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The first lesson I learnt in Spirituality

Writer's picture: Vimida DasVimida Das

Updated: Dec 21, 2023




First lesson in Spirituality
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"The foolish world reads books and scriptures, but none becomes a scholar,

The tiny word called love who learns, he becomes the scholar."


Love. That’s the first lesson to be learnt. In fact, that’s the only lesson that matters. All the philosophies, all the ideologies, the metaphysical debates, the religious preachings, everything...they all become meaningless without this basic understanding. LOVE. There. That’s a whole multiverse of spiritual wisdom condensed into four letters. Understand this, accept this and practice this, and then it does not matter whether you learn the other lessons or not.


Pothi padi padi jag mua translation
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The starting point...

To write a blog on a website called “What I Learnt Today” and then have an opening quote like the one above seems counter-intuitive, right?

I have been planning this blog for many days now. My very first blog on “What I Learnt Today”. I’ve been wondering about where to begin.

You know, I want you to like it here. I didn’t want any ol’ blog. Shouldn’t it be extra smart? Extra intelligent? Maybe with tons of spiritual jargon, to make you feel that you were in the right place.

But I can’t bring myself to do it. You see, I am not doing this as a gimmick. This is one place I want to be 100% genuine. And the heart of the matter is, that I don’t have any fully formed opinions about most of the great philosophies. I am just learning. I'm just trying to find out. But if there is one thing I know with crystal clear clarity it is this- everything comes down to love.


Isn’t it ironic?

It’s close to the afternoon now, I have old, shoddy clothes on. My hair is tied untidily. All the poor relationships I have ever had, and poor life choices I have ever made loom over my head like scary, shadowy reminders of the path I have been through. My kid is screaming behind me- hating me for asking him to study. I am sure my mom and dad are there somewhere wondering when I will become an adult. Clearly, I am not the person to be doling out advice.

But that’s the whole point, right? I am a human, with my human failings. Imperfect when it comes to matters of managing my emotions and wealth. But with the realization that in the eyes of Creation I am perfect. Everything is.


A clear path, a tough path

I have spent many a sleepless night, wondering where I was being led. I meditated, I fasted, did yoga, tried creating art, searched books and youtube channels, read blogs and journaled. Nothing. It was like I was being pulled into this self-search and I was just going deeper and deeper into darkness.

Each night I would wake up, scared and startled. Feeling as if I had just missed an important lesson. But what? One night after one such session, tears streaming down my eyes, I decided to meditate. I couldn’t concentrate. So I prayed to whoever it was that was guiding me.

“I don’t know the way, I am so lost. Please give me something to hold on to.” (Now that I am reading me write this, I feel like an overly dramatic nun/swamini, from a poorly written show 😁 )And that night I heard a voice. A clear voice that told me “Just follow the path of love. Rest will happen by itself”. I don’t know where that voice came from. Maybe it was the Divine leading me. Maybe I was hallucinating...


And that night I heard a voice. A clear voice that told me “Just follow the path of love. Rest will happen by itself”.

But in that moment I had perfect clarity. I knew that this was the only path to take. My life purpose was to learn to love. Love even when it was tough. Love even when I was facing injustice. Love even when I was losing patience. Love even when I felt hatred or was being hated. And most of all love me through all of it and forgive me when I wavered from this path. I had to gently bring myself to this path, till the time it became a practice.


The light of love

The entire creation is made of the same energy. The stars, the galaxies, the plants and the oceans waves, the viruses and the giant blue whales, the humans and garbage across the street, everything. It is all, at the very basic level, the same. And we are all interdependent. We create each other, we destroy each other. We are born, we die and we are born again in this unending cycle, in so many numerous ways. Why then look at one as different from the other? It is all the same. And when we are all part of the same bigger reality, what is there to hate? It is all the expression of the same light of love that permeates throughout.

“You are everything. Every being, every emotion, every situation. You are unity. You are infinity.You are love/light, light/love. You are. This is the Law of One”





Love/light_ra
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Yes, you are love itself. We spend our whole lives looking for this source of love. Some try to find it in prayers, some in material success and fame, some in family life, some in partners, some in creativity, some in pursuance of science or philosophy.

Yes, they all make us happy. You know why? Because for a moment they give us a glimpse of the infinite love that we are all made of. For a moment, we feel connected to something. But what is that connection, if it is not the connection of the all-encompassing, unifying love?

....for a moment they give us a glimpse of the infinite love that we are all made of.

Where do I find love?

When looked at with the eyes of this love, the whole world seems different. It feels as if you are shedding layers one by one. You come to realize that each and everything has a role to play in the greater evolution of Creation itself. Once you notice that the bigger picture, everyday troubles are not troubles anymore. You notice your emotions- the anger, the jealousy, the fear, the joy, the pride, the affection, and understand that these are all just mere coatings. Underneath it all is the need for love, also the need to give love. You are seeking unity with the Creation. It is this search that takes you on this path. The whole journey is to make you accept the joy of love and express love in your own unique way.

We can find a lot of joy externally. By doing activities that connect us to love. By painting, by being good to our family, by learning about people, by working hard and feeling the joy of work well done….oh love expresses itself in myriad ways. And while all of these ways are great to bring us closer to what we really are, nothing, nothing compares to the joy that comes when we sit with ourselves and feel how every cell, each atom of our being is connected to something greater. And then love just wells up in the heart. And we feel ourselves become one with Universal love. And really, there is no end to this love.

“Step into the fire of self-discovery. This fire will not burn you, it will only burn what you are not.”



Self discovery
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