RATHNA YALDAPARAST is a Senior Consultant at Deloitte and a longtime Heartfulness practitioner. Here, she describes how a spiritual practice has helped her connect with herself and others.
In a world increasingly intertwined, it is overwhelming to look out and be faced with all the issues we are yet to resolve. It is easy to lose ourselves when constantly chasing after something more, never content with what is right in front of us. It is easy to pass off issues that don’t impact us directly as “someone else’s problem,” or to convince ourselves that there are other more talented and well-qualified people to tackle the injustices in our world. Often we recede into ourselves, trying to disconnect from the rest of the world and its endless problems.
How can I, with all my imperfections and doubts, possibly make a difference?
Spirituality is a welcome escape from the pressures and the stresses of everyday life. It allows us to focus on inner growth, to develop at our own pace without the pressures of competition or deadlines. It offers a momentary escape with singular clarity and provides comfort in solitude. It is easy to lose ourselves in the “high” of the peace, the serenity of being alone without feeling lonely, and the escape from the stress and pressure of everyday life. What is not easy is coming back, finding a way to be part of this world after experiencing such profound relief.
But the point of spirituality is not to escape. It is to live a balanced life. Instead of using spirituality to seclude ourselves, we can use it to connect with the people around us. As we dive deeper, and discover that there is more to life than what is outside us, we can then balance our attention between the inner and outer. By gaining deeper clarity about ourselves, we are more capable of the compassion and acceptance required to understand those around us, even those with whom we have nothing in common.
By gaining deeper
clarity about ourselves,
we are more
capable of the compassion and acceptance
required to understand those around us,
even those with whom we have nothing in common.
In response to the world’s misfortune, Walt Whitman wrote, “that you are here – that life exists and identity, that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.” To live a meaningful life is to actively participate in the place and time we in habit. We achieve balance in ourselves and in our lives, and recognize that doing so cannot be accomplished by isolating our lives from the world. Peace within sustains peace on the outside. Spirituality teaches us how to live with ourselves; relationships teach us how to live with each other. Learning to live with ourselves and accept our imperfections shows us how to live with and accept each other as we are. Approaching ourselves with patience and compassion gives us the capacity to treat each other in the same manner.
Peace within sustains peace on the outside.
A spiritual practice dissolves the walls we build around ourselves, and removes the barriers we use to compartmentalize problems as “someone else’s.” We learn to accept that each one of us has a responsibility to contribute to the world in a meaningful way. By choosing to be a part of this world, by living our lives in a purposeful manner, and by improving ourselves from the inside out, we create a more compassionate and accepting society.
The first step, the hardest step, is to begin. Make that choice and your life may contribute a verse.
