‘Spirituality is a science, neither mythology nor religion’

The world was practically placed in the state of house arrest as the pandemic-induced lockdowns came into force in multiple countries across the world over two years ago. It has been acknowledged by experts globally that the outbreak and the prolonged impact of the pandemic majorly impacted the physical as well as mental wellness of a number of people. Besides, the remote working and learning culture fostered by the new normal led to a number of lifestyle changes. Many have since written and spoken about how the path of spirituality could and in fact has been helping millions strike equilibrium of sorts in their life.

In a bid to delve into the world and different aspects of spirituality, we spoke with spiritual leader AiR Atman in Ravi, who is also the founder of AiR Institute of Realization and AiR Center of Enlightenment. Speaking about what exactly spirituality is, he said, “Spirituality is the science of the Spirit, the Soul, the Atman. It is the study of the Power that gives us life, the Power that gives us breath, without which there would be death. Spirituality is a science, it is not mythology, it is not religion. Spirituality is very real. Unfortunately, because 99% of this world is spiritually blind, we don’t realize that spirituality is not just some myth, some fairy tale. It is a science and those who study this science realize that we are not the body, mind and ego. We are the Divine Soul.”

Spirituality will never change

When asked if the concept of it has also evolved with time, he quipped saying that since spirituality is eternal, it would never change. “It is to do with this Spirit that is birthless and deathless. It is immortal. The world may change but spirituality doesn’t change. We are the Divine Spirit and that doesn’t undergo any change although the world undergoes a lot of changes,” he added.

He further mentioned that spirituality can help the youth of today by helping them take charge of their mind, which in the words of AiR is their biggest enemy. He said, “Spirituality can help the youth realize what the purpose of life is. It can help youngsters fromgetting lost and caught inrunning a race and getting trapped in a maze. It can help youngsters realize the true purpose and the true meaning of life. It can give them an opportunity to choose a life of eternal happiness rather than a life where we run and run till life is done.”

Spirituality vs Corporate life

Before embarking on the path of spirituality, AiR had been very much a part of the corporate world, hence it was only natural to extract his thoughts on whether there’s any correlation between the two or if they were detrimental to each other. Responding to the query, the spiritual leader said that corporate was akin to a prison caught in the myth of “success is happiness”.

“When I realized that the goal of life was not achievement, but rather fulfillment, I went on a quest. Then I found out that the ultimate peak of life was not even fulfillment, but Enlightenment. So, I shut down my business, my corporate life and took the path of spirituality. Corporate life can only give us money, name, fame and success but spirituality can give us much more. What a corporate life or a business or success can give us is momentary, it is transitory.  But what spirituality can give us is permanent. Therefore I took an exit from the highway of achievement and went on the path of Enlightenment –  a spiritual path,” he said.

Talking about his journey from being Ravi Melwani to Atman in Ravi, he further mentioned, “When I realized that Ravi is not me, that Ravi was just a name given to me; when I realized that this body will die and people will say that I passed away; when I realized that ‘I’ came first, when the first cell of the zygote was created 9 months before Ravi was born, then I realized that I was not the body, the body will die. I was the Atman, the Divine Spirit and that made me transform from being Ravi Melwani to being Atman in Ravi. I realized that this was not just a transformation, it was a metamorphosis. It was irreversible. And it gave me tremendous peace, bliss, Divine love, and happiness. We all are Divine Souls having a human experience. Unfortunately, we think we are human beings having a spiritual experience. We are living in ignorance. We have to overcome the myth to realize the truth.”

For the unversed, AiR Atman in Ravi has also penned a number of books that deal with different subjects such as finding oneself, seeking spirituality etc. Some of his most acknowledged works include ‘The A to Z of Karma’, ‘The Mind is a Rascal’ and ‘Who are you & Why are you here’, among others.