I read an article the other day that I have been trying to relocate, but thus-far have been unable to. At first reading I though it was just some guy complaining about the current state of spirituality, but as I thought about it some more his message began to sink in. Please allow me to explain…
Basically the article was about how hard spirituality really is. Much of the literature devoted to it recently makes it sound like it is so easy… just listen to the tibetan bells every day for an hour and you will be enlightened… just imagine you are enlightened and you will be… just follow the Reiki Path to the best of your ability and each step will take you closer to your ultimate destination, which is the ultimate liberation.
The author’s response to all these suggestions that this stuff is so easy is that whoever is espousing such a notion is dead wrong in that achieving the ultimate liberation is much more difficult than just seeking it. He (and I’m going by memory here, so I’m not even positive it was a he) felt that teachers teaching that this stuff is easy are doing a terrible injustice to their students in that a tremendous amount of discipline and hard work is required before even getting a glimpse of what you are working towards.
To me it just sounded at first like he was just complaining about how new age authors are just making it all sound so easy. But as I thought about it I realized there is quite a bit of truth in what he was saying. Putting no effort at all into one’s spiritual practice will, in all likelihood, yield quite limited results and if you are looking for something more, well, no pain… no gain!
The author wasn’t talking about Reiki, but as I tend to view just about everything I experience through a Reiki filter any talk of spirituality for me, equates with Reiki and so at first, even though he never mentioned Reiki, I felt like it was an attack on Reiki but now I see it as more of an admonition as in “As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap“.
Some spiritual seekers have spent their lifetimes seeking liberation or true enlightenment and so to suggest that one can achieve the same results is rather simplistic.
On the other hand…
Many of those spiritual seekers were going under the assumption that they only had one lifetime to get things right and that they needed to either achieve enlightenment in this lifetime or be lost to the swirls of time. Other spiritual seekers feel that this lifetime is only a stepping stone and the further you get in this life the less you will have to achieve in the next. Yet others feel that this mystique of difficulty is an illusion and with the information that has come to light in the past 50 years or so it is that illusion alone that is preventing spiritual seekers from succeeding in their spiritual quests.
So who is right?
I really wish I could give you a definitive answer to that question, but alas, I am but a pilgrim in these lands myself. I would, however, love to hear what y’all think about this and would appreciate your weighing in on the issue… perhaps your opinions will help others in their own quests. So please submit your comments below and maybe we can figure things out here.
For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!
