How India's Gen Z is redefining spirituality

[prasad1]

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People talk of spatiality. But they really do not know the true meaning. They confuse their superstions and outdated customs as spiritualty.
Let us get the understanding from younger people.

Young people in India have a huge interest in spirituality and religion, but they are doing it differently than older generations. For many Gen Zers, it is a personalized experience rather than a ritualistic compulsion.
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"I am not religious, I am spiritual," he told DW. "I don't go to the temple as frequently as my parents, I go sometimes for the calm and peaceful vibe. I started going when I was unable to find a job and my mental health was at its worst."

"Gen Z has a lot of different vocabulary that they can lean on to explain what they are feeling, which is different from previous generations," counselling psychologist Manavi Khurana told DW.

"Terms like healing, grounding, getting in touch with the self. Spirituality, religion, wellness and well-being all get mixed up, though they have intersections as well," Khurana added.

She is the founder of the mental health organization Karma Care in Delhi, which has a mix of Millennial (people who were born roughly between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z clients.
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"If spirituality leads to extremism, it's not the best scenario. But if someone uses it as a way to get in touch with themselves and as a coping mechanism, it is very important," Khurana said.

Young Indians don't seem to be shying away from religion — they are reinventing and customizing it.
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How India's Gen Z is redefining spirituality – DW – 08/02/2025

Young people in India have a huge interest in spirituality and religion, but they are doing it differently than older generations. For many Gen Zers, it is a personalized experience rather than a ritualistic compulsion.

www.dw.com

 

[sravna]

Yes. Actually youngsters should learn from hard core pragmatism. They will understand how not to be both stupid and foolish.

 

[renuka]

Yes. Actually youngsters should learn from hard core pragmatism. They will understand how not to be both stupid and foolish.

I feel we need to realize that religion and spirituality go hand in hand.
There is a tendency to disconnect both from each other.
Religion is often confused as rules and regulations partly because it is often potrayed as rigid.
But if religion is explained well with logic, then one can develop the ability to contemplate and experience spirituality.

Spirituality is the inward path to self discovery/ God realization.
Religion is the external path we walk on before knocking on the door of spirituality.

Sometimes we straight away want to be spiritual without preparing our mind and body with religion.

Religion should not be viewed as anti spiritual.
A Sufi quote on religion and spirituality makes a lot of sense..it goes,
" One who is religious but not spiritual is a fanatic and one who is spiritual but not religious is a heretic..we need a balance of both"

 

[sravna]

Dear Renuka,

In the slogan unity In diversity, diversity is religion and unity is spirituality

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

Religion: Something imposed on an individual from external agents, that conditions the mind, that programs the mind, that binds an individual with rigid rules, that coerces and compels an individual to perform certain acts on some auspicious days, that makes a person do certain things mechanically and artificially regardless of any benefits, that forces an individual to adhere to established norms, that gives an illusion of something apparently organized but chaos and confusion in reality, that curbs the intellect of the individual, that is passed on a person by virtue of birth by parents, that makes a person feign virtue, that which appears as light but indeed darkness, that makes a person discriminate among individuals, that develops vices in an individual, that bloats an individual's ego, that sets an individual on ego-wars and ego-battles, that which keeps an individual separated and disconnected from the divine, that which hinders a person from discovering his or her true identity, that which makes a person get attached to the material world, that which generates in a person the morbid desire and passion to acquire wealth by hook or by crook, that which degenerates, decays the soul and spirit of an individual, that which engulfs a person from the creator... and many more.

