Is spirituality more about getting ahead through experience or is it more about learning from the scriptures?

Question

Why do you think so? Please support your answer with an explanation or an example.

well plenty of good answers here

Answer 1

Experiance is must.

But for the one who is laready caught up with the worldly affair, the scriptures helps / inspires / guides him to achive spritual success.

Eg. When someone asks to describe about Nyagra Falls...

If you dont have the on hand experience of seeing it - You may be able tell many things based on what ever you had heared or studied about the falls.

If you have experience - All the bookies knowledge is not required.

If you want to go there - then you need the guidence of others who have visited (1) or somebody who knows how to go there (2).

Category 1 - Realised person - Rishies

Category 2 - One who delivers lectures.

Answer 2

learning scripture is also a kind of experience . because which content is needed to learn which is relevent for you is a experience. if you have 100 things in spiritualism , but you study that only which enhances your progress in spiritualism , then it is also a kind of experience. like if you need to know the answer that why people are in pain if they are the part of the God , and if you got the same through scripture then i would call it as the part of experience. because without theory , knowledge is incomplete . theory and practical are the two poles of the knowledge magnet , and if you have learned the right thing from the scripture for your need then i think it should be counted as experience .

Answer 3

Spirituality means understanding yourself as soul and not the body. We have experience of this materialistic world only, so our experience is of no use to our soul. True scriptures like Vedas are incomprehesive to the sharpest intellectual also, just like God. So our attempt will give us a wrong sense of perceiving.

We actually need to find a true saint who is both a theoretical man as well as a practical man. That means that he would have a thorough knowledge of all the true scriptures of this world, and more importantly, he would have attained sainthood by being face to face with God.

Tad vigyanartham ca gurumevabhigachchhet samit pani shrotriyam brahmanishtham-

Answer 4

Obeying scripture will prevent us getting into trouble. Example; You may have some money saved and banked to cover ongoing household expenses. The bank does not pay much interest, but is SAFE.
You learn that if you put your money with an investemtn broker, you can earn a much higher interest rate.
now you are being greedy. And the next thing you knoe the broker has gone broke, and where is YOUR money.
Its in the gold taps in the mansion HE lives in...
BUT IS OWNED BY HIS WIFE.
AND YOUR STILL BROKE.
(Ecclesiastes 7:12) For wisdom is for a protection [the same as] money is for a protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom itself preserves alive its owners.
(1 Timothy 6:10) For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.

Its not money itself, but the LOVE of money that causes grief.

And the above two scriptures are our guide.

Answer 5

Both. experience and learning is important for spirituality.

Example : If you take a famous doctor, How did he became famous? Her wife , kids, parents scarifies their wishes of being together on atleast on any fastival or birthdays or wedding days. You just cannot say he studied well and praticed well. So everything we learn, everything we earn is with the effort of everything we all do together.

experience is a part and learning from scriptures is a part. Guru is one more part. So all together gives us full spirituality to us.

Answer 6

Scriptures can just give us an idea of the broader aspect, but I believe experience is something which helps us understand the thing.
Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa had no formal education, yet he had stores of spirituality within himself & would get into the state of ''samadhi'' frequently --- a feat many people could still not achieve after studying libraries of scriptures.
I know a girl who's 17 & hasn't read the 'Gita' yet but knows much about this & is earnest to find out more.
We have to seek for the ''Truth'' within ourselves & it's much more than reading scriptures; more about feeling it within u,i.e, 'Self'-realization, that is what my Father says & I believe.

:)

Answer 7

Spirituality is attaining peace of mind.

It can be attained in just two ways: Learning and learning!

Where or how can you learn?

By experience and by feeling what you are experiencing.

This can be possible only by reading as much as you can. Our lives are apparently short. So make the most of it by reading and 'digesting' those books that are the treasure troves of mankind.

You can learn spiritualism from a blade of grass and from an ant for instance.

A grass gets trodden, but it always rises to again dance with the wind.

An ant's hill gets blown off or drowned. But, it keeps on working to rebuild it with greater vigor.

Look at a kite. It flies higher and soars into the sky by not flying with the wind but against the wind.

Spiritualism is a state of mind. If anyone thinks he/she will be able to attain spiritualism only when he earns millions he will never be able to attain spiritualism.

