Spiritual Practice For Beginners

In speaking on the subject of spiritual practice for beginners, I think I should make one or two points clear at the very outset. First of all, what do I mean by beginners? It is a fact that all beginners are not really beginners; souls are born on this earth with different qualifications, and those who start spiritual life seriously do not all begin at the same point. Therefore, spiritual practices cannot be the same, or even similar, for all beginners. So for the purpose of our discussion, I should say that by beginners I mean those who genuinely feel the call of the Spirit, who feel devotion to God a little, who feel they should think about Him and make some effort to gain more and more devotion to Him, but who, at the same time, find themselves drawn towards the world – they cannot reject the world as unreal, as uninteresting. It is this kind of beginner I wish to discuss here.

Now, the difficulty in the case of such beginners lies in the fact that spiritual interests and worldly interests are so diametrically opposed that they cannot be brought together by any effort. Therefore, the kinds of beginners whom I have tried to define should at the very first tell themselves that from time to time their position has to be changed. I am mentioning this because I have found that people are not ready to change: Some will say, "Oh, I can go only so far. I cannot go any further." Or, when a conflict arises between these two interests – worldly and spiritual – some would rather give up their spiritual than their worldly pursuits. But there should be readiness in the very beginning to accept the changes that are bound to come within oneself if one’s spiritual practice is effective or fruitful. If no change comes, then I must say that one’s spiritual practice has been more or less formal and mechanical; it has not been much of a spiritual practice at all. However, I do not forget that merely by will one cannot push oneself away from one’s present position to a higher position in order to resolve this conflict. That also is not practical.

We don’t have many things under our personal control. So many things are working in our own individuality and there are so many circumstances—our environment, our relationships with other people which we cannot violate or change merely at will—that it is too much to expect that our beginner will just break all these bonds and bring about a revolutionary change within himself. I myself don’t expect that of him or her, and I should say further that often it would be harmful. If you bring about quick changes within yourself, you are not able to make the necessary adjustment, and because of this lack of adjustment, you find you have lost control over your own being, over your own mental states, and over your relationship with others. It is not a very happy situation.

Therefore, spiritual practice has to be so designed and so carried out that this very necessary change within oneself is brought about in slow and gradual measure, particularly in the early stages. A certain change has to be brought about also in the quality of the relationships that we have with other people and in our relationship with the world. We shall have to read more and more meaning, spiritual meaning, into those things which ordinarily appear to be rather worldly, and opposed to spirituality. In order that this can be accomplished, I have found that one thing is vitally important, and that is the building up of character.

Morality is the very core of character and, as is well known, is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth. Man is moral. Morality is not something imposed upon us by religious or social conventions; it is a part of our inner constitution. A person does not feel well if he tells lies. Very soon he finds that his whole being is disintegrating because of his habit of falsehood. If a person is impure, he feels the same kind of degeneration and continually struggles against it. If moral observances were merely conventional, just imposed by the community or believed in because some saints or prophets prescribed them, we would not feel bad about breaking them. I know some of you will say, "Why, nowadays people believe that these things are more conventional than natural, and like other conventions, they change. Furthermore, many people find that if they throw off all these moral obligations and observances, they feel better for it. If we can throw off that tremendous pressure, that heavy burden, we feel lighthearted."

Now, I admit that some people may have to struggle very hard in order to live up to moral principles; there are inner conflicts, and so on. So if a person is told that he does not have to observe these things, he will feel relieved. Having admitted that, I shall add that it is only a temporary relief. Very soon he finds something within him resists this kind of concession; he finds he has become shallow, he has become weak and exceedingly vulnerable. If moral observances do not do anything else for us, they at least build within us an independent individuality so that we can live in accordance with some requirements of our own inner being, and to that extent we are able to resist incursions from the outside. I do not think I have to mention that one of the things most needed at the present time is the ability to resist the external world. In these times we have become so identified with externals that whenever things do not go well, we go to pieces. In individual, national, and international affairs we are continually subject to this kind of invasion. People cannot live long in this way. It is just a question of time before we find that a large number of people are going to pieces—literally going to pieces.

Moral principles are really just manifestations of our own inner integrity—our own Spirit. I am assuming this without argument. You see, you would not have come to listen to a talk about spiritual practice if you did not believe in spirituality and in the existence of the Spirit as yourself. So I do not have to argue here that we are really Spirit and not body and mind. Some of you might say that we are Spirit, but also mind. I won’t try to dispute that; I shall accept it. But the mind that is associated with the Spirit has to be a mind strong enough and elevated enough to commune with God, the universal Spirit; it cannot be the ordinary mind. Well, let us say that such a mind is also a part of our being. But the central core of our being is Spirit, which is a very different substance than the mind even at its highest. In this discussion I shall assume you understand that.

Now, as I was saying, Vedantins hold that moral principles are expressions and manifestations of the integrity of the Spirit. Truth, for instance, is the very essence of the Spirit; therefore God has been called Truth. In the Upanisads the idea is continually emphasized that the Spirit or the Atman or the Self is satyam, "truth" and jnanam, "knowledge," which also is truth. (Any knowledge must be true knowledge; so knowledge is of course bound up with truth.) We are truthful not because social life would otherwise become impossible, but because our very nature is truth, and when we violate our own nature everything goes to pieces—and then, of course, social life also becomes disrupted.

