Sai Baba Answers on Real Spiritual Life reveals that spirituality is not confined to caves, rituals, or robes but to the essence of one’s being. In this article, readers will walk alongside a traveller who seeks Baba’s guidance, learning how real spiritual life unfolds in daily living, balance, and inner stillness.
What Is Real Spiritual Life?
The morning mist still clung to the earth, curling around the small mud houses of Shirdi, as if reluctant to leave. The air was crisp, carrying the scent of freshly baked rotis from the village kitchens. Our traveller walked towards the small open field where Sai Baba sat, weaving a garland of wildflowers with patient hands.
The traveller’s heart was restless. He had seen many who called themselves spiritual, some renounced the world, living in caves and forests, while others dressed in robes and performed elaborate rituals. Some preached loudly, while others remained in deep silence.
“Baba,” the traveller asked, sitting beside him, “what is real spiritual life? Is it leaving the world behind? Is it performing rituals? Is it meditation? What does it truly mean to be spiritual?”
Baba did not answer immediately. He picked up a single jasmine flower and twirled it between His fingers for the garland as if listening to the question within the question.
“Child,” he said at last, “tell Me, if a river flows quietly, is it less of a river than one that rushes noisily through the rocks?”
The traveller hesitated.
“No, Baba, both are rivers.”
Baba nodded, threading another flower onto the garland.
“Then tell Me, if one man prays in silence and another sings aloud, if one serves the poor and another meditates in solitude, does it mean one is more spiritual than the other?”
The traveller frowned, deep in thought.
“Then, Baba, what makes a life truly spiritual?”
Baba smiled, His voice as gentle as the breeze.
“It is not in what you do, but in what you are.”
Spirituality Is Not a Set of Actions, but a Way of Being
Our traveller leaned closer.
“Baba, if it is not in rituals, not in renouncing the world, and not even in meditation alone, then what is it?”
Baba picked a single jasmine and looked at it as if he were observing every detail of the flower and said, “The Self is not found in books, nor in temples, nor in the words of another, but within of one who seeks with sincerity. A man may chant a thousand prayers, but if his heart is filled with pride, is he spiritual? Another may never step into a temple, but if he walks through life with love and humility, is he not closer to God?”
The traveller’s mind spun.
“Then, Baba, does that mean all these spiritual practices are meaningless?”
Baba shook his head.
“No, child, practices are like a walking stick for the blind, they help you until you learn to see. Rituals, prayers, meditation, these are not spirituality itself, but tools to bring you into awareness. The mistake people make is that they cling to the stick but never open their eyes.”
The traveller’s heart tightened.
“Then how does one live a real spiritual life, Baba?”
Baba picked up a small earthen lamp nearby and lit it using a burning twig from the Dhuni.
“Tell Me, child, if this lamp is placed inside a house or out in the open, does it stop being a lamp?”
“No, Baba, it remains the same.”
“So too with the soul. Whether in a palace or a hut, in the marketplace or the mountains, spiritual life is not about where you are, but how you live. Be like this lamp, burning steadily, bringing light wherever you are.”
The Misconception of Renouncing the World
The traveller sighed.
“Baba, many say that to be truly spiritual, one must leave behind family, work, and all worldly duties. Is that true?”
Baba laughed softly.
“The Bhagavad Gita says, ‘He who neither rejoices nor despairs, who neither craves nor rejects, who remains steady in all conditions, he alone is truly free.’ True renunciation is not leaving the world, or family, but leaving behind your attachments to it. You may sit in the forest and still be attached to pride. You may live in a home and yet be completely free. Do not mistake outer detachment for inner realization.”
The traveller thought deeply.
“Then, Baba, why do some saints leave everything behind?”
Baba gazed at the vast sky, His voice gentle.
“Just as some birds migrate and others stay in one place, some souls are meant to wander, while others are meant to serve within the world. Both paths are sacred if walked with the truth. But remember, child, escaping from life is not spirituality. Being fully present in life, yet untouched by it, that is real freedom.”
A Logical and Psychological Perspective: The Inner Shift
The traveller looked toward the village, where people bustled about, some carrying water, some feeding cattle, some working in the fields.
“Baba, if spirituality is not about escaping the world, then what is the difference between a spiritual person and an ordinary person?”
Baba placed a small cup of water before him.
“If this water is stirred, does it reflect the sky?”
“No, Baba, it becomes disturbed.”
“And if it is still?”
“Then it becomes clear and reflects perfectly.”
Baba smiled.
“A spiritual person does not live differently from others, child. They wake, they eat, they work, they sleep, just like everyone else. But inside, they are still. They do not let anger shake them, nor desires stir them, nor fear cloud them. Sometimes, they may appear angry, just like a mother pretends anger when her child refuses to eat, not out of real frustration, but out of love. Yet, even in such moments, the fire of anger never truly burns within them. Their core remains untouched, like the vast sky unaffected by passing clouds. Their mind reflects the truth as it is, without distortion. This is the difference.”
The Answer
Real spiritual life is not about rituals, not about renouncing the world, and not about performing certain actions. It is a way of being.
- Vedanta teaches that spirituality is not found outside, but within the silent awareness of the self.
- Sufism reminds us that the Divine is not in a distant place, but in the depth of one’s own self.
A truly spiritual person is not one who escapes the world, but one who walks through it untouched by Maya. They are like the lotus, growing in water yet remaining unstained.
They do not necessarily belong to temples or mountains, but certainly, they belong to truth itself.
A Final Thought
If a lamp burns in a palace and another in a hut, does the flame change?
If a bird sings in the forest and another in the marketplace, is its song less pure?
Perhaps the real question is not “How do I live a spiritual life?” but “Am I truly awake to life as it is?”
Contributed by: Murali P K – Author of Shirdi Sai Baba – The Guiding Light for the New Age (Volume 1)
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Posts in this Series
1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers About Human Suffering
2️⃣ Why Is God Worshipped in Different Forms?
3️⃣ Existence and Reality – Sai Baba Answers
4️⃣ Why Does the Universe Seem Fine-Tuned for Life?
5️⃣ Is There Life Beyond Earth? Sai Baba Answers
6️⃣ Sai Baba on The Unseen Laws of the Universe
7️⃣ Sai Baba on Consciousness Beyond Science
8️⃣ Sai Baba Answers – Consciousness Beyond Death
9️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Near Death Experiences
🔟 Sai Baba Answers on Spiritual Experiences and Parallel Worlds
1️⃣1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers – Can We Talk To The Dead
1️⃣2️⃣ Sai Baba Answers On Recurring Dreams
1️⃣3️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Knowing God
1️⃣4️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Kindness to Animals
1️⃣5️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Birth and Death Cycle
1️⃣6️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Destiny
1️⃣7️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Universal Purpose
1️⃣8️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Karma
1️⃣9️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Fate
2️⃣0️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on Why Do Good People Suffer
2️⃣1️⃣ Sai Baba Answers on God’s Tests
