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 PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY     w     w     w  .     a     w     g     p  .     o     r     g  Personal Spirituality Taken from Hindi “Adhyatmvaad hi kyon?”  Written by Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya
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Why Spirituality

Jan 13, 2016

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PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY 

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Personal SpiritualityTaken from Hindi “Adhyatmvaad hi kyon?”

 Written by Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

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PersonalSpirituality

Taken from Hindi “Adhyatmvaad hi kyon?”

 Written by Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya

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Translated by:

Shivi Chandra, Anil Dadheech,Shikha Saxena

[1998] Taken from Hindi edition

“Adhyatmvaad hi kyon”” 

 [2008] Translated English edition

“Personal Spirituality” 

Publisher:

Shri vedmata Gayatri Trust,

Shantikunj, Haridwar,

Uttarakhand 249411

 Visit us online:  www.awgp.org

Phone: 91-133-426-0602,

133-426-1955

Why Spirituality? 4

Health 7

Mind 10

Finance 15

Family 23

Soul 30

About the Author 20

Contents

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PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY 

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oday's man is swamped

 by problems. The rich,

the poor, the wise, the ill,

the healthy—each has his own set

of complaints. The pain of the

hungry and the overeater is

different, but both still suffer.

Likewise, there are many types of

problems abundant in the world,each of which may be drastically

different, but while their causes

and natures may seem different,

their root cause is the same: a lack

of the spiritual perspective.

If one fully understands the

implications of this, then one

solution presents itself to an

infinite amount of problems. Like

darkness disperses with the

presence of light, problems will

disperse with the advent of

Why

Spirituality?

4 SUNDAY 

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5MONDAY 

spirituality. Of course, there arealways temporary solutions.

However, spirituality is the only

permanent one.

For example, indigestioncauses blood impurity, which in

turn gives rise to other diseases.

Quick remedies can provide

immediate relief, but the only

permanent solution is to cure the

indigestion itself. After all, how

can one place a bandage on every

spot of chicken pox? The best

solution is one which both purifiesthe blood and prevents

tomorrow's complications.

Flies and mosquitos are born

in dirty environments, but it is notpractical to attack each one. They

 will only appear again. If the dirt is

not removed, they will keep

appearing. The only way to

remove them permanently is to

remove the conditions which

create them.

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Man was placed upon the earth toearn a great deal. Every problem is

like a red light to make him aware

that he is doing something wrong.

If he lives his life with dignity, he

 will not spend it struggling withproblems, and there will only be

one goal in front of him: to

achieve his full potential.

Let us examine the various

problems that occur in day-to-day

life, why they occur, and how a

permanent remedy can be

achieved. All personal problemscan be classified into the following

five categories: health-related,

mental, financial, familial, and

spiritual.

6 TUESDAY 

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an is plagued by

physical weakness

and disease. Why is

this such a problem for him?

Countless animals are born and

die without a hint of this plight;

only domesticated creatures suffer

from such problems.

Everyone must face old ageand eventually death, but each life

should be a healthy one. However,

man's indiscipline in diet and

lifestyle brazenly violates the rules

of nature.

Mindlessly consuming junk

food in the name of taste, without

regulation or discipline, taxes the

capacities of the stomach. The

resultant indigestion causes

hundreds more problems. Sage

Luqmaan was correct when he

Health

7 WEDNESDAY 

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said, "Man digs his own untimelygrave with his tongue." Indeed,

man burns his own source of

power, as easily as melting ice.

People who will continue their

 bad habits such as indiscipline andlaziness cannot escape nature's

punishment. They must endure

the consequent ailments.

Such ailments cannot be

cured by the magic of medicine. If

it were possible to be healthy even

after leading such an indisciplined

life, rich people and doctors wouldhave obtained nearly invincible

health. However, this is not the

case. If one expects continuous

healthy life, then a natural lifestyle

is the only solution. This problemcan only be addressed by eating

and living in a disciplined fashion.

It can be said that reducing

one's sensual desires and

regulating one's lifestyle is a form

of spirituality in physical life. For

the body, spirituality is nothing

8 THURSDAY 

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 but self-restraint and self-discipline. If this is done with

 judgment and foresight, one will

never be weak and sick. Whenever

man seeks a solution for a healthy

life—whether now or in athousand years—this is the only

one which will present itself. He

 will always have to conclude that

in order to stay healthy his daily

routine should follow this physical

spirituality, and the treasure of his

corporeal self should be used with

discipine. The day he realizes this

and implements it in his life, theshadows of sickness will never fall

upon him again.

