Author: Yashmita Duggal

The Journey From Innocence, Through the Noise of Life, and Back to the Connection That Never Left Us

We enter this world in the purest form we will ever know. A newborn knows nothing of status, success, failure, wealth, comparison, jealousy or recognition. There is no desire to prove anything to anyone, no worry about yesterday and no anxiety about tomorrow. There is simply life.

In those early years, there is an innocence that feels naturally close to the Divine. A child does not need reasons to trust and can find happiness in the smallest things. There are fewer layers between what is felt inside and what is expressed outside.

But then life begins to introduce itself.

Slowly, We Begin Absorbing the World

As we grow, we start learning how the world works. We learn what is expected of us, what achievement and failure mean, and how easily we can begin comparing ourselves with others. Gradually, we also become conscious of how people see us.

Education becomes important. Then come career, money, relationships, family, responsibilities and the desire to establish ourselves. None of these things are wrong. They are part of living. We need to study, work, earn and take care of our families. We have responsibilities towards the people around us. We have dreams we want to fulfil and a place we want to create for ourselves in this world.

But somewhere while doing all this, something subtle begins to happen. The physical world starts taking more and more space in our hands and in our minds. There is always something that needs our attention: a deadline, a bill, a career decision, a family responsibility, a problem to solve, a goal to achieve, something to prove or something to protect.

Life becomes noisy, and without even realizing it, the connection that once felt so natural can begin to feel distant.

When the Mind Becomes Restless

As the years pass, our lives may become fuller, but our minds do not necessarily become quieter. Sometimes the opposite happens. We may achieve many of the things we once wanted and still experience a strange restlessness within.

The mind begins asking questions that the practical world cannot always answer.

Who am I beyond all these roles?

Why am I here?

Why do certain things happen despite all our planning?

Why does having more not always make us feel complete?

Why does the mind remain restless even when life appears fine from the outside?

What am I actually searching for?

And one of the deepest questions of all: Where is God in all of this?

These questions may come quietly at first. Sometimes they appear after disappointment, sometimes after success, sometimes during difficulty, and sometimes there is no particular reason at all. We simply begin to feel that an important part of life is missing.

When Restlessness Turns Us Inward

We often think of inner restlessness as something we need to get rid of, but sometimes that restlessness is telling us something. The emptiness we occasionally feel is not always asking us to acquire more from the outside. It can be calling us to look within.

We spend so much of our lives learning how to navigate the external world that we can almost forget there is an inner world too. Then, somewhere along the journey, we begin searching for that connection again.

At first, there may even be hesitation. After being immersed in worldly life for so long, we may wonder how to approach our own spiritual core again. Where do I begin? Have I gone too far? Why did I stay disconnected for so long?

But God was always there. Only our eyes were looking elsewhere.

The Connection Was Never Broken

When we look back at life with greater awareness, something beautiful becomes visible. God was not present only during the moments when we consciously remembered Him. He was there during the years when we were busy too.

He was there through our struggles and achievements, through our mistakes, through the doors that opened and those that remained closed, through the people who entered our lives, and through the circumstances we could understand as well as those we could not.

We may feel that we are returning to God, but God never went anywhere. What we call a return is actually a recognition. We begin to see the Divine presence that had been with us all along.

The connection was never lost. Our awareness of it was.

God remained where He always was. It was our attention that became absorbed in the noise of the world. When we turn towards Him again with a sincere heart, we are not finding someone who was absent. We are recognizing the One who never left us.

When the Flame Begins to Burn Again

Somewhere within us, the flame may have become faint, but it was never completely extinguished. When the inner self begins searching again with a sincere heart, that Mashaal of consciousness, that flame of awareness, begins burning brighter. We start seeing differently.

The world around us may remain exactly the same. We still have work, responsibilities and families to care for. There are still bills, deadlines, disagreements, ambitions and difficulties. Spiritual awakening does not remove us from practical life. Instead, it changes how we live that life.

And this is where another important part of the journey begins.

How Do We Balance Everything?

Once we rediscover our spiritual connection, we may begin thinking that now we have several different worlds to balance: our work, our home, our responsibilities, our relationships and our spiritual journey.

But spirituality does not need to become another separate part of life. Instead of constantly trying to balance the spiritual and physical worlds, we can allow our spiritual awareness to become part of everything we already do. Then spirituality is no longer something we practice only at a particular time or place. We take it with us.

We go to work but carry humility with us.

We pursue success but do not allow achievement to determine our worth.

We earn and enjoy what life provides but remember that possessions are temporary. We raise our families with love and gratitude.

We disagree with someone while still remembering that the same Creator exists within them.

We face difficulty without assuming that God has abandoned us. We celebrate success without forgetting where our strength came from, and we serve others without constantly looking for recognition.

Slowly, work, home and spirituality stop feeling like three competing worlds. They become different expressions of the same life.

