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Post by wchohan on Jun 16, 2014 21:10:38 GMT
Spirituality is often perceived as one path that may lead to eternal happiness, yet many may fail to realize, in fact over look the idea that spirituality is not a linear process that may bring you to an entire accomplishment of what one may think of life..
However, when I had gotten into spirituality (mostly through the internet), it was a whole different course of interaction with oneself. Yes, its true, one may wake up and read Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer or who ever, yet the essential understanding of self improvement comes from within.
Considering I was reading up on spirituality for the longest time in life but as soon as I was 3 years into the entire subject of understanding itself, I felt the critical block to all my thoughts of being positive, motivated or inspired..I was down right depressed.
I was going through unbelievable stress, thinking the opposite of all the teachings I had gotten but I finally realized that it was never about the teachings.
When one is taught something by another, followership kills. I reckon the best in my opinion is to extract the best out of another and in order to think or read positive, which I often still do, and it must never be a matter of implementing as is.
Realize all the difference between two minds and what it must be for one, may never be for another .. Hence, for me spirituality is more about deeply recognizing your own purpose of existence and frankly, if I hadn't hit that phase, I may never have learned that spirituality is understood by first understanding oneself and one may only do that during the time of inner crisis.
Therefore, those reading this and feeling miserable for one thing or another, it must be internalized that their lies a greater lesson behind it.
Thanks.
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sparklekaz
Someone asked me.. What is your religion? I said, "All the paths that lead to the light".
Posts: 3,658
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Post by sparklekaz on Jul 4, 2014 10:32:14 GMT
Hi Wchohan, I found your post very insightful. Particularly when you said "Hence, for me spirituality is more about deeply recognizing your own purpose of existence and frankly, if I hadn't hit that phase, I may never have learned that spirituality is understood by first understanding oneself and one may only do that during the time of inner crisis".
It's funny isn't it, how a decision to explore ones spirituality, to explore the meaning and purpose of life can elicit from us such a range of emotional responses. I have gone from feeling incredibly inspired and motivated to falling into the depths of despair and sadness. It can open a real can of worms can't it. It is hard to put into words the gamut of emotion & reactions that embarking on this spiritual journey brings out. It is definitely not for the faint hearted. It takes I think a special kind of courage and self honesty to face up to flaws and weaknesses within. To acknowledge and take responsibility for the fact that it is our past decisions and behaviour that have created our current circumstances. Particularly, if we are not in a good place. Many, myself included have blamed others, rather that facing up to the part I played.
Becoming more aware of consequence and feeling empathy for others. When the heart opens, its as if you relive every painful experience you've had, and even worse, the hurt you might have inflicted on others. The darkest moments of my life are those times when I have felt such remorse and guilt for how I've treated people. I've cried for all the pain I've caused through my selfishness and lack of farsightedness. I do also think at this point, if you can't see the good in yourself, you cannot see it in others. And this is when people want to withdraw from the world and only see what is lacking, what is wrong, rather then all the good that is still there. Chaos within is projected outward, and that is all you see.
When we want something, we often shut out or block feelings of conscience; Or thoughts of the repercussions and consequences of our actions. Even though my logical mind will kick in and say, "no one knows what the outcome will be or we cannot predict what will happen". Hindsight is a double edged sword. There is a quote that goes something like " The school of life is the only place, where we are tested first and learn the lesson afterwards". Spiritual awareness is both a gift and a curse. The veil of illusion we hold in front of ourselves to cushion us from the emotional fallout of our worst decisions and actions is lifted. You see the truth. You can become obsessed with all the wrong things you've ever done, completely forgetting all the good. I've learned that becoming focused on the negative is a pitfall in becoming aware. That you have to forgive yourself. Be self compassionate. It is a cliche I know, but it is true, that we change, and the person you are now would never again go into something in such a selfish, blinkered fashion. But as you said Wchohan, we have to go through this intense period of self understanding and realization to reach this point.
The self help books, stories by spiritual writers, can be helpful, they can certainly help you to look at life, yourself and others from a different perspective. But it is important to remember, that this is their life journey, their personal realizations. We have to come to and find our own. I've learned that it is important to have a balanced view of life. To focus on the positive rather than dwell on the negative. We are constantly changing and evolving. That all we can do is be responsible and aware of our own choices and actions. We cannot, indeed should not try to change other people. Everyone has to come to awareness in their own time. I've also come to believe that even though there are things I regret and wish I'd done differently. Who knows, if on some karmic level, I played a important part in creating the right circumstances for 'another' to learn some important life lessons. Again, this is not to justify my own actions, simply acknowledging that I myself have learnt a lot through similar experiences.
I think when you get past all the painful soul searching, and gain in emotional maturity. You come to realize what is important in life and what is not. How it's people not things that matter. That even though you can't go back and change the past you can move forward and create a better future for yourself. I think I'm a kinder, gentler, more understanding, loving and empathic person, because of my past behaviour, rather than in spite of it. Life will batter and bruise us. But I think if we allow it, it will also shape us into a better human being. And at the end of the day, isn't that what matters most?
Love and light Kaz
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Post by baangus on Jul 4, 2014 13:05:54 GMT
I think when you get past all the painful soul searching, and gain in emotional maturity. You come to realize what is important in life and what is not. How it's people not things that matter. That even though you can't go back and change the past you can move forward and create a better future for yourself. I think I'm a kinder, gentler, more understanding, loving and empathic person, because of my past behaviour, rather than in spite of it. Life will batter and bruise us. But I think if we allow it, it will also shape us into a better human being. And at the end of the day, isn't that what matters most? Well said Kaz. Now if we can just get a few billion other people on the planet to understand this.
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