Breath of life

According to Pierre Chardin, the Jesuit philosopher, ‘We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.’ This is a profound statement, for pondering on it can bring great insight.

What is spirituality? It is most often equated with religion. Whatever the religion that is ours by birth, it encourages us to place our faith in a God who is all-knowing and all-forgiving. It is an injunction that at some point or the other one is likely to question.

For instance, how does one justify or pardon a society where the corrupt get away scot-free, where the mediocre rise to power, where those who indulge in wrong-doing live happy lives while the honest and good suffer injustice and die in want and pain? Why does misfortune afflict those who are good? Surely then there is something wrong with the Divine. Or perhaps Divinity is just a man-made myth and the God is neither benevolent nor caring. To believe or not to believe is now the question.

Since spirituality seems to be a mirage, our reasoning may well tell us now to deny the existence of God. However, if we do this, we obtain only a freedom of sorts, for this premise provides us with neither certainty nor hope, while the questions raised still remain in our minds. There is no doubt that reasoning has made several astounding strides in the field of science, but it falters when we ask why we are born and what lies hereafter. Peace of mind still eludes us.

It is spirituality that comes to our rescue. This is not to assert that it offers logical answers to the dilemmas that confront us. What it encourages is a recognition of the mystery at the heart of things and acknowledging the ways of a Higher Power.

It asks us to take a leap into faith — a faith that believes in goodness and the inner voice that guides every one of us. It is also to show compassion and live peacefully with realities that do not lend themselves to easy explanations. Like love, spirituality cannot be explained. Unseen yet reassuring, it is the very breath of life.