We Do Not Have to Leave the World to Find God

Spirituality was never asking us to escape ordinary life. It asks us to become more conscious while living it. We can work while remaining connected, achieve while remaining humble, love without trying to possess, and experience life without becoming completely consumed by our experiences. We can participate fully in this world while remembering the One who gave us this life.

When spirituality becomes woven into our character, we do not constantly have to search for separate moments to become spiritual. It begins appearing in the way we speak, the way we respond when someone hurts us, the way we behave when nobody is watching, the way we handle success and the way we accept disappointment.

It appears in the way we treat people who can give us nothing in return and in the way we remember God in both comfort and difficulty. Then the Divine connection is no longer separate from life. It becomes the thread running through it.

From Birth to Death

Eventually, the journey that began with our arrival in this world reaches its final stage. There is something deeply humbling about looking at life from beginning to end. We arrive without possessions, titles, professional achievements, social status or the identities we will later spend years building.

Then, throughout life, we collect so much. We build careers and homes, form relationships and accumulate experiences, memories, successes, disappointments and possessions. We spend years creating an identity and trying to leave our footprint upon the world.

And one day, we have to leave it all behind.

That is why remembering where we came from matters so much. Not so that we stop participating in life, but so that we understand life more clearly. We began this journey with nothing except the life given to us by the Divine. When the journey ends, the things we spent so much time accumulating remain here.

What becomes important then is not merely what we collected, but what we became while collecting it.

Did success make us arrogant or grateful?

Did difficulty make us bitter or deeper?

Did our relationships teach us possession or love?

Did our knowledge increase our ego or our humility?

Did we simply pass through life, or did we recognize the Divine presence accompanying us through it?

Our spiritual journey is not about finding a God who disappeared. It is about removing, one by one, the layers that prevented us from recognizing what was always there.

We begin with God. We travel through the noise of the world. We question, search, become restless and eventually look within. And one day, with a sincere heart, we recognize again the connection with which our journey began.

Only this time, it is no longer merely the innocence of a child.

It is awareness.

It is recognition.

It is consciousness.

And that is the real journey of life: not simply returning to God at the end, but recognizing, while we are still living, that we never traveled without Him.

Glossary

Mashaal (मशाल): A torch or flame. Here, it represents the inner light of consciousness and spiritual awareness that begins to shine brightly again when we reconnect with the Divine.

Beyond Inferiority and Superiority

No one in this world is inferior or superior. Every one of us is a creation of the same Supreme Creator. If the Creator is one, how can one creation be considered lesser than another?

And in the same way, none of us is truly superior. The only Supreme is the Divine Power Himself. Perhaps we need to stop looking at ourselves and others through the labels of inferiority and superiority.

We often place these labels on people. We say that someone has an inferiority complex or someone has a superiority complex. Sometimes we even place these labels on ourselves. Why do we need these labels when we are all simply learning?

We are neither inferior nor superior. We are all learners.

Stop Downgrading Yourself

Sometimes we are kinder to others than we are to ourselves. We notice someone else’s qualities and immediately begin comparing them with our own shortcomings. Slowly, admiration turns into self doubt, and we start believing that another person’s strength somehow makes us less.

But someone else’s light does not reduce ours. Humility does not mean considering ourselves inferior, just as confidence does not mean considering ourselves superior. We can appreciate another person without feeling smaller, and we can recognize our own qualities without believing that we are above anyone else.

Every person has different strengths, weaknesses, experiences and lessons. Someone may know more in one area and less in another. That does not make one person greater and another lesser. It simply means that we are learning different lessons.

Uplift One Another

Life could become so much more beautiful if we stopped measuring ourselves against one another and started seeing the good in each other.

We can try to understand instead of compare, encourage instead of judge, and uplift instead of pulling one another down. When we start looking for the good in people rather than their faults, our way of seeing each other begins to change.

And we should offer the same kindness to ourselves. We are all walking through struggles that may not always be visible to others. A little compassion, appreciation and encouragement can make someone’s journey lighter.

When we begin to recognize that every person before us is a creation of the same Supreme Power, the distance between you and me begins to disappear. We begin to understand oneness.

We Are Travelling Through the School of Life

We are all learners on this path of life. We have been travelling on this journey for so long, learning through relationships, experiences, difficulties, mistakes, happiness, loss and every moment that brings us a little more understanding.

Life keeps teaching us. Sometimes the lesson is patience, sometimes forgiveness, sometimes humility, sometimes acceptance and sometimes faith. Sometimes we are taught to let go, and sometimes we are taught simply to love.

Every experience may be another lesson that our soul still needs to learn.

From Learner to Disciple

The spiritual journey is not only about collecting knowledge. A True Master can show us the way, but learning does not become complete simply because we have heard the teachings. We have to understand them, accept them and, most importantly, live them.

It is one thing to know that we should not judge and another to actually become less judgmental. It is one thing to speak about humility and another to become humble. In the same way, talking about oneness is not enough until we begin to truly see everyone as one.

