Spiritual Experiences

Spirituality is a science in which knowledge is attained through spiritual practice and the spiritual experiences (anubhutis) resulting thereof. An experience beyond the five senses, mind and intellect is known as a spiritual experience.

Finding lost favourite earrings after developing detachment to them

Before I started doing spiritual practice, whenever I lost or misplaced something, I would get upset easily. Lately, I find that due to spiritual practice, I have much more patience and do not get upset so easily. For example, last month I was looking for my favourite gold earrings and couldn't find them in their usual place. I searched my entire house, but in vain. Finally, I gave up the search and accepted that it could be inevitable that I lose my favourite earrings. Surprisingly, I was not upset at all over this matter. A few days later, as I was searching for my little daughter's toy, I found those gold earrings. Such incidents, where I misplace things and accept the fact instead of getting upset over it, and later, find the missing items, have been happening to me a lot since I started spiritual practice. Such incidents have taught me the importance of detachment.

- Mrs. Suhasini Kale, Connecticut, USA..

[One of the steps in spiritual practice is detachment. A simple way to start developing detachment is viewing our possessions, including the people in our life as belonging to God and not to us. This helps reduce the sense of ‘possession’ that someone or something is ‘mine’ and hence, reduces attachment to them.

-Editor.]

Protection and calmness in car accident

My wife and I were in a car accident, where our car was hit in the rear due to a series of cars braking abruptly. Due to the grace of our Family Deity (Whose Name we were chanting*), we were absolutely all right, and the car did not sustain much damage either. I found myself chanting continuously during the accident. The first thought to occur in my mind was, “Probably one of my give-and-take accounts is being settled.” We were extremely calm throughout the incident and were more concerned about the person who hit us, as his car was damaged considerably.

- Mr. Atul Dighe, Queensland, Australia.

[Chanting God’s Name helps to develop a protective sheath around us, thus reducing the effects of any ills we might bear. Mental calm is also a result often associated with chanting, due partially to the mechanism of chanting itself (see Issue 290, Clarification of Doubts section), but also due to the divine consciousness emitted by the Lord’s Name, which also purifies the surroundings.

-Editor]

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

To begin with, one can repeat God's Name according to their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for a list of God's Names as per various religions), or the Name that they feel most comfortable chanting.
Interested readers can determine the exact chant for them from the experiment given inIssue 124, Message to Seekers section.