Spirituality: The motivation, inspiration, the spark of intelligence from within, which sets an individual to seek, to pursue and to find and eventually realize the Eternal Truth, the internal force from within un-influenced from any external agent or force, that independent, indigenous phenomenon from within that sets an individual to defy established norms, that sets an individual to break free from all conditioning, programming, conflict, that enlightens a person and sets a person free from all religion, that which enables a person to break free from all shells and cocoons which confine the individual, that connects and unites a person with the divine, that develops divine character from within a person manifesting to benefit others, that power from within a person which impacts others and sets others also free from all chains and bondage, that restores a person to divine will and purpose for which the individual is created by the creator, that awakens a person to reality, that enables a person to sense the falsehood and deception of religion, that brings alive the AGAPE in a person, that aligns a person with the plan of the creator, that which helps a person to discover his or her true identity, that which helps a person detach from the material world, that which keeps an individual alive in soul and spirit, that which helps a person manifest the Fruit of the Spirit ... and many more

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

Spirituality in a Nutshell:

"Asathoma Sat Gamaya, Thamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityoma Amritham Gamaya, Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi Hi"

Relgion in a Nutshell: Hypocrisy

Good News: India's Gen Z have realized this.

 

[renuka]

Spirituality in a Nutshell:

"Asathoma Sat Gamaya, Thamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityoma Amritham Gamaya, Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi Hi"

Relgion in a Nutshell: Hypocrisy

Good News: India's Gen Z have realized this.

Let there be light in the nut-shells of our minds.
Each Generation feels they have realized something.
Nothing new..we are either dumb or dumber and the cycle repeats.

 

[sravna]

We need to do less preaching and teach them to do. That is the most difficult part.

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

We need to do less preaching and teach them to do. That is the most difficult part.

"..difficult part" ... Not at all. We need not teach them. In fact they are teaching us, by being simple, plain, open, straightforward, honest, truthful, sincere, un-hypocritic, by forbidding conditioning and programming of the mind, by blocking that junk called philosophy which does not benefit one bit, which on the contrary stirs ego and generates ego-wars. They have the internet, google, AI, Chat GPT, etc etc where they can learn from. For them being human is being spiritual. Love in action, pure and pristine Love, is spiritual, not yoga or meditation. They are sore fed up and frustrated with long and boring sermons which are mere empty rhetoric, parading of eloquence and pride, of arrogance and conceit, of vainglory, which are like white washed tombs, looking aesthetic outside but stink of dead bones inside, which cause mere sensation of mind but miserably fails to touch the spirit and soul.

 

[renuka]

"..difficult part" ... Not at all. We need not teach them. In fact they are teaching us, by being simple, plain, open, straightforward, honest, truthful, sincere, un-hypocritic, by forbidding conditioning and programming of the mind, by blocking that junk called philosophy which does not benefit one bit, which on the contrary stirs ego and generates ego-wars. They have the internet, google, AI, Chat GPT, etc etc where they can learn from. For them being human is being spiritual. Love in action, pure and pristine Love, is spiritual, not yoga or meditation. They are sore fed up and frustrated with long and boring sermons which are mere empty rhetoric, parading of eloquence and pride, of arrogance and conceit, of vainglory, which are like white washed tombs, looking aesthetic outside but stink of dead bones inside, which cause mere sensation of mind but miserably fails to touch the spirit and soul.

Then in that case they should follow teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurty.
He totally is not in favor of mental conditioning.

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

Then in that case they should follow teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurty.
He totally is not in favor of mental conditioning.

As per JK, Truth is a Pathless land. You ought seek Truth by yourself. Neither follow a teacher nor be a teacher. Neither follow a master nor be a master.

Had JK been alive, he would be learning from Gen Z.

 

[renuka]

As per JK, Truth is a Pathless land. You ought seek Truth by yourself. Neither follow a teacher nor be a teacher. Neither follow a master nor be a master.

Had JK been alive, he would be learning from Gen Z.

So I guess we have found the best pathless path..Jiddu Krishnamoorty is totally not in favor of any type of religious conditioning of ANY religion.

I remember seeing a video where a person asked him.." what happens to the soul after death".
JK's reply was " what sole? The sole of my shoe"?

So you see..since Gen Z would prefer no nonsense type of spirituality..may be you should promote JK's teaching.

