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Where are you on your spiritual journey?

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
I have completed the journey. Nirvana, Moksha, Jnana, Enlightenment. No rebirth.
Fairly healthy for my age, like to eat and drink junk, eat four times a day. I visit my favorite forums, no games on computer, no reading except, if required, on internet. I do not meditate or pray. Perfect 10.
Knowing what you know now, would you have changed anything from the past?
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Why would I care? Is past relevant? ;)
Past, present, future, none are really relevant. Life takes its own course. ṛit, dao.
 
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On a scale from 1-10, where are you on your spiritual journey?

Like, if you’re a Christian, how close are you to emulating Christ? If your a Buddhist/Hindu, how close are you to reaching a positive rebirth? Or something of the sort, you guys should get the general gist of what I’m getting at I think.

I’m at a solid 2. I’m physically unhealthy, eat and drink nothing but junk, if I eat at all. I have been spending my free time playing video games and sleeping really, don’t do too much reading anymore. Nor do I meditate, burn sage and incense while in prayer, Tai Chi, or consult the I Ching anymore. The only reason I’m not rating myself at a 1 is because I don’t lie to myself and am painfully aware of where I am at in my spiritual journey.

There was a time where I was at a strong 5. I was doing nothing but my spiritual practice and reading for a while. But at that time I was not in control of my emotions, my anger controlled me. So I was at a 5 I think.

So, what about you? Where are you at?
Allow me to answer is a complicated way as that is just sort of what I do.

On an intellectual level, as in understanding doctrine, I would say I am about a 10. Intellectually a lot of my path makes perfect sense to me and I have narrowed down my set of beliefs to a point where I know what I believe and why. I read tantric texts and it all just sort of makes sense to me. I know what practices I take from Buddhism and Hinduism and am always looking to learn more.

On a behavior level I would say maybe a 7 but this is hard to gauge. I think I am pretty good at redirecting my mind towards God and trying to be helpful but I have to admit I am what I like to call a recovering misanthrope. I generally still dislike people and find them rather tiresome. I can put a lot of that to the side and still help people but find it rather difficult sometimes. Today I was going to let something go but ended up bringing it up to the person. He said something that rather bothered me on an emotional level and when i tried to just explain my reasoning to him it didn't really work and he briefly freaked out. Turns out he had just smoked way too much weed and was kind of babbling and wasn't thinking about what he was saying then when I tried to explain to him what bothered me he just didn't get it. Eventually it sort of resolved itself but it would of been better if I had just let it go. I feel like I more often then not am able to let things go but i have to consider how often i have to let things go.

I am aware of my own lack of compassion and am working on improving it. I would say 7 still because I have gotten very good at redirecting things and not getting angry etc.

In terms of practice I feel like I am good at consistency. I pray everyday multiple times a day, I bring an image of Kali to work with me so I can pray at work. I meditate usually at least once a day and I find that is fairly helpful. I guess my stuff isn't very complicated though, I just don't think big rituals really matter. I love Kali and constantly invoke her throughout the day. If you tell me I need to learn some sanskrit to do a special chant I would just say that is nonsense. I only use like max of 10 chants and listen to a lot of bhagans.

Now outside of strictly devotional practice I would say my meditation isn't great. I often only do like 20 minutes a day and often find my mind still gets very distracted. I have been meaning to get more serious about meditation cause I think it would help with the behavior part for instance but quite honestly it just doesn't come to me as naturally as the devotional stuff. I have been meaning to get more meditation in each day.

So meditation maybe like a 4 or 5
Devotional practice 9

In terms of physical I could say I need some work. Junk food is my only real vice at this point but I have gotten better about that. Honestly at a certain point I just had to admit to myself that I didn't care about being healthier in terms of food or exercise. I do exercise more than I used to and get around 10,000 steps in a day and some mild weight training. I could eat better but I know myself well enough to know the motivation is just not there. So instead of "eating healthy" i just try to balance it out with some exercise and not eating junk constantly. I only drink water and tea and stopped drinking soda altogether. I occasionally have a powerade zero but no more soda. so on that front i'll say like a 5.

So I guess i'd say like an 9 with room to improve in some places. That might be a little arrogant but arrogance can be useful in certain situations so i'll take it lol
 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
Why would I care? Is past relevant? ;)
Of course it's relevant. The past leads to the present which brought you to a '10' on your spiritual journey. I would expect that the past is very important, and you wouldn't change a thing. Am I right?
 

Exaltist Ethan

Bridging the Gap Between Believers and Skeptics
I'm more aware of my Syntheism now than I've ever been. I've isolated various denominations of Syntheism and I'm well aware of all of them. My spiritual journey is stronger now than it ever has been, but rating it on a scale between 1-10 is difficult because I honestly don't know how I could be even more spiritually aware, besides maybe reading more Syntheist scriptures.

