Learn about the importance of developing psychological and spiritual maturity in congruency.
The concept of spirituality has existed throughout our history. It has existed in various forms depending on the cultures and beliefs. The fundamental and underlying belief, despite of variations, has always been the same, whether east or west.
In the purest sense, the word spirituality refers to a state of serenity. However, in our modern day society, even the concept of spirituality has been mass marketed and hyped in order to create a product that can be sold for profit.
Now, self-fulfillment is portrayed and presented as a straight forward yellow brick road that leads towards enlightenment.
Although yoga is increasingly being taught, some people are meditating on a daily basis and many have opted for greener alternatives in terms of consumables, something vital is still missing in our journey towards liberation.
Truth Regarding our Spiritual Self
We live in a time where spiritual development and personal growth have become so prevalent that their true meaning has been diluted in order to appeal the masses and the tiny attention span of the 21st century.
The result is a superficial approach towards the intricate and complex process of self-development, rendering it utterly pointless and ineffectual in most part, and the superficial feel-good effect is anything but long term.
As the idea of spiritual awakening has been cheapened in order to appeal to the masses, it has become a fad, a trend that will have serious consequences unless rectified.
One of the best examples is when I met a person who had suffered a great loss in her family. Even after a decade of meditation and other spiritual practices, she still suffered from severe depression that lasted her entire life.
The problem here was that she absolutely believed that meditation would allow her to grow spiritually and overcome her wounds. But meditation alone was obviously not enough.
Spirituality done right
Today’s generation has grown up with the idea of instant gratification. Hence, today’s modern day spiritual practices work on the simple premise that if we perform certain practices we will get certain things in return.
A kind of 101 instructions manual on which the entire concept of spirituality is explained, inculcated and conditioned. The person is neither taught nor explores any of the deeper and significant blocks of information that are necessary to grow on such a path.
The natural result is us becoming segmented into various versions of ourselves, among which some of them contain the feel-good and lovable aspects and the others contain all of our shameful and darker aspects.
This segmentation goes against the entire point of spiritual awakening, where we accept ourselves and love ourselves no matter what.
Unfortunately, a belief has been inculcated in the mainstream that encourages the duality of our inner being. This mindset has done nothing but cause more harm as it encourages us to explore only our higher selves, while rejecting our shameful and darker aspects.
The idea that rejecting our imperfection would make it go away is inherently flawed, and it’s eroding the healing aspect of spirituality, whilst fracturing the individuality even further.
For this very reason, it is extremely important that we learn to balance our spiritual and psychological maturity, which is essential for becoming authentic and complete human beings.
A Journey of Psycho-spiritual Growth
Our psycho-spiritual journey is simply balancing our growth within these two aspects by exploring both our lower and higher selves.
It doesn’t just involve deepening our spiritual self, but also our psychological self. Meaning, we need greater inner wisdom to face the darkness that dwells within us, rather than try to suppress it.
It is important to understand why our inner growth must progress in two different parallel processes: self-exploration and self-acceptance, which are a part of the involution process.
As our self-acceptance matures, we develop our ability to self-explore and begin embracing ourselves for who we truly are, be it good or bad.
The objective of this article is to help educate the millions who have started adopting eastern meditative practices and allow them to understand that there is another aspect that needs to be developed in congruence with meditation.
Combing these two elements, meditation and psychotherapy, is essential for developing a healthy sense of self. This must be accomplished before one can even imagine transcending the sense of self.
This article was inspired by Why Psychospiritual Maturity is so Important (and Meditation is Not Enough!), which was written by Don Mateo Sol. He is the author and co-founder of popular spiritual website LonerWolf.com. As a shamanic practitioner, teacher and soul guide, Sol has helped to lead thousands of people throughout the world on their journeys of self-discovery, healing and wholeness. You can follow Sol’s work on Facebook.
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