A spiritual person is like the flowers that can live with fragrance in the neighbourhood of thorns. This subtitle on the cover of Leading a Spiritual Life by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan gets a reader wondering if their everyday living is bringing out the best in them.
The book begins on a reassuring note that it does not propagate that readers sever all their material bondages. The author explores the material world through his spiritual perspective. Having connected with the reader instantly, Maulana attempts to awaken our conscience, nudging us to inculcate forgiveness, practise self-restraint and develop inner beauty.
Throughout the book, the author brings his observations of nature as life lessons for mankind. In the chapter Learning from Nature, Maulana explores Mother Nature’s kindness. According to him, the Almighty has planted signs of kindness throughout the earth. A tree, he believes is a silent speaker of earth’s giving nature, for it bears fruits and offers shade without our asking. It is kindness is in its purest form, and the author believes we, humans, could take this leaf out of nature’s book.
“If you want to live as a spiritual person, learn the art of extraction. That is, you have to be able to extract spiritual content from material things,” Maulana writes. He suggests that we can do this by looking up to nature for virtues of forgiveness, faith, silence and honesty. Keeping it conversational, the author encourages the reader to think more positively, be more humane, and thereby find spirituality.
The overarching idea Maulana explores in this book is that spirituality need not be mysterious. According to him, it can be attained through contemplation and not necessarily by way of meditation. With this book, Maulana attempts to open our eyes to the divine lessons played out in nature and redefine the reader’s understanding of spirituality. Leading a Spiritual Life is thus inspirational rather than preachy, and practical rather than surreal. It is a good read for anyone looking for positive affirmations.
Edited by Anusha Shashidhar