9 FRIDAY 

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ental restlessness is

another problem in

human life. Most

people are restless, pessimistic,

 worried, disappointed, fearful,

cowardly, or dissatisfied. There are

 very few who are peaceful or

 balanced. To some extent, the

 behavior of others is alsoresponsible for this, but man must

accept that the weakness of his

own thought process is the

primary factor. He always wants to

fulfill his own immediate desires,propagate his own rule in every-

thing, and change circumstances

according to his own wishes.

However, the world is not made

for only oneself. Situations and

people are develop-ing at their

own pace. Man must coordinate

his own pace with this one.

Mind

10 SATURDAY 

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For most, dissatisfaction withcircumstances indicates a problem

 with the thought process. If one

compares himself with rich

people, he will feel poor, and the

pain will continue. But if hecompares himself with the poor,

he will feel that his situation is

 better than that of hundreds of

people. Wealth and poverty are

relative. With the right

perspective, one can escape from

the dissatisfaction these labels

cause and concentrate on his owndevelopment.

The same principle applies to

one's relationships with others.

Everyone is composed of goodand bad. What one sees is

dependent on his outlook. If he

looks for the bad, he will find it,

even in the sun. If he looks for the

good, he will not find one person

 without good in him. Thinking

only of unkindness will produce

11 SUNDAY 

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lists of enemies, but likewise,thinking of kindness will produce

endless lists of friends.

Both plenty and scarcity have

their own importance. It is wellknown that abundant resources

ease one's progress, but the value

of struggling without resources

should not be underestimated. By

passing through the fire of

hardship one becomes strong.

Gold and diamond pass through

such tests, and they have no value

 without this. Vigilance developsin such times, and many important

experiences are also accumulated.

Man becomes aware and comes to

treasure his valuable experiences.

Some break under suchcircumstances, but those who can

endure can be seen to grow a

hundredfold. Both prosperity and

poverty have their importance. If

 both are understood properly,

they can aid one greatly in moving

along the path of progress. Salt

and sugar are opposites, but

12 MONDAY 

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together create a balanced taste.Threads may cross one another

 but together they create a woven

cloth. Day and night are the

contrasting faces of time. The

 world is a union of opposites, andman must understand the

usefulness of each one.

 A great deal can be learned

 by giving bad souls a chance to

change. One can use the

opportunity to develop kindness

and a service-minded nature.

Instead of becoming frustrated bythis bipolar world he should

treasure all its experiences and

strive to benefit from changing

circumstances instead of

 becoming unsettled by them.

Mental balance lessens the

effects of loss, sadness, opposition,

and even poverty. The

revolutionary martyrs were

smiling when they were hanged.

There was no pain on the faces of

those who made the great

13 TUESDAY 

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sacrifices in history. If situationshad such power, they would affect

everyone the same way. But one

can see that in the same situation

one person may be frustrated, and

another continue without anyeffect. This is because of individual

people's different levels of mental

 balance.

 A spiritual perspective

requires one to adopt mental

 balance. It is impossible to achieve

happiness in life by creating

conditions which are to one'sliking. Desires are endless—when

one is fulfilled, another pops up,

even more painful than the

previous one. If it were possible to

 be satisfied by materialpossessions, the rich would be the

happiest people one earth.

 When man will try to find

eternal happiness, he will discover

only one way: to adopt a spiritual

outlook, and this requires mental

 balance.

14  WEDNESDAY 

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an is plagued by

financial problems.

There are very few

people who consider themselves

satisfied from a financial

standpoint. Money never seems to

conform to one's needs and

desires. This universal 'poverty'afflicts everyone.

 Yet, what is wealth? When

human power and intellect is used

to accomplish great things, what isearned can be considered wealth.

This is the true meaning of money,

and economics begins here. Many

people receive effortless money in

the form of gambling, lotteries,

interest, inheritance, etc., but

these are not true wealth. People's

perceptions towards this sort of

Finance

15 THURSDAY 

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 wealth must change, or thisdissatisfaction will continue. If not

today, then tomorrow—but

eventually the spiritual principle

 behind economics will prevail.

 Wealth will only be gained as aresult of hard work. If one desires

more wealth and conveniences,

one should simply work harder,

increasing the capabilities of his

 body and mind. The more he puts

forth effort in this, the wealthier he

 will become. It is unfortunate that

man shies away from hard work

and thinks he can steal wealth withlaziness. Disrespect for hard work

is a great problem in society.

