Stop Trying to be Spiritual: Stop Trying, and There it is

Posted on by toomajj

That you have to be compassionate, forgiving, humble, loving, etc.. all these so-called spiritual principles and qualities that you strive to attain, that you need to do this or that! This need is the source of all your misery; it is the source of endless conflict and incessant struggle for self-improvement. You don’t need to do any of that; instead, you need only be present; and not even that, for you are already present: just recognize that you are. 

All these qualities or spiritual principles are not qualities that you can possess as a person; they are the natural characteristics of the present moment. So, insofar as you are present, you don’t need to possess any of them or make them your own, and insofar as you are trying to possess them, you are not truly present, so you won’t be able truly experience them anyways except in a fake and forceful fashion. 

The idea of possessing spiritual qualities implies a fallacy: the fallacy that you exist, and that you are capable of possessing anything. In fact, the very idea of independent existence is the source of all suffering and the subsequent desire to become spiritual. All this is God’s land, i.e. the land of Pure Presence, so let go of all that spiritual bullshit and try to mind your own business, which simply means: recognize that you are already present and it’s all alright.

A Sufi once said: “I am baffled by what people say: They see the world and say ‘I can’t find God!’ I see nothing but God and can’t find the world.”

6 thoughts on “Stop Trying to be Spiritual: Stop Trying, and There it is”

  1. Hi Tomaj,

    Great point, Tomaj! I have always said that I did not pursue enlightenment to be good, or saintly, or compassionate. I pursued enlightenment because I wanted to know the truth of my existence. Ultimately, as Bernardo Kastrup points out, there is no real distinction between free will and destiny. We are a part of nature, part of universal mind. Yes, we have an apparently separate body and mind that needs to survive, but thinking that in any ultimate way we are individual and responsible is hogwash.

    As one goes through the Gestalt of ego moving into the background and the presence of Being itself moves to the foreground, one naturally is forgiving, and patient, and calm. The mind relaxes because it realizes it is not in charge. Surrender and love become the operating principles.

    Peace, Maury

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    1. Thank you for your comment Maury! It’s very true. Reminds me how children naturally live in this state without even trying or thinking that they are in any state. Looks like our thinking and analysis about enlightenment pushes us farther away from it.

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