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RK Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the IPCC, along with co-recipient Al Gore

What does spirituality mean to you?
I equate it to a force within myself, stronger than my mind or body, which can translate in a certain level of confidence, and in pushing me to seek something that would defy simple logic. It is a force that tells me not to accept defeat when it is staring at me in the face, or to rise higher than where I am today. And above everything, it is about profound connections with individuals. When you are able to connect with someone well beyond the professional or usual personal interaction, there is a spiritual force binding you to that person.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?
I do indeed. I have had several experiences when things would look so down and out, and then suddenly something would happen that would completely transform the situation. Explaining it statistically with probabilities would not be enough, because it entails too many elements coming together. So then one does get the feeling there may be a hand protecting me all the time. And when I need it most, it is there to take care of me. It is a resource I can draw on at certain points in time.

I do not think of it as God though, in the way that religions would. It simply is a force that permeates the universe and to which we can connect through our spiritual journey. Communication goes in both directions --- we can reach out to it, and it comes to us, helping with information or protection. When connecting with it, one can bring about happenings driven by this force somewhere in the universe, and in some strange mysterious way, it helps protecting us.
This of course can happen only if we are open to it. If our gate is closed, that force has no value or relevance to our lives.

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