People all over the world are searching for solutions to the mysteries of life and death to find out what lies beyond this physical world. Current books, magazine articles, and conferences show that interest in spiritual pursuits is growing. More and people want to learn how to achieve inner peace through spiritual experiences.
Modern society as a whole values intellectual and physical growth. Unfortunately, it does not place a high value on spiritual development. We are brought up to associate spirituality with the rites and rituals of our religious institutions. If people tell us they are searching for God, we equate them with monks in a monastery sitting on wooden benches and praying day and night. In the past, people would leave their homes and their families to search for God in forests or deserts. But the industrial and the technological age have made such demands upon hu-manity that people cannot abandon the world to pursue spirituality.
The challenge to address is: How can we pursue spirituality in the setting of modem life? How can we search for God in a way that is socially acceptable and socially responsible? How can we attain spiritual heights without sacrificing our intellectual and physical growth? And how can we do so in the context of our family and community life?
We can attain self-knowledge and God-realisation in the context of modern life. We can lead a productive, fulfilling life in the world while working towards spiritual ends. Sant Darshan Singh called this approach “positive mysticism”. This was opposed to “negative mysticism” which required one to give up the world in order to find God. The path of positive mysticism enables one to achieve the best of both worlds. The concept of positive mysticism can give us an understanding of how we can achieve spiritual growth while meeting the challenges of the age.
Spiritual teachers who have mastered the art of knowing themselves can teach others how to achieve this goal. If we look at various methods used throughout history, we find that the most effective way to realise our self is through meditation. Saints, seers and mystics have told us that God is within. They further explain that the soul is a part of God.
