Arun Gandhi
Co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence

Arun Gandhi

Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India.

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Finding spiritual satisfaction in your faith

In the memoir Eat, Pray, Love, writer Elizabeth Gilbert gives up her entire way of life to spend a year traveling the world, finding spiritual enlightenment along the way. Julia Roberts, who plays Gilbert's character in the movie version out this week, apparently found enlightenment of her own through the role, revealing that she has become a practicing Hindu.
 

As Joan Ball asks in a Guest Voices post, "Is it possible to live a life of deep, transformational faith without dropping everything and hitting the road?"
 
In your tradition, what is the aim of the spiritual journey? 

Some people find Faith by reading, some by listening to proponents and some need to travel and experience it for themselves. I think each of us are made differently, with varying capacities to educate and learn. So, I would say that it is not necessary for everyone to have to travel to find the spiritual teachings that touch their hearts. There are many examples of people in the United States who have simply heard visiting people of Faith and have been impressed enough to follow them with the same zeal as this person in the film.

The deeper question, of course, is should Faith be as transient as for example changing a shirt? There is an ancient school of thought that believes one's Faith is like one's mother. If you don't like your mother you don't change her, so why should one change one's Faith. Can one believe in something that does not bring them the spiritual satisfaction? This is why I keep coming back in most of my religious writings to the fact that we tend to confuse rituals with religion. The rituals that we practice do not necessarily represent the religion, or at least the core of the religion. But then not everyone has the understanding or the capacity to delve deeper into religion to come to their own understanding of what spiritualism within their own Faith means. So, when they go out in search of something else can that be construed as "shopping for Spiritualism"? And, does that last?

By Arun Gandhi  |  August 10, 2010; 12:04 PM ET Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
Previous: The journey inward precedes the journey outward | Next: Journey to put God front and center

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N O T E, on Technical Errors when Posting:

There was an anomoly when posting, thus causing a Truncation of Me Essay. So i tried line by line testing, thinking ONFaith was doing a Tweeter limit-thing, or the Technicians was testing the System but suddenly Eurika [I got This whole thing posted at once]. Sorry for the mess Students.

There is nothing wrong with i[WE]. It's Them. Aye.

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 3:17 PM
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Even Sir "STEPHEN HAWKiNG" (Astro Physicist; Father of Black HOles)et al makes Richard Dawkins (Biologist) look 'Lame', not only 'Blind'. see about Him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hawking

And Even Mr. "CARL WOESE" (Biologist; father of RNA Tree) is more peacefull with his self than Mr. Dawkins; i bet. Seeabout Him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Woese

iMportant; these folks and Similarly situated, are also Prophets and will be remembered as Apocaltitarians (Not Saints etc..) by Us Eklaht-i-ON's.

Note: If it was'nt for Sir Isaac NEWTON, triping on Mercury's close distance to our SUN (which will Go "POOF" in +/- 7 Bill Years; but Intel Life will end in +/- 1.144 Billion years) THAT we never would have Hir Albert Einstein {pubu] & CO. We'd still be stuch in the late 1800's when Hindu/Yogi was introduced in U.S.

O' Great Holyi Cosmic "SOURCE-EK/1/UNO,,, "IT"; O' Great Holyi NO Mon/Wom, Forgive them Not for They do Know'th what They Do'th with their own innate Religion!

The END is the most Blissfull Moment. Not only the BEGiNing. Yet It is What Ye DO'th between the Path/Line/Fate/Destiny that saves ONE.

Remember; WE[i] art "Students Forever of Source-One" & "i[WE] Never Graduate" Soo How about YE/YO?

Note: Includes Pre-Apocalyptic Folks like Mr/Sir "MEME" Richard Dawkins & similarly situated [trapped] in their selfs EGO's, Only Brain(organ).!.

PS: Yes, it's good to have Money, So What? It does'nt make Him Smart. Poor Smart Folks are the Richest folk on Earth; Not Rich n Stupido ones.

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 3:06 PM
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is TRULY (opposite MYTH) lost! Forget about the Movie.

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 3:04 PM
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So ANY Follower of this Wannabe atheo"G-D Player"

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 3:03 PM
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was,unlike Albert Einstein[pbuh]BigBlunder

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 3:00 PM
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continued: .. "Greatest Show On Earth..."

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 2:38 PM
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T R O G L O D Y T E

Interestingly Mr. or is it 'Sir' RICHARD DAWKINS (an Apocalyptic-Off) was one of the reasons i[WE] stayed on ONFAiTH, but but R.D. hath No Clue about The APOCALYPTiC-ON FAItH. aka The "Religion Of Everything Before The Science of Everything" (Faith/Belief/REligion). His

"Greatest Show On Earth..."

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 2:34 PM
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iNteresting.

The iLlustrious GiTA, Holy Geeta..

hath too-much-Violence in it (mixed with some good) ; especially via Mahabarahta's [CCXLIII & CCXLIV et seq] translated ENGlish by: Kisari Mohan Ganguli et al. So Who needs them? Likewise The

CHUMASH/Bible, Quran/Koran, bkMORMON.. so who needs them? Like wise

the Kangyur/Tangyurs & CO., also hath too much Violence (mixed w/some good) in them. So, who needs them?

"ALL" of these [NO exception] are Man/Human-Made(NOt god/God/G-D) Period!
What ALL human's have in Common is the 'Un-Written-G-D-Book." So this is What EVERY-BODY Has Already. "IT"("HARi" like a Soul of the Universe/Constitution + Laws/Clauses) is Innate!

IT's amazing {NO Grace} how WE APOCALYPTARiANS, aka EKLAHt-i-ON's have to put-up with such Pre-Apocalyptic (OFF's) via their man-made SYSTEM(S). Especially in [THIS] AQUARiUS-AGE(NEW time) proudly precessioning out of the WAR mongering PiSCES-Yuga/Age(OLD time); soo

Forget about being in the imgined Hindu Age/epoch called KALi-age which is to last another 8,000 years and thought that 3/4 (three fourths) of HUMANity are EVIL (like 3/4 of folks live in Sodom n Gomorrah Syle/Vogue?).

iMportant: There are only, only 2(two) Pre-Apocalyptic [man-made] RELiGION(s)on this Advanced Holyi, NEBULAE-BUiLT (by "IT"; where IT is NOt a HE nor a SHE), S.pace S.hip Earth: 1: VEDic & 2: ABEic. But now there is 3(three) which Absorbs All 1 + 2 = 3rd:

Hint: IT's called, "O.U.R." (O.ne U.niversal R.ligion) a/k/a the "HOlyi COsmic FEelers FAith" or simply, The "RELiGION of Everything, before The SCiENCE of Everything". {our O.u.R. "IT" story's hath Zero Violence!: Note, IT is Government/STATE friendly; NOt for CHURCH(s) whom compete and always hassle over for some gods, GOD.. OLD time Kids Story religion} SO

1)AUMMmmmorOMMMmmm, 2)AMEEnnnnnnnnnnn & NOW
3)EKLAhhhhhhhht-i

Posted by: woodstock-41 | August 11, 2010 1:09 PM
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My spiritual guru is Sir Richard Dawkins. Thank you for showing the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmac2fs5HQ

Spirituality & Religion are crutches for the weak. Human beings should stand for Reason.

Posted by: Troglodyte | August 11, 2010 12:45 PM
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