I feel strongly about spirituality though not in the conventional sense. We seek spirituality because there are so many conflicts in the real world — both within us and outside in our environments. Spirituality is a feeling of completeness, of the end of conflict and of peace.
There are many paths to self-realisation. For me, it is self-actualisation or ‘Raja Yoga’. It’s when the mental, physical, emotional and other aspects of my life come together in utter harmony.
As an actor, spirituality for me lies in acting. It’s an indescribable exultation of giving a perfect shot.
In our modern world we pride ourselves as the creators of our own destinies but the fact is that there are many factors at play that rule our destinies — and the effort and logic we’re so proud of is only one of them. It’s like a child in a stalled car who’s pushing against the dashboard to get the car started. What really gets the car started is his dad pushing from the outside, but the child imagines that it was all his effort. I can achieve stillness of mind by being to myself for an hour and finding the answers to my problems within me. I remember I wanted to learn to swim, but i was fearful. When I let go of my fear, I found that I could float in the pool without much effort. What spirituality can often do is to help detach one’s mind from the fear of failure and to discover new life paths.
— As told to Ashish Virmani
