Is it fashionable to be spiritual?

A few days ago, I reached out to an old acquaintance of mine who is now well into his 60s. It was a courtesy call, and as is customary, I inquired about his well-being. During our conversation, I shared my decision to work independently as a corporate trainer and mentioned about Truepath Learning. He promptly responded, “Kindly share your profile. I’ll help you. I will connect you with the right people.” After a pause, he added with subtle pride, “You know, I’m becoming more spiritual every day. I enjoy helping others nowadays.” Our conversation ended on a positive note, as one would expect.

This incident reminded me of an uncle of mine, a self-proclaimed atheist, who recently passed away. Despite his strong Leftist beliefs, he was highly regarded and respected for his helpful nature, transcending political boundaries. This raises an interesting question: “Do we need to be spiritual to be helpful? Are we using this term too casually?” At times, it seems that claiming to be spiritual is merely a way to project vanity.

Let’s consider another incident. A couple of months ago, I spoke with a school friend who informed me about the mental hardships a batchmate of ours was facing. Out of the blue, he remarked, “Did you know he has become spiritual lately? He regularly posts spiritual content in one of the WhatsApp groups we created some time ago.” I remained silent and did not respond. My friend continued, “Aren’t you part of that group? You may think about joining it someday.” Driven by curiosity, I eventually decided to join the group. Reading through the messages, it quickly became evident that there was a competition to see who could appear more spiritual by quoting from sacred texts. I left the group just a few days later.

These incidents, occurring within a few months, challenged my perceptions of spirituality and the traits of those who are spiritually evolved. Having been fortunate enough to closely observe a handful of such individuals, I have noted some of their remarkable qualities. They are always cheerful, humble, disciplined, resolute, and most importantly, they are not boastful. They never feel the need to flaunt their knowledge of sacred literature to impress others; instead, they protect their spiritual progress from being publicly disclosed. While many of us speak about spirituality, they embody it. That is the fundamental difference. In this context, one cannot help but quote Sri Aurobindo, “Spirituality has meant … the recognition of something greater than mind and life … a surge and rising of the soul in man out of the littleness and bondage of our lower parts towards a greater thing secret within him.” (An Introduction to True Spirituality, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, 1997, pp.11-12)

Before we conclude, let’s return to the well-wisher I mentioned at the beginning of this article. It's not the first time he has made such comments; he had said similar things in the past, and the result has always been the same. Any guesses as to what that result is?