Spirituality: What no one told you

Mantra chanting is one of the easiest ways to meditate, I have found over the years. The words may sound inane, but they are powerful enough to open the chanter up to different dimensions, activate karmic patterns and hasten evolution.

 That sounds so good. The concept has been marketed even better. The science of spirituality has been bandied online to saturation point. There are scores of websites detailing different mantras for different purposes and deities. That much is useful. There are many paths to evolution and it is alright for one to choose one’s own path rather than walk one that has been imposed.

That’s where the usefulness of the cleverly marketed guidance on mantra chanting ends. Hardly anyone mentions the hard part of mantra meditation or essentially any kind of spiritual practice.

The hard part is the cleansing of karmas, the balancing of accounts, the chiseling of the spirit and the tests that mark lessons learned and the possibility of being promoted to the next level. Also, it keeps getting tougher as you progress. Take the example of kindergarten, middle school, senior school, college and university. The learning does not stop as long as you do not drop out.

The thing is, while there is bliss in spirituality, there is also pain. Because the challenge is not becoming a disconnected, zoned out “being of light”. The challenge is sweating it out, hearing the blood course through the veins, feeling the tears, the laughter, the pain, the joy, the anguish and the love of a human. The idea is to get to be a human being. That is what we came here for.

This is what is glossed out in modern versions of spirituality — which overemphasize the beautiful to the exclusion of the tough. The excuse often given is the need for solitude and the need to avoid “low vibes.” That, sadly, is not the case. We are here to face the low vibes — the sadness, the anger, the agony and the despair and transform it into a sublime experience. We are not here to evade the dirty work. We are here to do it and set ourselves and others in order.

So what do we unleash

When a seeker communicates to the Universe, God, Nature (what have you) with the sincere desire to evolve, balancing of karmic accounts starts almost immediately. Lessons have to be learned. There is the theory class and then the practical application. The ego has to be destroyed, forgiveness has to be imbibed, judgmental attitudes have to be washed away, prejudices have to be negated, faith has to be strengthened, unconditional love has to be given. Honestly — all that does not come sitting with scented candles in a room. It takes a lot more.

The spiritual steroid capsule is not for everyone. We are all spiritual beings and the Universe will make us see it sooner or later. Those who want it sooner are the ones who will have to fast forward their learning.

I wish it was as easy as sitting in lotus posture, imagining myself in a spiral of light. That is there — but that is not all — not by a long, long shot.

Would you still embark on the path? Or would you take it slow? Or would you not take it at all (which is not possible, but still)? That is the question anyone who aspires to be a seeker must ask.