(Part 3)
Overview / Itinerary:
10. Pitfalls, sidetracks and dead-end-streets on the Spiritual Path
11. How to live Spirit-oriented in busy busy 21. Century
12. What is the Future of Spirituality
– Spirituality is the new “religion” of the 21. century
– “Trans-personal” Spirituality
– Intentional Spiritual Community
13. What is the ultimate meaning of being alive
14. Spirituality – My conclusions
10. Pitfalls, sidetracks and dead-end-streets on the Spiritual Path
Well, i know there are a-many of those. I know, because i have gone down some of these roads, stumbled into some such holes . . . but ultimately always always ended up where i should end up.
Being a little more humble, a little more wiser, knowing a little more about myself and the human condition.
This process of knowing the dark side of the seeking for enlightenment and spirituality is quite important in my eyes because the ego is tricky and can take on various guises. And one especially tricky ego is the so called Spiritual Ego. No kidding ; )
The higher we go in consciousness, the deeper we can fall if we are not alert to the games of our ego. The mythological story of Ikarus is telling the tale in rather drastic symbolic ways, but the truth unfortunately often is not far from it.
Honest Self-observation and Humility are always recommended on the spiritual path.
This issue could easily fill a book – i can recommend this book – The Dark Side of the Light Chasers – but here i will only mention shortly a few such pitfalls.
– Spiritual pride: Pride comes before the fall, this is a well known saying. And it is true.
I think that every accomplishment that we reach thru our own efforts is a legitimate reason to be proud of ourselves. But when we happen to be blessed by certain blissful experiences in meditation or peak experiences or insights in general then it is actually not our own doing that produced such experiences. It is by something, that is sometimes called Grace. It is a gift or a blessing.
Say goodby to pride. Let’s not brag about our spiritual experiences ; )
Gratitude and awe are the responses i would recommend.
– Spiritual superiority: This is a tricky one, because when we know more than others or when we have more experience in some area or when we are more clear or powerful in general, the people will naturally tend to look up to us, seek our advice or guidance. Some folks will inevitably put us on a pedestal and it can be difficult to escape the traps of feeling superior or special. Which is really detrimental to feeling At One, Unity.
Having said that, i also believe that there is a kind of hierarchy on soul level – having to do with being a young soul or old soul – just as there are Elders in tribal cultures, who are respected and revered because of their extensive life experience.
But this does not mean that the Elder or old soul is “higher” or “more worth” or “superior”.
I think in Oneness there is no higher or lower, we are all on the same boat sailing towards full consciousness.
– Blind faith: Sometimes the Esoteric fairs or the pages of eso-spiritual magazines can look a bit like medieval marketplaces, where the loudest merchants sell the most of their wares. Believing everything that is offered and promised at face value is foolish, especially when the wares are subtle energies, Kundalini experiences, past-life revelations or inter-dimensional gateways.
People selling snake-oil and promise the cure for everything have always been successful with the uninformed and naive.
I suggest to cultivate a healthy kind of skepticism and become an informed citizen of the land of spirituality before following another guru who promises instant enlightenment or buying another item that is supposed to increase your energy 1000 fold.
; )
– Spiritual materialism: I guess it is true that certain crystals focus energy and create a field and i believe that the burning of sage purifies the air. But i don’t believe that 55 crystals in the house will make you more spiritual or you need to burn sage all day long like in some Hindu temple.
To live a spiritually oriented life, we don’t need to collect all the “spiritual things” that are offered, have all the CDs of certain mantra singers or go workshop hopping every weekend, check out every new “spiritual teacher” that comes to town.
I think “less is more” and this also is true for the spiritual path. Rather go for quality than for quantity. Rather choose wisely and go deep into your choice of path that distract yourself with wanting to be on many different spiritual highways and byways at the same time in superficial ways.
Being essential, i guess that is the way to go.
– Chasing Spiritual Highs: From Kundalini Awakening, to awesome Psychedelic Experiences, Orgasmic Meditations and more, there are a lot of Spiritual ecstatic and blissful experiences available to us.
