Understanding Spirituality: An Indian Interpretation
The enchanting land of Bharat (India) has held an aura of allure and mysticism that is sparkling.
While largely ignored by her Western counterparts, the practices and traditions that originated
here are abysmal. Even more crucial is the fact that though reduced, the ancient practices of
spirituality are still widespread in the lives of Indian people.
India is the cradle of spiritualism where several schools of thoughts emerged such as Vedanta,
Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika (Goswami, 2017). Over the several thousand years, an overarching
metatheoretical framework developed which made no distinction between philosophy, religion
and spirituality binding them together in a mosaic representing the Indian ethos. The
consequence is, today it is common for a person to intermingle spirituality with religion and in a
way, it is true; religion does allow people to gain spirituality. It was the abstractness of
spirituality paved the way for the birth of religions (AYUSH, 2015). To understand it better
consider spirituality at one end of the spectrum and religion at another end and philosophy as the
thread that binds them together. Therefore, while spirituality is the theoretical approach to truth
or divine power, religion is the practical approach to it (Goswami, 2017) and both run on a
loosely similar philosophy.
Figure 1: Representation of interconnection between Spirituality, Philosophy and Religion
Spirituality has become increasingly popular over the years, especially in the West, but the
problem lies in the fact that several Indians have forgotten their legacy after the increasing
influence of colonial rule and modernization while Western thought finds it challenging to
process the complexity spirituality holds through their objective lenses of positivism. While the
concept is no longer considered unscientific the gap present manifests in the attempt to evaluate
and classify spirituality.
Further, as I mentioned before, the three concepts of spirituality, religion and philosophy have
lost their distinction between them over the years in Indian thought. The consequence is that
understanding spirituality becomes difficult. Therefore, the attempt is to explore the meaning of
spirituality according to ancient Indian texts.
How have Western scholars defined Spiritualism?
The concept of spirituality begins from Judeo-Christian tradition with little distinction between it
and the religion (Jacobs, 2013). I am referring to Christianity as it is the most followed religion
among the Western countries. In 1989, Schnieders reached the word, ‘pneumatikos’ meaning
person under the influence of the Spirit of God (Oman, 2013) as the root of the word
‘spirituality’. Another understanding comes from the Hebrew word ‘ruach’ which means spirit.
Jacobs (2013) describes spirituality, as “something that broke free from the restricting confines
of association with formal religion.” This separation in the West between religion and
spirituality, especially in concern with religion Christianity is traced back to the work of
psychologist Carl Jung (Benner, 1988 as cited in Jacobs, 2013). For example, Love (n.d.) in his
article, “Differentiation Spirituality from Religion” gives a detailed background, definition and
understanding of the two constructs and how they are different. Further, he explains religion as
an external phenomenon while spirituality as an internal. The distinction has also been given by
several other scholars (see Woods & Ironson, 1999; Koenig et al., 2001 as cited in Rao, 2011).
Religion is ascribed to rules, conducts, traditions and beliefs developed by humans themselves
while spirituality moves away from these, where the quest is to reach the higher being and
fulfilment (Jacobs, 2013; Love, n.d.) through connectedness which occurs intra, inter and
trans-personally (Meezenbroek, Garssen, Berg, Dierendonck, Visser & Schaufeli, 2010).
However, it is also expressed that the two constructs have similarities (Love, n.d.). One view is
that spirituality forms an outer circle which encircles the smaller circles of several religions
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(Koenig et al., 2001 as cited in Rao, 2011). The other view holds religion as the outer circle
which encircles spirituality (Miller & Thoreson, 1999 as cited in Rao, 2011). Thus, what is
observed is a conflicting view of the relationship between spirituality and religion. Further, little
distinction is seen between the two in empirical studies (Rao, 2011) often cited as R/S.
Therefore, a clear disagreement exists whether the two are the same or different.
The efforts to understand spirituality in Western studies have increased approximately 40-fold by
the early 2000s (Oman, 2013). This indicates the revived interest in a once forgotten, unscientific
and supernatural concept. But many view it from the confines of scientific view and have
divorced several spiritual practices from their roots while adopting eastern practices. Moreover,
in qualitative research on ten spiritual questionnaires, it was found that they could not capture the
essence of spirituality, failed to discriminate spiritual facets from that of psychological facets
such as personality or well-being and the items often had inconsistency (Meezenbroek, Garssen,
Berg, Dierendonck, Visser & Schaufeli, 2010).
Do similarities exist in the Western and Eastern perspective of Religion and Spirituality?
It is imperative to note that when I talk about a Western understanding of spirituality, I do not
refer to the scientific philosophy that emerged but spirituality that connects to the religion.