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

So I guess we have found the best pathless path..Jiddu Krishnamoorty is totally not in favor of any type of religious conditioning of ANY religion.

I remember seeing a video where a person asked him.." what happens to the soul after death".
JK's reply was " what sole? The sole of my shoe"?

So you see..since Gen Z would prefer no nonsense type of spirituality..may be you should promote JK's teaching.

Sorry Ma'am.

Neither JK is not my teacher. Nor am I anyone's teacher.

Furthermore I am not here to promote any school of thought or philosophy or religion. I have no agenda.

Be human and inspire others to be human. Love everyone, including those who throw brickbats at me.

Let our character preach. Not our voice.

 

[sravna]

Shri. GS,

To whom is your message?

 

[sravna]

It sounds like preaching to a community which has committed the least blunders given its privileged position in society and has arguably made more contributions, very disproportionately so considering its population. It did not kill people for its selfish ends, it did not scheme against other groups, it did not break nations , it did not think all is fair when it comes to self promotion etc etc. It did pride on its knowledge and intelligence that sometimes inclined towards an excess but after all we are humans . We are not perfect. ITs own members were pointing towards such excess pride.

I hope you ae not preaching to TBs. If it is to Gen Z it can be done without demonising TBS. You talk so much of love, spirituality etc. Is that not the approach you should take?

 

[sravna]

People respond differently to measures taken against them. One who is mature assuming he commits mistakes responds to reason even if he was blinded at the time of committing the mistakes. One who is egotistical will never respond to reason but with perseverance using a mix of approaches may respond eventually. One whose ego is brimming is the most problematic. There is nothing he will respond so. So God makes him perpetuate the mistakes so that a fitting retribution awaits him at the end. There is no escape from the divine.

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

Shri. GS,

To whom is your message?

To whomsoever the conscience pricks.

 

[sravna]

To whomsoever the conscience pricks.

Clever reply but not apt

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

People respond differently to measures taken against them. One who is mature assuming he commits mistakes responds to reason even if he was blinded at the time of committing the mistakes. One who is egotistical will never respond to reason but with perseverance using a mix of approaches may respond eventually. One whose ego is brimming is the most problematic. There is nothing he will respond so. So God makes him perpetuate the mistakes so that a fitting retribution awaits him at the end. There is no escape from the divine.

Dear Sravna,

I hold you in good esteem for your intellect, wisdom, erudition which fade mine to insignificance. Yet you have grossly misunderstood such that I feel like saying, 'you too brutus'. Rest assured I am not demonising any community. I apologize if any of my pronouncements personally offended or hurt you.

I shall respond privately lest some uncivilized anti-human psycho-cynical psycho-skeptical elements compound matters with their paranoid comments and abusive hurls and also lest we digress from the topic of this forum.

Regards,
GS

 

[sravna]

Dear Shri. GS,

I try not to get into a personal attack. But i feel compelled to respond when the critique becomes criticism. I have conceded that TBs have their flaws which is pride mainly but have rarely committed acts and harmed others due to thoughts that are purely selfish in motive. At least it is minimal when you have history as context.

A balanced argument which you are eminently capable of would not prompt people to see you as one sided and with an agenda. The reason is the world is full of people who are utterly untrustworthy, sad but true.

If you want to have a private conversation you are most welcome to but the public would definitely benefit a lot more if the arguments are conducted in a disinterested way and with reason which the public can read and mull.

 

[GNANA SUNYAM]

Dear Shri. GS,

I try not to get into a personal attack. But i feel compelled to respond when the critique becomes criticism. I have conceded that TBs have their flaws which is pride mainly but have rarely committed acts and harmed others due to thoughts that are purely selfish in motive. At least it is minimal when you have history as context.

A balanced argument which you are eminently capable of would not prompt people to see you as one sided and with an agenda. The reason is the world is full of people who are utterly untrustworthy, sad but true.

If you want to have a private conversation you are most welcome to but the public would definitely benefit a lot more if the arguments are conducted in a disinterested way and with reason which the public can read and mull.

