What is being spiritual? Is it being aware of God, realizing God or inventing God? For that matter, is believing in God mandatory for being spiritual? Spiritual thinkers and enthusiasts have always said that spirituality is the path to God and to attain God one needs to strive hard. One needs to delve deep into oneself, purify himself by abstaining from all worldly desires and concentrate on God to achieve HIM.

True, with due reverence to the postulates of spirituality as formulated by our spiritual thinkers, this is the ideal path to spirituality. No doubt about that. But where does that leave a common man or woman like me? I am not a born saint. I may not be able to lead a very austere life. Implementing the path prescribed for attaining God is very tough. In such a case, spirituality remains a matter of living room discussion for me. Nothing more than that. But does that mean that I need to end my spiritual thirst or my quest for attaining God?

God is a wonderful concept. Those who believe in Him cannot confirm his existence and those who don’t believe in Him cannot confirm His non-existence. Nobody knows the truth. We are all fighting under a blanket of ignorance. In such a chaotic state of mind what are we supposed to do? Hold on to the faith that God exists and proceed ahead in our spiritual pursuits or tell ourselves that he does not exist and stop our spiritual quests?

Maybe, God is such a debatable subject because of the way we define Him. To some, its an external entity, up there in heaven, who is judging all the rights and wrongs that people do and who we expect to meet after death. Such people try to follow the rigid lifestyles of saints to attain Him. But, if I cannot lead the life of a saint, can’t I attain God? I think I can.

Spirituality in essence is connecting to the spirit or one’s innerself-that is your conscience. Your conscience is your God. Follow it and you will attain God. There is nothing wrong with materialism and having desires. You need to have desires in this world to come up in life and more importantly to contribute in a meaningful way to the development of mankind on this planet. If I don’t desire to be rich in this world and enjoy all its comforts, I’ll have nothing to look forward to in life. I’ll be as good as being dead. The problem does not lie in having desires or being materialistic, but in the amount of importance you give to it and the means you adopt to attain it. For example, you need to eat to live, but you should not live to eat! Earning money by itself is not wrong, but earning by snatching another’s share unfairly is definitely wrong.

Do not curse a modern lifestyle for diverting you from your spiritual path. I think one’s spiritual quest should not be all that weak to be shaken by a modern life. I don’t spend long hours praying God. Neither do I abstain myself from any worldly pleasure to attain God. But, I remember Him always- even when I am in a pub. You need not put any special efforts to attain God. Love him, be good and do good, he will always be there with you. Doesn’t a beloved person always stay at the back of your mind, when you are sleeping or awake? Its something like that. Make God a part of your existing lifestyle and preferences.

A person may be a non-believer of God, but that does not mean the he cannot be spiritual. As along as you are able to connect to your inner self you are on a spiritual path.

Lastly, I request our spirituality enthusiasts to give us spirituality in a form in which we can absorb and implement. The common man cannot lead the life of a saint. Monastic views do not work. In order to survive in this world, one needs to have worldly desires. Spirituality and materialism should coexist; they should not be at loggerheads with each other. We need spirituality in a form to which we can connect easily. The true aim of spirituality should be its implementation in the everyday life of human beings. Otherwise the discourses, though of great value, will not achieve their purpose.

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