Thinkers in the northern region of India are more prone to reasoning, logic compared to south India where religious practices, rituals dominate. In the field of spirituality it is pure logic that worked wonders as spiritual journey is an inside journey towards spirit, soul atman existing in heart. Indulgence in spirituality demands contemplating on vital issues of life relating to our true inner self, including God Almighty!
Unless we believed in God, his world of souls’ atmans, we could never tread spiritual path successfully. To reach the hidden underlying truths contained in scriptures mastery of contemplation (chintan) is an absolute must. Indulgence in rituals (religious practices), a seeker never gained anything in spiritual life. We just cannot while away our precious life indulging in rituals that carried no merit on spiritual journey.
Everything in field of pure spirituality must always be worked out logically. And for this our indulgence in contemplation (chintan) becomes an absolute must. Most human beings world over who failed to indulge in spirituality successfully did not indulge in contemplation successfully. My experience says most travelers of spiritual path did not want to indulge in contemplation at all. Without mastering mountaineering how could one expect to climb Mount Everest?
If we are serious about spiritual life, spiritual journey we must cross-examine ourselves on the altar of contemplation. There was no escape route on path of pure spirituality. No matter what we do or what ritual we indulged, we could not avoid indulgence in contemplation whatsoever.
I have toured most of South India in depth. My experience is all were seemingly interested in rituals rather than serious spiritual practice. Practice of contemplation was missing in totality. Compared to south India, in north India some people at least indulged in Satsanga, logical discussions on spirituality.