As far as I'm aware of us, we as a species are about a 2 on the divinity scale, from 1-10. We have a lot of time between now and when we are reunited with God, The Omniverse.
 

Psalm23

Well-Known Member
On a scale from 1-10, where are you on your spiritual journey?

Like, if you’re a Christian, how close are you to emulating Christ? If your a Buddhist/Hindu, how close are you to reaching a positive rebirth? Or something of the sort, you guys should get the general gist of what I’m getting at I think.

I’m at a solid 2. I’m physically unhealthy, eat and drink nothing but junk, if I eat at all. I have been spending my free time playing video games and sleeping really, don’t do too much reading anymore. Nor do I meditate, burn sage and incense while in prayer, Tai Chi, or consult the I Ching anymore. The only reason I’m not rating myself at a 1 is because I don’t lie to myself and am painfully aware of where I am at in my spiritual journey.

There was a time where I was at a strong 5. I was doing nothing but my spiritual practice and reading for a while. But at that time I was not in control of my emotions, my anger controlled me. So I was at a 5 I think.

So, what about you? Where are you at?

I believe that Christ is holy, loving and good.
In comparison to his love, goodness and grace, I fall drastically short.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Of course it's relevant. The past leads to the present which brought you to a '10' on your spiritual journey. I would expect that the past is very important, and you wouldn't change a thing. Am I right?
This is a very important point you bring up. Often times one's spirituality is actually just spiritual bypassing, skipping past having to clean house and learning to integrate one's own history, repressing or intoxicating the ego with religious and spiritual practices.

When you hear someone say they want to put their ego to death, or that they no longer have one, this is a good indication they they are practicing spiritual bypassing. Spirituality as a form of escaping the reality of themselves. "It's all an illusion" becomes of a form of disowning oneself, which has the nasty habit of surfacing with a vengeance at some point.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
To answer the question about where I see myself on my own spiritual journey, that's hard to put into words. I would never want to say "I've arrived. I'm a 10", or something like that, as I've learned that it is like an infinite onion, yet another layer, yet another depth of the divine to unfold and move into.

I will say that I have had major changes that put me much more where I had hoped to be, what I had sought for. Now there's less seeking, and more finding, more just realizing it and integrating it. And that's something. It's really more breathing the air, letting go, and living life integrated new levels of freedom. I feel much more grounded, connected, clear minded, present, happy, and enjoying life in ways I knew as a child, before the world crowded that out. These are good things. I know genuine happiness. Living life with less fear. More openness.

As far as a scale goes, it definitely seems light years from where I was, yet, as if all I've done is let go, and just become a much more an authentic human. So, I'd call that spiritually fulfilled. Yet I see this as becoming a student of Life itself. I am no master by any means. I've quit presuming there is a point of having "arrived", or evaluating in those terms. I see it more as being on one side of the fence or the other, as Zen says that heaven and hell are 1/10,000th of inch apart.

I feel much more integrated into living on that other side of the fence now, and that is a relief, for sure. But if I start viewing that from the ego in terms of achievement, accomplishment, or pride, then I'd be right back feeding the ego side of that 1/10,000th of inch line. Pride cometh before the fall, quite literally.
 

CharmingOwl

Member
The spiritual journey never stops. Trying to put it on a scale of 1-10 is like trying to measure how many gallons are flowing in the infinite river of consciousness. The soul of a person is spiritually ascended to the highest level, and the soul of a person never has problems because it is immortal and does not die. Us as humans have a biological need for eat, sleep, and shelter in this lifetime, but even after we die the soul continues. Separation from the soul is an illusion, and from this point of view trying to put a 1-10 scale on our spiritual journey seems like a game. The spiritual journey starts even before we are born. We never stop the spiritual journey until we become gods, go into moksha, or simply choose to stop reincarnating.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Of course it's relevant. The past leads to the present which brought you to a '10' on your spiritual journey. I would expect that the past is very important, and you wouldn't change a thing. Am I right?
If I am on 10, why would I think of past? That journey is over. :)
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
"It's all an illusion" becomes of a form of disowning oneself, which has the nasty habit of surfacing with a vengeance at some point.
It is both, 'an illusion' and 'not an illusion'. It depends on the point from which you are looking at it. At the absolute level, 'it is an illusion'. At the worldly level, 'it is not an illusion'.

In Advaita Hinduism (non-duality), the former is known as 'Paramarthika Satya' (Absolute truth), and the latter is known as 'Vyavaharika Satya' (Pragmatic truth). No complication. It can be easily understood (except by those who have prejudices).
 
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Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
It is both, 'an illusion' and 'not an illusion'. It depends on the point from which you are looking at it. At the absolute level, 'it is an illusion'. At the worldly level, 'it is not an illusion'.

