Unlocking Continuous Growth in Spirituality

So today it's a very interesting day when I think about spirituality and the way people are spiritual , how people approach spirituality and why I feel that if you are casually doing spiritual stuff like you know , you um , you may go to the temple very occasionally , you may pick up the gita now and then , you may listen to a talk on youtube now and then , or

you may listen to talks regularly . But the question would be is what do you do with those thoughts that you listen to ? What do we do with those lessons that we learn ? Are we applying it to our life ? For example , if I am learning a lesson about forgiveness , how many times have I kind of taken a step back from forgiving someone ?

And when I take that step back , is it because I feel that the other person isn't reciprocating my feelings , they're not understanding and they keep making the same mistake again and again ? Or is it because of some other kind of something in my ego , some pride that I'm not addressing ? So there's things like that . That's a quick example .

Quick example , you know , we can go deep into the weeds of what is awareness and what is consciousness ? What are we ? What's our true nature ? Is there a self ? Is there not a self ? All that stuff is all good , but it comes down to how serious we are when it comes to spirituality .

Now I'm not talking about , you know , you go into silence and you're really serious about like , really like kind of . What I mean is that you don't lose the juice of life from being spiritual . You know , a lot of people think if you're spiritual it means like you're giving up kind of worldly pleasures . No , you don't give up worldly , worldly pleasures .

You just know that they're temporary in nature . So you know the happiness they give is not going to be the complete happiness . And when it comes to spirituality , a lot of times I feel we look for excuses of why we don't want to get serious into it . Like , I have a family . How can I be detached from my family ?

How can I learn to discern between right and wrong when I need to go up the corporate ladder ? And you see , all those things that I'm talking about now they're big things for us , right ? Or we have a business we're like how can we focus on spirituality when we need to make sure our business is making money , and all that when we have a family .

We think how can we focus on spirituality when our kids are young ? So we constantly find reasons why not to be spiritual or why to avoid being serious about it or going deeper into it . So my fundamental question is are we true seekers ? And unless you're a true seeker , only then will spirituality can show its fruits .

I'm not saying that if you're , you know , a casual spiritual seeker , it's not going to affect you . Of course there'd be some positives that you will obviously will get . It'd be like the residue of something you know .

Or it'd be like you know you've drank a glass of , somebody's drank a glass of juice and you just have a sip left and from that sip you're thinking you drank the whole glass .

The seeker is the one that will drink the whole glass and they will attain what needs to be attained , but the one that takes a sip , and they keep on taking a sip and a sip and a sip . That's what causes lifetimes of constant seeking , until that final life , when they realize that samsara is not enough for them .

They want to get mukti from this , moksha from it . That's the most important thing , and to get that freedom is important and that's why we then want awakening experiences . Maybe , or maybe we want full enlightenment .

The fundamental thing is to just check where we are and our intentions in being spiritual and , like I said , if it's a casual thing where we're not applying it to our day-to-day life and we're not kind of dealing with the basics , you know , remember the prerequisites we've talked about on this podcast .

You know , if you're you need to have that vivek veragya , you need to have the six . You know kind of inequalities and then being desirous for the truth . If you're not doing those things , at least as a even as a little bit , we will not be able to control our mind . We will go wherever the senses tell us to go .

Our worldview is going to be external , not the internal , and until we look back at the internal , the external world is going to fascinate us and it's going to take us on its own journey . So this is what I mean by are we truly serious ? Do we truly want to feel that happiness that is beyond the senses ?

Do we want to feel that happiness that is not attached to an object ? Every other happiness we've been seeking is after an object , whether that's some car or home , or some watch or whatever smartphone , to our relationships , to the position we have .

Everything is external , but what about that inner wealth that we have , that we are , but what about that inner wealth that we have , that we are ? It's like we are people who are , say , billionaires , but we still look into winning the lottery and we don't know what we have , what wealth we already have . And that's what happens in spirituality .

We have the highest truth . We have the highest truth , we . We have the highest truth , as our humbrum asked me . I am brahman . That for mercy . You are that . Whichever way you want to look at it , see , you can look at it in two ways .

Either you can look at it as I am I am brahman or you can look at it as that forvamasi , you are that , that meaning the self . Now , is the self an object that you're getting ? No , how can you ? For example , if I tell you to be yourself , I'm not asking you to add anything . I'm not asking you to add anything . I'm not asking you to Become something .

I'm not asking you to Do a certain thing and then you will know yourself . No , simply by , as I mentioned yesterday , being in the awareness of I am , the awareness before I am , shall I say . That's what you fundamentally are and when we ? You know I wanted , I was trying to get it across , but I feel like sometimes I'm not understood .

