Spirituality to me means an extremely deep connection with the forces at work around me and cannot be simply picked up from a book or manuscript or be told to you by someone.

I definitely believe in God and do not think that most things that happen around us are as random as they seem. I have come to believe through many small and big instances in my life that it is not possible for us to always be in control and that there is some larger force at work around us. God is the name that you choose to give this force.

I have grown up around people from different religions and visit religious sites of different religions as i believe that few places exude the kind of peaceful energy that these places do. At least for the short time that people are at a religious place, they express gratitude and think good thoughts. These are essentially places of hope.

I admit to being extremely superstitious at one point of time, but have given up superstitions of any kind as i have come to realise that they work more on fear than on faith and are only a manifestation of a deep rooted fear psychosis. I do not believe in amulets and lucky charms either.

Most of us are extremely lucky for the things that we have and forget to be grateful when things are going right. I believe that during difficult times, all the help we need is right around us. I often turn to close friends and rely on good advice, commune with nature or spend time with my dog.

I have read the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and believe that much of what we believe is based on misinterpretation. The Bhagavad Gita has helped me greatly in the process of self-discovery.

My philosophy in life is to be responsible for myself and my actions and not be a selfish, self-involved person. It is important to be truthful to oneself and others. I’m half Punjabi and half Parsi and my mother was Buddhist for fifteen years. I’ve therefore been lucky to experience these diverse belief systems.

The floods in Mumbai completely changed my perspective, as here were people in one of the most chaotic cities in India, helping each other out through a crisis with a smile on their faces. To me, human compassion supersedes all religion and philosophy and is the most beautiful thing about human beings. It just goes to show, that all of us, at the core, are spiritual by nature.

Original article here.