Folks,
I am putting together the questions covered so far and my answers here.
1.What is spirituality?
Spirituality is the way of life in accordance with the laws of reality of inner self. The inner reality comprises of time, mind, thoughts and at even deeper level it comprises of timelessness, pure consciousness and blissful experience. The external reality on the other hand comprises of space, physical energy and events. I use the term physical energy to include matter also. The extent of one’s spirituality depends on the extent to which the inner reality prevails.
2.How do we know that inner reality exists?
To answer the question, how do we know that inner reality exists, let us recall what external reality is:A external reality is defined by space, physical energy and events. Physical energy is contained in the space and events occur in the space. Anything which do not satisfy these and accessible to us can be called as inner reality.We defined inner reality as time, mind and thoughts and then at a deeper level as timelessness, pure consciousness and blissful experience.
Let us consider some physical energy which has mass of 5 units.If additional physical energy of 5 units mass are added to it , we except the total energy of the system to be 10 units mass.But something different happens if the added physical energy synchronizes or bonds with the original energy. Synchronization has the property of reducing the total mass of the system. But the state of synchrony producing a higher energy than the sum of the parts, the total energy i.e, mass plus non-mass will actually increase.
In the above example the total mass will decrease say by 2 units so that the total mass of the system is 8 units but the energy itself will be more than 10 units say 12 units. So by bonding 10 units mass has been converted to 8 units mass and there are 4 units non mass.So we see that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. There is thus the additional experience of the whole. This is what we call as self awareness or consciousness. This consciousness reaches the level of life when there is greater and greater synchronizations of energy and the mass part becomes zero. And then the inner reality of mind and soul follow.
So to answer the question whether inner reality exists we just have to know whether pure undifferentiated energy is possible and whether it exists within us. With greater and greater synchronization, differentiation disappears more and more and the state of pure energy can be reached. Mind represents the intermediate form of that energy and pure consciousness the ultimate state.
The above is something that can be scientifically tested.
3. Why should we care to know about inner reality?
Because it is knowledge too like the knowledge uncovered by science. Laws of science are universal. Are they also time independent? I do not think so. That there is a time dependent reality would be evident from considering our own brain.
Consider a physical system as a black box. For a particular set of inputs it behaves the same way and repeats the same output. Science depends on such repeatability. But considering our brain as a black box , for the very same signal it can give different outputs. Brain has the capability to evolve with time.
Thus we can say that the laws according to which the brain acts are not confined to the laws of science. There are higher laws than laws of science and so a higher reality. So to possess real knowledge and improve ourselves we need to master the knowledge about this reality.