..and Nisargadatta Maharaj and Eckhart Tolle and Thich Nhat Hanh and the Bhagavad Gita.
For the time being anyway.
After a year and a half of fairly intense seeking and transformation, I’m going on a spiritual diet. The realization of my oneness with the Absolute has been beautifully assisted by these teachings & teachers.. but enough is enough. At this point I am reading and hearing the same things over and over again. Now I simply want to live it. No guided meditations or videos or texts. No more crutches. Just this moment and the direct experience of the Divine.
Like my veganish, rawish, gluten-freeish eating experiment, I’m doing this without a set timetable or goal.
It’s become clear that all this spiritualizing is holding something up. What, I am not entirely sure. But I know I need to go these next few steps alone. As Presence.
Aware of Awareness 
interesting.
Have you ever consciously gone on a spiritual diet before?
oh yes…that’s really how all of this got started for me…
that is partly why I am interested in what is unfolding for you…
at the very least, you’ve made a decision, and so now something is bound to happen…who knows what?
That’s really the interesting part…
Tell me more about your experience.. what did you do/not do and how did that mode of being compare times when you have listened to/read spiritual teachings?
The second time I did this was a few years ago…I was involved in a spiritual immunity that I frankly outgrew. Although I was attached to the lineage, my gurus, and their interpretation on the path, I soon realized I needed to go beyond what was being offered. So I stopped everything. No more Satsang, no more studying, no more reiki…just intermittent meditation. In retrospect it was one if those “two steps forward, one step back” type situations..but it did provide the space I needed to experience more suitable teachings. When I moved to NJ I was ready to start again, but had no specific direction to go..all I knew was to sit, as often as possible. So that’s what I did until direction became clear.
During those times I felt lost and acted destructively and was a general mess. But hey, sometimes that’s what it takes. I’m pretty sure I outgrew a lot of negative behaviors and attitudes as a result though, and now I recognize and crave the structure of a regular practice.
Spiritual Materialism is real in these streets so its important to know the difference between practice and showing off. Taking a step back will help along those lines.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Only a few days into this spiritual “diet” and I must say, it is challenging. I don’t feel that I’ve outgrown anything so much as I feel that I’ve become dependent on particular practices that I, too, have come to crave and enjoy. I would like to see what this dependency is hiding. So I’m pausing and paying attention. Tell me what you mean by “spiritual materialism”?
One of the reasons I like Mooji is because he does not say that practice is unnecessary, only that the repetitive nature of it will keep you committed to the practice and not the goal….so maybe your dropping the practice is just another way of adhering to what he says…
Spiritual Materialism generally refers to the habit of picking up teachers, teachings, practices, paraphernalia, concepts, etc., but not really focusing on freedom or liberation. It’s when we are more concerned with becoming than being. Of course, this is a very simplistic explanation of the topic; it is well covered in the book “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism.”
Anyway, I notice there are a number of typos in my previous comment…my apologies. It’s more difficult to proofread on a cellphone, while in bed, in the dark. Yeah, that’s the ticket….
I think the reality is that you have to listen to a LOT of Mooji videos before you understand the place of practice in his teachings. On first glance, he definitely gives the impression that practice is not required, given the intense focus on the direct experience of oneness.
I’m now in some in-between hybrid mode of not really practicing but also not not practicing.. Kind of an odd way to be, but seeing how it goes.
Thanks for explaining spiritual materialism.. wasn’t aware of the book..
And I didn’t see any typos in your previous comment 🙂
Man I want to say so many things to this but none of it will come across right (trust me, I typed and deleted about 6 paragraphs of stuff) so I’ll just say: Wherever you are and whatever you do is a function of perfection, resist nothing and gradually move in the direction of YOUR perfection.
One day we will talk and laugh at all of this foolishness we call “practice.”
🙂
Yes to all of this.. And I’m laughing already 🙂
I can dig your spiritual diet. And I like the idea that somehow too much of these things “hold something up.” One thing I realized early on is that I was to be principally a layman, a regular fellow who just did some spiritual things here and there. So I always did some Zen, some yoga, and even some religions, here and there, but I never did a ton of it, because I knew somehow that there was something important about secular life too. So I kind of have a 90/10 loose rule, which basically is a live secular most of the time and do spiritually when the time feels right, like romance, or travel, in a way, ideally, that does not add it to the list of burdens, so to speak. It’s like a life-freshener for me, but not the whole house, as it were.
🙂
😉
Haha… I feel like you are mirroring my journey (and vice versa)! Here’s how I had expressed a similar feeling: http://wp.me/p2x7VR-l1
In the end, we’re all on the same journey 🙂
I decided to retire from the search last summer and it’s been harder then I thought….direct experience is much more challenging. It prompted me to start a blog and i have found other seekers who have also come to this conclusion…for now anyway.
Ah.. thank you for connecting with me – I can’t wait to read more of your blog 🙂 One of the things I’m questioning is whether “giving up the search” is also a kind of search.. What is your thinking on this?
Definitely, it didn’t take long for the non-searching to become a search and realizing I was hopelessly addicted to seeking. Daniel (Echo of the Absolute) helped with his thought that seeking with a goal in mind was a problem but seeking just because you love it is different and not a problem. So now I am more aware of my love for the seeking versus when I am looking for something on a path to somewhere that I’m trying to find.
Good! Only when one lets go, do they truly find themselves, otherwise they are still just a “spiritual person”. I mean no offense to any one. I’m just speaking my truth, who knows it feels it. Blissful journeys to you!
Absolutely! You totally get it. I’m going to be talking about this in my next post (tonight)
I’m excited to read your intention. Would you be willing to forward me your next post, or any follow-up on your vow to live simply in a state of Presence? Many blessings to you….from sandy
Eureka!!! 🙂 I always miss the joy for life in seekers… And in this text I feel the joy coming in to my computer. Congratulations Darl!
Reblogged this on stepping into her shoes and commented:
vibes