Spritual Materialism v. Spiritual Freedom… Which Path Am I On?
In response to a question posed by a member of a spiritual support group which I facilitate, who was frustrated that her intense prayers and efforts weren't being answered by God, I wrote the following ...
"We all get on the spiritual path from different backgrounds. The "New Age" thought systems often deal a lot with the laws and ideas of 'manifestation.' They explain that as we purify our thoughts and intentions, we can manifest a more and more perfect life, attracting all the good things to us, and a more and more perfect world around us.
There is nothing wrong with this philosophy, except that it leads us to hope that a more 'perfect' world and more 'perfect' things in our lives will lead to happiness. So we work hard in hopes of achieving happiness which is based on our better ability to purify our minds -- using the principles of attraction, to manifest a more perfect world to live in.
The central principle of spiritual practice that is taught by most fully liberated spiritual Masters, however, like Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, and my Teacher Ammachi, etc., is that 'letting go of' desires and attachments is the path to lasting happiness. They say freedom from desire, and finding perfection and beauty in the world, as-it-is, is the ultimate goal.
In Eastern philosophy, there is a evolutionary ladder in which beings aquire more and more purification and yogic powers, and eventually can come to live in incredible heavenly abodes. But even the "King" of heaven, Indra, who represents the zenith of purity, radiance, and powers of manifestation, eventually starts to devolve, due to His unquenched need for better, more beautiful, and a more perfectly pleasing realm and set of possessions around him. Several years ago, an angelic friend of mine, shared a story with me that beautifully illustrates this:
The Story of Indra and the Human Little Girl (From India's Scriptures)
Every so many eons, a new "Indra" is crowned, king of heaven. The celestial time had come, and a new Indra came into power. He surveyed his kingdom, and wished to make a lot of changes, stating that his heavenly palace and gardens, and even the royal capital city, were in need of a lot of improvement. He summoned the architect of heaven, and denizens of heavenly workers, and asked for ideas on how to greatly upgrade what was already there. He stated, "This is supposed to be the most beautiful palace and city in existence, and in my opinion, it falls far too short!" So for years and years, he put all the heavenly hosts to work, improving upon the buildings, the gardens, the water features, the roadways, etc. His vision never seemed satiated, and as soon as one thing was finished, he found several more things that needed enhancement.
The heavenly beings were at their wits ends, desperately trying to keep him pleased, and they prayed every day for relief from the overwhelming task they had before them. Decades went by, with no hope of respite, until one day a strange thing happened.
Into Indra's court, wandered a little human girl. Indra was in a meeting with his ministers and architect, and was stunned to see a small child wandering into his palace. He proclaimed, "What is this now? I've been telling everyone about the need to beef-up security around here, and look. How in heaven did this little human girl get in here?"
Everyone was horrified to displease Indra, and they looked at the child stunned. She started laughing and laughing, uncontrollably, innocently and completely fearlessly in front of the king of heaven.
Indra addressed her and said, "Little girl, how did you get in here? Who do you think you are, and why are so bold to stand there and laugh at me?"
She replied, "Oh you wouldn't understand," and kept laughing and laughing. Indra said, "Please enlighten me... your presence and laughter here is intolerable."
She pointed at a long line of ants, and continued laughing hysterically. "Indra said, yes... yes... yes... I know, I know, this place is under renovation. It seems the problems are unending." He pointed to his ministers and said, "This is just one more example of what I've been complaining of around here, someone take care of this!"
But the little girl said, "No... No... No... I told you you wouldn't understand." And Indra replied, "What pray tell do you mean, how can you keep saying that I wouldn't understand?"
The little girl replied, "See how long the line of ants this is, it seems to go on forever across the palace floor..." "Yes," replied Indra. Indeed it seemed endless...
The little girl straightened up and with a more serious tone said, "Each of those ants were all "Indra's" too at one time in their evolution. This indeed will be your destiny too!" And with those words, she vanished.
"So,” I addressed the member of my support group who had shared her complaints, “this is my lengthy response to your frustration around not being able to find answers to your practices and prayers, and healing for your pet. Such efforts are beautiful and continue with them as you feel you wish to. But if there is a feeling of frustration, it may be because of your need to create a more perfect world instead of surrendering all of the results of your efforts to God, and trying to let go of all of your attachments and desires, in the face of what is happening.”
Spiritual materialsm is the path of seeking to create a more perfect world. Spiritual freedom is the path of learning to find perfection and beauty in what is. Let's find a middle road of working to create the best lives for ourselves and others, while also learning to let go to find joy -- right now -- by working to surrender in the face of what God gives us. 💫🌈💫 |
The prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi suggests such a path of both self-effort and living in faith:
