Message #13237

[Jitendra Hydonus]

i believe another way we sabotage our spiritual growth is by gaining points with others or trying to pacify others in ther views. We can look at the life of SriYukteswar for advice on this matter.
He did not have many disciples because he was unwilling to cater to the spiritual aspirants ego 'needs'.
So in a sense i do not feel bad about others feeling that we are 'obsessed' about meditation and leaving because of it. To be involved on this site you do not have to be a meditator. Yet is is important to realize that the whole purpose of the site was developed to encourage our efforts at meditation and spirituality. Some things are good to be crazy and obsessed about mainly speaking: God and how we find his presence. To me personally without meditation and self reflection there is little progress on the spiritual path. Meditation helps us get through the illusions we have about ourselves and this life and self reflection,with the help of others, helps us see ourselves the way others see us and not the way we imagine we are.

To do this requires listnening to friends who have the same goals and doing our spiritual practices. Paramahansa Yogananda missed the scolding and discipline of his guru when he passed on. In the same way we shoud be receptive to the helpful criticism of others; especially our spiritual friends....since God works thru them to help us and through our meditation and other spiritual practices. We are not here to win personality contests but to genuinely help ourselves and others around us in a spiritual sense.
If we think we can move forward on the spiritual path by having friends and lovers who just sooth our egos we are fatally mistaken.

Jitendra