Spirituality: A Mantra for Stress Management

A mother has killed her child, or the farmer has committed a suicide, or a student has committed a suicide or a professional has committed a suicide are the frequent news lines today. I believe that the root cause for such actions is sheer mismanagement of human stresses which puts him or her in an uncontrolled life situation.

“Be Spiritual” is the best approach of successfully handling these complex stresses. More than 100 years ago Swami Vivekananda proclaimed “When the life - blood is strong and pure, no disease germ can live in that body. Our life - blood is spirituality. If it flows clear, if it flows strong and pure and vigorous, everything is right; political, social, any other material defects, even the poverty of the land, will all be cured if that blood is pure…. That is the national mind, that is the national life - current. Follow it and it leads to glory. Give it up and you die; death will be the only result, annihilation the only effect, the moment you step beyond that life - current.”

We need to understand this quickly and have to translate it in our day to day actions to relieve our stresses.

Our Vedanta confirms that Spirituality is a science and it is the most practical thing which can be verified globally. If one performs spiritual disciplines, the result is bound to come.

To train the mind to obey you is the ideal of spiritual discipline. After practicing certain spiritual disciplines our mind will become pure and steady. This will help in bringing the mind under our control and thereby we can manage the mental stresses under different situations of our life. The experts say that if you practice meditation continuously for seven or eight years you will find peace and bliss, and enjoy the fruits of your practices. Even after one year steady practise you will find some result.

In brief, what are the spiritual disciplines? Always be truthful. Be self-controlled. Watch your speech. Envy no one. Hate no one (including yourselves). Be jealous of no one. Practise chastity. We must practice spirituality when we are young. As we grow older the mind looses its vigour. Therefore, be up and doing, Be Spiritual !!