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Originally Posted by Erock  I know that a lot of people that post on these boards are spiritual seekers, and I'm wondering how you all balance spiritual searching and everyday life, because they don't seem to go hand in hand (or maybe they do). Right now, I'm having an internal conflict between these two different ideologies:
1. Setting goals. Dreaming about the future. Fulfilling desires. LOA. Trying to experience everything life has to offer, including all of its sensory pleasures. Experiencing all emotions. Taking the good with the bad. Creating memories, and trying to always do something new. Meeting tons of people, and making a lot of friends. Trying to make a difference in the external world, exc...
2. Becoming very quiet on the inside. Trying to stop all internal chatter. Eliminate the ego. Watch emotions as a silent witness. Curb all desire. Keep the mind always in the present and avoid thinking about the past and future. Always staying aware of my spiritual essence, and avoiding all sensory pleasures, for they breed unneccessary desire. Trying to become enlightened, or realize the true nature of reality. Trying to make a difference in the internal world first-for that is what really matters.
How do you guys balance these two, because they seem to go against each other? Is balance really the way to go, because a lot of the most successful people seem to take one of these two paths to the extreme. The most successful spiritual seekers always seem to be in isolation, and the most successful people at fulfilling desires always seem to be dreaming big and doing revolutionary things externally. Right now I am kind of half-way between, and I don't feel like I'm making any progress because they conflict so much.
Anyway, if you have any input on this it would be fantastic.
Erock |
What an awesome question!
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I'm wondering how you all balance spiritual searching and everyday life
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I believe, you can not be searching and be present at the same time. The mere fact we search, read, yearn, desire means we are not present. Spiritual searching is just one more way we let ourselves be not present it is also saying this very moment is not perfect the way it is. And yet, it is perfect the way it is (easy to say, hard to get it in the heart).
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Trying to become enlightened, or realize the true nature of reality. Trying to make a difference in the internal world first-for that is what really matters.
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I have moved towards this being in the moment. I am balancing this knowing this is all a dream, all me, and working a job to earn income for my family. I can not drop out of life and meditate 20 hours a day living a monks life...my wife would chop the .... you get the point.
I fully understand your question and I am there with you.
I have read somewhere that the search is needed to get you to the point you
realize there is no need to search. Are you attached to the desire to end the search? (another paradox)
If every moment is the perfect teacher and everything is exactly as it is meant to be then why search? Are goals creating anxiety and unhealthy desire?
Breath in. Is the real issue we need to
realize this is it, this is the moment we have right now, this typing in the keyboard, this air conditioner that just turned on? This interaction with our dream? Is this all there is? What if it is? Can you / I accept this and just be? Breath out.
Which isn't to say searching is bad, everything is perfect, right? So letting everything just BE is the key form what I have read and in my limited experience.
I don't think I answered your question well but hopefully you know you are not the only one thinking of this.