The separate self (mind) is not an entity. It is an activity: the activity of resisting what is present and seeking what is not present.
Rupert Spira
We live in a world where there are more healers than those looking to be healed. The industry of shutting oneself off is a 4 trillion dollar industry and it includes, entertainment, drugs, alcohol, porn, gambling, social media(the instant gratification parts of it), and the modem enlightenment industry, comprising of greedy gurus, glamorised yoga, smooth talking positive psychology, tantra, neo Spiritualism.
What unites all of them is the instant escape, the temporary transcendence they offer from your life of misery and misunderstanding. A two day retreat to learn some inner enginnering, a 9 day vipasana, an intense online self awakening session, the kitty parties for chanting, are no way different to recreational drugs, partying, gambling, as all of them offer a chance to temporarily mute the Noise of reality, one in a more socially acceptable and social media friendly manner than the other. And for both you need to enhance the dosage so as to prevent yourself from returning to your original life of misery and misunderstanding.
These might be better than the other counterparts but they are in a no way leading to any Absolute solution for self on the contrary they add to the gloss of the ego, the spiritual ego.
Yes, better evils are celebrated in a society which runs on politics and power struggles, we live in a world where doing something is Celebrated and promoted than doing nothing, and thus the pseudo gurus, chakra cleansers, smooth talking misinformed digital gurus, are all made demi gods as their words offer a similar momentary escape, which can be mistaken for transcendence and spiritual enlightenment.
Maybe all you ever needed to do was Nothing
All the effort that you put pursuing the ashtanga practices of yoga, the code of the samurai, the hustle and struggle mindset of success and business coaches, is just another layer of identification, which rather than bringing you close to your inner self, which never leaves you, creates further distance by adding to the ego.
By being afraid of doing nothing, by being condemned for being in nothingness for its misinterpretation as laziness, and being always promoted to do and chases and find answers, by being influenced to always keep moving to find success as an answer, maybe humans have taken themselves away from their stillness which is their natural state of joy, peace, balance that they were born with.
Compelled by Fear and Guilt due to over indulgence, most of the westen population turns towards eastern philosophy and over indulges in it as another mountain to be climbed.
Saying Sanskrit words with an accent is a sign of superiority in the western world, where the spiritual ego is soon becoming the new billion dollars. Powered by greedy gurus and exotic talking yoginis, the eastern culture is misrepresented and made into a another to-do list which will lead to some divine riches.
As struggle is celebrated in the western world, this leads to the strenuous hours practicing and posting yoga pictures, isolation from society to cleanse energy bodies, and personalisation of the enlightenment experience.
Even science of the quantum kind is used to support this new means of separation and spiritual superiority.
Yes we live in the age of brown supremacy and it is lead by a few greedy gurus.
But beyond the rant lies the solution. Dive deeply into your own culture and religion, before going in for the exotic. You will see unity, stillness, mindfulness, nothingness as key attributes of all religion.
All you need do is nothing, and be ok with it
And from this depth of realisation, choose rituals which make you more present and aware, rather than which promise future Enlightenment or make for a good story to tell.
In case of any exotic practice, find a balance between what you are told and what you feel post realising you actually need nothing. Are you creating placebos because of mast participation, how distanced are you from the grounding if your own culture while attempting to be uplifted by another cultures practice.
Its always good to be inspired by all cultures but it is very easy for a chasing mind to value the exotic at it silences you from your reality, which most are afraid to face.
In actuality yoh only need silence and nothingness, as that makes you come face to face with your fears, the very things you are trying to avoid, and in that one moment of awareness, you see through the hollowness of all these.
Then, you can carry on chopping wood and carrying water as you always have been, without needing any social or Spiritual validation for your experience.
Humans should come together in conciousness not for it…