In Advaita Hinduism (non-duality), the former is known as 'Paramarthika Satya' (Absolute truth), and the latter is known as 'Vyavaharika Satya' (Pragmatic truth). No complication. It can be easily understood (except by those who have prejudices).
When you get to Nirajuna's teaching, nonduality does not exclude duality. A nonduality that says that Brahman alone is real, and stops there, is in fact a subtle form of duality itself. It is a monism, which says "this, and not that". This alone is real, and not that. It is not truly "neti neti", or not this, not that. A true nonduality is paradoxical, like this:

The world is illusory;
Brahman alone is real.
Brahman is the world.


It is illusion seeing that the world alone is real. This is a common condition. But then saying that Brahman alone is real is also illusion. Both are equally absolutely real. Another paradoxical expression of this from the Heart Sutra, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is not other than emptiness." Monism and dualism, are not other to each other.

It's like the Zen saying. "Before Enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After Enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." We still live in a dualistic world, as an Enlightenment mind, it is telling us. We just don't see it as the only reality, or only an illusion.

To me, seeing Brahman, in every blade of grass, and every molecule of air sees both as Brahman and the world, both the One and the Many. Not other to each other, yet not one and not the other. It is Reality, as duality. Brahman is the world.
 
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Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Brahman is Brahman, you see it as the world, which is not truth.
If you see grass, then it is an illusion. If you see Brahman, then it is truth.
What is behind the illusion is truth. Some understand, some don't.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
This is a good explaination of this, better than I can express it from Ramana Maharshi.

Bhagavan said, “It is said that Brahman is real, and world an illusion; again it is said that the whole universe is an image of Brahman. The question arises: how are these two statements to be reconciled? In the sadhak stage, you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way, because when a man forgets that he is the Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion. Why? Because, his vision which has forgotten its own Self, is dwelling in the external material universe and will not turn inward to introspection unless you impress on him that all this external, material universe is unreal. When once he realises his own Self, and also that there is nothing other than his own Self, he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman. There is no universe without his Self. So long as a man does not see his own Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it. Take a paper. We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.​

FROM:
Letters from Sri Ramana Ashrama​
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Brahman is Brahman, you see it as the world, which is not truth.
If you see grass, then it is an illusion. If you see Brahman, then it is truth.
What is behind the illusion is truth. Some understand, some don't.
I just posted a better explanation of this in between our posts. Read post #36 in response to this.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Brahman is Brahman, you see it as the world, which is not truth.
If you see grass, then it is an illusion. If you see Brahman, then it is truth.
What is behind the illusion is truth. Some understand, some don't.
If you see only grass, it is an illusion. But grass is still grass. But without Brahman, it has no reality. It is an illusion to say I see words on a page, but no page exists.

I love how he puts it,

Take a paper. We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.​
 

idea

Question Everything
On a scale from 1-10, where are you on your spiritual journey?

Like, if you’re a Christian, how close are you to emulating Christ? If your a Buddhist/Hindu, how close are you to reaching a positive rebirth? Or something of the sort, you guys should get the general gist of what I’m getting at I think.

I’m at a solid 2. I’m physically unhealthy, eat and drink nothing but junk, if I eat at all. I have been spending my free time playing video games and sleeping really, don’t do too much reading anymore. Nor do I meditate, burn sage and incense while in prayer, Tai Chi, or consult the I Ching anymore. The only reason I’m not rating myself at a 1 is because I don’t lie to myself and am painfully aware of where I am at in my spiritual journey.

There was a time where I was at a strong 5. I was doing nothing but my spiritual practice and reading for a while. But at that time I was not in control of my emotions, my anger controlled me. So I was at a 5 I think.

So, what about you? Where are you at?

Wasn't at least one of the Buddha's a little... plump around the middle? ...

I mean we all end the journey in death. Let go of it all, or something like that, right?
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I just posted a better explanation of this in between our posts. Read post #36 in response to this.
That is what I meant when I said, 'If you see grass, then it is an illusion. If you see Brahman, then it is truth'.

Otherwise, I am not too enamored of Ramana Maharshi's wordiness (or more correctly, of the wordiness of his followers) and his fixation with 'self'. Where is the 'self'? There is no 'self', it is Brahman only (Aham Brhmasmi, Tattwamasi, Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma).
Wasn't at least one of the Buddha's a little... plump around the middle? ...
I mean we all end the journey in death. Let go of it all, or something like that, right?
It is not likely that any Buddha were plump. They begged for food only once a day, at only one house, as much as both their palms could hold and never more (hope I am not confusing it with Jainism), never asked for a second helping, and walked miles and miles.
Yeah, our journey ends with death, but there is no reason to abandon it before death. We should fulfill our own dharmas, and that is a life-long responsibility. Even in 'sannyasa', we have our responsibilities.
 
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