my fist Vipassana camp, I remember being completely clueless. The code of conduct for participants strictly forbids killing, stealing, sexual activity, lying, intoxicants, bodily decorations and even high beds! Even the diet is strictly controlled. The aim is to wash away all the pain and stress accumulated inside the body and mind. I remember crying frequently for the first 3-4 days.

But in this cathartic process, all my .previous aversions, agitation, cravings, negativity, anger, fear, and all kinds of disturbing thoughts were slowly getting eliminated After purification of the mind, we were told to observe each and every feeling inside the body. My mind was constantly wandering and I realised then how difficult it is for us to just focus on the moment and not measure ourselves by various yardsticks. I realised that we were not born to eat, sleep, adhere to silly societal laws or live for pleasure. We can actually create a world of our own in our minds and hearts. Believe me, that camp changed my life spiritually and emotionally. An unexpected outcome of the camp was that I was able to start using certain perfumes that I was allergic to earlier.

I strongly recommend this camp to people suffering from migraines and headaches, psychosomatic problems or any kind of allergies. You may want to visit www.dhamma.org for more details.