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Raghu Rai is one of India’s leading photographers.

What does spirituality mean to you?
Most of us are like programmed machines, we are the result of a certain education and conditioning. At times though, something foreign to our conditioning comes and nudges us, whispers to us, and in that moment, if we do not hesitate for even a split second, if we completely flow with it, we can feel the alignment of body mind and spirit, fully connected with everything around. That connection and that alignment are spirituality to me. In those moments, we are liberated from the intellect, which I call the heavyweight champion, as it tries to control everything in our lives. And true creativity can take place. Indian classical music is a good metaphor for it. Its purpose is not entertainment, but uplifting. It is about reaching spiritual heights. When an artist begins a rag with certain parameters and so on, you close your eyes and gradually go with it. At some point, if the spiritual connection is there, something comes that has never been felt before and takes us higher, like spirituality raining on us. When that intangible gets discovered and seen, it is true magic. Only those moments will be remembered, all the rest, the predictable, is mediocrity.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?
In my youth, I used to believe it is all about me and my own doing. When unpredictable things began happening, I had to question my certainty and realize that there is something else indeed. I see it as a supernatural energy that controls everything. If you give it a name, say Ram, or Muhammad, or Christ, you slot, define and limit it. For me God has no name. Those names refer to those who went in the footsteps of the almighty, of the supernatural, who were connected with that energy, which they could then reflect on others, who got attracted to them. They were connected souls in the same way that Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama would be. We can also feel this connection, if we are open and ready for it. Nothing is more precious than that.
It is like this famous story of a man lost and terrified in the jungle. He asks God for some sign. Some lightning comes and he gets even more terrified. He asks again for some sign, and a butterfly comes gently on his shoulder. He brushes it away with impatience. He was not ready or open to see the signs. When one is open though, everything and much magic can happen.
A nice metaphor for it was given to me when I was travelling to Oaxaca, Mexico. I was taken to an old woman, who had a walking wooden cross with the Christ. She put it on a table, nudged it and it moved. I tried several times until I managed to do the same, until I found the right alignment and connectivity, the correct amount of energy to be channelled: if too much, the cross would fall, if too little, it would not move. Similarly, when you come into alignment in your life, and give a push, things start moving and happening in the most amazing ways.

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