Spirituality as a Full-Time Commitment

So today I wanted to talk about how we view spiritual practice and what do we do after we receive , or we get , knowledge from the guru that we follow or the teachings that we follow . What do we do with those teachings ? What do we do with that knowledge ?

And it seems to be that , you know , mostly every kind of tradition will have its own practices and we may do those practices , but there is a point when those practices can become more like a ritual , that we just do it because that's what's expected of us , and we may run um and we may just use it as a tool for just doing the bare minimum , just to kind

of to not feel that we're drowning in this world . And obviously Maya is a very powerful creative principle of gods right . This is powered by this formless , it's powered by Brahman and it's interesting that we don't look at where it's getting its power from , but we get attracted to that expression meaning Maya .

And I've often felt that whenever I speak to people about spirituality the ones that are serious . They will treat spirituality like a full-time job . They will do the practices as if it is a full-time job . So they'll put in the hours . They will try to meditate every day . They will .

And when I mean by meditation , I don't mean just like you sit down and you meditate . I don't mean just that . I mean , like you know , you constantly are in awareness of the formless . You're constantly thinking of Brahman , contemplating on Brahman . That's what I mean by meditation . So you're thinking of the highest .

You could be , working , you could be , you know , you know doing your job , running a business , you may be doing so many other things , but at the same time there is that subtle awareness of that formless .

That's within us , that's around us , that's evident here , and that's because of the teachings we've received from wherever we go to or whomever we follow , and you put in that time . So if you're working for someone , you see it as karma yog , that whatever you're doing , you're not seeking any reward from it .

You're just merely doing the actions as an observer , not the doer . So the karta bhav , the , the doing bhav , the doing intentional feeling , and the bhokta bhav , the , the enjoyer feeling , is put to the side .

One is only the observer in this easier said than done , but that's what karma , yoga is and , to be honest , this is how we should function , once we know we're not the body and mind , because it's the body and mind that enjoys something or seeks the reward of something , or thinks that it's doing something . So that's one thing .

You know , reading the scriptures , or listening to you know YouTube videos or podcasts that are based on spirituality , like when I say spirituality , I mean like they are talking about the serious stuff .

So whether that's the Upanishads , whether that's the Bhagavad Gita , the Brahma Sutras , yog Vashishtha , uddhava Gita , upadesha Sahasri , so many of these texts , ashtavakra Gita , so many and the whole point is that these are talking about Brahman , talking about this formless , and they are inviting you to remain in that formless .

And , and that's the point of those uh kind of youtube videos or podcasts that you need to listen to , a lot of uh podcasts now are under the guise of spirituality , but it's more like I don't think it's really dealing with spirituality . That's my opinion . I use spirituality .

The definition is very , very kind of traditional in some ways , but I think it is about studying the scriptures and that , for me , is satsang . You know when you're studying the scriptures . That's the real meaning , because whenever you are with the truth is when you're . You know , even your meditation can be a satsang if you are connected with that truth .

So that's one aspect , right . So we need to do that . That's very important . I talked about serving , so seeing giving your job as a way of service , even though , yeah , you're getting a salary or you're getting paid for it . But that's the natural consequence of that karma . It's not something that you're expecting , you know .

And in today's time , since most of our salary just comes into the account , I think it's rather easy to become detached . That's my opinion . I'm not saying that if I know , if I don't get paid , I will not be worried about it . That's also my dharma . So dharma to make sure I get paid because it supports my household expenses .

And also , when it comes to serving your family members , your friends , do it with a say of above , do it with an act of not wanting something in return .

So that's very important for us to do , and so when we do that , it's like a full-time job , literally , and it's easier because you don't need to do something special in order to be in awareness of that highest reality . We don't have to , it's simply here . So that's one thing .