Those who earn money through

little work are considered lucky

men, and laborers are consideredlower-class citizens. This

perception must change.

The mind, like the body, is a

tool to become wealthy. Through

education, craftsmanship, artistic

ability, and refined behavior, the

its capacities can be advanced.

16 FRIDAY 

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Many people ignore this andstrongly believe that they can

 become wealthy by inheritance,

lotteries, prayers, and other

matters of luck. They believe that

they can remain lazy and money will shower upon them anyway.

This mindset is the opposite of

spirituality, and remains the root

cause of most financial problems

today.

 A spiritual outlook shows

one the only reliable and

reasonable way to wealth. Manmust awaken zeal for hard work.

He should consider shirking and

slacking to be moral crimes. In

order to broaden his expertise, he

should always remain open tolearning new skills and knowledge.

This increased expertise will

certainly enable him to earn more

money, and this is the only true

method of financial progress.

Desiring fast money without

complying with this is the first step

to developing unethical

17 SATURDAY 

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tendencies. This is the motivation behind crimes such as cheating,

dishonesty, theft, bribery,

swindling, tax evasion, and

smuggling. The stronger the man

is by nature, the worse crimes he will commit. It is the same in the

grand-scale thief as it is in the

petty swindler; the only difference

is in its magnitude. This tendency

eventually leads to the destruction

of human character. Man's dignity

and status loses its authenticity.

Even if he becomes rich through

these unethical means, hischaracter keeps on declining. One

 who has fallen in his own esteem

cannot rise in anyone else's. If one

truly evaluates the cost of suchly

earned wealth, he will realize howgrave his crime has been and never

even work up the courage to

commit it. This desire for

unearned money spawns countless

problems. He who acquires such

money will generally waste it in

addictions, luxury, and

exploitation, and these in turn will

18 SUNDAY 

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give rise to even more problems, both for him, and those around

him.

 Aside from developing one's

own skills to earn money, he canalso improve his financial situation

 by budgeting the wealth he does

have. He should live with

simplicity, in the manner that

sensible people of his means are

also living. If he cannot increase

his income, he should restrain his

expenses and certainly not take on

new ones. Increasing one'snumber of children is as bad as

increasing one's financial burden.

This places the entire family under

the burden of financial

uncertainty, and the children arealso not able to grow properly.

Children also resent parents who

 were unable to provision for them

 before their birth and are unable

to provide for them after it.

Increasing the active workers

in a family can still alleviate its

19 MONDAY 

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financial problems in accordance with spiritual principles. In most

houses, it is traditional that one

person earns, and the others reap

the fruits of that labor. To avoid

this philosophy, families can evenprogress by using their spare time

to operate small businesses from

home. A habit of taking loans

should also be considered a minor

crime. However, in some

situations it is appropriate to take

loans in capital, for business and

other ventures. But to raise one's

standard of living and sink deeperinto debt is unwise. One will

 become bankrupt and lose all

sense of self-respect.

 A person who followsspiritual ideals knows how to keep

his needs in check and hates to put

himself in debt. He is safe from

such problems.

Some traditions in society,

such as extravagant weddings and

 birthday parties, also require one

20 TUESDAY 

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to waste large amounts of money.

In such cases, one should not pay

attention to what others think, and

stand against them! Unwise

people always want to earn money

through unfair shortcuts, but thiscannot go on forever, as these lazy

and dishonest people can never

progress to their full potential. A

person can only be genuine by

following the path of honesty. He

can only reach his full worth and

earn respect by working hard and

employing honesty.

Focus, simplicity, enthusiasm

for hard work, frugality,

honesty—these qualities are

expressions of spirituality in the

financial world. Integrating these

into one's life is the only way toattain financial equilibrium. In

addition, spending without any

 judgment and earning money

unfairly only exacerbate most

financial problems, but a person

 with a spiritual outlook easily

evades both these concerns.

Inefficiency and hoarding are also

21  WEDNESDAY 

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like poison to financial stability.

 When a great amount of money is

earned, an equal amount of money

must also be given back to society.

This is another tenet of

spirituality. Satisfaction is actuallyharmful when in it, a person loses

the will to be productive and work

hard. A person should work to

advance the fortunes of others as

 well as his own. As the saying goes,

one who earns for himself and eats

it all himself is nothing but a

crook. This type of spiritual

outlook is the only thing that can

help the individual and societal

financial situation and eventually

solve such problems.