Despite differences that have been cited repeatedly between the concepts, one cannot deny the
fact that similarities also exist. Further, religion was formed to gain spirituality from a practical
path. Especially, for a common man who did not have the time or resources to gain and
understand spirituality in its complexity. Unfortunately, as time progressed from antiquity
religions became more and more orthodox and the practices once formed to connect with God, or
the higher power became increasingly adulterated. In modern times, as a result, it is observed
that religion is often viewed in a negative light by the newer generations. Spirituality, on the
other hand, is now gaining popularity, especially in the West.
Rao (2011) states that Eastern and Western perspectives on religion and spirituality agree that the
two merge at one point- sacredness. He further elaborates that the ‘scared’ alludes to several
things such as God, divine power, formless entity and so on (Rao, 2011). And the goal is to attain
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transcendence (Rao, 2011, Love, n.d.) in both West and East. Further, both consider religion as
external and spirituality as internal.
Spirituality: An ancient Indian concept
The philosophy that emerged in the land of India is believed to be much older than that which
emerged in ancient Greece. And the difference between the two is while Indian philosophy was
an amalgamation of scientific reasoning, spirituality, and religion to some extent. Western
philosophy solely rested on objectivity and scientific pursuit. Consequently, the slow acceptance
of spirituality in the West can be alluded to the complex systems of philosophies that existed in
the subcontinent. India has not one but eight different systems that all have their own
understandings and teachings on spirituality. Further, it is comprehensive, holistic, and cyclic.
The word philosophy is known to be first used by Greek Philosopher, Pthyogorus. The two
words- ‘philo’ which means love and ‘sophia’ which means wisdom come together to form the
popular word, ‘philosophy.’ From an Indian perspective, the Sanskrit word, ‘darśana’ translates
into seeing or experience (Prabhavananda, 2019). However, this seeing or experience has a
deeper meaning- immediate perception. Does that mean absorbing everything through our senses
at a given time? No. Darśana according to Indian epistemology refers to super-sensuous
transcendental (Prabhavananda, 2019) i.e., witnessing the Absolute truth- the experience of
Brahman transcending time, space, and causation (Yvas, 1982 as cited in Gill, 2006). Therefore,
experiencing spirituality means the experience of spirit (ātman) or spiritual consciousness
permeating into the all of cosmos along with encompassing every human pursuit (Rao, 2011).
Vedas
The source of all in Indian understandings comes from the Vedas, the Brahmans, the Aranyakas,
the Upanishads and the two great Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Vedas it is
believed date back to at least 2000 B.C. and passed down through oral tradition. This is the time
when you won’t find the followers of ‘Sanatan dharma’, today known as followers of Hinduism,
worshipping idols (murtis); but the eternal order (formless) itself revealed by the Vedas.
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The Vedas comes from Sanskrit root word, ‘Ved’ meaning ‘knowledge’ and is believed to be a
non-human (apaurusheya) creation revealed to the Risis, the seers of truth (Kumar & Choudhary,
2020). It is held in the highest regard as the source of knowledge that is sublime and scientific.
Historians believe that the Vedas were written down around 5-6th century B.C.
The four-great works of Vedic literature Rig Veda (written in honour of deities, concepts around
death, life, Atma, Paramatma), the Yajur Veda (hymns to perform Vedic Yajnas), the Sama Veda
(ceremonial texts, melodies, and chants), and the Atharva Veda (deals with magic, tantra-mantra,
spirits, and medicinal resources of plants etc.) (Roy, 2016; Vyas, 2016; Kumar & Choudhary,
2020).
Upanishads
“To know Brahman is to be Brahman.”
To understand, Upanishads I quote Radhakrishnan (as cited in Jacob, 1975) known for his utmost
clarity and work on them.
“Though in some sense the Upanishads are the continuation of the Vedic religion, they are in
another sense a strong philosophical protest against the religion of the Brahmanas. It is in the
Upanishads that the tendency to spiritual monism, which, in one form or another, characterizes
much of Indian philosophy, was first established whose intuition rather than reason was first
recognized as the true guide of ultimate truth.”
The statement makes few things clear: 1) Upanishads present the ancient Indian understanding of
spiritualism which is profound and enlightening; 2) They are philosophical interpretations of
Vedas but a revolt against the Brahmanas that rose from Vedas; 3) It talks about the ultimate truth
which is considered as the end goal in Indian thought; 4) The ultimate truth lies within us.
