September 2022 - Long-Term Spirituality
Thoughts of the Month; Poetry; Announcements; Podcast Episodes of August 2022; Patreon; YouTube Livestream
Spirituality is not about short-term success. Anyone can feel they are enlightened, awakened, or had a mystical experience. A fleeting shadow of an experience does not necessarily mean integration. True spiritual integration, where the experience matches our ethical behaviour, requires a long-term vision and approach.
I have often found and caught myself getting mesmerized by my own spiritual experiences and have watched how the subtle ego creeps back into my mind like a mist that you do not know is there, until you step back and look at the whole scene. Once I have caught my spiritual ego, it takes a lot of work to address the subtle ego and eventually remove it.
Yet, how many of us do this type of work where we analyze our minds, and observe our thoughts, preferably without any bias? I don’t think you will find many hands raised! And I understand why! I mean, claiming that you have now realized, you can see God, you are enlightened is enticing, exciting and brings you a good rep! Who would like to downplay any of that even when one knows the spiritual ego is up and running at full capacity?
I have often said that the number one rule in spirituality is honesty. Being honest about your journey, being honest about where you are spiritually, being honest about your ego, being honest about when you mess up and owning it is an absolute necessity. If you cannot do this as a bare minimum then I don’t consider you spiritual at all. Be offended if you must, but I want to believe that I am spittin’ facts here! LOL!
Look, for us to go forward, we need to think long-term and this is where our ethics comes in. Being kind, compassionate, generous, large-hearted and broad-minded are basic virtues that need to be integrated into our life. One cannot claim to be spiritual and then commit to voting for people who deny the climate crisis, who look to take away the right of women, or the LGBTQIA community, or who have backward views on racism or casteism. You see, it may seem like a minor thing in the short-term, but think long-term and you see how it goes against the very basic tenets of most spiritual and ethical virtues.
I am not saying that spirituality is just about being a good human being. I would say being a good human being is the bare minimum of what is expected in a spiritual person. We ought to have a look at how spiritual teachings can help the world when it needs our foresight right now. I am sure the rishis of the Upanishads were thinking about thousands of years ahead and how each thing they say will have an impact. I am sure they would be honest enough to say, we were wrong about this. However today, we have so many tools at our disposal. We have spiritual teachings accessible on our devices, we can read the latest scientific papers or have experts dissect them wonderfully. We have the opportunity to remove any hidden biases that we may have. This is a rare opportunity but with massive consequences. Future generations will look back and ask us whether we did enough and I know for sure, that I would like to be known as someone who tried his best.
The main approach to long-term spirituality is to constantly analyze our every thought and action and ask ourselves how will the future look at the present action that I am about to commit myself to. We must look at whether our thoughts truly match the spiritual teachings of love and peace so that when we are enlightened, it is built on a foundation that can take whatever burden because it is unbreakable. Otherwise, the opposite, where there is cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy, will only indicate a spiritual journey already on shaky grounds.
The Bearded Mystic Poetry
All of this was new, This whole world was new, No senses would describe this, It was not a world of visible splendour, It was an inner world, I had finally entered consciousness, Ready to discover this whole journey, Maybe answers to unasked questions, Would be found here. I meditated on this moment, Totally at one with everything, I didn’t see everything, Nor did I see nothing, It simple was enough to itself, I felt like I was about to drown Into a peace so beautiful That it was shattered all at once, I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t know it was here.
Announcements
One-on-One Spiritual Meetings
Starting in September, I will be hosting one-on-one meetings with anyone interested via Zoom. This is a chance where we discuss spirituality, deepen our connection to the Non-Dual Formless Awareness and express our love for Truth as friends.
The cost for this is $27 for a 30-45 minutes chat. If you cannot afford this then please get in touch with me at beardedmysticpodcast@gmail.com and we can discuss it further.
So if you would like to chat, click this link: https://calendly.com/thebeardedmysticpodcast/1on1meetings
Write a review for the Podcast
With the website, it will be great if you could leave me a review of the podcast. If you have benefitted in any way from listening to the episodes, leave a few lines about what you think. You can leave your review here: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/reviews/new/
Free Weekly Meditation Session
I hold a free weekly meditation session followed by a Q&A on Zoom every Saturday. The timings are shown below:
You can join The Bearded Mystic Meditation Class Whatsapp Group and get notified when they start or any other updates: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DcdnuDMeRnW53E0seVp28b
The link to the session is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84191992260?pwd=d1RkWlZDUld4U1dLcG0wNUpZcVhXQT09
Please note: There is no meditation session this Saturday, September 3rd
Support The Podcast
Please support the Podcast via Patreon. To know more, click here: https://www.patreon.com/thebeardedmysticpodcast
If you listen to my podcast on Apple, then you can get ad-free and bonus content by paying a monthly subscription.
Listen or watch the Podcast - August 2022
YouTube Livestream
Subscribe to my YouTube channel as I go live a couple of times a week: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBeardedMysticPodcast/
Thank you for reading!
Take care and do share this with others!
Aum Shantih Shantih Shantih. Aum Peace Peace Peace
Lots of love