These experiences are wonderful and highly influential for those who do have them, which is why they are so heavily discussed and marketed. However, it’s important these highs are a natural result of practice, and that we aren’t rushing or hurried to chase them.
Chasing Spiritual Highs can be like an addiction, an experience of attachment, often associated with disassociating from the Physical World. Don’t chase highs, just do your practice and let them come to you!
– Thinking that there is a Perfect Place you will reach: I promise as you continue to practice Spirituality and continue to Awaken to your Truth of who you Truly are, your life will in general greatly change and the challenges that have loomed for a seemingly long time will fade into distant past.
However, I believe it’s important to be aware there is no perfect place to be reached and no final destination to be found. Everything is already here and now, in one continually happening, exciting and unfolding moment.
And embracing and accepting that in its fullness is one of the best ways to find your own truth and happiness and not get caught up on the misconceptions and pitfalls of this precious Spiritual Path.
Click here to share your own experiences with this topic
11. How to live Spirit-oriented in busy busy 21. Century
This is what people tell me: “I have no time to meditate”, “My kids need me from the first moment i wake up till late at night”, “I have my head full of work stuff, i have no more capacity for spiritual matters”, “I am simply too lazy to get up at 6 in the morning to sit on a cushion for an hour”, “My schedule is already over-full with real-life tasks, no way to make some room for something so useless like spirituality”.
It is true, most of us live a full life, or maybe just a life filled with activities that keep us busy busy busy.
Busy.
We live in a time and – especially in urban western culture – an overabundance of demands, challenges, opportunities and also lots and lots of distractions and addictions.
Busy is understandable but busy is not everything there is.
I always say that there will come a time – probably when we are laying on our deathbed – when we will think about what we have been so busy with all the time. If it has been really important things or valuable, lasting things or activities that brought truth, beauty, love, meaning and essence into our life.
Or was it just being a part of the never-stopping machine of our culture and our own wishes and expectations that has been driving us?
So, i guess to make Spirituality real in our life is not just a challenge for our super-speedy time but it has always been the same:
A choice. A clear choice to follow the call of the soul. A choice to make real what is essential and lasting and let go of what is superficial and just taking up space and time. A determination to create a lifestyle that is voluntarily directed towards minimalism and essential things. A willingness to let go of clutter. Let go of distractions. Be willing to change. Focus on the Good, the Beautiful, The True.
Clear values.
Smart priorities.
Good, inspired company.
I believe the rest of life will follow suit.
There is a lot more to be said about this issue, but i don’t want to go on and on endlessly ; )
It might be the stuff for another essay one day
Click here to share your own thoughts about this topic
12. What is the Future of Spirituality
It is almost a paradox to talk about the future of spirituality when Spirit is beyond time and space and inside all time and space : )
But maybe something is changing about our view of Spirit or our motivation for pursuing a spirituality-oriented life.
And – looking back over the the recent 50 years or so – i can clearly see a trend concerning spiritual life and the motivation to go for it.
The trend i see is from a
– transcendental kind of Spirituality, that neglects the person, the egoic self, the human needs and affairs and wants to leave the earthly matters behind for a superior state
– towards a view of Spirituality, that i call Integral Spirituality that considers Earth, body, psyche and soul and Essence as being One Emergence in the Here and Now.
In one word: Oneness.
There has also been a merging of eastern and western philosophies and paths by bringing Eastern Wisdom and spiritual knowledge and Western psychology and neurological science together.
Already ten years or so ago some forward thinking teachers have started talking about “Evolutionary Spirituality”, indicating that there is a new cosmic wave at work, a new evolutionary impulse. And the – rather male, yang, rather exclusive – approach that we knew for the last few thousand years is changing into an all inclusive view and path – rather feminine, embracing.
Great news, i think!!!