But what I find is , and you know , whenever we go to a religious place or a spiritual place and we just do the bare minimum and we do it more ritualistically rather than you know really like , for example , you may chant a mantra , right , which you've been given by your guru , but are you really absorbing the meaning or are you just chanting it , just reciting

it without , I would say , chanting still requires an energy to be present . But if it's just you know reciting , are you just reciting it , you know , just so you can get over it type of thing , or are you chanting

it to absorb that energy from those words , from those sounds ? This is what I'm telling us , but so , but I find , and if you may do this , like a part-time thing where , oh yeah , you know , you just do it now and then , that's still good , still okay . But don't expect that you will be getting jivan mukti by doing something part-time .

That's like getting a part-time job and expecting a full-time salary . I mean , just doesn't work that way . Same thing with spirituality . I mean , it just doesn't work that way . Same thing with spirituality .

Obviously , a lot of things influence this , like your karma , the karma you've done in the past , the karma that's come from different lifetimes that are in effect now , things like that , and your vasana . So your mental conditioning , all that does play a part , for sure . But regardless , you have to put effort in spirituality in order to get the benefits .

And to me , the only benefit is , you know , making sure you have a strong candidacy , at least for jivan muk . That will happen by the grace of Brahman , by the grace of Niranjaya , by the grace of the Formless , by the grace of the Guru as well . All that is there . You know Sri Ramana Maharishi talks about this that .

You know it is the Guru's grace that you get realization , but you do have to put in the effort in order to get that grace . Don't think that grace is just gonna work without any momentum , so to speak . But a lot of us we see spirituality like a zero hour contract . And you know the best Lyft driver , or you're a delivery , food delivery driver ,

so you just do the hours that you kind of want and you get paid accordingly . But the whole point of the meaning of zero hour contract is you're not going to get any benefits from it other than pay , and that's I mean , that's what it was like in the UK when I used to look at zero hour contracts .

But here in America I'm not too sure , but this is the way I'm viewing it as . But the whole point is that a lot of people just do the zero hour contract and they want the full time benefits of spirituality and that just does not happen .

How are you meant to address your karma , the basic thing , just dealing with the karma that you have in this lifetime ? How are you meant to deal with that if you just are doing a zero hour contract and , most likely , if you're doing the bare minimum in spirituality , you're just actually going to accumulate more karma .

You're going to create more karma for yourself because our reactions aren't going to be based in spirituality . You know , often people quote this from the Bhagavad Gita that because Sri Krishna says if you remember me in your last breath , you will come to me , and obviously he's talking about the highest nature .

He's talking about Brahman , not actual Sri Krishna , the body , the name and form , but the actual , uh , the actual self , the real self , the true self , brahman , this Nirangar , this Shiva . It's something about the highest principle , that highest reality , the ultimate reality , because if you remember this ultimate reality , you will enter into that ultimate reality .

Now the thing is , do you think that if you've not put any spiritual practice in your life , that the end moment you will think of the highest ? You would think of the ultimate reality ? If you've been engrossed in Maya , you've been in love with this appearance that's been powered by Brahman itself , been powered by this formless itself . Do you think that ?

Or do I think that somehow I'm going to remember the highest , I'm going to remember the ultimate , the absolute ? I don't think that's going to happen Because it has not become subconscious in me . Again , in Vedanta , we talk about how you know . You know there's waking , dreaming and deep sleep . Has the ?

Has our spirituality even reached the deep sleep level where you are still in remembrance and in awareness of the highest reality of the absolute , even in deep sleep ? Because , yes , the , the ego , is not there , but that doesn't mean that the formless is not there . The formless is still there .

The absolute reality is still there because it's present in all states , because it's beyond all states . Hence it's called durium , the fourth state . So have we even done that ? So my point is when I entered the spiritual path , I honestly thought it was expected of me to do the maximum amount . I mean , there was a time when I was lazy .

Yeah , I mean for sure I was lazy , I didn't bother much with spirituality , I wanted to enjoy the world more . Yeah , there was that period of time , for sure . Now I'm still enjoying the world , but somehow spirituality is just , it has to be there in my day .

You know if , if I don't do any spiritual practice in the day , I don't think I could sleep easy at night , not saying that when I have less sleep I'm not having done spiritual practice . But what's interesting is you can notice things that you never noticed before . Like , for example , there's been a situation at home we have to plan for something .

