Spirituality is no longer the luxury of life, but an absolute imperative of human health and survival. Spirituality can be associated with all human experiences, but it has a particularly close connection with human creativity and awareness of the world around us, with relationships – either with ourselves, with others, or with a transcendent reality, named or unnamed, but often called the universe, God, divine or spirit. Spirituality can also be associated with the perception of joy and suffering, respect, and surrender to something we consider to be the reasonable pillar of life.
How do I know if I’m progressing on the spiritual path?- my student asked.
At the beginning of their spiritual journey, people often feel frustrated. Frustration is born when the way the environment works is contrary to the personal. This conflict can get deeper over time if we work on ourselves and others around us do not necessarily do the same. Some give up on themselves because of it. However, it is a phase, a period of hypersensitivity that we have to go through while digging on our own. This is the process in which a new base is formed. The field of challenge can be interpersonal relationships, hypersensitivity to sensory inputs, professional standards, whatever … It takes a while, and then a more stable base is formed. Later, similar, though more subtle, periods of hypersensitivity may also occur. But then the individual has the experience they recognize and cope with it better. It is a way of continuing to work on ourselves, because it is a way to improve our stability so that the level of that frustration is gradually reduced. But it is inaccurate that working on oneself will protect us from these frustrations… The question is how much this outward really disturbs and consumes us – this reflects the extent of our internal progress. It’s a check point.
Let’s take a career example. In doing so, I change my personal experience of the job, but not necessarily its social value.
I don’t know… I still have a problem really understanding how spirituality makes me more functional in imperfect, real life. Whenever we talk about spirituality, I always imagine a monk or hermit who is beyond all the streams of this earthly life- she said.
It’s not like that. With the development of spirit, we are becoming more present. The spirit teaches you to be here now. Remember that story:
One student, after many years of meditation and spiritual practice, concluded that he had attained enlightenment. He proudly headed to another building of his monastery for a teacher to share the good news with him. As it was raining outside, the student brought an umbrella. When he reached the Master he proudly stormed the room and happily announced to him: “Master, I am enlightened!”
The old Master smiled and asked his student: “When you walked into my chambers, did you take off your slippers in front of the door?”
“Yes?”
“Next to which slippers did you leave your umbrella – left or right?”
The student then realizes that he does not know the answer to that question and that he is not enlightened, because he is not always in the present moment.
I understand, but I get the feeling that working on myself and turning to other values drives me away from the people around me. When I try to talk to them about spirituality, they often look at me like I fell from Mars.
Do you know that story: One night four rabbis were visited by an angel. The angel awakened them and took them to the seventh Cellar of the Seven Heavens on their wings. There they saw St. Ezekiel’s wheel. Coming back to Earth, the first rabbi, after seeing such splendour, lost his mind. Then, for the rest of his days, he wandered half-mad about the wonders he saw. Another rabbi responded cynically: “Oh, I was only dreaming of Ezekiel’s wheel. That is all. Nothing really happened. ” The third rabbi was very impressed and wanted to share what he had seen with others. He walked around and talked about the wheel all the time – what it looked like, what it was made of, what it was, what all that experience really meant, etc. So over time he strayed into the next meander of the intellect and betrayed his faith. The fourth rabbi, who was a poet, returned home, picked up a piece of paper and a pen, sat by the window, and began to write song after song celebrating the falcon that covered the sky, the crickets at night, his daughter in the cradle, beside the starry sky. He became very fond of life and began to enjoy it more than before.
The point is to be here and now, present and aware of both yourself and your environment. That way, you will always find a way to express your place without creating repulsion but inspiration for the ignorant.
She was silent for a while looking at me and then she spoke with a smile as her gaze said that she had begun to assemble the mosaic:
Is there an end to our spiritual journey? Does it have a goal?
It is a process and a constant journey. To be spiritual is not to arrive at a goal, but to be constantly in balance. Spirituality means constantly returning to balance.
Sometimes I lose my balance like everyone else. The difference is that those who work harder on themselves notice faster that they lose balance and return to it more easily and faster.
Being spiritual does not mean getting somewhere, occupying and owning that condition and thus being untouchable from the temptations and lessons of life. It is a continuous process of awareness of the moment and its essence and cause and effect, responding calmly with a desire for peace, with an openness to learn in the absence of ego restriction.