Challenges Faced by a Seeker

 

Photo Credit: AZ Posts | Adyashanti

Challenges Faced by a Seeker

There are many obstacles and challenges that one faces once one embarks on the path of spirituality. The journey to inner peace is strewn with thorns and sharp stones – one just needs to traverse them carefully, with complete awareness, without getting hurt – and then the journey continues in a smoother fashion.

The common spiritual seeker has to be diligent in this day and age, because there are all kinds of distractions out there that can halt our progress if we let them. Now’s a better time than ever to increase our dedication and find out how far we can go, but we have to watch out for the things that can stand in our way.

Fatigue, laziness and complacency can halt our progress by encouraging us to stop, relax and think more about the ego-driven self than our path or the people we want to help. If we give in to fatigue, it can take away our inspiration and encourage us to do little more than sit on the couch, binge watch our favourite TV shows and generally fail to get anything done. Laziness compliments fatigue, because it encourages us to be unproductive for long periods of time. Complacency is the icing on top of the cake that encourages us not to care that we’re no longer getting anything done. Complacency can encourage long periods of careless laziness, and if we can recognise and try to combat fatigue as soon as it starts to affect us, we can get away from all three of these qualities and continue with our inner work.

When the seeker finds it difficult to wake up early and do his spiritual practice, it is because the mind tells such a person that this is not his cup of tea – just give up. One must persevere and keep going and before we know it, we will be in a higher place, and our radiance will begin to show.

If one forgets about love, then the journey becomes really tough, because selfless love gives us the inspiration to keep going when our tensions pile up and we don’t feel enlightened or inspired. The journey is a lot easier and more worthwhile when we have love – love offers a unique kind of emptiness where the mind is empty but the heart is filled with inspiration, creativity and the willingness to take on the most difficult challenges.

The toughest challenge is overcoming the ever-changing forms of one’s ego. This is because, in spiritual terms, our ego is that which separates us from experiencing the Divine or God within us. Having ego equates to leading our life with the myopic thinking that our existence is limited to our 5 senses, mind and intellect. In practical terms, this means having thoughts such as – my name, my body, my looks, my education, my position, my family, my achievements, etc. It seems that these my thoughts are the be-all and end-all of one’s existence. One does not think beyond this limited view of life.

Regardless of the path one follows, if one has a high ego, spiritual progress cannot take place. Spiritual growth means transcending our lower selves, which is our 5 senses, mind and intellect and experiencing the Soul or the God principle that resides in each one of us.