To be dedicated or not to be dedicated?!
Dedication plays a major role on the spiritual path and unfortunately most students are not aware of this. Dedications means also orientation and a good orientation is very important when you are on a journey, especially when you are on your spiritual journey.
It is typical for human beings to lack of awareness. This means that most people live quite unconsciously, following subconscious drives and impulses without really questioning what they are doing or what they believe, etc. This is normal and just a matter of the state of maturity of the soul. We call them sleepers in a dream state while the enlightened ones are awake and fully conscious about who they are and what they do.
In this dreamy, unconscious state, people follow their personal needs, impulses and their individual understanding of the world. It is a very simple pattern of behavior: What I like is good and what I don´t like is bad. What I think is true, is true. What I think is wrong, is wrong. What brings me satisfaction, happiness or ecstasy is good. What is unpleasant, hard or taking effort, is bad.
This simple logic is followed by many or most human beings. When we take a closer look at it, then we see, that the determining factor is always the “I”, the own self or ego. The ego decides what is good and what is bad, independent from an objective evaluation. In fact, it takes a lot of energy to make this step towards an objective understanding and going beyond the limitations of the own ego.
Ego is not bad. It is only limited and it has a great tendency to focus only on itself instead of a more comprehensive way to understand the world and to behave in a more beneficial way.
In conclusion, we can say that most people have an orientation but only an orientation on their own ego which is quite limited and makes not “always” beneficial decisions. Further on, the ego is focused in main on pure satisfaction. Imagine here the couch potato. Give a couch potato enough cola, chips and a video and everything is perfect, independent if this is good or healthy or beneficial in anyway. The ego is always orientated on satisfying itself in the energy-saving mode.
Let us think now about the spiritual path. We have a very big market of esoteric and spiritual offers. It is simply overwhelming. The diversity of offers corresponds to the diversity of needs, opinions, philosophies, etc. There is simply nothing, what could not be found.
Now, we have the same situation. The seeker checks the offers and uses the same pattern of logic: What I like is good and what I do not like or not understand is not good. I want to satisfy my needs.
So the ego is the standard for orientation and not the objective quality of the chosen offer. The effect is that the seeker takes the offer or path which has a resonance with his personality, with his ego. (In general, we follow the law of resonance.) The problem is simply that we can only gain the results which included in this resonance. For example, if you make a bad choice regarding your path, because your personality is in resonance with it, then the results of your training will be bad too. Or, if you feel attracted by the training of will power, then you won´t develop divine love. It is all very relative.
Now the point is that God is absolute and when you want to unite with God, taking part in his nature, then you simply have to orientate yourself on the absolute and not on something lower.
When we think about creation and God, then God is the top of the pyramid while creation is focused on its basis. Creation is diversity in an uncountable number and God is the One. In the spiritual development, we start at the basis and climb the pyramid to reach the top, where we find God. This simply means that we have to orientate our journey on the top of the pyramid as otherwise we move somewhere in the lower regions without accomplishing the real aim.
Now it is not really sufficient to proclaim only to orientate on God for a safe and successful journey as there are countless, relative ideas about God, so that a seeker can easily get entrapped by a resonating definition which his ego prefers instead of the absolute. This is the problem where most religions fail. On the one hand they attribute wisdom, love, mercy, etc. to God but on the other hand they limit these absolute virtues directly by illogical exceptions. “God is all loving and all merciful but only for his followers and all other people, he really hates and sinners have to be tortured to death.” This is completely illogical but the religious followers simply ignore such facts as they are ego-orientated.
From a higher point of view, these illogical teachings are a call to wake up and to question them, to differentiate between good and bad and to get rid of the evil. Unfortunately, there are still too many followers who do not want to wake up.
Back to the topic: So we are able to understand that God must be defined with absolute virtues like absolute knowledge, absolute wisdom, absolute love, absolute power, absolute justice and so on.