22 THURSDAY 

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he fourth problem is

family-related. People

are often restless as a

result of family quarrels. There are

 very few households in which one

can observe peace, love, and

cooperation, and in which the

environment is a happy one. No

matter how a household may seem

from the outside, inside hatred,

inconsideration, and disobedience

may be festering, and these give

rise to indiscipline and eventually

chaos. Because of these, theinstitution of family is gradually

disintegrating.

The institution of the family

must be recognized for its

importance. The family is the link

 between the individual and

society. It is a kind of mine, in

Family

23 FRIDAY 

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 which if the environment is a

conducive one people can emerge

as gems. Such individuals will not

only be a credit to themselves, but

 will add to the glory of their

society. After all, society is nothing but a group of families. Schooling

can increase one's knowledge, but

a strong character can only be

developed in the school of the

home. Personality is also molded

through practice in the home.

Families that do not recognize this

are the ones which encounter

problems.

These days, the financial

aspect is considered the only

responsibility associated withraising a family. People feed their

children well. They clothe them.

They educate them. They marry

them off. In the end, they leave

them a little money. In this, they

consider their familial obligations

complete. This implies that a

member of a family is a machine

24 SATURDAY 

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 whose needs are merely physical

ones. If this were true, all of this

 would be sufficient. But man is not

a machine; he also has life and

consciousness. The potential

inside him is like the mythical tree which provides whatever one

desires, but it can only flourish

 when nourished with positive

emotions and habits. With these,

even a family in poverty can

produce upstanding citizens and

people of excellent character.

 A spiritual outlook is the only

 way a family's creation and growth

can produce a good environment,

one in which the members can

come to appreciate their lives and

good fortune. If both sides striveto bring about closeness,

friendship and cooperation

 between their two souls, then it is

certain that they will share the

highest affinity for each other.

 Whatever the situation, they will

remain satisfied with each other,

and understanding their duties

25 SUNDAY 

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and responsibilities, will also make

efforts to uplift their entire family.

Such people are never satisfied

 with merely birthing children, but

 will consider both their

responsibilities towards otherfamily members, and their

resources (of both money and

time) before increasing their

family size.

In many families there is an

atmosphere of ill-will, conflict,

hurriedness, and ugliness. People

in such environments suffer from a

twisted mindset. This should be

replaced with goodwill and good

habits, and a daily routine that is

formed on these foundations.

Every member of the householdshould abide by the rules of hard

 work, cleanliness, courtesy, and

thrift. The plant that is raised in

such a nursery will spread its

fragrance and bounty wherever it

is planted. The creation and

development of families, if it is

undertaken with a spiritual

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outlook, will result in positive

emotions and traditions, and the

members of the family will feel

 blessed to be a part of it. If a

marriage is made for reasons of

lust, infatuation, desire forchildren, greed, or societal status,

then the environment in the home

 will be hellish, and each member

of the family will become twisted.

This superficial mindset eats away

at the foundation of the family

ideal. Couples also may become

uncertain and distrustful.

If the institution of the family

is given new life, families can begin

to experience heaven on earth.

This cannot be done by taking

classes—families must adopt a

spiritual outlook in depth. Thehome should be treated as a place

 where one experiments with and

practices these ideals. From food

to entertainment, every daily

activity and behavior should

follow these principles. Every

member of the family should be

enthusiastic in complying with

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these and elevating their thought

process.

 Wealth has its own use, as

does organization and cleanliness,

 but it must be remembered thatneither of these can give a family

life. It is all right to give a child

ample conveniences. However, if

he does not also receive positive

qualities and cultivate a good

nature, he will always encounter

problems. Such people are not

able to live peacefully, nor do they

allow anyone else to live

peacefully. Parents are often

falsely proud of such children on

account of their positions, but

they can never be truly satisfied.

 A refined family can only

grow in an atmosphere where a

spiritual outlook is given the

utmost consideration. If a family is

unwilling to devote time to this,

then it cannot ever experience

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heaven on earth. The members of

a family should consider

themselves to be limbs of the

household body, and pay careful

attention to their responsibilities.

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n the life of the soul, attaining

peace is considered the sign

of success. One can observe

paranormal capacities in people

 who have reached such a level.

These are the people who are

known as great men. Lasting

happiness is directly linked to this

progress. To attain this goal, the

strength of the soul must be

developed.