The texts of Upanishads are believed to bring closure to the Vedas and therefore, are also called
Vedanta (end of Vedas). Prabhavananda (2019) states another interesting interpretation of ‘anta’
which means the final goal- the highest wisdom (transcendence). Today, a total of 108
Upanishads are extant. Curiously, an undertone of mystery revolves around these ancient sacred
texts. Nobody knows when did they emerge, who wrote them or were they more in number than
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what exists today? (Prabhavananda, 2019) The Upanishads are held in high regard among the
followers of Sanatana dharma as they allow an average person to connect more to their
philosophy, religion, and connect with the formless. The word ‘Upanishad’ comes from Sanskrit
words which together translates as sitting near the spiritual guru to receive and gain the secret
spiritual knowledge (Roy, 2016; Prabhavananda, 2019).
It is imperative to realize that the Upanishads though a driving force behind the Indian thought,
is far from belief. They move away from the ritualistic and sacrificial traditions of the Vedas yet
retains the scientific basis. The sacred texts deal with the metaphysical and spiritual aspects
which are abstract at their core (posing a challenge to appreciate them from an objective lens).
However, Upanishads were just as scientific as their source texts- the Vedas. In the scientific
archive, Upanishads took an unparalleled turn towards the medium of knowing- the mind
(Easwaran, 2007). The very concept of consciousness which modern science has still not
deciphered, forms the very basis of Upanishads. When Philosophy was just rising in the West,
the sages in India dealt with a complex understanding of dreams, wakeful state, self-‘I’ and
found their answer in consciousness (Brahmavidya)- the science of the Supreme (Easwaran,
2007). The absolute teachings and curiosity these ancient men held in understanding these
composite concepts which scientists today are still trying to grasp shows the significance of these
texts today as they were in antiquity.
Core Concepts of Upanishads
Upanishads dealt with questions that captured the fervid aspiration to discover the central
principles of the world and human experience (Easwaran, 2007). In doing so the sages came
across concepts and experiences which are difficult to understand and believe in today’s modern
world. Yet one cannot deny the existence of these great men and their quest for knowledge which
though slowly, is being discovered again.
Brahman and Ātman
The concept of Brahman refers to the formless essence present in every being, things, cosmos,
and Gods (Easwaran, 2007). Thus, called as the Supreme reality- the abstract power or the
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Ultimate reality. Brahman moves away from the practical associations, it cannot be known or
explained (Pandit, 1988). Therefore, understanding Brahman can be challenging initially.
Pandit (1988) gives a comprehensive understanding of Brahman. Brahman is satyam: truth- idea
of existence viewed objectively; absolute reality, jnanam: knowledge- consciousness viewed
objectively, anantnam: infinite- idea of bliss viewed objectively; freedom (Pandit, 1988).
Further, to give a wholistic picture I quote, Pandit (1988):
“Regarded from the view of Time, Brahman is Eternity or Immorality; regarded from the view of
Space, Brahman is Infinity or Universality; regarded from the view of Causality, Brahman is
absolute Freedom.”
The concept of Brahman connects with the concept of Ātman (true self/ spirit). Ātman is the true
self which is not adulterated by the Ego (ahaṁkāra). It is immortal, fearless (Prabhavananda,
2019) and indiscernible unlike the empirical body. It is the internal controller (antaryāmin)
beyond all of existence with no individualistic characteristics (Lindquist, 2019). Therefore,
knowing of the true self connects with knowing of Brahman- transcendence which resides in
everyone. The Brahman and the Ātman becomes one and the same (advaita).
“so’ham and aham brahmāsmi” (He am I and I am Brahman, the Eternal)
The distinction between the subject, object and the act disappears, between knower, known and
act of knowing disappears (Rao & Paranjpe, 2016). The disparity of dichotomies and polarities
seen while understanding the man’s nature seen in the Western thought, vanishes (Jacob, 1975).
The empirical self thus ceases and the higher knowledge (parāvidyā) which is neither subjective
nor objective attained (Prabhavananda, 2019) i.e., state of moksha.
Ego (Ahamkara) and Tainted reality
A nexus model of body, mind and consciousness helps to understand the complex Indian thought
(Rao & Paranjpe, 2016; Rao, 2011). Mind is the physical entity which interfaces with both, the
physical side (brain and empirical reality) and the subjective side (consciousness/spirit) at two
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polar ends. Unfortunately, the mind is more connected to the brain (cognitive operations)
forming the mind-body nexus (transactional part).
The mind (manas) manifests the Ego (ahaṁkāra- empirical self) through mind-body interaction
walking humans down the path of ever-increasing attachments, desires, cravings and ultimately
anguish and sufferings. The more one identifies with Ego (ahaṁkāra), the more ignorant
(avidyā) one becomes; always looking at the tainted reality (empirical reality), never reaching
the true self (ātman) and the ultimate reality (brahman). Therefore, to reach the true self (ātman),
the relegation of ego is significant to experience consciousness-as-such (Rao, 2011; Jacob,
1975).