We can generalize statements like, 'Cobras are poisonous' because every cobra is poisonous. There is no non-poisonous cobra. 'Poisonous' is a property you can ascribe to the entire class (or species) of 'Cobra'.

Likewise you can generalize 'Doves are harmless'. There is no harmful Dove. 'Harmlessness' is a nature you can ascribe to the entire class ( or species) 'Doves'. Every specimen would be sample of the species. Every instance would be sample of the class.

But when it comes to Virtues, Values, Character Traits, does the Class-Instance formula apply, considering the criterion on which society was divided into Castes, on which the caste system evolved!!! Whatever character trait, virtue, asset or any non-material resource for that matter an individual possesses, does that become instance of the entire class which is caste?

Every boy or girl born in brahmin families, regardless of sect, sub-sect, sutra, gotra etc, regardless of financial status, rich, poor, middle-class are being made to conceive the notion that he or she is born in the 'Highest' caste, 'The most Superior of all Castes'. etc. This gets imprinted in the minds of the brahmin children at a very young age. He or She grows up with such a conceived notion and hence develops a mindset mentality caused by the notion. This gradually develops in the mind from a young age, a superiority complex, obviously, which adversely affects the character of the individual, which plunges the individual into needless conflicts. As they grow, as they interact with more people from across all castes, communities, linguistic groups, ethnic groups, as they mature, they realize that their notion is misconceived. They realize that the complex is irrational, that it has been imposed in their minds from outside of them that they are 'high-caste', that the 'superior' element about them is a myth. They are also human beings like everyone else. Intelligence, Wisdom, Spirituality etc are not properties of the entire class. They realize that they are not a Class and as an individual they are not an instance of a Class. Some realize this earlier in their life journey, some realize it later, some never. Some struggle to break free from the complex. Some stubborn, fight to establish the notion.

There are Gems in every people group. There are also the crude in every group.

Those who either realized this late or never realized, got caught into numerous confrontations, which their descendants, the Gen Z, witnessed without fail. The Gen Z are not without learning lessons from their ancestors. They want to avoid needless conflicts. The TB Gen Z prefer to confine their caste identities to the four walls of their homes. They want to be free of all complexes. They want to separate Spirituality from Religion, from mechanical and artificial rituals and from anything that is binding. This is my observation.

This trend among the Gen Z seems to be troubling the earlier Gen. The earlier Gen perceives this as degeneration, deterioration and decay. I wonder why!!!

Spirituality does not mandate the donning of saffron robes, reclining to the himalayas or haridwar or rishikesh or banaras or bhadrinath or kedharnath.

Spirituality does not mandate the mastering of any sacred text be it Vedas, Updanishads, Gita, Bible, Quran, Grant Sahib etc.

You can be spiritual in Electronic City or in Silicon Valley also, in a corporate set up. It is all a matter of conviction, will power and determination.

If possible visit any Infosys Development Centre. In every DC you will find a Meditation Centre, a large hall, part of one of the numerous buildings in a sprawling campus, where round the clock you will see some techie doing something catering to the Spirit and Soul, some yoga at one corner, some Sudharshan Kriya in another corner, some Sadhana in yet another corner, etc etc. These are people who would be writing sophisticated codes back in their offices.

Spirituality cannot be confined to any geographical boundary.

No people group can claim spirituality as their own.

No onslaught from west or east can shake spirituality which is Universal.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[sravna]

Dear Shri.GS,

The very purpose and nature of our existense is to learn from the diversity around us. There will be high, highest rich, poor powerful, powerless etc. The attitude of the people in those groups is in accordance with such qualities and conditions.

The individual in the group will appropriate the qualities accorded to the group. It has its uses. It helps one to make easy conclusions about someone. For example when you say rich you will know he will possess a car or politically powerful he will be arrogant. Thus sort of understanding is necessary for easier functioning of society in many cases.

