SPIRITUAL  JOURNEY

Any pursuit has to be methodical, and 'spiritual journey' is no exception. In this journey, in spite of being methodical, we may succeed in most and yet fail in some aspects, for here we are not dealing with a mathematical equation or a chemical formulation; here individual emotions and experiences play a part, too.

Like in the study of any subject, we begin with learning the terms, knowing well that there can be a book, or books, on each term itself. So it is with spirituality. In my articles here, I try to keep the subject as fundamental as I can without being presumptuous or preachy (and yet no matter how hard one tries, this subject is such that even under humility, one sounds preachy).

At OBO, we learn from each other, and I learn from my fellow OBO members. Just because I write on a topic, I do not claim that I am successful at every aspect of it. Far from it, I am on the journey like many of us. Intense prayer, shraddha, intense humility, extreme surrender, and some non-attachments have been possible for me, but I still suffer from attachment to some relationships, and from lack of duration/concentration in my meditation.

Our Atman is our true light, and our spiritual journey is for us to discover this light, to know this light. We all experience glimpses of this light like tiny sparks from time to time, e.g. the joy we feel when we help someone, when we do the right moral action, or when we love someone without expectation.

The core of any spiritual journey is "spiritual aspiration", i.e. the thirst, the hunger to know God, or the Atman within us. It begins at different points and in different forms in the life of each individual, e.g. a person born in a God-loving, God-abiding family gets early initiation to prayer and spiritual thoughts than others who may get this spark later upon meeting some holy person per chance. Nevertheless, there is something common amongst most of us.. it is that we have spiritual hunger or thirst within us that is yearning to be satisfied. The more we quench it, the more joyful we feel, but unlike the physical hunger/thirst, here we do not get satiated.

Speaking of 'form' mentioned above, for some this can be मूर्ति पूजा, आराधना, प्रार्थना, सतसंग, सेवा, कर्म योग, ज्ञान योग, मनन, or a combination of these in different proportions. No single path is the right path for all... to each according to his/her persuasion so long as one has a goal. Even the definition of goal is subject to individual's background, needs and desire (hunger/thirst).

The irony is that many of us short-change ourselves, by being satisfied with less than what we are capable of, or by not even having a goal, because we have not explored our options beyond the routine rituals and customary prayers.

Spirituality requires God-consciousness not only at certain set times of daily prayers, but the consciousness of God-Thought in the back of our mind all the time no matter what we are doing. This can be a tall order, but the more we can do it, the easier the rest of the journey. We can be thinking of God while going up and down the stairs, or while at the stop-light waiting for it to turn from red to green, etc.... in other words, at every step of our daily routines.

Two practical thoughts or elements that are extremely conducive to our success in spirituality are (a) shraddha, and (b) surrender with total humility. This 'total humility' requires that we actually feel gratitude to God no matter what circumstances we are going through. I do not like to call circumstances as 'good' or 'bad'. For me they are 'good' or 'not so good', and I consciously thank God for both. This has been possible through seeing His Grace in everything, and I mean everything.

It is true that in the path of spirituality, there is no yard-stick to measure our progress, and yet there is that light within us, the GRACE  of God that tells us privately where we are, for we have no one to prove to, but ourselves. And to our own selves, at least, we have to be true. 

How will we know where we are in our journey? In the beginning, it is really not important to know it. And later, when we have made some progress, it is just important to know that we still have more distance to go, and to keep moving on.

The progress is easier if in addition to our ultimate goal, we keep some smaller goals or steps in sight. These smaller goals are subject to the individual selection of the path, and also subject to individual ability and discipline. For example, if we choose the path of bhakti, the # of times we pray ... how long we pray... how intense is our prayer ... do we ask God or do we thank God ... do we carry God-thought with us and within us after the prayer is over, etc. ... all these can be examples of smaller goals.

Like in academic studies, we have to aim high to achieve high. There is a difference though ... that here 'high' means that we have to not only learn the theory, but we have to experience God, the Reality, the Truth, the Divinity within us. EXPERIENCE  is the key word here, for only then can we feel the ultimate joy, the 'BLISS'. This experience can take time, but we must not get disheartened. The beauty of this journey, as Lord Krishna said in Bhagvad Gita, is that in this there is no loss of effort. We cannot reach our goal by only reading the books, we have to  EXPERIENCE  spirituality through our conduct.

The key word is our CONDUCT.

                                                                              --  Vijay Nikore

(original and unpublished)