Clearing the Path

 

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Clearing the Path

Spiritual process means different things to different people. A lot of people think spiritual process means to always be loving, always be grinning, to always walk gently. Others think spirituality is some kind of a disability. Another common belief is that spirituality means trying to be good. Some people think spirituality means doing something wild – smoking pot, going crazy, being irresponsible. For others, being spiritual means trying to be joyful, peaceful, or ecstatic. Being spiritual does not mean any of that. Being spiritual means becoming in some way more of a spirit and less of a body. What it means is losing one’s body consciousness while enhancing one’s soul consciousness.

There may be certain obstacles that do not allow us to experience this right now. We must know what our handicap is. It may be that we are so good that we have no sense about life around us. Or we are so crazy that we have no sense about life within and outside us. Or we are so controlled that nothing ever happens with us. 

Here is what we can do: close our eyes, look into ourself, see what our idea of spirituality is, and what needs to happen for us to be a little more spiritual, to be more sensitive to life within. Identify one main obstacle that needs to be cleared to make us more of a spirit than a body. 

Let’s look at a few common obstacles. If we feel there is rigidity or friction in the body, we can work it out by doing our yoga in the morning. This body is a machine that gets better with use. Rigidity and friction in the body mean in a way, rigor mortis is slowly setting in. Yoga does not allow that to settle into the system. When we are alive, we must be fully alive. One aspect of being alive is we do not allow rigidity to settle in. Our body, mind, and energies should be as fluid as possible. Only then will we know life in a deeper way.

Others may have the intention to do their sadhana but end up being too lazy. Not everyone has the same level of intensity, but what must happen, must happen. Like Swamiji says – “Give me your half hour every day, and I will give you a bright future”. So, all we have to do is meditate every morning – preferably same place and time – so that our energy gets established in that place, and observe the change that takes place within us. That much commitment we must have. This is not about thinking or talking spirituality. This is about practicing and living spirituality.

Physical ailments, a hyperactive mind and our past karma also create perceived obstacles which we have to overcome with Guru’s grace. With physical ailments we just have to work a little harder to achieve the desire result. When we realise that our physical ailments are an obstacle to spiritual progress, we end up doing our utmost to transcend the body.

With yoga and meditation, we end up calming the mind to an extent that it only goes where we want it to go, else it remains quiet – this gives us a great sense of peace, as the mind can otherwise create quite a nuisance.

We have to face our past birth karma – after being initiated the Guru absolves us of our current birth karma and gives us the strength and fortitude to face our past birth karma. After we pass that stage, we realise that whatever we do, we do with Guru’s grace and do not let our ego intervene, and nothing bad happens through us because meditation has made our aura strong and protective.

The most important thing in life is balance. If there is no balance, our body and mind will work against us. A stable base means a body and mind that take instructions from one’s self. We must be able to create the right kind of chemistry within the system. This is essential for our health and wellbeing. We need the skills to manage our own system. Yoga and meditation help us do that.