Signs of Spiritual Progress - 1

 

Photo Credit : Daily Pioneer

Signs of Spiritual Progress - 1

Swamiji has been asked these questions many times – “How do I know my state? How do I know if I have progressed spiritually?” Swamiji invariably answers, “The very fact that you are asking means you have not progressed!” I too have been asked this question several times and I can answer only through my experiences. I used to be hot tempered and would react like a person on a short fuse if something went against my thought process or will! That of course used to be temporary and I would calm down in a while and apologise even on seeing the other side of the story! That was my first observation – I calmed down, the anger has dissipated, it rarely comes to the fore now. It mainly happens when I am driving in crazy undisciplined traffic – I kind of lose my temper, I am fully aware that this is not correct and I am working on it, I am sure with His Grace this barrier too shall fall.

The other sign is continuous good health, as all the chakras get cleared, health issues related to the blocked chakras get resolved. I always had a bad vishuddhi (throat) chakra, constant cold and cough – in the last twelve years I have had to resort to pills only thrice. Your health improves dramatically and you are always in that high energy zone with a feeling of joy and benevolence oozing out of you.

As you progress you realise that the universe is conspiring to help you in whatever way it can. I can say this with confidence as I have never had to get wet in the rain unless I wanted to. The rain stops when I get out of the house and walk towards the car and starts once I get in – this has happened innumerable times – now just the thought that – ‘I hope I don’t get wet till I get into the car’ – helps keep me relatively dry.

The other conscious observation is that the thoughts have more or less disappeared – I would get sleep at night after 15-20 minutes with thoughts flowing in the mind, sometimes disturbing thoughts about the past, and sometimes tense thoughts about what tomorrow will bring. Now, within 30 seconds I am out. Earlier light and sound would wake me up, now it does not matter as I can sleep through the light and sound – specially after sleeping in huge tents with thousands of people from different walks of life. Swamiji has equalised and balanced a lot within me.

These are just the external or physical aspects of spiritual progress – tomorrow I will put down briefly the inner aspects which I have experienced, so that you can relate them with what you have experienced. Keep meditating, keep experiencing, be focused, be happy.