Being a Spiritual Seeker
in a Material World
“A searcher hankers for the Real. Even though the spiritual journey of each person is unique, still a searcher is greatly helped by the wisdom of luminous teachers and the company and encouragement of fellow searchers.”
-Ravi Ravindra
We all would have probably wondered the following questions at some time in our life:
Is this Material World with all its technological advancements, emotional attractions, with promises and uncertainties about the future, a nurturing place for a spiritual seeker? Or are only mountains, solitude and quiet
a necessity for a serious pursuit?
Is it a place of continuous struggle for life, health, career, relationships, family, financial security and ageing related issues? Do these consume our total time and attention, leaving us no time for something subtler?
Is it at all possible that this material world, with all its frailties, seemingly run by the dualities of reward and punishment, win and loss, comfort and suffering, can actually be a mutually nurturing environment for our spiritual journey?
Ravindra’s work is significant for those who wish to explore the deeper aspects of existence. His approach is especially appealing to individuals who appreciate both empirical evidence and inner experiential knowledge.
He started by teaching physics in Canada. Midway in his career, he was convinced that science did not have all the answers to deeper questions and thus shifted to studying comparative religion and philosophy to gain a deeper understanding of these existential questions. Having learnt the scientific approach, he put the ideas in the scriptures to test by verifying them in his own experience. He still considers himself a fellow seeker in the midst of his students, both new and old, whom he has been guiding for over 4 decades.
During the last two years, Ravi Ravindra has been meeting with a group of seekers from across the globe, guiding them on several aspects of inner search in a global culture. These have been conducted over Zoom with the possibility every month to ask him questions, raise concerns and share insights. All the meetings are recorded and made available to the participants so they can review the exploration and the answers to specific questions.
In 2025, Ravindra is going to continue with the same overall theme ‘Being a spiritual seeker in a material world’. This year, each month he will choose a remark of one of the great sages, either from the olden times like the Christ or the Buddha or Krishna, or from modern times like Madame De Salzman or Jiddu Krishnamurti. He will be focusing on one of the remarks made by them, and then try to explore what we can learn from it. The remarks such as of Christ, ‘Unless you leave yourself behind, you cannot be a follower of mine’. Similarly, a remark of Jeanne De Salzman ‘Ego is a good servant, but a bad master’ or Krishnamurti saying, ‘As long as you are, love is not’. These remarks can be very profound and complex to understand. This is why we need the company of fellow searchers to undertake such an interesting journey.
Start Time: 07:30 AM PST | 10:30 AM EST | 3:30 PM GMT | 09:00 PM IST
Ravi Ravindra is a physicist, a professor and a spiritual searcher. He has a PHD in Physics from the University of Toronto, and was a Post Doctorate fellow in Physics, in Philosophy and in Comparative Religion. In his spiritual search Ravi was introduced to J. Krishnamurti, Madame de Salzmann, Zen Master Roshi Kabori, and underwent a deep immersion in the mystical teachings of the Indian and Christian classical traditions. He is the author of many books on religion, science, mysticism, and spirituality. For more details, please look up www.ravindra.ca
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