Spiritualism can be attained by anyone, anywhere and everywhere.

Just be true to yourself and mediate. But, meditate freely; concentrate on a neutral point that cannot give you anything.

Thus, you will be able to concentrate successfully.

With experience, you will be able to attain spiritualism even if you amidst a crowd.

Spiritualism is not money,
Spiritualism is not talking with God,
Spiritualism is not being the most fortunate person,

BUT SPIRITUALISM IS BEING AT PEACE WITH ITSELF.

Don't think ill of others.
Do your duty,
And, deem your environment and your surroundings as your closest friends.

You will attain spiritualism by reading, experiencing life and learning from the experiences of other enlightened people.

Try out these practical tips and you will attain spiritualism.

Good luck and good bye for today!

Adios, Amigos!

Answer 8

Spiritual achievement is only by practice, But never the less, one should be fully aware of what needs to be practiced and followed.

and as it is readily visible, that we in the current form are not completely knowledged, So the only way to make such a sincere effort and gain experience is by understanding scriptural injunctions and explanations and understanding the truth.

So, it is quintessential that we learn scriptures , to perform respective tasks ( actually all such tasks followed as prescribed by scriptures manifests themselves as sacrifices ) and than to gain experience out of them.

So there is no successful valid experience wihtout knowledge , and to gain knowledge one should make highly dedicated effort to learn scriptures.

in short,

there are no true experiences without understanding of scriptures, and experiences which are not true is of no use

( When there is a flood you need to know how to swim isn't it, IF you tell that you know how to dance, that is not going to help in your survival isn't it). ( Very nice example OM TAT SAT )

so scriptures are basics and ways to a successful experience.

-deito

Answer 9

Dear Friend,
"Spirituality" is about aquiring the complete knowledge of Truth. Spirituality or Spiritual knowledge cannot be aquired by mere experiences in one's life or reading the scriptures, which may lead to more doubts, confusions or even misunderstandings, thus, creating false notions by ourselves and follow them blindly. It is said to be aquired only when all our doubts, confusions and misunderstandings are cleared, solved and corrected with the help of a Guru(Spiritual Master), who makes us completely understand the truth of Life, Nature and God, and thereby helps us to transform ourselves into a true human-being with a great personality.

For example, Arjuna, a great warrior, had withdrawn himself from declaring war against the Kauravas, who were well-known for evil deeds - like injustice, corruption, fraud, harrassment etc., with a deep sorrow and had created himself a deep vyamoha(attachment) with them(as the Kauravas consisted of his own relatives and friends). But, Lord Krishna, as a Spiritual Master in the form of "Kala" - the time, enlightened him through His speech and answered all the questions of Arjuna, who had entangled himself with many doubts, confusions, misunderstandings, and false notions about the Life & Death, Man & God, Science, Religion, & Spirituality, and "Karma" - the duty, etc., thus, clarified him about his doubts & confusions and corrected his misunderstandings and misbeliefs, and thereby, made him to transform himself into a true warrior and perform his duties towards the God(Universe) without any expectation.

This episode of conversations between Arjuna(a "Jeevatma" - the man, depicted as a warrior) and Lord Krishna(the "Paramatma" - the God, depicted as the Universe) is called "Srimad Bhagavadgita" or in short "Bhagavadgita" or the "Gita".
All the values and principles stated therein are applicable for all of us(the entire world) and at all times, irrespective of any religion or society. It is in the form of questions and answers which can be understood only with a deep thinking and learning with an open-mind.
It can be considered as a practical manual for developing one's own personality, just like the Bible, Quran etc. after aquiring the complete knowledge with the help of a Guru.

Note : To aquire Spirituality, a person need not be a Saint or a Monk. Anybody, with a broad mind & patience, can aquire it slowly with a deep understanding.

Answer 10

Spirituality for me is about experience, not necesarily getting ahead in experience, but I believe every experience I have brings me closer to god. Why? Because god is everything IMO and god is unc. love. The more that I experience, the broader my perspective becomes, the more understanding i then gain, the more empathy i then feel. The more empathy I feel the more likely I am to be able to love another without judgement or condition. As god loves all of us.