Youth for meditation!

Spirituality had been thought of to be an entity tagged to old age or boredom. ‘Now is the time to enjoy! Meditation is for the older generation’, was a remark heard quite often even by youngsters who showed only a faint interest in it.

“I used to think that spiritual people were very serious and vapid, but I have realized that I could not have been more wrong. Only after meditation do I feel energetic and enthusiastic enough to do anything dynamic! I would have been mired to my daily activity and been a slave to routine if it weren’t for spirituality. It has definitely broadened my vision and given more meaning to my life” says Shwetha Srinivasan, a 20 years old management student. She is not a stray exception; the trend seems to be catching on quite virally.

Youngsters, now grappling with a slew of problems and issues, much more compared to the previous generations’, are turning towards spirituality for peace of mind and clarity. Be it coping with peer pressure, generation gap between parents and children, increasing competitiveness in the society or relationship issues, spirituality has the solution to it all. The youngsters are clear that the ultimate aim of their spiritual practices is enlightenment/ moksha and that the other fringe benefits are just by-products. Moreover, youngsters these days taste material success much earlier in their life compared to their predecessors. Finding materialistic ways of life to be impermanent, their search for that true joy and peace leads them to meditation and spirituality. The much required sense of security and unconditional love steers them to the spiritual path.

“Youth are bored and it’s their fortune. If they were satisfied, then growth would have stopped”, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living. “When they are bored, then the quest comes in them. They are not satisfied with the things available around. And this is the stage when they can take a step to look within, a leap in their inner journey, a step towards spirituality. An interest in higher growth gets kindled, when you are bored with things around. When you find the source of joy within, then obviously everything around is also reflecting the same source of joy, then you find interest in everything. Continuous bombardment of senses by stimuli can cause inertia. Inertia is boredom; it is a form of boredom.”

The fact that they are spiritual definitely does not mean that they ignore the material and worldly needs. Many of them have high dreams and ambitions and vouch that spirituality is what helps them achieve their goals. “When you are firmly established in knowledge, then treading the material world becomes like a game. When I approach life with this attitude, success is inevitable!” says Abhishek Bhuradia, a Software Engineer from Bangalore.

This changing trend is being welcomed by all as a way to secure ‘Indian-ness.’ After all, India’s most unique and invaluable contribution to the world is its spiritual knowledge.

“More and more youngsters are turning towards spirituality for inner peace and calmness. Meditation satisfies both their material and spiritual needs!