It starts with understanding what spirituality is really about. Most people have their own understanding or version of spirituality. What exactly is it? Something religious, personal and some deep feeling inside? Being detached from the mundane things in life? Finding your inner self? Merely being one with Nature?

The truth is that Spirituality is very subtle and has some correlation to all of the above. But it is neither ambiguous nor elusive to anyone. Rather, spirituality can be a very precise, measurable and tangible experience, accessible to everyone.

Going deeper within is also a very definitive journey, it involves self-introspection, assessing your progress and the positive changes. It doesn’t have to be mystical. Most important of all, it has very little to do with merely feeling spiritual by doing a bunch of actions – it has to be tied to the outcomes in your life.

Spirituality is a Subtle, Abstract State of Your Deepest Inner Self

Your Inner Self or Spirit is the subtlest state and form of existence. It is real and can be felt. The spiritual self or subtler being is established roughly three to four months after the conception of the baby in a mother’s womb. It can be thought of as your ultimate ID, the one that is formed and recognized first of all – before your physiological form or worldly existence. It is a part of your overall subtle being which also comprises of your inner Kundalini energy, a system of energy centers or chakras and the energy channels, which are formed at the same time.

Literally, spirituality means the discovery and experience of this subtle being on your central nervous system. This is what makes spirituality real and tangible. Discover and feel your spirit and you become spiritual.

How Do We Recognize or Realize Spirituality?

Well, most people don’t. Most cannot even understand or believe that a thing such as the subtler inner being exists. Many think that God or Nature is all powerful, they do not realize that the manifestation of the divine power and being lies inside each of us. They feel that a walk in nature is being spiritual. Those who are religiously inclined feel that the act of visiting their place of worship every day or week makes them deeply spiritual and that is all there is to it. Many others feel that acquiring a lot of knowledge about spirituality is being spiritual, even when they have no real experience. Feeling pious and holy is being spiritual to them.

Real spirituality in absolute terms is within our subtle being and our ability to reach that state where we actually experience it. When we activate, feel and experience the subtle being inside us, we unite with divinity or God or the all-pervading, omnipotent, omniscient being. Or become part of a higher conscious state, described by famous Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung as the Collective Unconscious.

This subtle being inside us is a powerful capsule, the microcosm of the spirituality that is part of the overall macrocosm of the powerful universe. Think of it as a powerful essence stored in us which mirrors or is identical to divinity and the divine components of this universe.

How Do We Activate Our Spiritual State?

By awakening, energizing the subtle being and allowing it to unite or establish a connection with its source. When this happens, our consciousness, the vehicle of human attention and awareness, is lifted to a higher state. That’s precisely the state of true meditation. Yes, every other state of meditation – like some mental exercises to stay calm, focused or concentrating or even being mindful are not real states of meditation. Or at least they are not natural, but man-made methods and processes to gain some benefits, which for lack of a better word are dubbed as meditation. To reach the real state of meditation, you have to elevate your awareness and attention to the higher state. And you have to do this by using what you are born with – your subtle being.

Sahaja’s Self-Realization process does exactly this. This is what we help all our attendees achieve in their very first session. And then teach them how to reach that state every single time they try to meditate – whether at home or in group meditation sessions.  The word “Sahaja” means “born with” and you now know why this name captures the essence of what we do.

But we’re not exclusive or new in achieving this. Since thousands of years, our ancestors have known about this subtler being and tried in many ways to access the Collective Unconscious with varying degrees of success.

How Do We Explore The Depths of Spirituality?

First of all, by activating, discovering and actually feeling our spiritual state. After Sahaja’s Self-Realization and through regular meditation, you can feel your own subtle being through a sensation of vibrations or pulsation on your fingertips, a coolness on the palm of your hand or at the top of your head. Yes, it sounds almost unreal and virtually impossible. Or feels like a figment of our imagination. Yet, it is very real and thousands have felt it. Spirituality goes beyond the realm of what today’s scientific knowledge can explore. It transcends the limitations of human cognitive knowledge. To be able to experience it, you have to take a leap of faith first, try out the hypothesis that it exists and then use the experience to gain conclusive evidence for yourself that it actually does.

Yet, even after this, you’re probably only touching the tip of the iceberg.

Exploring the depths of spirituality means that you travel further into this journey of self-discovery and exploration inside your subtle being. How?

Regular Meditation

We speak about it all the time. Each day you must hit that higher state and stay there as long as you can. Allow that act of elevating your consciousness to that higher state usher in the replenishment of vital energy to your subtle being – the spiritual nourishment of your own energy system and centers.

Collective Meditation

Individual meditation only goes up to a point. It’s like having your own battery or energy source at home. Ultimately, you have to tap into the power grid. That’s what collective meditation achieves. It gives you easier access to the all-pervading power even when your own individual source is weak or has problems.

Feel the Innate Power and Qualities Manifest Inside You

As you’re stabilizing yourself into a routine of consistently reaching this higher state, you will automatically experience some great things happen inside you. A number of positive qualities you never dreamt of or knew you had, will start to take root and flourish. We have a detailed mapping of such traits and qualities to each of your centers:

1st Chakra: Innocence and Wisdom (Mooladhara)

2nd Chakra: Creativity (Swadisthan)

3rd Chakra: Generosity, Evolution (Manipur; Nabhi)

4th Chakra: Love and Compassion (Anahat)

5th Chakra: Collectivity, Community, Relationships (Vishuddi)

6th Chakra: Forgiveness (Agnya)

7th Chakra: Integration (Sahasrara)

As you’re progressing, test yourself to see that these qualities are getting ingrained within you – while all you do is meditate and strengthen your connection to the higher state.

Shed the Negativity

One problem though is that the more powerful you begin to get, the more you become a desirable target for negativity. When your subtle spiritual being isn’t shining or pristine, negativity still finds you, but it obviously loves to target those who’re powerful and a source of positivity. It’s like having a pure, white cloth that tends to get dirtier than that old brown or dark colored cloth. So, you’ll have to use techniques to fight the negativity. We explain those in our more advanced classes.

Open the Floodgates Using Humility

When you surrender to the all-powerful, all-pervading force placing aside your ego, the floodgates open. Not only do you literally feel the gush of spiritual energy, but your being is flooded with the all-pervading power. No doubt, this is very hard. A lot of people think they are humble. Some actor tries to be humble. Many try it as a mental routine or exercise. Truly becoming humble is a state in itself. The only way to assess whether you’re humble is to watch yourself being contented, peaceful, reacting less, detached and a lot of respect for nature and divinity.

The Ultimate Stage

If you’re progressing steadily and your experience of your inner subtler being gets stronger with time, you’ll reach a state where you are operating very differently in your life. You will be able to see the hand of the invisible divine power in everything around you – the way things happen, how problems solve themselves when you place your attention on them, a heightened sense of intuition and most important of all, the focus on deeper and higher things in life. At this stage, you’ll have no doubts or questions about the purpose of your life, how things are orchestrated in nature or the power of God.

You will realize that you have been transformed inside out and innately exhibiting the highest levels of maturity, emotional intelligence, and character traits.