What is materialism – when you get attached to material things and start hankering for them, then you are living a materialistic life.
What is spiritual life – when you live life in a detached way then you live a spiritual life. Live in the world but don’t get attached to it. a spiritual person is one who is not attached to any thing.
Many people think that to live a spiritual life, you have to become a monk or sannyasin. Or you have to become part of a spiritual organisation. All this helps but not essential condition to live a spiritual life. You can live a spiritual life at your home also. At the same time you can live a materialistic life while living in a monastery also. Everything is possible and it all depends upon your vision towards life.
A person can be materialistic any where. Because the problem is not in the world but it is in the mind of the person. The problem is in the way you look at the things.
A greedy mind will remain greedy wherever it goes. If a greedy person becomes a sannyasin or monk then he will become greedy in spiritual world. It is just that the mind is not asking for materialistic things but is asking for spiritual things. It could be desire for siddhis/occult powers or desire for having big ashrams or thousands of disciples or desire to reach heaven.
Any kind of desire binds you to earthy dimension. It does not matter whether you are desiring for a nice home in this world or a good life after death in heaven. Basically you are desiring the same thing that is ‘good life‘. The difference is just that ‘worldly materialistic mind‘ wants it here and now…. and so called ‘spiritual materialistic mind‘ desires it in the life after death. Both these situations are equally binding.
The right approach is to look at the life and see how your mind is fooling you via these desires. Mind always says ‘once you achieve this thing then you will live happily’. But it never happens. Because happiness does not come by achieving desires. But it comes only when you are in a state of no-desire. desire creates misery. Desire simply means you are not happy with your present state and you want to change it. As long as you are trying to change the world around you, you will live in misery and will never be at ease and content.
A real spiritual person understand these mind games and he is not tempted by desires. Moreover, the real spiritual person is not in misery because his meditation or devotion is giving him blissful state. So he does not hanker for things. Spiritual life is one in which you are at ease with yourself and with the world around you. You accept things as they are. But it does not mean you don’t do anything to stop the injustice. But it means even in a fight you are at ease. Because you are at ease even in a war. Lord krishna and his life is the perfect example of this.
Now what can a average person do in this state – go for creativity. Enjoy your work. don’t compare your situation with others. Instead focus on listening your inner call. Never kill your inner voice. Choose creativity over ambition or money. Be a easy going person who can laugh easily and can also cry like a child. Be a sharing and loving person. Be compassionate to all living beings. Be forgiving to others and also to yourself because we all make mistakes in life. Be in touch with mother earth, birds, animals and help those whom you can. All this will bring positivity and joy around you. And you will be more at ease with yourself and the world around you.
Remember – you are the center of your world.
by Amit
Iwas always interested in meditation, occult, tantra and spirituality. only god knows for how long. i must have sat with many enlightened masters but somehow always managed to keep on refining my ego !!!
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