On Spiritual Purity

When Sri Ramakrishna, the 19th century sage of Dakshineswar, India said that he couldn't associate with money his disciple Vivekananda wanted to test him so he hid a coin under his mattress. Next day Sri Ramakrishna reported that he couldn't sleep at all that night.

Along the Tao you will have to drop some of your habits. You might no longer be able to work in the profession you did before. You may change your eating or drinking habits. Your sexual practices might change or you might drop sex altogether. The thing though is, experience for yourself what this change is about. Just see for yourself what happens when you practice what you have been doing before and how you feel when you drop that activity for good. You can run experiments just like Vivekananda did. However, also remember that we need you to show your true colors. Only because some guru is a vegetarian and lives like a monk doesn't mean you have to. Explore and express yourself. You don't need to worry, the Tao will communicate clearly to you what works and what doesn't.

I have a very simple rule of thumb. I do whatever feels right to express my love. I have become vegetarian because I care for animals. I drink alcohol when I have the chance to toast with my friends. I also haven't found that sex interferes with my spiritual path as long as it is an expression of love. I work in the financial industry which is, many would argue, obsessed with money. It doesn't touch me though as I am focussing my attention on the interactions with my friends at work. This is the path the Tao has chosen for me. I am here to help my friends and will do that happily until I get the signal to move on to my next career, that of a spiritual coach. The Blue Lord was teaching Arjun the path toward enlightenment on the battlefield in the Bhagavad Gita. Define your own path towards purity but remember your starting point in this journey. You have to share your gifts with humanity in your special way. You will see that the Tao encourages you to express your idiosyncratic being. Be creative, be bold and be flexible to change course when the next cue shows up.

Spiritual Ascendancy

Delay will hurt you now more than before, only because you realize it is delay, and that escape from pain is really possible.
A Course in Miracles

Some say that when you eat meat, you upset your delicate spiritual system and that is why many religions advocate a vegetarian diet. I think this is entirely possible and I am currently trying a vegetarian diet just because a number of friends have raised this subject in recent weeks.

I am not very fond of following some perceived spiritual wisdom; the 'thou shall' and the 'thou shall not' rules that are supposedly good or bad for our spiritual evolution. In my experience when you need to adjust your behavior you find the Tao knocking on your door soon enough. And when that transformation has taken place there never is any turning back to your old habits. The alternative is just too painful.

Spiritual ascendancy is something that is provided by Grace; it is most likely related to your behavior but how so, only God knows. When different energy centers open up, expect many changes. You can look forward to having more energy, a constant feeling of peace and connectedness and some command of metaphysical powers as well. Unfortunately there is also stuff that you need to cut out; old psychological baggage that you need to throw overboard before you can set your sails again into a new direction. Refusal to comply will lead to a loss in energy that feels dreadful. You will try a few times but soon realize that it is just not in your best interest.

What exactly it is that you can do or should not do is something you can find out experimentally. You stick to the activities that empower you and avoid the activities that cut into you power base. It is as simple as that. My hunch is that these experiences are all unique for each spiritual traveler. We all approach our Source from different angles. For some it is not eating meat, for others it is not having sex; I have also heard that some always need to speak the truth, etc. Everyone has to adjust something to command the new found energies would be my hunch based on my experience.

I have written frequently on my blog on addiction, not because I am exactly an expert on this subject but because the opportunity sets for addicts and Tao travelers appear similar. What both groups have in common is that they essentially no longer have a choice! Everything boils down to an all or nothing decision. The alcoholic passes by the liquor cabinet and may be tempted to go for it just because he had a bad day at work or because he is all by himself, but he also knows that with the first open bottle the floodgates are wide open and a giant downhill spiral will follow.The alcoholic has seen this movie before and knows how it ends. One day he will reach that point where the bottle remains closed forever. Likewise, once you have experienced the energy level, power and peace associated with a spiritual transition, you have little choice but to do what the Tao suggests. For me Jesus and Buddha's last temptations was about this final step, saying no to the ego in whatever form it appeared for them: the temptation of power for Jesus and sex for Buddha.

I am currently writing a book that describes the spiritual path as a big experiment; there is no faith required, all you have to do is to follow the leads and cues of the Tao. Spiritual path travelers have an advantage over the ordinary folks - we are starting to see for ourselves that there is a reality hidden behind the so-called real world. The illusion that the ordinary folks perceive is coming from time. If you do violate the law of oneness, that is, if you hurt yourself by hurting someone else, and you experience the consequence years later, you will not be able to put cause and effect together. Yet, if you experience time after time that when you hurt someone, the impact comes right back to you, you will stop doing it, right? Or the other way around, if you learn again and again that being kind and considerate brings similar rewards with plenty of interest, you would be induced to look out for the fellow next door, right?

I am a scientist by training so I am a big believer that you need to figure things out for yourself. You need to work out what is consistent with your journey and what not. Just be honest, be open to listen to different views, try them and be ready to embrace change because your energy vibrations change all the time and something that may have worked for you yesterday may not work any longer today. In any case, just because so many of my friends have mentioned vegetarian cuisine to me in recent days I will try to study the energy effects for 21 days and will let you know if I discover any noticeable changes in my energy system.