And that's fine , but let's understand . There's one thing being aware of the objects externally , even the objects internally , of thought , of emotion , sensations , feelings , all that stuff , memory . There's the internal witness of that . But in order to be aware of that witness , you have to let go of every . Every content is contentless , every quality is qualityless .

Even you have to let go of the idea that there's energy there , because we say energy is formless . You have to let go of everything . You even have to let go of the notion of I am , awareness . The I am and awareness both have to disappear because , if you're remembering , I am awareness . That's going back to words .

We have to go prior to the words , do what is , and that is something you cannot deny . When we go on that spiritual journey and it's possible we may get a taste of this and then we're like we see that flashy car and we're like you know what I'm going to go for that car ? We see an attractive person , then we want to chase that attractive person .

We see this attractive person , then we want to chase that attractive person . We see this and that and we want to achieve that .

We want to get that , and it's possible that this can happen , that we get a glimpse , even the glimpse , of even being aware of objects when you even create that separation , even the glimpse of even being aware of objects , when you even create that separation . Even that has a hint of happiness , because you're getting a taste of what this nature is , you know .

That's why we say Satchitananda . So the being that we're talking about , the true being , the true existence , what you are , this Brahman , this I-ness , againness , again , it's objectless . Don't make it into a person . You know , it's not a separate self , it's the only self . Yeah , it's not .

You know , there's not one self here and then the self there and there's no , it's just one self . When we , I forgot my train of thought . But yeah , if we are aware , even if we are aware of an object , there's a certain happiness we get from that .

But if we're being Satchitananda , if we're being the existence of and we know that Existence is consciousness , so we know it's nature , we know the beingness , and then Ananda that existence is consciousness , so we know it's nature , we know the beingness . And then ananda , it is true happiness , meaning it's complete .

Nothing else can make you this happy , because it's happiness itself . So what object is going to make that happy ? How can you make the ? If the objectless meaning , the subject is happiness itself , how can or bliss itself , how can you bring bliss to it ? You can't bring bliss to it when its nature is blissful .

And this is the teachings we find when we , again , when we do a lot of uh , this , these talks that I do now with you every day , a lot of it is just neti , neti , just getting rid of what you're not and then just staying in what you are already , rediscovering that this is what you've always been . You've been on this rat race with samsara .

You know , going through lifetime after lifetime , accumulating vasanas after vasanas , you get a new samskara and you build it into a vasana . You're constantly in that cycle and then you meet a teacher , you meet a realized being , an enlightened person , who says you know what ? All this thing that you're accumulating is veiling who you really are .

Let's start unveiling , let's start removing those covers which is hiding your true self . When we talk about this self , if I may use this word , and don't get attached to the word , just look at where it's pointing to . This being is transparent . So , even if you have the world around you , this body , even this true self , is transparent . You can't .

You don't know you're in it , until you know you're in it . This body , even this true self , is transparent . You can't , you don't know you're in it . Until you know you're in it , then you can't escape it . There's no way . You just want to remain In this state At all times , and that's what you can achieve from spirituality if you're serious about it .

Meaning you when I say serious , meaning that you are willing to be a competent seeker , that means inquire , question . You must ask those questions . You must find the logic in the teachings .

If you don must find the logic in the teachings , if you don't find the logic in the teachings , then really all we're doing is attending something , but all we're doing is marking our attendance . It's like you can go to school , you can mark your attendance , but does it mean that you're actually learning ?

That's what you got to look at and that's what I have to do , you know , every day is am I willing to keep going at it ? You know I have been in the company of enlightened beings who I consider enlightened , and never once have they said to me one . They've never said you know , I'm the only enlightened person , everyone else is less enlightened .

Never heard them say that If they've ever recognized another enlightened being , they say it's an enlightened being . That's number one , the one thing I've seen and I've recognized and I've honored . Two there's a certain level of humility . Even if they're enlightened , they never make you feel like you're in ignorance .

If you realize that when you're with them it's like you want to learn . You know there's a . It's like you just want to be getting that nectar from them . You know , you know it's sweet . You just want to keep consuming that sweetness by being in their company .

And then the other aspect is that their kindness is so wonderful , how kind they are and how giving they are with their knowledge .

So ultimately , what I want to say that if you are doing anything remotely spiritual and you've been going to a temple , been going to a guru , whatever it may be , you've been going to a particular place , but you feel that you're stagnant , it's time to ask for help and there's nothing wrong with that . You're not going to be losing loyalty points .

