The Dali Lama says …
“The very purpose of spirituality is self-discipline. Rather than criticizing others, we should evaluate and criticize ourselves. Ask yourself, what am I doing about my anger, my attachment, my pride, my jealousy? These are the things we should check in our day to day lives.”
I can’t imagine such a statement will be popular in the spiritual community – or in truth much adhered to either. Why? Because in part no one wants to admit that they aren’t doing this or at least that they aren’t doing this as much as they should be – for one thing and for the other? Unfortunately we live in an instant coffee, next day delivery, fast track, 24 for hour service reality where no one is willing to put in the hard work these days – sad to say!
You only need look at the workshops and courses that are out there to see that this is true of the spiritual community as it is of the rest of our world. Weekend courses to train in shamanism, witchcraft, reiki and crystal healing – mediumship, angel card reading, massage and reflexology! Let alone workshops and courses that encourage us to enter into self enquiry!
And yet such a thing IS essential for our growth and development because no one but us can do it and its so key to spiritual evolution and ascension.
Looking back I realise I have had harsh teachers – St Germain being amongst the worse! After every workshop – since I first began teaching 28 years ago and still to this day now he urged me to ask myself how could I have done it better? what worked and more importantly what didn’t? If I did it again what would I change?
Needless to say he also encourages me to ask the same things of myself and my passage through life – how do I think I handled that situation? Well?? Badly??? How might I do better next time? how might I change my response and what did I learn about myself from both my failure and my successes?
It isn’t pleasant … it isn’t easy looking into ones motivations, plundering ones hidden incentives, unearthing ones dark motivations BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL!
At the same time we must counter balance our self enquiry with compassion, self forgiveness and self love. for irrespective of how wanting we might find ourself to be the fact that we are looking, asking, endeavouring to be the better person that we can be is something – it is a start and it is a sign that we are awake, that we are conscious and that we have hope!
“Don’t worry about how much time you have …” St Germain would say “… spirit make time and you’ll have just as much of it as you need to accomplish what you need to do. Take your time – it is the only way! To rush things is to miss things, to gloss over important truths and THAT will never do!”
