People often ask me why India carries such a magical quality. What is it about a crowded, sometimes chaotic country, with a billion people and fourteen different languages that draws us? Perhaps the most important explanation for India’s allure is that India is the only country in the world that has been so dominantly focused for so long on finding inner truth. For thousands of years throughout India, millions of individuals have meditated, prayed, chanted, done yoga, studied the healing arts, used herbal medicine and traveled on spiritual pilgrimages in search of enlightenment. This heavy concentration and attention towards spiritual life has established an undeniable forcefield that is tangible in the air. Anyone who is sensitive can feel these vibrations and be lured to investigate the country’s mysteries. Even today if you walk down a street in almost any Indian city, you will find mystics moving through traffic and blending in with ordinary life. These mystics devote their entire lives to the quest for inner wisdom, spending years secluded in remote areas of the Himalayas. If the seeker is ready and the time is deemed appropriate, then these mystics may share insights they have gleaned from many hours of meditation. Temples and shrines exist on practically every corner in India and people typically start their days in meditation and prayer. Where other countries are concerned with technology, science, wealth and industrial progress, India has focused on the evolution of consciousness. In fact India embodies yoga in its truest sense- uniting with the divine- and everywhere you may find people searching for enlightenment. Other countries may be more advanced or modern, but India holds the most profound spiritual wisdom, available to anyone who seeks with sincerity.

Another reason why India may be so compelling is that our basic spiritual texts teach us to live from a consciousness of being, then doing, then having. In other words, we are urged to access first some degree of inner peace and then do things in order to manifest what we desire. I was surprised to find this teaching reversed in the west- especially in capitalistic societies- where people tend to focus on having, then doing, then being. Here I often witness people lamenting:

“If I only had a little more money, then I could do all the things I want to, and finally I would be happy.” Unfortunately this backwards flow (of have-do-be instead of be-do-have) creates a constant, disappointing cycle where we can never get enough, driving us to amass power, prestige, and possessions in order to achieve peace and happiness. I have met wealthy individuals who live in ten bedroom Beverly Hills mansions but complain that they cannot find any place to meditate! On the other hand, I know spiritual monks in India who have nothing but a change of clothes and a few possessions but who carry a richness of spirit and such infectious joy. When the inner environment has been developed there is no real need for anything else and productivity in life should never be at the cost of spiritual and ethical values. As my father used to say: “You can have a Rolls Royce and still be “spiritual”--just do not become a slave to the Rolls Royce. Aham brahmasmi--the God is within.”

Since first leaving India as a young man, I have traveled to many countries, appreciating all the cultures that I have experienced. However I can still assert that the quality of life in India is great. Today India is changing at a fast rate as the influence of the western world sweeps over my homeland. In many Indian homes I am shocked to find a great many more channels on the television than I have in Los Angeles and even the rickshaw drivers carry cell phones! But there are also pristine, rural spots and powerful spiritual vortices in India that I believe will never be touched by the modern race. When people ask me why I left India, I tell them that in truth I have never left--I am just passing through this world and enjoying the journey, with my consciousness firmly grounded in India. My mind may be in America, my heart in Hawaii, and my body everywhere, but my soul will always be in India.

Professor Sasi Velupillai is a philosopher and spiritual teacher from India. As Chairman of World Peace International, he leads the Peace Ambassador Program to India yearly. For info: 310.842.6087 or 310.397.2405 / email: professorsasi@earthlink.net