Asking for help means that you're not going to be losing loyalty points . Asking for help means that you're willing to do the work to get to that place of Jivan Mukti , and if we're not working towards that , then we're not really being spiritual . Let me make this very clear Jivan Mukti is the whole reason why we want to be enlightened .

If there's any other reason why we want to be enlightened , for example , you want to be enlightened so you can show you're better than somebody because you're enlightened , then egos come back in and you haven't achieved . That means you're still bound . It's all about being enlightened and not being bound by it , being free from even that idea that I'm enlightened .

This is what is meant by Beyond enlightenment , meaning Even the identity of being enlightened Is shallow , very shallow . When we say , oh , I'm enlightened , it's shallow . I'm self-realized Shallow Again . We've Got stuck in a In a word , in a In a In a pointing , and instead when it's like in a in a in a pointing and instead when it's like it's like this .

This is a good example . If you have a fish in a bowl and that fish has been swimming in that bowl for many years , then the owner says you know what fish . It's time for you to explore the ocean . So the owner takes the fish , pours the bowl into the ocean and then he comes back a few years later .

And then he comes back a few years later and he sees that to the same spot and he finds a fish swimming in that same space , even though there's a vast ocean , a vast ocean but still swimming in that same circumference and same kind of space . It's not being able to go beyond . That's all that happens when we're enlightened , but we make an ego out of it .

So you have two spectrums that I've talked about today . One , when you claim enlightenment , yet there's ego , still there . You're just that fish in the ocean , but you're swimming in the same place . You haven't explored the ocean , meaning you've not realized that the ocean is what you are .

If the fish realize that , then the fish will be able to explore the ocean . Yeah , meaning it will see the vastness of the ocean , the vastness of being , the vastness of consciousness . Ocean , the vastness of being , the vastness of consciousness , and same thing .

If we look at people who just occasionally , casually , do spirituality and number one thing , I never understand this . But if spirituality is just about being , if you think spirituality without self-realization is about being a good human being , you misunderstood what self-realization is about being a good human being . You misunderstood what self-realization really is .

Self-realization will automatically make you a decent human being . You cannot wrong anybody . This is if you continuously be aware of your vasanas , of your latent tendencies . You know we may find that people , they become enlightened , but they have those latent tendencies that are still there , because you know that work still has to occur .

Realizing I am Brahman is an instant realization . It can be instant If you look at the Bhagavad Gita . Sri Krishna gives Arjuna the knowledge and he gives the knowledge straight away . Second chapter , first words are the Atma Gyan , the knowledge of the Atman . But if you look , arjuna has to ask questions , arjuna has to seek the answers .

He has to do that work Because the vasanas are still there . He's had the realization that there's only the Atman , the Atman , the self that's in all , the self that cannot be cut , the self that cannot be burnt , the self that cannot be dried . We know that verse that self which does not die , which is eternal , which has been eternal for since .

You know , beyond the beginning , this this is what I mean the vastness will still be there for arjun . He has to work on those vastness and this is the way to understand why , even after enlightenment , even after self-realization , after , after knowing who you really are , there's still work to do . And don't feel any shame in that .

Do not feel any shame , it's absolutely normal . Think about it . I'll give a classic example Nisargadatta Maharaj Now his teachings . I Am that that book . I am that how famous it is , how transformative that book is . Let's not shy away from those words . It's amazing . But the guy used to show anger .

Now it could all be an act , it could be a vasana that he's relatively aware of , but that doesn't mean that he's not self-realized , of course . It still means he's self-realized and he just has a vasana of anger . Now , is he working on that ? Most likely he is . Do we know if he's putting on an act ? We don't know .

Yeah , we can't say today , meaning I can't know that for sure . But yes , this is the ultimate thing I wanted to say . So I guess it was an interesting episode today , but just remember these things and if you have any questions , let

me know . If you want to join my discord , make sure you do . Link is in the show notes and video description . Like this video , rate and review this podcast on the podcast streaming app . Write a comment if you feel like doing so . Subscribe to the youtube channel .

You know , give me as much engagement as you can personally , even if it's just saying thank you on a comment , I'm good with that . Even it helps other people find out these videos , which is good for the channel . But anyway , I really appreciate you listening , I really appreciate your support and I'll see you on Monday .

Care , have a great day , have a great day tomorrow , and may I just have this prayer and maybe I'll end this prayer that may everyone that's on this path , even casually , may they realize the highest and realize that the potential that they're looking for Is already a reality within them . Thank you , namaste .