Hearing about the Divine is only the beginning. When that understanding starts changing the way we think, behave and live, the learner gradually begins to become a true disciple.

The Web We Create Around Ourselves

Many times, the barriers in our spiritual journey are not outside us. They are within us. Ego, comparison, jealousy, attachment, pride, judgment, fear, resentment and the constant need to prove ourselves can all become threads of a web in which we remain entangled.

Then the question is ours to answer. Do we want to keep ourselves caught in this web, or do we want to learn from the True Master, follow the guidance given to us and slowly free ourselves from everything that keeps us away from the Divine?

The choice is ours.

When the Learning Is Complete

Every learner is moving towards understanding. Spiritually, when we have truly learnt what this journey is here to teach us, that learning leads us towards liberation.

Different traditions may call it salvation, Mukti or Nirvana. The words may differ, but the essence is freedom.

It is freedom from the cycle that keeps us bound, freedom from ignorance, freedom from ego and separation, and freedom from the illusion that we exist separately from the Divine source from which we came.

And ultimately, it is becoming free from this cycle and merging back into the Divine. Perhaps that is when the learner has finally learnt what this journey of life was meant to teach.

There Is Only One Supreme

Life is not a competition to determine who is inferior and who is superior. There is only one Supreme. The rest of us are learners.

We may be walking through different circumstances, facing different lessons and growing at different speeds, but we have all come from the same Divine source.

Our purpose is not to rise above one another. Our purpose is to rise above the limitations within ourselves.

So let us be kind to ourselves and to others. Let us stop putting labels on one another and simply uplift each other. Let us remain learners and remember that behind all our differences, we are creations of the same Supreme Creator.

When we begin to see the same Divine in everyone, that is when we truly begin to understand oneness.

So let us simply remain learners in this school of the universe, learning from the True Master, growing through every experience and moving towards the Supreme Creator.

Glossary

Mukti
Spiritual liberation or freedom from the cycle of birth and death.

Nirvana
A state of spiritual freedom from attachment, ego and suffering, leading towards liberation.

Walk With Faith, Work With Sincerity

The younger years of life are filled with dreams, decisions, expectations, and uncertainty. There is often pressure to know exactly where you are going, what you want to become, and how you are going to get there.

But life does not always reveal the whole path at once.

Sometimes a plan works exactly as expected. Sometimes a door closes unexpectedly and another opens. Sometimes a problem disappears, while at other times nothing around us changes, and God gives us the strength and patience to walk through it.

Perhaps that is one of the most beautiful ways in which God works in our lives.

When the Path Changes

There will be times when you question yourself. You may see others moving ahead while you feel left behind. A result may disappoint you. Something you worked hard for may not happen. The future you carefully imagined may suddenly look completely different.

Do not immediately believe that your journey has gone wrong. A closed door is not always the end of the road. Sometimes it simply redirects us towards a path we could not yet see.

Faith does not mean believing that everything will happen exactly as we want. Faith means believing that even when things do not happen our way, we will be given the strength, wisdom, and direction to continue.

Three Things to Carry Through Life

There are three things worth holding onto as you build your future.

Work hard.

Give your sincere effort to whatever responsibility is in your hands. Faith should never replace effort. Do everything you can, and then have the courage to leave what is beyond your control to God.

Keep your intentions pure.

Never become so focused on reaching your destination that you forget how you traveled there. Success achieved at the cost of kindness, honesty, humility, or someone else’s dignity loses much of its meaning.

Never lose your faith.

Your own strength will sometimes feel insufficient. There will be situations you cannot control and answers you cannot find. Those are often the moments when faith becomes most valuable.

Success Is More Than Achievement

May you succeed in your studies, careers, relationships, and everything you sincerely work towards. But may your definition of success always extend beyond achievements.

Build a good life, but also build a good heart.

Be kind when there is nothing to gain from being kind. Stay humble when life gives you success. Respect people regardless of their position. Help when you are able to help. Never become so busy proving what you can achieve that you forget what kind of person you are becoming.

A meaningful life is not measured only by what we achieve. It is also measured by who we become along the way.

When Life Does Not Go According to Plan

Not every prayer will be answered in the way you expect. Not every road you choose will remain open. Not every difficult situation will disappear immediately.

Sometimes God changes the circumstances.

Sometimes He changes the direction.

And sometimes He gives you the strength to continue through circumstances that cannot yet be changed.

All three can be forms of grace.

So when you cannot see what lies ahead, do not let uncertainty take away your hope. Do your part sincerely. Work hard. Keep your intentions right. Remain humble. And leave some space for God to guide what you cannot control.

Your strength may be limited, but His strength is limitless. Your vision may reach only as far as today, while His can see the road ahead.

To every young person still finding their way, you do not need to have your entire life figured out today.

Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep your heart clean. Keep moving forward.

And above everything else, keep your faith alive.