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Originally Posted by ethereal  The two can be combined, it's possible. In fact, now I believe it may be the fastest way to grow, because the world of 1) presents endless temptations and allows you to continuously to "test" and "build" your spiritual muscles. The world of 2) is one of detachment, of avoiding the things that you don't think you can handle.
It's like the spiritual problems of how to handle sex and money. Ramakrishna forbade all his disciples to even touch sex or money, because he thought the energy associated with those things would easily entrap a spiritual aspirant. But it isn't the sex or money that's the problem, it's the attachment to them. If you can learn to internally renounce the attachment, it's possible to overcome them without avoiding them. But if you can't, then it's best to detach for awhile and try again later when you're ready. This takes honest self-assessment -- don't fall into the pride of assuming "of course I can do it!" Many gurus have fallen that way, because they weren't ready for the responsibility of the power they had over their spiritual devotees.
So along the same lines, it isn't setting goals and desires and experiencing that's the problem, it's the attachment to them. If life is going swell, you get a new car and job and bombshell girlfriend, it's pretty easy to get even more attached to sensory pleasures and everything else, which is why some spiritual teachings say to isolate yourself and avoid the world. Once you get sufficiently spiritually advanced, the world can't hook you into attaching anymore, and then it doesn't matter what you do.
A technqiue I've used to renounce internally is to surrender desires, and the pleasures of fulfilling desires, up to God. The ego juices every desire it can get -- you can tell by the frantic energy of attachment it has to wanting to fulfill them and get the "pleasure" of it -- but if you can surrender the pleasure to God, i.e. you are enjoying this desire and this pleasure for the glory of God and not for yourself, then it takes the attachment out of it. Imagine that you're sanctifying this action in your gratitude and worship for life and for God. The pleasure still remains, but the ego's attachment to it is gone, because it's not "me" who is enjoying it anymore. I do this a lot with foods that I'm attached to. |
Ethereal, that was an amazing post and I really appreciate this response. You seem to really live a balanced life, something I aspire to do. I do have a follow-up question, and that is, should I generally avoid sensory pleasures (money, sex, alcohol, drugs), or, am I allowed to pursue them, yet remain unattached.
Using your example, having a bombshell girlfriend and tons of money. If a spiritual seeker had these, would he have gone after them, yet remain unattached, or let these things come to him? Would he try to get a job that makes a lot of money, go out looking for beautiful women, find parties to go to, or in your example did those things just happen to him, and he "took the pleasure as it came" so to say.
I concerned that if I allow myself access to these things, I will unconsciously become attached and start seeking them out. It's kinda tricky, and I know there is not one correct answer, but where do you draw the line in your own life?
Thanks a ton
Erock