The physical exercises play very important role in enhancement of our stamina and muscle power. If you run daily, the muscles of your legs, hands and heart get stronger. The workouts at Gyms are often designed to make the muscles of a specific part of the body like the abdomen, thighs... etc stronger.
Similar to the physical exercises, man has also designed mental exercises to strengthen the power of mind. Almost all education system devised by man helps increasing the mental power to enable him to understand the complex world and solve complex problems. For example, the study of language needs a large number of words to be memorized which increases the memory of the person. The study of literature increases imagination and comprehension. The practice of mathematics increases the analytical power of mind. The study of science increases the logical and reasoning power of the man.
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The increase of the physical and mental power by the help of different exercises are finally tested by help of tests and games where people are required to play the game and the one who scores high or defeat others wins the game. The winner is rewarded by the society with more material benefits as they are in a better position to solve the problems of the world. Over the years, the physical and mental power of the man had increased by the help of these exercises and now the man is able to comprehend far more complex issues much better than his ancestors.
It is said in scriptures that every person evolves from body to mind to soul to spirit. Thus the next goal of the man must be to strengthen his soul so that he can love the world and lead a life of peace and happiness.
The spiritual power of the man can be improved by man in the same way as we improve the physical and mental power. The techniques to improve spiritual power are the spiritual exercises, which shall be explained in this article.
The Spiritual Exercises
Just like every person has a body and mind, every person also has a soul which is the essence of the person. This soul is the presence of the God or Spirit in man which connects every single in this world. All souls of the world are, therefore, connected with each other with the invisible spirit just like all flowers of the garland are connected by the invisible thread.
Everyone is born with a pure soul. However, as the man gets involved into more and more worldly affairs and focuses on the body and mind and uses less his soul, his body and mind gets stronger while his soul gets weaker. The result is that the invisible connection of man with the reality gets weakened. Hence the man gradually loses the power to influence others or get influenced by the others. He loses sympathy and empathy.
The enhancement of soul power connects the man with the world and helps him realize his dream by developing the capability to influence the soul of others. The power of the soul can be enhanced by the help of spiritual exercise as much as the physical exercises enhances physical power.
THE FIVE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
The five spiritual exercises are designed to improve the spiritual power of a man. These are described as following:-
1. Increase Faith in The Invisible
Faith is the essence of spiritualism. However, a spiritual person does not have faith on a God, deity or a saint but on the Supreme Reality that is behind all the Material Realities. This reality is often called Spirit as it can't be seen or felt by senses. Yet this Reality connects every person and seeks the good of all people. A person who seeks to damage the whole for the sake of his selfish good is punished and the one who seeks to help others selflessly is rewarded. However, the rewards and punishment is not instantaneous as every seed that is sown on the ground takes time in bearing fruits whether good or evil. Yet everyone reaps what he sows. The first exercise of the spiritual person is to observe closely the life of the self and others and discover this eternal truth by himself that every person who is leading a life or pain or joy is not due to any accident or manipulation but because of his actions in the past. The faith on this universal law is the first and foremost requirement of a spiritual person. The more you study the life of self and others honestly; the more faith you would develop on the presence of Omnipresent Spirit or Supreme.
2. Man is Spiritual
While it is true that man shares many similarities with other animals, yet he is designed uniquely by nature. Jesus said in Bible that man does not live for bread alone because he has spiritual needs. No other animal has this needs and that distinguishes man from the rest of the animals. You have to therefore, observe by looking in our own life as to what brought happiness and joy in your life and what caused us pain and misery. Every person is bound to see that all material achievements brought happiness that lasted only for few days or even for few hours while if you have helped others and made their life better, the joy was lasting. It can be then found that happiness is not achieved by sensual satisfaction but achieved only by being good to others. The desire of doing good to others is what people call spirituality as the rewards of such act are not material, but spiritual which fills the natural requirement of every man. Thus whenever possible, try to help others. There is no better method to become spiritual than by helping others as if you are helping your loved one.
3. Discipline of Body and Mind
Gita states that senses are superior to body, mind is superior to senses, Soul is superior to mind and God is superior to Soul. However, for most people, it is the body and senses that control the mind. The mind, therefore, can't listen to the soul and the voice of God. The only way to improve the power of soul is to control the body, senses and mind. This is what is attempted by Yoga and Meditation exercises. In these exercises, the body of the person is forced to live in a particular posture for sometime and the mind is focused on some imaginary object. The practice of yoga and meditation gradually enhances the spiritual power of the man as the soul takes control over the body and mind.
4. Love Thy Enemy
As the same spirit resides in every single creation of the world, hence every one becomes the extension of the self. No one can hate himself and consider hurting himself. The very reason of hate is the feeling of separateness. It is said that every person has both good and evil in him. However, we prefer to see good in the people whom we love but we see only evil in the people whom we hate. Hence, if we develop the habit of seeing good in every person, including our enemies, it would not be difficult to love the enemy. The method to start loving your enemy is by finding a common friend and learns the goodness about the enemy from him. This can gradually reduce or hatred and bring loves as we develop a vision and desire to see goodness in him.
5. Serve Rather than Rule
No one would like to give orders to God as God is Omnipotent. We all have developed the habit of serving God as we consider ourselves weaker than God. It is only by service, the love of God can be obtained. If you are spiritual, you see God in everyone and hence there is no way that you can order another person to submission. You serve everyone as you serve God. This is a change in paradigm as we have learned to serve only a more powerful person while make the weaker person submit to us. For example, in a family, the more powerful person gives orders to the weaker one. However, even as head of family, if you serve the others rather then forcing them to do something, you are on your path of spirituality. You request and pray to your family for doing any work rather than giving orders. Similarly, you take the wishes of your family as commands rather than as requests. This exercise can be started at home and then gradually experimented in the office and other places. You can gradually see how other man gets transformed into divinity who gives you love and happiness besides doing the work assigned to them.
Strengthen Your Soul
The key to love, happiness and peace lies in the soul and not in any material things in life. However a man with a weak soul can never realizes these blessings. Even after achieving everything in his life, he still feels pain and misery and continues to lead an unhappy and unsatisfied life. The spiritual power of the man can be enhanced gradually by following the five exercises discussed in this article which opens the door of happiness and joy for him in this world.
Five Simple Exercises For Enhancing Spiritual Power
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