Sumaa Tekur - The Inner Light: A Beginner’s Guide to Spirituality and Finding Peace

Sumaa Tekur is a writer and editor with stints in publications like The Times of India, Deccan Herald, Femina, and DNA. She has also contributed to various British dailies and holds a Masters in International Journalism from City University, London. Her spiritual journey started early in life and this quest gained momentum with solo travelling, which gave her many opportunities for rich learning, reflection, and time to construct her own unique framework of spirituality. She offers this unique perspective in her spiritual consultancy, Golden Swan Healing (www.goldenswanhealing.com), through which she supports many a new and seasoned seeker.

Sumaa lives in Bengaluru with her books, paints and canvases, lamps, and drums. Her solitude is shared only with the mango tree next to her window, her stable, allweather companion.

Hay House Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Muskaan Complex, Plot No.3, B-2 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110 070, India
Hay House Inc., PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100, USA
Hay House UK, Ltd., The Sixth Floor, Watson House, 54 Baker Street, W1U 7BU, UK
Hay House Australia Pty Ltd., 18/36 Ralph St., Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia
Email:
www.hayhouse.co.in

Copyright Sumaa Tekur 2022

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author's own and the facts are as reported by her. They have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use other than for 'fair use' as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews without prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-93-91067-54-0
ISBN 978-93-91067-77-9 (e-book)

To
Chikkappa (Dr Shirdi Prasad Tekur),
Empath and healing ninja. Your inner light glowed
with the secret of life.

To
Ma and Pa, for putting up with me.
I am because you are.

Without going out of my door
I can know all things on Earth
Without looking out of my window
I could know the ways of Heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Without going out of your door
You can know all things on Earth
Without looking out of your window
You could know the ways of Heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Arrive without travelling
See all without looking
Do all without doing

The Inner Light, The Beatles

TWO PEOPLE WALKED INTO THE LONDON HEATHROW airport lounge and occupied individual sofa-seaters near where I sat reading a book. The first was a 60-plus woman who was visibly harassed by the cancellation of her connecting flight. She would now have to not only wait longer but also take a circuitous route with another connection at New York to reach her destination.

The second person, a gentleman in his late thirties, was dressed sharply in a black suit and had a soft smile as he casually looked around. When our eyes met, we realised that we had both been people-watching. We struck up a conversation and found out that we were on the same flight that was cancelled and were waiting to be listed on another flight.

As we spoke, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he held a senior position in a prime global company. It intrigued me that he didnt carry the aura of stress and the burden of decision-making that most people in his position generally wore. He travelled business class but liked to mingle in crowded airport lounges as it helped him to stay connected to the people, he told me. He clearly wasnt perturbed by the delay in his arrival in the United States although it would upset his meeting plans. He shrugged and said: Theres more to life than meetings and theres definitely more to life than the corner office. His eyes twinkled as he said those words. In that moment, I felt a surge of respect for this man that I barely knew. Only a deep-rooted hold on ones personal values can keep a man from succumbing to temptations of power and the heady rush of success in an artificially erected social structure built on bricks of gold.

When I finally boarded my connecting flight to New York, the harassed 60-year-old lady sat a row behind me. She continued her conversations on the phone. I eavesdropped and learned that she was going to Chicago to teach a module on mindfulness and meditation at a conference. And she was upset that she, now, didnt have an evening to sleep off the jet lag. The missed flight had frazzled her nerves more than she could handle.

I found myself smiling at the synchronicity that brought these two people near me in the airport lounge. In those few hours, I had learned that spirituality is hardly about visible symbolsburning incense, saintly robes, folded hands, and closed eyes. It is so much about what we cannot seecalm in chaos, choosing peace over conflict, practising compassion, kindness in everyday interactions, inner balance, and widening life perspective.

Spirituality is all this and so much more. It is simple, and yet seems so complex. It is, perhaps, this paradoxical nature of spirituality that intimidates some of us who would love to integrate it into daily life but dont know how to engage with it.

The psychology of branding has entered the world of spirituality, too, taking it further away from its essence. If you could imagine the entire spiritual market displayed on a single supermarket aisle, it would be an unending line of branded products from gurus of various schools and provenance. These branded products would teach how to attain salvation, how to meditate, and how to master the mind. The gurus would also include, in their schools, everyday consumer products like groceries, toiletries, stationery, and even home dcor stamped with a spiritual organisations branding. Marketing brains join hands with spiritual teachers to express the seekers loyalty for a guru in everyday shopping choices.

This book is for beginners looking to dip their toes, and then some, into the waters of spirituality without getting caught in the whirlpool of spiritual consumerism. The book answers the question: How can I walk this path with awareness to improve my understanding of life?

Its for those of us who ask: Where do I even start? What is spirituality? Why does it feel like to be spiritual is akin to climbing a steep mountain? This book tells you why it isnt like climbing a steep mountain and why you are, probably, climbing up the wrong mountain if you feel that way in your practice. And even though the mountain may not be steep, you will still likely meet your Shadowthe challenges that you need to overcomealong the climb. This Shadow, which can appear in the form of doubt, fear, control, illusion, delusion, and more, is not to be feared. It is, after all, a part of you. We can only grow if we become more aware of our Shadow and how it makes us behave. Walking the spiritual path is also about this learning and improved awareness.

I am not affiliated to any spiritual group, organisation, or guru. And this, I believe, puts me in a unique position to share examples and perspectives about leading a spiritual life, drawn from personal encounters, and from the experiences shared by fellow seekers.

The book tackles questions about spirituality and religion, material life, family dharma, the importance of a guru, cult, activism, and so much more. While it is designed for beginners on this path by offering doses of confidence through shared stories and insights from seekers, even those who have been on the path for a few years might find these insights equally useful. After all, one often needs to return to the basics to ensure that the foundation is a perfectly paved runway for take-off.