This podcast begins a discussion on the 3 main pillars of a spiritual practice: i.e. meditation, spiritual study, and selfless service. This description is described in many spiritual texts but the one I’m focusing on is from the “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” dating back over 2000 years. Employing this ancient formula will aid in uniting the body, the mind, the emotional, and Soul into a working unity. 

At some point, you will realize there is no separation between what you know, how you perceive yourself, and the actions you take. An effective spiritual practice will also reveal ‘Who you are,’ and ‘Who you are not.’ This is a nod to the spiritual axiom: “Know Thyself” at all levels of awareness.

Implementing the 3 pillars, it becomes a process of integration of the personality, i.e. your mental, emotional and physical self with the Soul and later with your Divine nature. By fully embracing and incorporating all aspects of a spiritual practice, you are bringing a realization and expanded awareness about the nature of your existence and developing a “livingness” of Soul consciousness in your life.

In the context of a spiritual practice, you may ask “Why should I study “X” text or “Which spiritual texts or readings should I study”?....or  How should I study a spiritual text?

For this work, we understand that the spiritual seeker is self-taught and takes a mental…thinking attitude towards study. In approaching the subject of spiritual study, you start with the idea that you are wanting to stimulate the brain and mind so it can become open to impressions. Keep in mind that spiritual study can be complemented with the practice of meditation. Also, form the outset meditation is strongly recommended to be part of your daily life routine as it will develop “spiritual pathways” from your Higher Self, i.e. the Soul. 

Concurrent to spiritual study, you are seeking to bring the mental, emotional and physical bodies into an alignment with your Soul. Initially with this work. Initially with this work …your goal will be to stabilize the mind and later develop a greater capacity for pure reason / thinking, comprehension and discernment. Studying spiritual texts in this way stimulates deeper levels of the mind. This is a type of intuitive, synthetic understanding and is stimulated by the energies of the Soul, which you are connecting with in meditation.  Think of this work as providing you with a well-rounded spiritual education.

The need to serve is a idea and impulse that has evolved in people and groups over time. This concept of helping people in crisis or need, or expressing service through intelligent loving or giving was for the most part, a very foreign concept to most people up until recent times.

In this podcast, we’ll examine some of the many elements of the nature of caring and what it means to serve.  Service is an energy that demonstrates as the life of the Soul working within the personality’s nature. It is the activity of intelligent loving and giving motivated through the expression of goodwill. The motivation to serve will not come from the spiritual seeker alone, as he must have Soul stimulation or inspiration. The term service denotes spiritual qualities and values, such as cooperation and goodwill emanating from the Soul, which are focused outwardly, but known by the spiritual seeker as an inner reality. 

In considering the effort required to “tread the path” and make spiritual progress, one must have a realistic sense of the work ahead and be disciplined to carry it out. The most common factor in discouragement is due to the over development of the concrete or finite mind. When you have too lofty or even unobtainable goals, then it puts a demand on the emotional nature and the physical body also suffers. In this case, it is wise to create a sense of balance by identifying realistic goals and allowing a mental equilibrium to be achieved. 

During the path of integration of the personality with your Soul, there are many opportunities for letting discouragement set in, such as wanting to progress on the path faster than is wise or realistic. At this time, it is best to “make haste slowly” through developing quality in your nature (i.e. consciousness) with a sense of time. 

As you are connected with the Soul in meditation on a regular basis and offsetting distractions in consciousness, you know you are progressing one step at a time in time and evolution. 

One cure for discouragement is to wisely use your mind. This means maintaining a connection and awareness with the Soul as a tension, as much as you can in meditation and in your waking state.