Spiritual Seekers Are Always Tested

The only battle happens within

Shiva MeditatingPhoto de Sandeep Singh

There is a time to learn, wrap our head around certain observations, receive insights and enjoy the magic of Life.

And, there is a time to test everything we have understood, receive hits and learn to stand still, tall and firm in the face of adversity, all while sticking to the Higher Principles we have learned.

There is a misconception in spiritual communities. People think growing spiritually means swallowing books, repeating quotes from spiritual teachers, doing reiki or buying crystals, and so on.

This separation between what spirituality means to them and, normal day living, creates a disconnect.

And this disconnect is the source of all confusions.

It’s true that generally, our world is poor, spiritually speaking. Most people are lost, drowning in spirals of negativity that are inevitable when we’re disconnected from our spiritual essence.

It’s quite an understatement to say that “normal living” and spirituality are worlds apart.

While the difference is clear, the fact that we exist in a physical form right now proves we’re part of Life’s plan to express Its spirituality through physicality.

Ultimately, there is no difference between spirituality and living. And that’s why we must make sure we’re incorporating everything we learn in times of peace when we’re tested.

It doesn’t matter how many teachers we follow, how many books we read, how much we meditate, and so on. What does is we behave. How do we handle ourselves in stressful times? How enduring are we when nothing works?

What matters is how much we’re able to bring those Higher Energies we’ve acquired from theories down into this material world. And the only way to do this is through physical actions —through our behavior in everyday situations.

Life is always new, moving, and fresh. Throughout our earthly experiences, we go through different situations that affect us in different ways.

Mentally, emotionally and physically, we acquire a baggage that’s stored in our subconscious mind. This baggage is our library, it’s the known, it’s what we know and what we use to deal with Life.

Thing is, Life is new, and what’s in our subconscious mind isn’t. Yet, because it’s all we know, we derive security out of our past —so we respond to Life’s newness using our old reactive patterns.

And this very battle between the old and the new creates resistance, which turns into stored resentment, anger, fears, sufferings, pain, and so on, eventually creating illnesses of all sorts.

Why do we resist? It isn’t because we refuse to learn, but more so because our old ways are what we always knew, and discarding them blatantly feels scary, intimidating, almost fatal.

But, whenever Life tests us — learning to observe our old reactionary patterns, while being humble enough to question if there isn’t another way to deal with the situation at hand; this is how we pass our test.

Standing tall, firm and still in the face of adversity means looking at our craving to behave like we always did versus — paying attention to that joyous inner voice, that tells us, there is another way.

It’s only in listening to that inner voice that we see our fears for what they are. It’s only in listening to that inner voice that we bring everything we have stored within ourselves out to the light. It’s only in listening to that inner voice, and following it, that we develop what is called “faith.”

Faith is nothing more than taking a few steps out of the known (subconscious) and into the unknown (the new). This process is similar to stretching our muscles to increase their range of motion. It just happens within.

It’s during this process that we are gifted with the opportunity to choose another way, rewrite our very psyche, and evolve.

The truest and only battle of Life happens within. To win over our “demons,” a lot of tenacity, strength and patience is required.

Spiritual growth doesn’t mean being a nice person that lets anyone do whatever they please. Spiritual growth means being a nice person, but also a strong and poised being. And this strength comes naturally as one dissolves the many illusions one has believed in for lifetimes.

As a last note.

If you’ve been meditating, using affirmations and thinking positively for a while now, without necessarily integrating spiritual truths at a soul level even though you understand them intellectually — I’ve written a book to help you understand the main blocks to true spiritual growth, and how to overcome them. Check Spiritual Transition here.