Essence of the Spiritual Journey | Q&A with Aravind Balasubramanya /

Brother Aravind shares his insights on the true meaning of prayer and the importance of being in sync with God as well as emphasizing the need to develop a strong relationship with God, just like a close friendship, where we can share our thoughts, feelings, and desires. Aravind also addresses the issue of criticism and to respond by staying true to ourselves and to focus on doing our best, as Swami is the only one to whom we are accountable.

00:00 - intro
01:00 - Q1 - How can we build a relationship with God?
01:10 - A1
10:24 - Q2 - What role does discipline play in Spirituality?
10:34 - A2
18:58 - Q3 - How can we come to like what needs to be spiritually done?
19:36 - A3
28:28 - Q4 - What has been shared about character?
28:40 - A4
36:20 - Q4 - What is the value of satsang?
36:32 - A4
41:29 - Q5 - Having faith in God is the same as having faith in ourselves?
41:47 - A5
48:11 - Q6 - What do we receive when we understand that we are the Atma?
48:21 - A6
54:43 - Q7 - How does chanting the Gayatri help us?
54:58 - A7
58:05 - Q8 - What are some experiences with prayer as a means of communicating with God?
58:10 - A8
1:04:08 - Concluding thoughts

Speaker bio:
Aravind Balasubramanya hails from a family that has been devoted to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for nearly half a century. His father was a photographer of Bhagawan in the late 60s and early 70s in Brindavan and many of the old black and white photographs we see of Swami have been through his lens.
Inspired by his parents, especially his mother, to spend his life with his Swami, Aravind joined Sri Sathya Sai Vidyapeeth in Calicut, Kerala for his primary education. He joined Sri Sathya Sai High Secondary school in Prasanthi Nilayam for his high schooling. He followed it with a bachelor's in science with specialization in chemistry from the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for which he secured a gold medal. He continued to complete his master's in science (chemistry) and with the desire to stay with Bhagawan went on to do his MBA too.
It was in the institute that he got several opportunities to speak in the Divine presence, act in many presentations and plays and also pursue photography which he picked up from his father. He was careful in recording almost every day that he spent in the physical proximity of his Lord via his many personal diaries and photographs.
Aravind with his love and zeal for Swami and His mission continues to share and spread Swami's teachings with his unique talents in using audio-video skills in wide range of social media platforms and giving inspiring talks around the world through personal appearances.