Mind-Consciousness and Moksha
Another nexus that exists apart from mind-body, is mind-consciousness (transcendental part).
Curiously, mind according to Upanishads consists of subtler forms of matter making it possible
for the light of consciousness to reach it for reflection of contents and mind also has a passive
approach to consciousness (Rao, 2011). Therefore, the mind-consciousness nexus allows the
trans-cognitive processes to occur for consciousness to be realized in the mind (Rao, 2011).
The realization of true self is called ‘moksha’ (samadhi/nirvana) as it liberates self from the
conditions of time, space (Easwaran, 2007), existential anguish and sufferings (Rao, 2011). Rao
and Paranjpe (2016) describe moksha as, “For the one who realizes reality in its true form, the
sensory knowledge we have of the world appears as nothing but an illusion, as a dream appears
on waking.”
It means achieving transcendental knowledge (parāvidyā). It is either attained during the course
of life or at death (Prabhavananda, 2019). The realization of moksha means realization of true
self (ātman) and thus, realization of consciousness-as-such (brahman), the transcendental
knowledge. Therefore, the path to spirituality lies in moksha.
But what is the process of achieving this highest state of spirituality? Especially when the Ego
(ahaṁkāra) is unfortunately, blocking the experience of this transcendental reality.
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Relegating the Ego: Path to Moksha
The journey to moksha faces the block of Ego (ahaṁkāra) which controls the being and renders
it deeper into the world of empirical reality. To overcome this illusion (maya) there are two
pathways. Therefore, one pathway involves meditation (nididhyasana) and other involves
walking down the path of knowledge (jñāna mārga), devotion/ faith (bhakti mārga) and work
(karma mārga) which are often associated with Hindu religion. However, it is also significant to
remember that each school of thought that came to be had developed their own significant
meaning and names for moksha and diverse ways to achieve it (Rao & Paranjpe, 2016).
The practice of meditation allows for deconditioning from the ego bounds, facilitates effective
learning and gains control over mind functions (Rao & Paranjpe, 2016). The act of meditation
involves deep intense inward focus where the empirical world ceases to be important and the
depths of consciousness can be reached. Thus, normal cognitive functions stop interfering and
the mind opens to knowledge, wonders and bliss. The practices of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are
one such medium which helps to control the fluctuating mind states and reach the
consciousness-as-such (Rao & Paranjpe, 2016).
Conclusion
Spirituality, therefore, is a concept common to both West and East. However, a sheer difference
in its understanding and complexity exists. Today, Western societies have accepted the
importance and validity of spirituality. But understanding spirituality is still in its primitive
stages. Further, though scholars have attempted to define and evaluate spirituality, an obvious
lack of consensus along with comprehension is seen. An obfuscation is also observed around
spirituality and religion. They both are differentiated and coalesced according to convenience.
The attempts at measuring spirituality through self-report methods appear questionable. And
despite the acceptance of Eastern spirituality practices, a clear misconnection with the process
and thoughts is present.
On the other hand, though a birthplace of spirituality, the major Indian population has lost touch
with its ancient roots and knowledge due to the aftereffects of colonization and escalating
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capitalization. Today, many consider religion and spirituality the same despite being
differentiated concepts in the Indian texts. Many youngsters are seen impassive towards these
texts holding profound knowledge. And therefore, despite being home to such intense
knowledge, its significance and appreciation is lost. Especially in concern to Indian Psychology
which rests on ancient practices and knowledge. It is unfortunate that the psychology in India is a
mere replication of that taught in West (Rao, 2011). A strong need exists in Indian Universities to
foster young minds to dive in these concepts and appreciate them from an Indian viewpoint. For
this, it is imperative to recognize the scientific basis of these texts and developed practices.
Further, view spirituality separately from the religion of hinduism because religion came into the
picture much later. And realize that spirituality is a complex concept which cannot be suppressed
in the restraints of objectivity. It is both objective and subjective. Most importantly, study with an
open mind because a closed off mind will only hamper the understanding and acceptance.
The source of spirituality lies in the Upanishads. It is a difficult concept as it gets entangled with
religious concepts apart from being abstract. It deals with intertwined notions of formless, true
self, liberation, paths and practices, several schools of thought that emerged dealing with
Supreme form and spirituality disparately. It also brings forth scientific understandings which
further, poses difficulty. Thus, spirituality brings together the supernatural and science together.
To conclude the knowledge of spirituality is like an old photo album lying in the back of the
closet, significant yet overlooked, close to heart yet neglected, waiting to be discovered.
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