Is Yoga Spiritual?

My journey into this ‘unseen’ world to discover what exists beyond it, where we come from, and where we go began quite early when I was five or six years old. I have worked as a counselor for more than 35 years, helping people understand themselves. For a few years now, I have stopped reading books or gaining knowledge from other people because I want my own experience to come from within naturally, not from any outside source.

With physical goals achieved, I have transitioned to a state where I believe I am back to the beginning. When you reach the starting point, you realize that joy lies not in achieving physical goals, but in truly knowing yourself, as I have put forward in my chapter Spiritualism.

Being spiritual is a blissful experience. Metaphysics is another name for spiritualism. The term meta means ‘above and beyond’ while physics refers to what can be seen, touched, and felt in the physical world.

Our perception of reality is primarily determined by our five senses. When the five senses organs do not feel anything, we feel that is absurd and unrealistic. And we may think that we’re hallucinating or imagining things.  We are only interested in seeing up to where our eyes can see in the physical universe, but that’s where our blindness begins.

As far as the physical universe we inhabit is concerned, it is built of solid elements. As long as we cannot see something, we don’t believe it. People are drawn to things they can see, thinking they are real, wanting to hold them to feel their solidity. In the same way, if we are able to smell something we see, only then it feels real to us.

What makes philosophers and researchers unique is their desire to look beyond. Newton, for example, realized that the earth pulls an apple down when he looked at an apple due to gravity. What made his discovery crucial was his ability to look past the physical world, because before then, apples also fell, but nobody contemplated why they did so. The discovery of new things was made possible only when people looked beyond physical reality. We know things exist, but only a few enlightened minds research them after acknowledging their presence.

Likewise, to search for our ‘self’, we must go beyond physical realities. Until we figure that out, it’s a missing puzzle piece from everyone’s life. Thus, the journey is about seeing ahead beyond what others can’t see and being able to believe in things that aren’t visible.

And although many people seek to explain the existence and what lies beyond it to others, the problem is that they overuse words and language in their explanation, making it too complex. Hence, every individual must find their own meaning of existence and purpose in life, for which they must take a fresh look at themselves. There is no doubt that we’ve come from beyond and will go beyond this physical existence. Although you may be unsure whether you have come from beyond, there is no doubt that you will go beyond it because we are all aware that one day our bodies will no longer exist.

How to acknowledge that we come from beyond the physical realities?

We are all skeptical that our existence lies beyond our physical reality. But there is an inherent desire to understand who we are and where we have originated from. And for that, we need to go beyond our five senses – to reason and discover why things occur in a certain way and to find the purpose of our life.

To acknowledge that we come from beyond the physical reality, we must first recognize that our body and self are separate. The body you are in is not who you are. The body is made up of skin, flesh, bones, and muscles. We can compare the connection between our body and self/spirit to a car and its driver.

If this driver is good at driving, the car will go through the traffic and turn up the hill without encountering any problems, whereas bad driving will result in accidents. The ability to learn how to drive a car well is for the driver not for the car. Likewise, the entire knowledge of the physical world is for the body, not the self/spirit. As with a car, you are the one driving this ‘body’. When you leave it, its body will stay wherever you leave it: it cannot move.

But we spend our lifetime learning techniques for our bodies and not for ourselves. For instance, we pay so much attention to meditation and breathing exercises not realizing that they are for the body and not for you because our existence is not based on breath.

Thoughts are Nothing but Energies that are not Understood and Which Need to be Understood. And Why Observe Silence?

People use various techniques to cope with these thoughts through various types of chanting, but they don’t go away. This is because when you are conscious of your breathing, your body parts, or chanting, you won’t be able to hear your thoughts. This led me to the realization of two things: first, these thoughts are nothing but energies that are not understood and need to understand. Imagine, for instance, somebody mistreated you earlier and made you feel bad.

Usually, we try to run away from it because we don’t want to remember that bad experience. You attempt to figure out why the incident happened and why the person behaved as they did.  This unanalyzed part, which seems to make no sense to you, goes around in circles.

What is Observing Silence?

Observing Silence is the process of simply closing your eyes because if your eyes are open, thoughts will keep coming in. When you sit down, thoughts come from all directions. All those thoughts are imbued with energy from the surroundings. Just like radio waves, thoughts exist as energy in the air. Similar to how radio waves can be captured by radio and listened to by us, thoughts are also captured in the universe all around us.

We must sit and let the thoughts occur until they vanish on their own. These thoughts need not be dealt with: simply let them come and go. Likewise, you may experience emotions. Allow them to come and go. Simply observe the thoughts and emotions you come across without acting on them.  I’ve named this process ‘observing silence’. After a few days of doing this, you will notice that your thoughts will settle down.

When you observe Silence, you do not have to analyze it; it analyses the thoughts on its own and provides the answer. It works independently; you don’t have to do anything to it.

 

Avoid Artificial Solutions

Essentially, we are a fully functional machine capable of solving problems on its own, and we don’t have to do anything to it. Instead, we attempt to find answers to your issues by consulting external sources, which is the wrong approach. You are complicating the matter if you come to me for help when facing a problem. Because the solution to your problems lies within you.

However, you look outside of yourself for a solution. So now in the same database, you have a problem and an artificial solution, which doesn’t fit well with the problem.

This artificial solution may be found in a book, a motivational speaker, or your parents or relatives. In our search for a solution to our problems, the more people we consult, the more advice or artificial solutions we receive. To make matters worse, in our quest for a solution, we take contradictory advice from people who believe that they have received wisdom from their life experiences and know what’s best for us. In reality, the person facing the problem knows best because they live according to their capabilities and environment.

However, we do not give ourselves sufficient time to let that intelligence emerge. As soon as we feel anxious, we start looking for answers outside of us because we feel nervous.

Energy in the form of thoughts clears itself on its own.

Yet what you should do is that you should be with yourself.  Close your eyes, calm down, and whatever troubled thoughts bother you will settle. Give it some time to settle. Fortunately, our system resets itself automatically, but you must give it some time. It will unwind whatever you wind because that is nature’s law.  We, as spiritual beings, can heal ourselves without the aid of any external means or measures. We need time to shake hands with ourselves to heal ourselves.

The people who find this process to be difficult must understand that an individual who cannot sit with their eyes closed for five minutes isn’t happy with themselves. A person who likes himself or herself will sit with himself or herself. When one cannot sit with oneself, one is running away from oneself. There is no need for action on your part. Energy in the form of thoughts will clear itself on its own. Flowers grow when a plant undergoes all the necessary processes. Although we can increase its strength by giving more injections, it doesn’t even last for that long and doesn’t smell that well. We must understand that our thoughts require time because we are part of nature.

What should we be working towards?

We are constantly reminded that we are left behind if we don’t act quickly. Whether as parents wanting their children to do better every day or as individuals in a relationship hoping things will move forward, since birth, we have been conditioned to think that the aim of life is to move forward. But exactly what should we be aiming for?

Consider how many borrowed ideas we live with without realizing that these borrowed ideas are not our ideas. However, you must recognize that you can only settle on your ideas. The wisdom gained by spiritual gurus is obtained in part through reading and learning and through self-introspection. However, the best ideas come from spending enough time with oneself. Likewise, we must look within ourselves to discover the answers we’re seeking. Thoughts are nothing more than energies that cannot be understood and are waiting to be understood.

Try sitting with yourself and seeing what happens. A spiritual being resides in a physical form, which is the body. Without the spiritual being, this physical form has no value. It is of no value if that energy is not present. When it dies, we bury it or burn it. You are what keeps it alive. You are part of nature, so you are born with inherent wisdom.

Close your eyes and observe Silence

Observing Silence is a form of spiritual yoga that does not involve physical activity but spiritual activity. Close your eyes and observe Silence. You should start by observing Silence for 15 minutes every day. Ideally, you should do this before going to sleep because nobody can take away that time from you. In the same way we cannot see beneath the turbulence of the sea until it settles. Initially, there will be so many things distracting you that you will not be able to see what lies beneath. When the turbulence settles, you see deep and hidden thoughts coming to the surface. These innermost thoughts were always there, but you were not aware of them.

It is believed that muddy water in a lake should not be disturbed for some time. Similarly, our thoughts must settle before we can see what lies beneath them. Although the process is so simple, people find it unusual because they used to complexity and hence, find activities involving action or chant more rewarding than sitting and doing nothing while observing Silence.

However, as opposed to meditation and mindfulness, where we are required to concentrate on something or observe our breathing, the simple process of observing Silence does not require us to focus. If you begin to observe Silence, you will feel uncomfortable for a while, but this is when you must remain strong. If you stay resilient when you feel the need to get up enough, you will succeed in your quest for peace.

Young people often feel like they are too young for spirituality

Mainly because they believe they will have to leave their parties or relationship to embrace spirituality. This is a severe misconception because you do not need to become a spiritual being. Instead, you are a spiritual being trying to become a physical being. What you don’t realize is that you are putting a lot of energy into being a physical being. If you observe Silence, you can learn so much about your spiritual nature. You will uncover more about spiritual yoga energy the more you sit in Silence. Your body will no longer define who you are, because you will understand your separateness from it.

All of us are spirits, but we fear talking about spirits because we believe everything unseen is unreal and ghostly. But when you close your eyes and you pray to something invisible, what are you praying to? It means you’re talking to the invisible world. You pray to God but cannot see him. His presence only fills your soul. Likewise, anyone in their body trying to feel the world around them or the universe around them can realize the existence of your soul/spirit/energy.

We also believe that while practicing anything new we need to discipline ourselves. In my view, discipline in itself is a little harsh word we have been taught over the years that people need to discipline themselves and have to follow discipline. However, I believe this journey should be effortless because if it becomes an effort, it becomes a chore.  Thus, observing Silence is something you don’t have to do at any particular time.  You can do it anytime, For instance, while going in your car, instead of turning up the music or talking to someone on the phone, you can drive in Silence. Or you can do it while you are eating or taking a shower.

Why Observing Silence and Not Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is focusing on the things around you to stop the chatter in your mind. However, we don’t realize that focus is totally against the nature of the mind. We can’t focus our minds as they are like flying horses. We need to figure out how to ride over it and enjoy it.

One of the worst things anyone can tell you to do is control your thoughts because it makes you think more of things you wish to avoid. For instance, when someone tells you not to think about ice cream, what you think about all the time is ice cream. I never give people homework during sessions because giving them something to do is another problem you encounter while trying to find a solution.

Also, a lack of time to work on something can make you feel that you won’t be able to improve or come up with a solution. This is not how life has to be: life is a beautiful gift, and you must understand how it works. We have to just go with the flow. We must stop subjecting our minds to motivational books, Youtube videos, and other social media channels, and instead, we need to be with ourselves for some time.

Embracing Nothingness

The word ‘effortless’ should replace the words ‘discipline’, ‘control’, and ‘focus’ when discussing spiritual yoga practices because by doing so, it is likely that people will be attracted towards embracing spiritual practices. As I look at my cat, I feel we are the same since we both just pass the time. As I write this, she sits at the window watching the birds. There is nothing for her to do. This is how the natural state of existence is. She makes up a game going from one room to another, and since I’m also moving from one room to the other, we cross each other. In other words, we all aim to achieve something in life that I feel is important, but nothing matters at the end of the day.

 

How can you overcome our fears through the practice of Observing Silence?

Like we conserve water when there is a water shortage, to begin with, you should conserve your energy. How do we conserve energy? The majority of our energy is spent on useless things. Hence, we should reduce the time we spend watching the news, responding to Whatsapp messages, or talking on the phone.

Once you conserve your energy, you have this bulk energy to address your fear.  Remember that you cannot address your fears when you have less energy. It takes strength to fight your fears. When fear is a sickness, you must conserve energy and gain strength to prevent it from returning. Face your fears head-on. It is then that you will be able to stop being fearful. Because we are so weak as we do not conserve energy, we do not want to look at the fears we have, but we must keep in mind that fear is always unseen and unknown. We must ask fear to show up when we have the strength from the energy we have conserved.

The Most Straightforward Solutions are Always the Best.

Any time we practice something progressively, it brings simplicity and not complexity. The most straightforward solutions are always the best. Let me share with you a joke my mother used to tell.

After wearing his pants, a boy wanted to zip them. Still, he couldn’t stand up straight, making everyone think he had a medical emergency. Immediately, the boy was taken to the emergency room. However, when the doctor examined his condition, he found that the boy had tied the button on his sweater with the button on his pants, causing him to be unable to stand up.

At that point, I thought that it was a rather silly joke. However, the joke ultimately makes sense to me. It implies that we need to check ourselves before asking for help from others. Your problem may have a simple solution, but the situation has grown in size and shape because you didn’t look for that solution. The path to wisdom is not quick or easy, but if you give it time, you will discover it, and once you find it, you are your own master.