From Self-Help to Self-Realization: The Evolving Spiritual Journey
By: AiR Atman in Ravi Happiness Ambassador and Spiritual Leader
We all have challenges in life. We resort to different ways to battle these problems. We try to improve our relationships, our physical health, our mental health, our professional life. We read self-help books, attend motivational seminars, set goals, go for counselling and push ourselves harder. And yes, for a while, it works. We feel better, more in control. But soon, the same emptiness returns. We become unhappy again. Why?
The truth is that neither peace nor real happpiness can be found in the external world. We confuse happpiness with pleasure. Pleasure comes and goes but true happpiness forever flows. What the world doesn’t understand is that unless we realize our true self, we can never be happpy. Self-realization, Awakening, Enlightenment is the purpose of life. Worldly things — our work, relationships, our possessions can only give us pleasure. Peace comes from within, when we still the mind; when we overcome greed and desires and start living with contentment and fulfillment. But it is purpose that leads us to a life of seamless bliss. That is why I spell happpiness with 3 Ps. The 3 Ps Pleasure, Peace and Purpose are the 3 Keys of happpiness.
Self-help may help us become successful, but self-realization shows us that we were climbing the wrong peak. Success is not happpiness. Happpiness is success. We must evolve from achievement to fulfillment to Enlightenment.
‘Who am I?’ This question is the key to self-realization. ‘Am I the body that will die? My dear ones will burn the body, saying that I have departed. I have left the body. So, who is this ‘I’ that has left the body? I cannot be the mind because the mind doesn’t even exist. No one has seen the mind.’ Then the ego is Enlightened to realize: I am the Soul – a Spark Of Unique Life, a part of the Supreme Immortal Power we call God.
When this truth is realized, everything changes. Peace is no longer something we want, it becomes who we are. We are no longer engaged in the pursuit of happpiness, we realize we are happpiness. The journey from self-help to self-realization not about becoming someone better. It is about realizing we were never less to begin with. It is about realizing our inherent Divinity. With this realization, we are free, peaceful and blissful.
By Yogacharya Akhil Gore, Founder Routein Yoga
Every journey begins with the body. The first step toward transformation often starts with physical movement the asana. When we begin to exercise or practice yoga, our intention is usually to stay fit, relieve stress, or simply feel better. But as the body grows stronger and more balanced, something deeper begins to unfold.
In yoga, what initially attracts people is often the physical form the graceful, challenging postures that inspire discipline and strength. Yet, as one continues, awareness expands beyond the physical. The practice naturally leads toward pranayama, philosophy, and a deeper understanding of the mind. The perception shifts from “doing yoga” to living yoga.
This is where the real evolution begins. The outer effort transforms into inner observation. The focus moves from self-help to self-realization — from improving the body and mind to understanding the essence of being itself. When one becomes comfortable in their own presence, the need for external validation fades. Growth becomes a personal offering, not a performance.
To me, spirituality is not about escaping life, but embracing it with awareness. It’s a process of unfolding layer by layer until we discover that the peace we were seeking was always within. That, truly, is the journey from self-help to self-realization.