First book review of 2023. I'm so glad that this book picked me at this time of my life. I have been following Meetu Bisht 's posts for the past few months and I find them very insightful. I bought her book "Living Spirituality" on Kindle sometime back but didn't start reading it immediately.
A week ago, I had written a post on spirituality and how we shouldn't blindly succumb to influencers' ideologies. That same night, as I was casually browsing through my Kindle, I stumbled upon this book and felt a strong urge to start reading it right away.
The first few chapters just spoke the same words that I was trying to convey through my post. The author elaborates on the various misconceptions about spirituality and the myths and beliefs surrounding the same. Her explanation of the differences between religion, philosophy, and spirituality was super insightful.
The subsequent chapters set the context on what spirituality is and what it isn't. Spirituality isn't focused on external actions, but is a way of life - the "being" instead of "doing".
Living meditatively vs Doing meditation for 10 minutes - the same point emphasized in the book "Atmamun".
The author unravels spirituality layer by layer - the prerequisites, hurdles, challenges, when to start exploring, essentials required on this journey, etc.
Spirituality is for everyone since the "spirit"/soul is within each of us. As we turn inward and start to listen to our conscience, our soul starts to speak to us. Seeking external solutions through spiritual leaders might act as a catalyst and provide a slight push, but it is up to each of us to understand our soul's desires and patterns.
The author elaborates on the role of Karma and its influence on our lives. She also brings an interesting linkage between Karmic baggage and our birth chart that astrology helps in decoding the set patterns.
Karma, past lives, rebirth, destiny, soul's desires, astrology - I have started to resonate more with these topics in the past few years and this book connects these aspects so beautifully.
The chapter that just wowed me is the last one where the author talks about the qualities of the spiritually inclined. I seriously couldn't put down the book once I started reading this chapter. The list kept going on and on and at the end of it, there were 99 qualities listed. If each of us starts working on this list, that in itself is a life-long project.
I could resonate with many of the qualities - the ones that I consider are my strengths and the ones where I want to improve. This chapter reinforces the path and gives a clear direction.
If you are on the journey of self-awareness, I'm sure you'll find this book insightful and eye-opening.
Sharing a few powerful quotes:
"As long as one remains caught up in external practices or the mere act of following something or someone, one's spiritual self will not manifest, as true spirituality is more of an internal thing".
"We awaken only through our own will, determination, and sense".
"The role of the body is to act as a carriage that helps the soul journey from one lifetime to another".
"For life is not what happens to us, life is what we become as a result".
"Spiritually aligned people are energy transformers because their inner composure adds power to the collective consciousness of their immediate environment".