Gauging spiritual growth

There is another thought in conclusion. How does one gauge the progress or the growth of a spiritual aspirant? Many people ask that question. How does one know that one is progressing in yoga and in spiritual life?

The answer that is generally given is that you know you are progressing when your desires and passions reduce, when the cravings and needs of the mind are not aggressive and are pacified and contained. You decide whether that desire, need or aspiration is your actual need or it is only an ambition for self-gratification, then you can consider in your sadhana whether your desires have lessened or increased.

That is an indication of spiritual progress according to many people who have gone through that. It is the general answer, lessening of desires. Buddha has said it. Swami Sivananda has said it. Swami Satyananda has said it.

It does indicate a stage of the personality when the cravings, attachments and attractions to the outside world via the senses and the mind reduce, and you become more internally aware of yourself.

On the other hand, how do you see for yourself whether you are growing or not? In my understanding, the best way to observe yourself is to see the whole of life divided into three parts. From birth to death, the whole lifeline is to be divided in three compartments.

Do not think I am talking in relation to age from birth to death; it is the classification of the entire life experience in three groups.

First part of life: mastery over the senses and mind. In the first part of life, the first half of the wheel, bahiranga yoga, is applied.

Second compartment of life: personality change and transformation. In the second compartment of your life you deal with emotions and samskaras through antaranga yoga.

Third compartment: merger with the effulgence of the yoga chakra. In the third part of life, one lives in the experience of union, and that is the merger of the yoga chakra. The effulgence is where you are endowed with peace, clarity, tranquillity and atmabhava.

Ganga Darshan, December 2014

From the book “Yoga Chakra, The Wheel of Yoga”, pg. 159-160, 161, 162, Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati

 

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Spiritual growth

Gauging spiritual growth

There is another thought in conclusion. How does one gauge the progress or the growth of a spiritual aspirant? Many people ask that question. How does one know that one is progressing in yoga and in spiritual life?

The answer that is generally given is that you know you are progressing when your desires and passions reduce, when the cravings and needs of the mind are not aggressive and are pacified and contained. You decide whether that desire, need or aspiration is your actual need or it is only an ambition for self-gratification, then you can consider in your sadhana whether your desires have lessened or increased.

That is an indication of spiritual progress according to many people who have gone through that. It is the general answer, lessening of desires. Buddha has said it. Swami Sivananda has said it. Swami Satyananda has said it.

It does indicate a stage of the personality when the cravings, attachments and attractions to the outside world via the senses and the mind reduce, and you become more internally aware of yourself.

On the other hand, how do you see for yourself whether you are growing or not? In my understanding, the best way to observe yourself is to see the whole of life divided into three parts. From birth to death, the whole lifeline is to be divided in three compartments.

Do not think I am talking in relation to age from birth to death; it is the classification of the entire life experience in three groups.

First part of life: mastery over the senses and mind. In the first part of life, the first half of the wheel, bahiranga yoga, is applied.

Second compartment of life: personality change and transformation. In the second compartment of your life you deal with emotions and samskaras through antaranga yoga.

Third compartment: merger with the effulgence of the yoga chakra. In the third part of life, one lives in the experience of union, and that is the merger of the yoga chakra. The effulgence is where you are endowed with peace, clarity, tranquillity and atmabhava.

Ganga Darshan, December 2014

From the book “Yoga Chakra, The Wheel of Yoga”, pg. 159-160, 161, 162, Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati