My journal: Spirituality, simply

[Guest guest]

 

Visions are only reflections of divine vibrations in the mind, aroused by Sadhana (spiritual practice). They are milestones, signposts; they happen on the road to the goal. They do not, they cannot accompany you right to the end. You will have to travel alone and overcome obstacles.... - Baba from Thought for the day 13th September 2009

Spirituality, I thought, was searching for God, finding my soul, looking for my Self. As mystical as this notion is, seeking God is like trying to catch a rainbow - impossible. I know to look for a rainbow after a rain on a sunny day, I enjoy looking at the pleasing colors, the mystery of a beautiful concoction in the middle of the sky, may be take a picture, but other than that, I can't do much else about it. Glimpses of God are the same way - I know to look for Him through prayers and meditation, and it's always a divine experience when I see a vision of Him, or feel Him, but no one really knows who or what God is, in all His magnificence and glory.

 

So for all practical intents and purposes, I've figured out for myself that spirituality is actually trying to figure out what God isn't. Spirituality is about learning to give up. It's about giving up everything that isn't God - possessions, attachments, desires, wishes, dreams, likes, dislikes, passions, ego. It's about recognizing and learning to live without comforts, conveniences, pleasures, luxuries, beliefs, ideas, fantasies. There are monks who do this literally and live a life with no possessions but for a robe and a bowl. But there are also regular people who are monks mentally, even though they live in this world and are surrounded by life's little luxuries.

 

To live in this world, but not of it, is spirituality - to me. To bloom where I am planted, but in the knowledge that I will leave it all behind when I die is spirituality. To relentlessly peel back layer after layer of ego, desires and attachments is spirituality. And what will I find at the core in the end? God alone knows.

 

.....Grace from your own self is the most important and essential help for spiritual progress. I might grant you grace without limit, but of what use can that be if your heart is not clean and if your head is full of ego? Cleanse your heart with Prema (love) and remove ego through service.

- Baba from Thought for the day 13th September 2009