I came into Energy Healing when I was 23 years old. I personally feel I came very late into spirituality and feel I should have started when I was 16 but generally speaking, 23 years is a young age. In my 9 years of journey, I have come across various questions and comments which can be summarized as below.

1.Why do you need these meditations and all at such a young age? Go, have fun. Watch nice movie, hang out with friends and get some life. See your age group and learn from them.
2.What an uncool way of spending a weekend in meditation class!
3.You are spending so much of time in classes and meditations.So, you dont have plans for getting married?

Well,when people asked me above questions, I could only smile and take it easy. I could not answer them because from their questions, I understood they have not tasted what true spirituality is.They are still under a great misconception that spirituality means not enjoying life and it is not for youngsters.

What is spirituality? My definition of Spirituality is living life with a purpose and virtues . It is being in reality with right spirit.Life presents many choices and from these choices, how can a person know what is the purpose of his/her existence? And is it easy to practice virtues? How many of us can claim that I dont have even a single negative thought or emotion for one complete month? Its definitely not easy to practice virtues in thoughts, emotions, words, actions under all circumstances. (By virtues I mean qualities like kindness, compassion, honesty, non-laziness, moderation,generosity etc) That’s where the need of a Guru and Guru’s teachings lies. With the help of Guru, one learns different tools like meditation and practices these tools to become a better person with each passing day.

So, who does not have the need to become a better person? Is there any person who is perfect with no flaws at all? I think only two kinds of people can say yes to this question – 1. Enlightened person 2. A person who is not aware of his/her thoughts and emotions

Coming back to the question – why does a youngster need spirituality?
1.Knowingly or unknowingly, youngsters are subjected to constant stress from parents, relatives, comparison(my friend’s daughter Kamala got 100 out of 100 in Maths, you got only 98?), peer pressure, neck-throat competition where a single mark here and there can decide whether you land up in IIT/IIM or not. Add to it others kinds of stresses an youngster goes through like job stress, stress of finding right life partner, stress of work-life balance etc.Its not easy to cope up with this kind of stress day-in and day-out. Spirituality helps a person lead a stress-free life.

2.Spirituality gives a person clarity of thought and this helps a person make better choices in life.

3.A youngster has goals and Spirituality helps a person attain his/her goals with zero stress.

4.Some people think being spiritual means not marrying. Its a great misconception. Getting married or not is a personal choice and nothing to do with spirituality.When a person is strongly rooted in spirituality and wants to marry, he/she makes a better choice in choosing life partner and a spiritual person has higher chances of becoming a wonderful life-partner. Infact spirituality makes marriage a blissful and meaningful experience every single day.Best example for this is our Rishis who are all married and yet deeply rooted in spirituality.

5.Some people think spirituality means not enjoying life. This is again a great misconception. Spirituality does not stop a person from going to movies, restaurants, hanging out with friends etc.One is free to lead the life he/she desires. When one practices spirituality, one discovers joys in small things of life like a dog sleeping peacefully, a bird flying, a child smiling, blue sky , sun rise etc. A day which is normal/boring to others would bring many joys to a spiritual person.I think the word ‘boring’ does not exist in a spiritual person’s life. Every single day becomes meaningful  and fun-filled. So, whats the point in waiting for weekends to celebrate and enjoy life? Be spiritual and celebrate every day. Be more spiritual and celebrate every moment of every day.

6.Sometimes, life brings experiences like not getting seat in dream college, not getting job in dream company, break-up with that person whom you wanted to spend rest of the life with etc. Spirituality helps a person to deal with these tough situations in life and move on with right spirit.

7.Spirituality gives great joy and peace without injuring one’s body and mind. One need not drink alcohol or smoke to get that relaxation. One need not be in abusive relationships to feel loved. One need not disrespect oneself to be accepted by others. One need not become a bad person to become popular. One can be spiritual and enjoy life without compromising on virtues and peace.

8.Some people think spirituality is for elderly people after retirement. Again this is a great misconception. Spirituality needs healthy body to practice the teachings. When one crosses 60, body becomes weak and one cannot practice spirituality even when one wants to. Its not easy to train the body and mind at 60 to sit in meditation. One has to start the training at young age. Also, all the major challenges of life related to career, relationships,health are faced before retirement and one needs spirituality to go through these challenges.

9.With spirituality, important phases of life like education,career, marriage, child-birth,parenthood become joyful, purposeful and stress-free

There are lot more reasons. If I keep listing them, I think I will end up writing a book.So, I will stop here. I enjoyed my life deeply thanks to spirituality. The only regret I have in my life is – I wish I did Alchemy Yoga when I was 16 and practiced these teachings.

Before I end my blog, I want to write a small note. Please do not force your children or spouse or anyone into spirituality. No one can force a person to come into spirituality. You can only inspire others through your actions ,words, your presence, your transformation. If you strongly wish your children/spouse to enter into spirituality and enjoy life, you practice the teachings, enjoy your life, show results and be that cool person who is full of love. Love always attracts. When you keep radiating love, no one can resist your charm and some or the other day, when the time is right, your children or spouse will enter spirituality and will thank you for being awesome. That’s how I entered spirituality.

When I first met my mentors, they took a workshop on meditation. Meditation did not appeal to me and it felt boring but my mentors appealed to me. There is something wonderful about them which I could not understand and though they are complete strangers to me ,I decided to follow them to understand why they are so wonderful. That’s how I ended up in spirituality and sustained for 9 years. Their love motivated and continues to motivate me to learn and practice the teachings. Only love can transform.

Sarve jana sukhino bhavantu!