So planning in this , uh , preparing for that moment , you know , meanwhile wife discuss it and and you know , and we put forward a plan to make it happen . So I mean it's happened like within a month . So I mean it's happened like within a month , so actually within a few days , because it affects , you know , our traveling plans .

So On Saturday night I slept less and what I noticed was that in my deep sleep I saw the bubbling up of a vasana , of a thought , of a vritti .

I saw the movement of thought and I saw the thought rise up and I saw how that got me to the waking state , and it was interesting because this is the depth of spirituality that we kind of need , and I was like , oh , thank God , I can see this now .

I can see when the movement of thought is created and I can see when it rises up into the waking state , and this is a good sign . If you can do this , this shows that you know your spirituality is entering deeper layers of your yourself , and that's what you need , because it's break .

What's interesting is , spirituality is about breaking away from the body , yet using the body to aid spirituality it's interesting . So you detach in order to infiltrate , which is an interesting thing , but remember , your consciousness pervades everything , so your consciousness will be present . So your consciousness will be present , and this has to be our experience .

And this is why , you know , we study texts like the mandukya upanishad , because it's about the waking , dreaming and deep sleep state . It's not about just reading the verses and being like you know , oh , wow , that's powerful . It's actually looking at how you can apply it to your life , how it really matters in your life , how it deeply impacts your life .

If we see spiritual practice as just a minor thing in our life , we're not going to get anywhere . We're not going to . You know , recently I've been part of some Discord servers .

Obviously , I have my own own discord server , but I've been part of other discord servers and what I find is that people want to talk about spirituality but it becomes more or less like surface level and people seem to think that surface level is something deep , seem to think that surface level is something deep Like , for example , some people think that having

anger is okay in spirituality , and we know that that's not true . Again , in the Bhagavad Gita , sri Krishna says that anger is a result of unrealized desire . Just because we don't bring a desire into fruition , we don't fructify a desire , we don't meet its end . It causes anger Because there's resentment .

I didn't get what I wanted or I did not dissolve what I wanted in time for me to be at peace . So it became anger because I didn't get what I wanted , I didn't get what I desired . And so he obviously is not saying that anger is right Because we're meant to detach ourselves from desire .

The very basics of spirituality is dealing with desires , because those are very easy to observe Frankly throughout the day . You can observe your desires by how much you are on Amazon or any other shopping website , or how much your mind is thinking about home improvements and this and that and where to invest your money , all those things .

When your mind is just thinking about those things , that means desire is there . It's

very easy to observe desire . I'm just talking about observing desires , being aware of desires , not talking about dealing with them . Dealing with them will be , you know , actually learning to detach yourself , and if I told people to detach themselves from their retirement fund , I don't think they would sleep at night . So you know , but but that's what .

That's the work that's needed . But we want to avoid those things because we think how can we live life desireless ? How can we live life with detachment ? Yeah , being detached from your loved ones ? I often say this to people who who will claim that I'm attached to my son and to to my wife and family , and I am somewhat attached . I won't say I'm not .

I'm working on making sure I am detached and that's the work that I have to do . So here , the thing is , what I find is , when I'm attached , anger arises . When I'm detached , love remains , and so it's like a no-brainer at this point that detachment is the best way to even have the expression of love , and that only comes with spiritual practice .

Again , one has to learn to detach and that means that you have no element of control over the other person . So just imagine that you can't even exert control of your 18 month old . You just got to let them be . You can put things in place to make sure they're safe for sure . You know there's certain things , you sure they're safe , for sure .

You know there's certain things you can control in a detached manner , but some things you can't and you can never change another person . You know and I've kind of learned this the hard way that even if you have a different parenting style , the village is not going to understand your parenting style .

My wife will , but not the village , and I have to embrace that and I have to become detached that the village is not going to understand . That's okay , I can explain . But do I need to get angry about it ? No , I don't , and if I'm getting angry about it I need to work on the anger . That means there's an emotional attachment for the village to change .

