Hello and welcome to episode 62 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about spiritual constipation – a relatively new concept! And what Krishna thinks about it.
Today’s question comes from Chuck. He says “I am not getting the benefits of spirituality. I feel like I’m stuck and not going anywhere. I’m not enjoying a worldly life of a spiritual life. Do you have any suggestions?”
That’s a great question. Most of us are sandwiched between spirituality and material life. This is called a spiritual constipation. This means you are stuck in spirituality and cannot go to the next level. You are not reaping the benefits of spirituality and at the same time you are feeling guilty because of worldly things.
One foot in
I remember about 15 years ago when I took my first job in Bombay in India. My boss used to tell me that I didn’t like the job that he knew I wanted to take up another job. The boss used to say that I had one leg in his company and another leg in another company. You have one leg in spirituality and the other in material things. Spiritual constipation can be good for us because it reminds us that we need to re-evaluate things to have motion again.
Drop benefits and concepts
The first thing you need to do is drop the word benefit. Whenever you use that word benefit, like you have to benefit from spirituality is one of the reasons why you are stuck. Drop this word from spirituality. A lot of times we are stuck in the concept of spirituality. You get stuck thinking you have to do this or that and if you don’t do this then that will happen. The most important thing is not the concept of the excursive but your personality.
The concept of the exercise is important but at the end of the day everything that we do in terms of meditation, prayer, and reading has to help your personality. So drop the word the word benefit from spirituality.
Ask for happiness
You should even forget spirituality for a little while. Let that word go as well. Don’t obsess so much over words and concepts and allow yourself some freedom. What you really need to do is to pray to god and ask to be in his presence. Pray to Krishna or Christ or whoever your god is. If you don’t worship then just pray to your consciousness. Tell it that you want to be happy in tis presence.
Pray to god and say that you want to feel his presence or pray to your consciousness and say that you want to feel its presence inside you. Ask to feel joy and happiness. That’s all you really need. Keep it simple. Let go of these words and concepts like spirituality benefits and allow yourself to be free. You are putting too much pressure on yourself so keeping it simple will make you feel a lot happier.
Tell yourself that all you want is to be in his presence and to feel joy. When it happens to be I just bring forth a beautiful image of Krishna and that is all it takes to remind me that all I need to be happy is to be in his presence. You don’t really need books or concepts. It can help sometimes but in this case it is not necessary. Just feel his presence and joy.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita “fix your mind on me. Let your understanding be absorbed in me hence forth doubtless shall you reside in me.” Krishna says we are either doubting or imagining. So fix your mind on Krishna, Christ or your consciousness. Let all your understanding be rooted through it. Approach the world through our consciousness, not your mind. Just concentrate on feeling good.
Illusion
So drop those words for now. As for guilt and the world and indulging in pleasure. Yes we feed them but we must also understand that it is an illusion. It is a transformation that happens when we put our minds out. The guilt is a transformation on the heart of the consciousness. It is not real. So let the pain come but know that it is separate from the consciousness and it cannot be affected by it.
Tell yourself that you will not be bothered by these feelings of guilt and also that you will not be fooled by it. Tell yourself that you will fix your mind on Krishna, Christ or your consciousness.
Do what makes you happy
Another thing you can do is read a simple story like a parable from the scriptures. I used to read simple parables for children because they are short but they still deliver the same message. Don’t focus on complicated scriptures because this will only confuse things and make you even more stuck than before. Stories with pictures are great because they easily help you to visualise it in your mind. I have done this and it really helps.
Another simple thing to do is to go for a walk. Get out into the fresh air and observe the beauty of nature. Clear your mind and just watch the beauty around you. You could even go somewhere quiet and watch the sun set. This can give you a remarkable feeling of serenity and peace.
If you have a sport that you love then you could go and do that. That can really help to fix the mind. I used to play tennis. When you are really involved with the game you become very focused on that and all your worries will dissolve. Remember to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.
Another thing you can do is call an old friend and see how they are doing. Focus on someone else. Spend some time with them and reminisce over some great times that you had together. Remembering happy times in the past will bring you happiness and joy in the present.
So don’t focus on benefits and guilt. Just ask god to grace with his presence and happiness.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.