– Spirituality is the new “religion” of the 21. century
Already a significant number of people, mostly members of the Millennial generation and GenX is defining themselves as “Spiritual but not religious” (SBNR), also known as “Spiritual but not affiliated” (SBNA) in polls and on social networks. This trend is rapidly growing and reflects the shift from religion/faith-based spirituality to experience-based spirituality. From a religious path organized by a religious institutions and sanctioned by traditional hierarchies to a individual spiritual path that follows the own conscious and the own growing understanding about life.
– “Trans-personal” Spirituality
Another trend that makes me very optimistic about the future is the newly-appearing tendency to leave behind the “narcissistic attempt of personal enlightenment”. Not caring for the rest of the world while i live in my own bliss-bubble, so to say.
There is a shift now from ego-centric spiritual attempts for enlightenment to a world-centric and cosmos-centric attitude.
There is a growing awareness amongst some – mostly anglo-american – teachers, that it is not enough to sit on the cushion or live in a peaceful spiritual community with like-minded folks. If we care for life, for essence, for Mother Earth and all living beings we also need to stand up, raise our voices for the betterment of those less fortunate. Go out and confront the political and economic inequalities in order to improve the conditions on earth.
It is a critical time for humanity to fight for something and not against something and Spiritual Activism is an attempt to bring the Spiritual into political activism.
– Deep Ecology: Is a wonderful movement that already originated in the 1070s as an attempt to understand the interconnectedness of all life and the Earth and act on this understanding in practical ways thru social activism. Many of the early proponents of this movement have been practicing Buddhist-oriented spirituality and meditation. There is a lot written about this approach of a world-centered-spirituality. Check out wikipedia.
“When two or more are gathered in my name i will be amongst them”. This is a quote that supposedly Jesus, the great spiritual teacher has said to his disciples. Whatever he meant by “my name” and “I will” . . . honestly i don’t know.
But i know that the practice of we-space, also called sharing circles, deep sharing circles and so on can open up a spiritual dimension of Oneness that is far beyond the mere talking and listening to each other.
This has been experienced by many people in all kinds of spiritual communities and explored in depth by a few dedicated teachers.
– Intentional Spiritual Community
That is definitely a dear, dear topic of mine, but that shall be a topic for another day : )
13. What is the ultimate meaning of being alive
Click here on the bubble. Please tell me what you think
14. Spirituality – My conclusions
Now i feel i have come to some kind of end of this seemingly end-less topic
; )
It started out with me responding to a need that i felt in the life of some dear friends of mine and it turned into a kind of blog article and essay, a contemplation about what i have to say about spirituality.
I am happy i did it for my own sake.
And if you are still here reading, i trust that you get something out of it.
Now, what is my conclusion after all those many words?
In short, i think that Spirituality (the one with a capital S) is not something that we need to add onto our life, not a hobby or occasional occupation, not a trend or a fad.
Not a Yoga lesson that we join or a seminar we take.
Rather than that it is something natural and inherent, intrinsic in Existence.
I think that Spirit is the Ground of Existence, of Being, the élan vital of everything that is.
It is also the very foundation onto which our individual life as persons rests and unfolds.
And here on Earth it seems to be the privilege of us human beings to realize that.
I think it is the ultimate journey a human can take, the search for and the finding of and the full embodying of the origin from which we came.
Our home – Spirit – that is actually … everything.
To make this more than a meta-philosophical contemplation, to make it actually so real that it informs any and all aspects of our personal life, we have to approach it practically by way of a chosen Spiritual Practice.
This Spiritual Practice – in my opinion – shall be a systematic approach that can transform and cleanse and refine our character, our values, attitudes and behaviors, our overall perspective of the things of life and it shall also include a method to be in direct contact and union with this mysterious Ground of Being, Consciousness, Spirit, God.
If this is not a good enough reason to be here, to get up every morning and go meditate and then go bring the very best of me into any situation that life brings, then i don’t know what is a good reason for living.
You tell me : )
Click here to share your own thoughts about it
In case you think you could need any help, support, inspiration or guidance on this journey, drop me a note. Maybe i can be of assistance.
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