Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I Speaking Tree Website I Monday February 4, 2013

Spirituality is to live on a higher plane, a God-oriented plane. The spiritually inclined so elevate themselves in their thinking that they begin to live on a higher divine plane. They remain undisturbed in the face of provocation, their mental balance is not upset by unpleasant experiences, and the distasteful behaviour of others does not arouse any feelings of anger or revenge in them. Living strictly by their principles, their mental level becomes so high that the stone cast by others cannot reach them. In spirituality they find such sublimity that all else pales into insignificance. Spirituality in itself is such a great virtue that the seeker after divine bliss need quest no further.

How does one 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, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

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 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.

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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 according to which God has created us. 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. I have realized 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 second 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. Through clear thinking and the starting of the deconditioning process one is able to convert negative influences into positive ones and become positive personalities.