Instead of continuing in metaphor, let me just say
it plainly. A fair percentage of what is being offered in pricey
workshops and on the shelves of your favorite New Age bookstore
will just keep your wheels spinning in the mud of delusion, egoism
and distraction away from the real work of genuine spiritual transformation,
the process of inner revolution that will take your soul where
it longs to go. You may disagree with me about such a strong statement,
but if you pay attention to the core teachings of any of the authentic
spiritual masters of past and present, they will all concur.
Eventually, whether it is in this lifetime or five or twenty or
a thousand incarnations away from now, the instinctual soul drive
to evolve propels humans to the next level, and this, in my very
humble opinion, is when it gets interesting. This is when the serious
work begins, when we are no longer intrigued by the mystical dazzle
or the peak experiences or the magical thinking that once captivated
us. It is graduate school study, as it implies mastery over the
small self and its infatuations. This is where we begin to be fully
accountable for every choice we make in every moment, and the mere
fact we have reached this level of awareness makes the evolutionary
karmic stakes higher. It is the place that Buddhist teacher Jack
Kornfield describes in the title of one of his books that we arrive
at when we are truly ready: After the Ecstasy, the Laundry. It’s
time to get real and do the “dirty work” of stripping
away all of the illusions and samskaras and shadow thoughts, behaviors
and actions that have held the holy grail of enlightened existence
at bay. And yes, acknowledge that some of the landmines we stepped
on were of our own creation.
Ah, but here’s the rub. When we come off the spiritual high
that we finally realize could only last so long, we may still hold
on to false notions of what a “spiritual life” is all
about and how “spiritual people” are supposed to appear.
In many self-proclaimed “spiritual” people’s
lives, there is a hypocritical gap between their talk and their
walk, and they conspire with one another to let that be okay by
using mind-messing terms like stating they are “non-judgmental” and “unconditionally
loving” when they aren’t either—they just wish
to appear that way. As spiritual companions, it is a disservice
to turn a blind eye and not hold one another accountable with grace
and tactfulness, and at such a critical time in human history where
huge leaps of collective consciousness are so desperately needed,
ignoring or justifying spiritually self-destructive behaviors does
nothing to combat the ever-increasing wave of darkness. But be
mindful of this fact: “holier than thou” projections
prevent anyone from facing and transforming their own inner shadows—genuine
evolution is demonstrated by considerable compassion and humility,
not by spiritual one-upmanship.
Sri Ramakrishna said, “True spirituality consists in making
the heart and the lips the same.” Spiritual activism |
is only effective when we passionately lead by unsullied
example, and purification is the means by which we attain seamless
unity between our inner beliefs and our actions in the world.
But true, lasting inner change takes doing the hard work. We live
in an instant gratification, “I should have it because I
deserve it” culture. I recently gave up my traditional Feng
Shui practice as many of my clients simply did not want to do the
work, yet expected miracles to happen because they’d latched
onto a New Age entitlement mentality. In the same vein, I’ve
watched others buy into these ridiculous chain emails that promise
the moon if you send it back out to ten people in the next twenty
minutes. It’s just ignorant and selfish to think you should
receive without earning or giving back.
The good thing is, eventually all truly committed seekers come
to understand that a genuine spiritual life has nothing to do with
us—it’s all about everyone else. It has zip to do with
our “comfort level” or how much we can “manifest” on
the physical plane for ourselves. Undertaking the undeniably rigorous
experience of transcending the small, egoic self, to actualize
the expansive, unified Self by doing the work (and not just romanticizing
it) is the right—by “right” I mean aligned with
Source—thing to do for the benefit of the collective humankind.
In dedicating every moment to doing the work, we embrace the heroic
yet humble spiritual warrior position of dismantling our inefficient
old operating system and installing a new, much more spiritually
sustainable one. We surrender in a courageous and graceful manner
to the process of what our beginner’s mind envisioned was
possible, and we engage in the inner alchemical process that turns
us into voluntary servants of humankind. We see clearly that we
are at choice in every situation that comes our way, and acknowledge
the impact of our free will. We grow up. We get real. We don’t
fall back on excuses or the “really good reasons” we
are dysfunctional and stuck; we realize we are so done with the
cheap drama and move on to what we can do to facilitate change
on a global level simply by taking action in how we show up in
the world. And suddenly, quietly and powerfully, we even move past
any sense of doing the work; it simply becomes our way of life.
Suzanne Matthiessen resides in Southwestern
Colorado and writes, teaches and consults about spiritual growth
issues. She is in the process of developing a collective-oriented,
multi-media publishing company that is based on the principles of
Spiritual Etiquette. For more information, please visit spiritualetiquette.com.
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