Yeah , so little things like that . Where we can . This only happens when we make spirituality a full-time job . That means , yes , apart from being a householder and having a full-time job , we have to also be a full-time spiritual aspirant .

And then if you achieve Jeevan Mukti a full-time Jeevan Mukta Now that , unfortunately , is every minute , every second of the day Then there's no leaving the path , because there is no path for you to leave at this point . But how many of us have got there ? That's another question . But if we're all aspiring to be Jeeva Muktas , then that's what we can do .

So this has been a rather long episode , but a very good one , because it's about making sure we put time into that spiritual practice .

And that's literally what my course is about , because while I've been working on it I think I've done around 12 I can even tell you the amount of time , the amount of percentage that I've completed , and it's not going to sound like a lot , but it's going to . It's interesting , to say the least , it's when you have too many tabs .

It's interesting , to say the least , it's when you have too many tabs open . So overall , it means the 9.4% has been completed . So not even 10% yet , but it will get there . Very not even 10% yet , but it will get there , it will build up very soon , that percentage .

But all I want to say is that that this course is literally for that purpose , that we make spirituality a full-time job . The whole point is that if you've been given the highest reality by your teacher and you do not know what to do with it , this course will help you .

If you want to get the absolute reality , you want to understand the highest reality , you want to be on the path , but you don't know how to get there , this course will prepare you for it .

And it's interesting how this course is developing because obviously , the reason for it being at a 9.4 completion rate is because I've been playing around with what content I want in there and how it has to appeal to as many people as possible .

And when we get in contact with that absolute reality , that is one that stabilizes us , the one that's's very , because it is this Brahman , this formless . It's the subtlest of the subtle . It really is . It's swifter than the movement of the mind . So just think how fast it is , so how easy it is to lose your grasp of it .

So the whole point of this course is to actually be able to grasp that

which can easily leave you that subtlety that can easily be dismissed , and for that you need to build up your spiritual strength , your spiritual kind of stamina , and you have to grow , like , for example , if you're working out , you have to work on your muscles in order for them to grow and become flexible and reach where you want to be .

So you have to keep doing the workout . You still have to keep doing those movements that can help you build that muscle , along with the other things . Same thing with spirituality in order to remain in the awareness of Brahman , in the awareness of formless awareness , you have to work on that muscle .

You have to put in a lot of work and that's dependent on your karma . And unfortunately , even if this is your last life and that's destined to be , you still have a lot of work to do . And even if , say , it's possible that you have future lifetimes , how can you avoid that ?

That means you have to pack in a lot of work , but it's not impossible and that's the beauty of spirituality is that it can be achieved in an instant . But the question is , with that instant moment of realization , do you have the foundation to keep it strong ?

And that's why I think Advaita Vedanta personally works for me because it works on the foundation and one gets that instant realization and then one has to stay with it , stick with it , immerse themselves in it , and you realize that this Brahman , this formless , is not going to go anywhere . It doesn't disappear .

Realize that this Brahman , this formless , is not going to go anywhere , it doesn't disappear , it doesn't Even if it slips away , it's still in your presence Even if , even if your mind loses it , it's still present . It loses the subtlety of the formless .

That's something you can achieve in this lifetime for sure , regardless of how much gomara you have to deal with , how much vasanas you have to deal with , how much vasanas you have to deal with , your conditionings , your , your , your limitations . We can work on it and we should work on it .

So , yeah , anyway , uh , that's my , that's my little spontaneous talk today , and I hope this message reaches you in a way that inspires you to keep moving in your spiritual path . Don't lose whatever is your target in spirituality , even if it's like , okay , I don't know if I'll achieve Jiva Mukti in this life , but I want my next life to be .

I want to be in my next life , I want jiva mukti , I want to make sure that I get there , or I want to reduce the lifetimes that I have to live for that . Just keep doing the work and you will get there . Just Just keep doing it , keep working and it will be achieved . Right , uh , so , uh , that is the end of today's episode .

Thank you very much for listening Again , if you want to um , all the details for whatever you , if you want to interact with me is in the show notes and video description below Uh time , see you very soon , stay safe , take care . Namaste .