So to ascribe qualities to one based on his group is per se not without utility. But one has not to be indiscriminate. You have to do due diligence and apply your mind to assess the individual apart from the qualities ascribed to him as part of the group. This is not difficult. You need a few minutes interaction to get a rough assessment of any person you want to know.

It shouldn't bother people if someone shows pride in belonging to a group as long he patently does not commit any harmful act to others because of that thought like physical abuse. It is difficult to draw a line on mental abuse because any human is prone to do that. Human mind without proper emotional control is very fragile and a silly act can lead to huge consequences.

Compare it to the physical abuses and atrocities going around in the world. What do you think of them. Everyone thinks he is superior to others in some way because of ego and it is not the attitude of brahmins alone.

So to blame brahmins alone for possessing superiority complex is not reasonable. It only shows that others think brahmins are indeed intelligent.

To sum up everyone is flawed in a way or other and as long as the flaws do not manifest as physical harm and blatant mental harm to others it is necessary to be mature about them and take it ones stride as part of life and better still as a learning experience.

 

[renuka]

Dear GS ji
Could you define spirituality?
So far its only " not this, not this"(neti neti) from you...but Advaita isnt your cup of tea here.

I have still have no idea what is your idea of spirituality that resonates well with Gen Z.

Btw out here in Malaysia, majority of Gen Z hindus are still into praying, temple going, yoga meditation, going to Sabarimalai India..attending regular bhajans at Sai Baba centres.
A Dargah I go to has many Hindu Gen Z who come there regularly especially on Muharram.

Gen Z Non Hindus themselves do not neglect their religion.

I do not find Gen Z totally lost and not found or blind and not yet can see
They are Amazingly Graceful in their balance view of life.

Note : my last two lines are altered from the song Amazing Grace.

 

[sravna]

The test is does a purpoted behaviour affect anyone materially or physically? The caste hierarchy deprived many people access to certain jobs. But brahmins themselves were not after material things. It was the kings and other royal persons, the businessmen who were materially most well off. Being a TB I know the brahmin mindset. It is not after money or power. It is about education or knowledge. If social status accorded to them were because of those accomplishments in education why blame them?

I am of the view that all are ultimately equal in all aspects because of Atman being the deepest self. But pragmatics plays its role through the game of diversity and consequent learning. The brahmins still have a lot to learn too to move towards the ideal. But to single them out as the cause of the ills of others is very unfair.

At least the brahmins have this intellectual background to make them realize their own mistakes and take control of self. What about many others soaked in hedonistic philosophy who think selfishness is a virtue. God save the world from them.

 

[கால பைரவன்]

How do you craft a good lie? You hide it among truths. Looks like someone is adept at it.

No. Brahmin kids are not being made to conceive that they belong to the highest caste. We don't teach our kids to feel superior or anything like that. In fact, this didn't happen even when I was growing up and that was a very long time ago. Other than some differences in habits especially with respect to food diet, we all did the same things. We lived in the same area. We went to the same school. We played together in the same playground etc If differences existed, it didn't surface at that age. Religious differences were perhaps more visible because of the different festivals we celebrated but even that didn't matter. Sometimes christians subtly proclaimed how their God is the "true" God etc. The parents did and NOT the kids who would make such claims. It didn't bother us much. Perhaps it is because we didn't spend a lot of time with the parents. We didn't have time for any of these things. If anything, we became aware of the differences more because of political reasons - viz-a-viz caste based quotas in higher education. GS types don't talk about them because that sort of caste discrimination favors them.

Anyway we are living in the age of social media. The proof as they say is in the pudding. If you understand tamil, follow tamil social media. There is plenty of Vellalar pride, Dravidian pride, Vanniar pride, Thevar pride, Gounder pride etc These will dwarf any Brahmin pride.

This "superiority complex" is just a trumped up charge; a convenient stick to beat brahmins with and it helps satisfy the hatemongering itch that some people have.