For the spiritual seeker this means that he has to orientate himself on these absolute virtues and if he wants to unite with God, then he has to develop them in his own personality by refinement.
So you should orientate yourself on the absolute, the absolute virtues and in fact you really have to dedicate yourself to them.
If someone is not dedicated to all-embracing divine love, how he will ever be able to experience it, to live it?
In conclusion, orientation shows you the aim and keeps you on track but it needs real dedication to reach your aim and to realize it.
Further on, there is a secret included. When you consciously dedicated yourself to realize the divine unity and the main divine virtues, then you put yourself into resonance with them and this will bring you to your aim. You are attracted by absolute wisdom, absolute truth and knowledge, by highest love and power, by the divine spirit, by spiritual perfection. And this means that your perception has changed as well, that you are now attracted only by those offers, teachings, masters, etc. which really help you to accomplish your holy ideals. In fact, the whole creation will support you now in making your journey. You go beyond the limitations of your ego. You are ready to grow, to unfold your original divine nature to the highest degree of perfection.
And this is a real difference, regarding the ego driven seeker.
When I was a young boy of maybe seven years, I have made the decision to dedicate myself totally to gain real wisdom, the real understanding of God, the human being and creation. And this holy aim, I have been following since then in a loyal way. After some years of studies, when I was a teenager, I have understood that wisdom requires also the development of divine love, divine power and divine consciousness and so I have integrated it all in my total dedication.
At last another secret: Total dedication leads to total humbleness, deepest devotion and greatest gratitude. And these qualities make you ready to receive the Highest!
In conclusion, I can only recommend to ask yourself, if you are dedicated and on what you orientate yourself. The ego is not a useful standard and not a good advisor. But it is your decision and a real dedication to the highest aims is a journey of no return. So only if the time and place are right, then it is good to really dedicate yourself. Otherwise doubts can come up and everything can become painful as you are going against your nature. Maturity is always important and required.
A fascinating article Ray.
Some general comments:
Almost all of us start out as ‘seekers’. Often seeking something we cannot name. This seeking is also a calling from the unconscious aspect of our being, as much as the desires of our ego.
The awakening experiences which can follow, allow us to realise we are already what we were seeking. The illusion of separation from God, is a function of our ego-personality.
Personally, I found almost all of the ‘spiritual practices’ I was following whilst in ‘seeker’ mode, had to be let go of after awakening experiences. They actually invalidated the truth. I.e. that we aren’t and never have been separate from our source. These practices were primarily Yoga and Buddhist in nature.
From then on, it does become a more conscious process of orientation to the Divine. Allowing the Divine to express itself in ways it choses, which may or may not coincide with what our ego would prefer. Allowing the expression of all of the positive qualities you mention.
I agree with you, right now, there is a bewildering array of spiritual path choices. Fortunately for me, when I began some 40 years ago, there was no internet and there were only a handful of books in print, and no teachers as I lived in a rural community at the time.
However, like many activities in life, making mistakes is often how we learn. I think what matters is the sincerity with which we follow the Road Less Travelled. If we make a wrong turn, we will be guided back, assuming we’re open to guidance.
What bothers me more, is that this orientation to the Divine, and the early callings to it, are still not widely understood or acknowledged in our Western societies. In particular, young people who have these tendencies, or who have spontaneous awakenings, are likely to be labelled with some psychological disorder. And, in the worst cases, they can end up being drugged for it.
Love your writing – keep up the good work.
Best Wishes,
David.
Thank you, David, for your kind feedback! Yes, I agree with you that it is hard to name what we are looking for in the seeker state. Everything is a big challenge for a seeker when he understands that he is no longer a part of the sleeping majority, having to find his own way on the search for truth and understanding.
And yes, it is very sad that spiritual people with special experiences are labelled easily with mental disorders today.
God, the human being and creation offer a diversity of wonderful mysteries. I hope that I can inspire our fellows to discover them on their spiritual journey.
Thanks again, David! Keep up your good work too!
With best wishes,
Ray