The question is how do we attain spirituality? In my experience, there are two major schools of spiritual discipline: one based on meditation and the other on contemplation. The former relates to the heart and the latter relates to the mind. Personally, I subscribe to the school of contemplation.

According to the group believing in meditation or heart-based spirituality, spirituality is generally taken as something that is opposed to worldliness. People usually assume that the farther they move from material and worldly things, the more spiritual they become. This is the sole reason why human beings run away from cities and towns to jungles and mountains, leaving behind their homes and their material lives. It is this viewpoint, which is presented in the well-known book titled, “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.” The popularity of this book can throw light on how many people of the world today relate to the ideology of meditation.

There are many methods of meditation for spiritual discipline, which have been prevalent in one form or the other since ancient times. It is generally assumed that while intellectual development is grounded in formal education, meditation belongs to the sphere of informal education. But meditation is actually an independent discipline, its goal being spiritual as well as intellectual development. Whenever man raises himself above worldly matters and devotes his life to becoming one with the non-material world through meditation – particular practices and chants –, he experiences a very different kind of feeling. This is nothing other than what is generally known as ecstasy. When man enters this state of ecstasy, he experiences an unknown pleasure. On the basis of this experience, people associate ecstasy with spirituality. However ecstasy is nothing but a reduced form of spirituality.

Man is an intellectual being. He is endowed with a mind, which is his greatest faculty. It is only the possession of this mind and his independent thinking, which distinguish him from the animals. Real spirituality or contemplative spirituality is that which has the power to address our minds. Any kind of spirituality attained at a level lesser than that of our minds is not true spirituality. All forms of ecstasy are just reduced forms of spirituality.

According to me, true spirituality is, therefore, based on contemplation or reflection or pondering, which has all to do with intellectual activity. Such spirituality is produced when man gives serious thought to such questions as, ‘Who am I?’ What is the purpose of my life? What is this world around me? What is the creation plan of the Creator? Is my life governed by destiny or free will? How do I become a spiritual person? Can spirituality help me in this world as well? Why do I have so many desires? Where will I go when I transcend from this world? The questions may be many – but the answer is only one – a reason-based understanding of the plan that God has created us within. A seeker is able to find true spirituality by finding rational answers to his questions, whereby he receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level.

My entire life has been one of spiritual contemplation and spiritual experiences. For quite some time now, I have been running a centre for the purpose of imparting concepts and principles which will enable others to fully share in my experiences. It is called:  CPS International – Centre for Peace and Spirituality. Let me emphasize that my brand of spirituality, which in no way savours of passivity, is entirely based on intellectual awakening.

Indeed, the journey of spirituality begins with the urge to search for the truth. When a seeker discovers the truth and learns the creation plan of the Creator, his life enters a new phase, i.e. that of the building of the human personality according to spiritual principles. This journey is entirely intellectual in nature. Its quest is two fold, one is to solve the riddle of why, all men and women undergo negative experiences in this world and the other is to offer positive solutions. It addresses the paradox of human beings having been given the freedom to make their own moral choices, and their frequent misuse of this freedom – a course of action which causes them to repeatedly face situations in which people do each other harm; losses are incurred because of others’ injustice; severe provocations are suffered because of untoward experiences.

This is contemplative spirituality. CPS International and its affiliates are spreading the message of contemplative spirituality by making people aware of the importance of awakening their intellect. They are helping people develop clear thinking and start the deconditioning process in them to convert negative influences into positive ones and results in what is known as a positive personality – the essential ingredient for success.

Let us embark on this spiritual journey.