Should we actively pursue spirituality?.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
You say that spiritual development is a natural and automatic experience that every soul eventually undertakes.
So is it necessary to pursue or force a spiritual life, when spiritual development has a gravity of its own, slowly drawing us towards enlightenment?
I believe that I experience the most happiness and enlightenment when not actively seeking spirituality.
It seems that in times of doubt and fear I turn to the aid of a ‘higher force’.
This, I feel, makes me shirk the responsibility of my karma, actions or situation, and is an action based on an external locus of control.
So I have come to associate spiritual literature and action with fear and distress.
When things are normal and enjoyable, I don’t need to panic and call upon the help of meditation or God.
So when I am not desperately looking for synchronicity, coincidence or manifestation – all of these occur.
I wonder if there are many others who when faced with great diversity look towards spiritual literature and action based on fear, and then learn to associate the two, since the need for spiritual literature and action would diminish during happier times.
‘Remedial Spirituality’ would be a good term for this type of behavior.
One does not need to visit a doctor if one is not sick, it is a shame that physical health has become analogous to spirituality for me.
It exists to fill a deficit, not to improve it beyond a state of happiness.
I quite enjoy my worldly existence and have no rush to leave the Earth, which is what may happen if my spiritual development reaches a high level.
I do not know whether this feeling is based upon the love of myself and others, or the fear of losing myself, my life, my possessions and my loved ones.
As it stands, I would be quite comfortable experiencing many reincarnations on this plane, but I do not know whether this is based upon the comfort that I derive from it.
Is my situation unique?”
Response:
Your situation is not unique.
What you call the pull of gravity for spiritual development is the universal force of evolution that brings all of creation along toward the fulfillment of self-awareness, like a river to the sea.
When you are in distress and fear, and seek spiritual help, that is a healthy instinct.
Think of it like floating down the river, but temporarily stuck in a side eddy or caught up in the reeds.
Using spirituality and spiritual literature to get you back in the main current of evolution is a good thing.
That is what it is there for.
The evolutionary pull of the universe toward spiritual awakening is impossible to stop in the long run, but our accumulated conditioning to see ourselves as separate , ever-changing and fearful can keep us caught up in delusion and suffering longer than necessary.
Taking advantage of help to encourage self-awareness will make life happier and more fulfilling.
Love,
Deepak
