Principles of Spirituality - 1

 

Photo Credit: SSRF

Principles of Spirituality - 1

Spiritual practice is something that many start, but there are very few finalists. Few persist with spiritual practice for even a year and even fewer progress to higher spiritual levels. Why is this the case? It is not that there is a shortage of genuine seekers because there are definitely seekers who genuinely want God realisation. It is also not the case that Spirituality is something only a few people can make progress in. Spirituality is universal and anyone, even a bad person, can progress to God realisation with sincere spiritual practice. The reason people give up on Spirituality is because in most cases, people do not practice Spirituality as per its universal principles. When a seeker knowingly or unknowingly neglects these principles, he risks stagnation or even regression in spiritual growth. For a seeker not taking these principles into account while practicing Spirituality is like a hiker ignoring the law of gravity while climbing a mountain. With time, such seekers can become disillusioned with Spirituality and conclude that there is no truth to it.

Rapid spiritual progress can be achieved when we do spiritual practice according to the basic principles of Spirituality. Even though there are many different types of spiritual practice, whether our spiritual practice adheres to the basic principles of Spirituality is a true litmus test for its effectiveness. If not, we run the risk of putting in a lot of effort but not seeing the results that match that effort.

The six basic principles of spirituality are: 1. There are as many paths to God as there are people. 2. Going from many to one. 3. Progressing from the gross (tangible) to the subtle (intangible). 4. Undertaking spiritual practice as per one’s spiritual level or spiritual capacity. 5. Doing spiritual practice relevant to the times. 6. Offering to God as per your talent or capacity. We will go through each of the principle over the next couple of posts, including this one.

There are as many paths to God as there are people.

 When undertaking spiritual practice, it is important to bear in mind that  each  individual is different and so what works for one person may not work for  another. When climbing a mountain each climber thinks his way is the only way.  But when he reaches the top of the mountain, he realises that there were an  infinite number of ways that could have taken him to the top. Likewise, there are  as many paths to God as there are people. If five patients were to go to a doctor  and each was suffering from a different ailment, then giving all five the same medicine would not result in each of them being cured. So also, each of us are different and hence the same spiritual practice cannot be recommended for all.

To be continued....

Ref: SSRF