How to Prepare for Spiritual Life's Challenges (Part 2)
Summary: Addresses balancing worldly and spiritual pursuits. Worldly life is important for karma resolution and purification before spiritual path. Hindu four-stage model: (1) Brahmacharya - acquire knowledge, (2) Grihastha - fulfill duties/obligations as householder, (3) Vanaprastha - forest dweller studying scriptures in solitude, (4) Sannyasa - complete renunciation, austerities, detachment from body. Seven preparation methods: don't abandon world prematurely, honor duties (Karma Sannyasa Yoga), acquire right knowledge (svadhyaya), purify mind/body through restraints/virtues, cultivate detachment/renunciation mentally first, serve others through sacrifice/charity, practice devotion to strengthen faith. Requires right intention (sat-sankalpa), resolve (sattva dhriti), faith (sraddha). Links to Part 1.
Some people want to be worldly and spiritual at the same time. In the initial stages it is a good idea to pursue both aims and live a fuller life. You cannot abandon the world and your duties and obligations. At the same time, you cannot ignore your long term spiritual goals. Therefore, being a spiritually worldly person is the right option for people who cannot easily give up their worldly interests or renounce their desires. However, you cannot continue on this path forever. At some point in your life, you have to choose between the two.
The importance of worldly life in spiritual practice
Unless you are exceptionally driven from an early age to pursue spirituality due to despair or restlessness, you should come to it in stages rather than rushing into it. If you are drawn to the world, be with it. It is a better choice because you may have karmic debts to settle, or you may have to purify some hidden aspects of your mind and body, which you may not be able to do without being worldly. Both are important to cleanse your karma. Liberation is not possible without resolving your karma, for which worldly life is an unavoidable opportunity, provided you know how to arrest its further formation.
In the early stages of your life, it is better to follow your natural instincts because it helps you to manifest your destiny as it was intended to be at the time of your birth. It is your natural destiny, unadulterated by your current choices and preferences, which leads you in a certain direction and unravels your karma of previous lives. Follow it, and let it show you what you intend to achieve in this life. Exhaust your initial enthusiasm and exuberance for the attraction of the world, and let your mind see the reality of that side of life also before you are naturally drawn to the deeper aspects of spiritual life.
The unraveling of your preordained destiny as it was intended, which has been described above, is what the wheel of Dharma aims to manifest in the case of each living being upon earth. It points to the need for prior preparation and transformation on the world stage before one can qualify for the spiritual path. Both Buddhism and Jainism recognize this imperative and the difficulties involved in practicing renunciation and monasticism. Hence, they distinguish between lay followers and advanced practitioners and prescribe rules for the former so that they can prepare themselves to enter the next stage.
The Hindu model of ideal spiritual practice for worldly people
There is no such clear distinction in Hinduism. However, the idea is hidden in the four stages of human life. According to it, one should turn to spirituality after fulfilling one’s obligations and reaching the age of Vanaprastha (life as a forest dweller). At that stage, he must retire from his active life as a householder and give up his worldly pursuits, desires, and attachments. The first two stages, namely Brahmacharya and Grihastha, are considered preparatory. During this period, he must acquire knowledge, perform his duties and obligations, and render service to others and God, the upholder of Dharma. When he gives up his duties and life as a householder or family person, he enters the stage of Vanaprastha, or the life of a forest dweller. In this phase, he must live alone, in contemplation, reminiscing about his past, studying the scriptures, cultivating virtues, and acquiring the right knowledge to cultivate the right thinking, discernment, and spiritual state of mind.
With practice and persistence, as he feels comfortable with himself and with his loneliness and spiritual goals, he must mentally prepare himself to pursue the next stage of his life, the life of renunciation (sannyasa). In this phase, which is the fourth and final stage in the life of a householder, he must renounce everything and begin his life as a committed renunciant. He must shun all worldly comfort, the desire to have a roof over his head, live with his family or past relationships, or eat cooked or boiled food. He must engage austerities to develop detachment from his physical body and let it gradually wither and weaken, treating it as the last vestige he must shun to be free. The end of that phase of his life is supposed to be the end of his suffering on earth and the conclusion of his bondage to the cycle of births and deaths. Imagine how difficult it must be for anyone to live that life and reach that stage, especially if he has lived in opulence and grown accustomed to the luxuries of life and the comforts of a home. The longing for life is the strongest of all desires and is difficult to overcome despite all the suffering it brings in its wake. All beings are driven by self-preservation instinct and passion for life. To go against oneself and negate one’s very life, existence, and identity requires a lot of prior preparation and firmness.
Hinduism on how to prepare for the problems of spiritual life.
Hindu scriptures contain several ideas that are helpful for preparing your mind and body for the ordeals of spiritual life. These are part of a divine-centered life that is believed to culminate in Moksha, the final liberation. Some of these ideas are briefly stated below.
1. Do not abandon the world. This is the first important lesson. You cannot shun the world and become a renunciant or a recluse unless you are born for it, drawn to it naturally, and know it intuitively. You are here because you are meant to be. You still have to pay for your sins and square off your karmic debt. Normal people are required to live with the world as a learning opportunity. They have an obligation to manifest the will of God through their will, living in the world, to ensure its order and regularity and their own liberation.
