Gen Z – Embrace Spirituality In Your Own Terms

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Gen Z looks for inspiration. This was true centuries ago, it is true now, and it will be true even centuries later. They always believe in idealism and inspiration, and therefore they will feel inspired by seeing people around them who are role models. 

Now, does society have such role models who can be emulated, is the question. The youth are in search of answers; they are tossed between the right and wrong, the morals and prejudices of society; they are not convinced about the dogmas and doctrines of religion and its directives. 

It is not their fault, because the society in several ways has skewed the intentions and purposes, and deceived the people into believing the false versions. This is where, the current generation is voicing out openly the hypocrisies and demanding clarifications. 

Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, Founder of Sri Madhusudan Sai Global Humanitarian Mission says, "I believe that they deserve their answers, so they can be told the truth as it is, to lead them back to the path that shall enlighten their life. Here are some answers to their common questions."

What is the difference between religion and spirituality? – Religion is a set of rules and regulations to keep the society together, and to conduct it in a disciplined manner. This is similar to how you have rules in any game; but spirituality is the game itself, and not the rules of the game. Spirituality is the way of life.

What is true spirituality? – Doing your dharma is spirituality. dharma to me means ‘doing good.’ Whatever be your profession, you must do it well to the best of your abilities to give the best to the society. As a natural outcome of your efforts, money will follow, name will follow, and certain positions will follow. Just do your duty honestly, ethically, and legally, and do it with a sense of devotion and dedication. That’s good enough spirituality.

Who is God? – God is a name given to the phenomenon of ‘unconditional love.’ God loves and God serves. Spirituality is directly related to God. If you do the same as God does, then you are spiritual. All goodness is God, and all selfless love is spirituality.

What defines goodness? – Where there is no greed, there is goodness. The moment you can think of the good of others, and extend a hand of help to others, and share with them the things beyond your requirement, you are showing goodness in action. 

Is spirituality connected with seclusion? – To me, spirituality is not a secluded activity to be done in solitude or in silence. Spirituality is a way of life. It is an attitude with which we do everything – ordinary or extraordinary. The correct attitude is to think and do selfless good for all.

What is the necessity to serve others? – We are all part of this team called society. We can be strong as a society only when every person is strong enough to take care of himself or herself. Survival of the richest, survival of the fittest, and survival of the strongest, are not the norms of the society, and it should not be. Survival of the weakest, survival of the slowest, and survival of the poorest is the way of this society. Hence, we must work together to strengthen the society of which we are also a part. 

Law or Love: Which is more powerful? – The real solution to all the problems of social justice, liberty, freedom and human rights is realisation of the God/ goodness within us. Only this kind of spiritual conditioning, where one becomes a channel of true and unconditional love can heal the world and solve the problems of the world. Let’s apply love and not law. With love, heal yourself and others.

How should one restart on this journey? – Consolidate things for yourself, remind yourself of what your goal is, what your journey is all about, and what lessons you have learnt. Hold this moment as a coming together of the past, present, and future. Whatever happened in the past has already happened. But, when we begin a new journey, we keep the lessons from our past with us, and then look forward to implementing it in our future by doing it the right way. 

Time: How should one handle it? – Time controls everything. The best way to deal with time is to do your best in the time that has been given to you. Giving your 100% to everything, makes your every moment a celebration. Live one day at a time and give it your 100%. 

How to manage the mind? – The weakness of the mind is that it cannot be at the present. It doesn’t have the ability to stay steady. Training the mind is the most important sādhana (spiritual practice) to do. This means that your mind should be willing to listen to you at the first place. Only a pure mind will be willing to listen. A purer mind will obey and will remain steady.

What is a pure mind? – A pure mind is nothing but a selfless mind. Devoid of any selfish desires and nurturing only selflessness keeps a mind very pure and clean. Serving others is the best way to purify the mind. Only then, it becomes easier to do sādhana. Only a desireless mind can be a steady mind. 

Are nurturing desires wrong? – Uprooting desires all together may be difficult. And hence, there is another way to handle desires, and that is to turn your desires into selfless ones. Earn wealth, but use it to serve the needy and underprivileged, apart from your own self and your family. Acquire knowledge, but share your knowledge to make many more people knowledgeable. If wealth, knowledge, power and authority can be used for selfless actions, then the desire to acquire these will not be wrong.

What is the sadhana (spiritual practice) to be done? – Simply hold your mind in the present moment. This might take some time, but one must practice. Like children, whatever comes at the present should be grasped, without any parallel thoughts running in the mind. Even for 10 seconds, if you can keep the mind in one place, you can achieve something. 

‘Selfless Service’ with a ‘Steady Mind’ makes the best alliance. A steady and equanimous mind in the inside and selfless service on the outside should work together. This is why, I give the formula of both service and sādhana for the current generation.

What can we do to serve others? – Take up any activity of service that matches your aptitude, social skills, passion, and interests. Look around and be sensitive to others’ suffering and needs. If you have disposable income, which is more than their need, use it to help others. 

How to be happy always? –The surest and shortest route to happiness is to follow your heart and serve a purpose. Do everything from your heart, and head and hands will follow. Firstly, the heart should feel, and only then the head should think and hands should execute.

What is the most powerful message from God? – Somebody asked me – ‘what is God doing when all these things go wrong here?’ To them, I said – ‘Yes, God already did something about it. He sent you and me to this earth to carry out His command, do His work, and look beyond ourselves.’ The responsibility is on us. You must be the miracle that the world needs today. This miracle is the miracle of love. Love is the most powerful human value. Love is all about giving and forgiving. In love, there is no sense of superiority and inferiority, differences and discrimination.