Some people depend on

prayer and rituals for this, whichhave their own use, but it must be

remembered these are a means to

an end, not an end in themselves.

Their function is simply to provide

a foundation for later spiritual

development. Flattering God,

however, is not a legitimate

pursuit. The power that runs the

Soul

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entire universe cannot be extorted

from with such childish matters.

To receive its grace, the soul must

only ensure that its qualities are

similar, because only similar things

can combine.

 When one progresses

towards spiritual peace and

strength, he is said to be truly

gifted. The wall between the atma

and paramatma is built up of

negative emotions, and demonic

tendencies accumulated by the self

only place larger obstacles in the

 way. Without ending these, the

union is not possible. Embers may

 become covered by ashes, which

make them seem dull and warm,

 but when the ash is removed theyregain their original light and heat.

The atma possesses all the

qualities of the paramatma, but the

covering of illusion and ignorance

over it makes it impossible to see

its true nature. The point of

prayer, yoga , and tap is essentially

to remove this covering by

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 bettering the self. If one goes into

it with this in mind, he will reap

the most benefit from it. However,

if this is not the goal and one is

engaged only in flattery and

 begging, he will receive nothing.

There are four walls in the

palace of progress: self-reflection,

self-betterment, self-construction,

and self-growth. Anyone can build

castles in the air, but to make a

proper palace, one must lay down

a solid foundation. Discipline is

needed for this, and there is no

other way to go about it. Negative

actions, thoughts, and emotions

 will only weaken this foundation,

and one's character will decline.

Those who succumb to these willfall so far that their union with

 paramatma becomes impossible.

 A rock will never be able to grow

anything, no matter how much it

rains, so imploring the clouds to

give it more rain is futile. It cannot

grow anything until it changes its

own nature.

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excessive desire hold the atma

down. If they are removed, a

person can begin to think more

clearly. This state of mind is what

is known as heaven. The universe

a garden into which man has beensent as the gardener, and the

sooner he understands this

purpose the faster he will reap the

 benefits. Judgment and farsight are

the greatest aids to this kind of

thinking and are also known as

spirituality.

The science of spirituality is

 based on the principle of self-

 betterment. Most spiritual

practices are also based on

uplifting the self. There is only one

 way to become great: by leaving bad tendencies behind, and

soaring into the field of spiritual

excellence. In a dirty mirror or

dirty water, a person cannot see

himself clearly. In the same way,

the paramatma cannot see the true

atma. The chains of greed, lust,

superficial attachment, and

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Even if one finds such a person

and wishes to accept his guidance,

he will not receive help unless he

studies and adopts spiritual

principles. Spiritual success lies in

removing the obstacles in the wayof growth. Because of these

obstacles, a person remains

confused and unable to follow a

noble way of living. This can only

happen when one adopts a higher

 way of thinking, which will then be

reflected in one's personality.

There are certain types of

people who both took care of

themselves and also ferried

countless others across the

threshold to a better life. If one

studies their lives, he will find onlyone guiding principle—that they

left their negative qualities behind

and fully embraced greatness. It is

such people who can truly be said

to shine with divine light, and their

powers are such that they possess

their own type of golden touch.

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Emerson once said that if he

 was sent to hell, he would make it

into heaven. His statement was

not incorrect. For a person who

has accepted excellence, the worst

of situations can be transformedinto peaceful, pleasant, heavenly

ones, and it is very easily done. If

he fully integrates spiritual

thinking into every aspect of his

life, then he is truly capable of

surmounting any problem, any

obstacle.

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relating to topics such as scientific

spirituality, anti-consumerism,

social service, and other subjects

for which he saw a prominent

need in today's world.

 What Am I, written in 1940, was

his first book. It was intended to

Shriram Sharma was a scholar,

philosopher and a visionary. He

 believed that the problems of the

 world stemmed from our lack of

spiritual outlook, and that all ofthem could be solved by changing

our individual mindset. To this

end, he authored many books

Aboutthe Author

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(Divine Culture University), and

Shantikunj, a spiritual guidance

center and headquarters for All

 World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP).

His organization, the Gayatri

Pariwar, is composed of millionsof members worldwide and runs

like a family.

give his readers a sense of their

own identity, based on the Vedic

idea of the soul and its potential.

He explained that each spiritual

activity is based on the science ofauto-suggestion, creating

necessary changes in one's

personality and thinking.

He established several institutions,including a unique Research

Institute for scientific spirituality,

the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya

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