2. Honor your duties and obligations. This is connected to the previous principle. Whether in material life or spiritual life, you cannot be selfish or live for yourself exclusively. Nothing belongs to you, including the energy or the life force (prana) in your body. You owe a debt to the universe for everything you use, rely upon, enjoy, or claim as your own. The only way you can clear that debt is by living your life as a sacrifice, performing your obligatory duties, and helping others. The Bhagavadgita suggests that you must perform your duties and honor your commitments even when you are inclined to pursue liberation. It prescribes Karma Sannyasa Yoga to escape from the consequences of your actions, in which you must live with a sacrificial and selfless attitude, performing your actions without desires for their fruit and offering them to God, who is the source of all.
3. Acquire right knowledge. In any endeavor, having the right knowledge is crucial to reach the chosen goal. Ignorance is the root of many evils. By ignorance, we mean not knowing the knowledge, the purpose, or the method that will lead you in the right direction to the desired goal. When you are under its influence, you will remain confused and deluded, pursue wrong goals, make mistakes, develop false notions about yourself, and suffer from the consequences. Many spiritual traditions prescribe self-study (svadhyaya) as the best approach to cultivating the right knowledge. By reading the scriptures and teachings of spiritual masters and contemplating them, many spiritual people educate themselves and prepare for the journey.
4. Purify your mind and body. You cannot practice spirituality sincerely or qualify for liberation without cultivating purity. The doors of heaven are open only to virtuous people. Hence, if liberation is your goal, you must practice restraints, cultivate virtues, live a disciplined life, and engage in righteous conduct to overcome the impurities of egoism, ignorance, delusion, evil passions, etc., and cultivate the predominance of Sattva (purity) and divine qualities. In spiritual life, your chances of success are directly proportional to your physical, mental, and spiritual purity and the effort you make to achieve it. In this regard, yogic practices such as Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind and senses), Dharana (concentration), and Dhyana (meditation) are very helpful.
5. Cultivate detachment and renunciation. This is the first step on the road to freedom. Your journey of liberation begins with successfully withdrawing your mind and senses from the world and cultivating detachment. Once you are firmly detached from the world and the things that hold sway over you, renunciation becomes natural and effortless. To practice them, you do not have to give up the world. You can practice them mentally also. However, for that, you must overcome your attachments, likes, and dislikes and learn to let go of things. You must persist and persevere in the practice until the attitude of detachment and renunciation becomes firmly ingrained in your consciousness, thinking, and behavior. They are also vital to your success in all other spiritual practices.
6. Serve others. In Hinduism, this is exemplified in the idea of sacrifice. The Hindu way of life is supposed to be the way of sacrifice only. Human beings are God’s representatives on earth. They must perform their duties and personify their qualities through sacrificial actions. The idea of sacrifice and the idea of living selflessly as a divine instrument is well exemplified in the ideal of the five sacrifices householders are expected to perform every day. According to it, they must help gods, ancestors, renunciants, needy people, and other creatures by serving them food or helping them. Human beings are not naturally inclined to live selflessly or serve others. Hence, the tradition suggests that they should serve others and practice charity to overcome selfishness. The scriptures affirm that charity is the highest virtue for humans, and service to humanity is service to God.
7. Practice devotion. True devotion manifests in you when your practice reaches perfection. It is a sign of progress and nearness to your goal. True devotion is not affected. It is a culmination of the right knowledge, right actions, and right living. Many people stop visiting temples or worshipping their family deities as they become interested in spiritual subjects. It may not be a good idea since devotion can help you as a purifier and facilitator by strengthening your faith and helping you find the right people and the right guidance at the right time. Rituals can help you cleanse your karma and strengthen your faith.
Whatever may be your approach and understanding, you must know that at some stage in your life, you must choose your priorities and what you want to do with your life. If liberation, peace, and happiness are your aims, spirituality is the best option for you. With a few adjustments to your current lifestyle and priorities, you can draw your mind from worldly pursuits to spiritual practice. As the Bhagavadgita declares, there is no loss on this path. If you fail and falter or become distracted due to temptations, you can still recover from it and continue from where you left off.
As an idea, spiritual life is inspiring, but when it comes to real practice, only a few people successfully face the hardships and continue the journey. Because it is tough and painful, many people hover between spirituality and worldly life. Some live in denial, engaging in the illusion of spiritual activity. They spend time discussing it, reading books, trying alternate methods, and visiting spiritual gurus rather than engaging in serious practice or self-purification. The same is also true nowadays with religious practice. Many people do not truly practice their faiths. Instead, they engage in the illusion of religiosity by spending their time defending their faiths, spreading negativity about other faiths, or criticizing those who disagree with them. They ignore the fact that religions are the means but not an end in themselves. They are meant for practice and self-purification, not to be misused for egoistic ends. In the pursuit of any spiritual goal, three things are the most important: the right intention (sat-sankalpa), the right resolve (sattva dhriti), and the right faith (sraddha). When you have these three virtues, the right conditions will manifest in your life in their own timeframe and bring your actions to fruition.
Part 1: The Difficulties of Spiritual Life