Spirituality for Dummies 1: Common Misconceptions & Myths

I had initially named this draft as "Spirituality for laymen", but gender neutrality matters, hence the title. I consider myself a dummy as well, just that I am slightly more familiar with spirituality than an absolute novice.  Anyway, before the essence of the message of this post is lost by the readers in the rush to judge and give opinions just for the sake of satisfying one's ego in this new era debate of "trolls" without even trying or genuinely listening to something (and feeling "empowered" by the anonymity provided by internet) let me start with some disclaimers/myths.

1. The concepts of Guru & Bhakti, though highly regarded in India, have of late been maligned by the likes of  Gurmeet Ram Rahim & Asaram. A Guru is a principle, a consciousness, NOT a person/godman, in the Yogic and most Indian/Oriental philosophies. A Guru is different from a teacher. English vocabulary often is extremely insufficient in describing many Sanskrit terms related to Indian philosophies. Bhakti , similarly, can be closely expressed by the word devotion. It does not mean necessarily following something blindly. Acknowledging the presence of Guru (the larger consciousness of nature or "Brahman" as mentioned in Upanishads) simply means that you acknowledge the vastness of something that you do not and cannot know entirely, and see it as a force that answers the doubts (even the silliest ones) and questions that arise in your mind. It allows one to be constantly aware of one's limitations as well as the limitless possibilities despite those "impermanent" limitations. Similarly, Bhakti or devotion is a quality of awareness/consciousness, which translates into love for something higher. In fact Narad Bhakti Sutras designate Bhakti/devotion as the highest form of love.
2. Many of these concepts remain plain intellectual gossip until they are experienced. Yoga is a beautiful way to experience it. So is the company of the wise or seers. Unless experienced, these principles cannot be brought into our day to day life. So if one feels that this is intellectual drama, one needs to focus more on aspects that facilitate your experience.
3. Philosophy in India is called "Darshan" in Sanskrit & Hindi. This simply means that it is what has been "seen" by "seers", who were often practitioners of yoga (not just asanas, but the Ashtanga or eight fold path of Yam, Niyam, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhaarana, Dhyana & Samadhi OR Bhakti/Karma/Gyaan/Dhyan Yog). If it sounds plain intellectual gymnastics to a person, it is not "darshan" at all because it hasn't translated into experience for him/her. Yoga provides us with the tools to experience those states of consciousness from which these philosophies have emanated.
4. Being intellectual and logical/rational is often seen wrongly as against Bhakti or Guru or "Darshan". Sadly, we revel when our philosophers like Adi Sankaracharya are celebrated for their intellectual theories on consciousness, but forget that he was the same person who exalted the Guru principle through his beautiful verses in Guru Paduka Stotram and sang paeans glorifying the emotion of Bhakti through "Bhaja Govindam". In fact, legend  goes that he composed Bhaja Govindam on seeing the futility of an old man trying hard to understand the intricacies of Sanskrit grammar while he was walking by a Ganga ghat. Singing the praise of Govind was an easier way to salvation "here and now" than mastery over Sanskrit, only for the simple reason that it changes the quality of awareness and hence the experiences of life.
5. Spirituality is for old age- Spirituality is the art of keeping your spirit up. It enhances your experience of life. What is the use of enhancing your experience of life if you don't have enough time to live? Shiva was perpetually in meditation in Kailasa. The sole purpose of the Gods in wanting him to marry Parvati was to bring his knowledge to the world rather than keep it confined to the Himalayas. It keeps you in touch with your conscience and empowers you to make better decisions in life. How can it help if you leave it for the time after you have already made all the important decisions? What use would Bhagvad Gita be of if it were not revealed to Arjuna when he needed it the most- in the unkindest "real" world situation possible, i.e. the war of Mahabharata?
6. "We don't believe in spirituality. We just have faith in basic human values/goodness"- This is an oxymoron. Spirituality IS about basic human goodness. While as a beginner we have faith in human values, spirituality is just about enhancing our knowledge of and enriching our expression and vocabulary of the ways in which these values manifest in real life. To me, spirituality is trying to understand how things/life work(s) in this world and adapt myself accordingly to save my energies by fixing my priorities and being very conscious of how, where and when I invest myself into. My father does not listen to any discourses unlike my mother. He does his job perfectly like she (my mom) does, is kind enough to people to help them whenever he can, is open to interacting with people from views diametrically opposite to his and genuinely learn from them (not just intellectual debating or finding solace in complaining together), and to my surprise, open to Yoga & its sister sciences when its mechanism is explained to him. He is a Karma Yogi in disguise in a sense. And these qualities have enabled him to take some decisions which I think were far more visionary than most people in the society around him. Though he might not use the word "spiritual" for himself, if this is not spirituality, I can't see what else is. I hope I am able to get my point across. Mere calling oneself spiritual is a bad way to be spiritual. The actions need to reflect the quality of consciousness, and they often do.
7. "We are too busy for this"- Well, few people know that Mahatma Gandhi meditated for an hour daily. And on days when he was much busier than other days, he meditated twice. The point is, that if we can enhance our grasp of the basics of how life works, we will find it easier to make way for the things we want without resorting to extremes. The people in most rush often end up doing much less than what they thought they would. Those who have lesser difficulty in their thoughts getting translated into actions & reality often are highly aware of at least themselves. We are not just our body. There are multiple layers of consciousness beyond this "body", which is often discarded as soon as we die. These other layers of our existence (English can only express it as mind/soul, but there is a wealth of terms in Sanskrit for the numerous different aspects) affect the way we work and interact with the world. Their knowledge gives us a broader awareness and perspective of life. It enables us to take more informed decisions and hold ourselves better in crises. It empowers our actions to better stand the tests of time.

Thus, spirituality is just the art of enhancing our awareness of these layers of our existence beyond just the body, i.e., the spirit. It is NOT the end, nothing is. But it definitely is a very powerful tool for watching your own mind and the drama it creates- if one can watch this calmly, the manifestation of thoughts into reality becomes much less painful. This is why Patanjali Yoga Sutras say "heyam dukham anagatam" or yoga reduces the misery that hasn't even come to us yet. Put simply, spirituality is just keeping the spirit alive with naturalness, innocence and enthusiasm. This more often than not, more than makes up for the Machiavellian scheming, with Karma doing its job perfectly in the long run.