But I may say that character contains something more than mere morality. For example, you may be a very moral person, but you may not believe that loyalty is necessarily a part of morality. Some of you would say that renunciation, detachment, strength of mind, confidence in oneself are not moral virtues. Although I admit that these qualities can probably be related to some of the cardinal moral virtues, let us make this distinction. For instance, if a person has no confidence in himself, you would not call him immoral. Character, then, is made up of the cultivation of moral virtues plus some other virtues. And all these virtues are very necessary in order that we can grow in spiritual life. Very, very necessary! And this from the beginning.

I sometimes think that even if people do not admit the existence of God, if they build up all these traits of character, they will be much better people than if they believe in God, frequently go to churches, pray, and so on, but haven’t a strong character. I sincerely believe that. But I also admit that life does not become full unless we have embraced the Infinite; that is where the claim of religion comes. So I would be dissatisfied with merely following or being asked to follow the ideal of character; I would want something more. If, however, you are not inclined to believe in God and if you could be persuaded to build up your character, you will find that you have become a very fine person indeed. I may almost say that if belief in God does not come naturally to you in the beginning, it is not necessary; you can go ahead.

The fact is that without character spiritual growth is impossible. I think many of you have considered this problem of religion: You find people go to churches, but they do not seem to be any different from the people who do not go to churches. Some would even go further: They would say, "Churchgoers probably are on the whole hypocrites; at least we are not hypocrites. We are honest people; we live good lives; we don’t pretend things." Some will also say, "Churchgoers just mumble this and that; they are full of superstitions. Superstition is not strengthening; it is not good for people. We don’t have to subject ourselves to these superstitions. We are better." Yes, there is a great deal of truth in this kind of stand. But the reason people do not change through religion is because character has not been formed; it has not been considered necessary to build up a strong character.

Now, as I said above, in the development of character there are other things apart from the practice of moral virtues that should be practiced. What are those things? I myself have thought that whatever denies the true nature of my own being is against the formation of character, and whatever brings to me the sense of my own true nature is an essential element of character. It my opinion, strength, the cultivation of fearlessness, the eradication of all kinds of weaknesses are essential factors in the development of character. The Spirit cannot be fearful. If you think you are Spirit you could not at the same time be full of fear. Unselfishness is also a necessary ingredient of character, because to be selfish is to think of oneself in terms of the body and the mind, in terms of this narrow being, and that is a denial of our true being. Therefore, selfishness, by undermining one’s true nature, would also destroy character. Selflessness is therefore an essential part of true character.

You may say, "Yes, a person may be selfless, but does he shed tears in the name of God?" My friends, assuming that some of you here are beginners, I shall tell you that to feel a spirit of selflessness is much better than shedding tears in the name of God. Shedding tears can be very easily done. I have seen people crying jugfuls of tears in the name of God, but I would not count them as spiritual at all—not at all.

If you have studied the history of religion in India, you will know that in the Puranic age—the age following the first period of Buddhism—all kinds of devotional religions were taught, and people at once responded to them. In a sense you could say that the Puranic age is continuing in India up to this very day. The more philosophical and mystical teachings of the Upanisads do not seem to appeal to people. I might say that even amongst you, who profess to be Vedantins, there are many who would rather go in for a devotional religion in which you can take refuge in somebody and cry your heart out whenever it suits your mood. But after you have shed all your tears, you do not seem to have changed very much; you are where you were. The tremendous change which is absolutely necessary in order to grow spiritually has not come into your life. Yes, there is a wonderful fascination in devotional religion: To call oneself a miserable sinner and then expect that some compassionate Savior will take you to heaven by the hand so that you won’t have to climb all the stairs—that is very appealing, and that is what this wonderful religion of love has been reduced to because of our own weakness!

Another point I should mention here is non-egotism. Probably many of you do not think that is important. Of course, you don’t want to be egotistical in an obvious way; you think that is insufferable. But you want to have egotism in some things. You do something good, say, then you want to be praised for it; you help someone, you expect that person to be grateful to you, and so on. You see, unconsciously we seek approbation, gratitude, honor. We are continually thinking of those things. And the ego is so subtle that even when you are thinking that you are non-egotistical, in this very thought you are egotistic. One has to learn to give up the ego. One has to learn to shift one’s own being from the ego to those broad universal truths and realities which are non-egotistic. They are within ourselves; even now they are more or less within our apprehension. Therefore, I do not accept the view that unless you have advanced very far spiritually, you cannot shift yourself from egotism to non-egotistic principles. I would not accept that. We have those principles within us; it is because we ignore them that we cannot take advantage of them.

Now if I have to say what spiritual practice should be undertaken by a beginner, I would say, give your utmost attention to the building up of your character. I am not saying that this is all you should do, and that only after your character has been fully built should you start other practices. No. In spiritual life, as in everything else, we undertake many things together. Although we know that unless some fundamental conditions have been fulfilled, our other practices will not be very fruitful, we also know that as we build up our character, our devotional or other practices will become more and more effective. Therefore, many things can be started simultaneously. We should, however, recognize which practices are the most essential, and we should pay a great deal of attention to them. In other words, we should give a great deal of attention to building up good traits of character.

© "Ascent To Spiritual Illumination" by swami Ashokananda, published (2001) by Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Champawat, Himalayas from its Publication Department, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014. Reprinted with permission.

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