THE SPIRITUAL LIFE - Atman Nityananda

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

Spirituality is not a way to enjoy better our 'life', ie., to enjoy in a better way the pleasures that are derived from the sense objects. Spirituality has to do with the death of our 'life'.

Spirituality has to do with the death of desires, likes and dislikes, of wanting and don’t wanting, of preferring and don’t preferring, of attraction and repulsion, etc., which constitute what we call as ego.

Spirituality has to do with the abandonment of sense-pleasures* for the sake of the enjoyment of peace, freedom and eternal bliss of the spirit.

Truly, it is not possible to enjoy at the same time both, the bliss of the spirit and the sense-pleasure because the former is possible with a pure mind and the later with an impure passionate mind and also because they dwell in different places. The bliss divine lies in the heart and the pleasure in the senses and the sensual mind. If our attention dwells in the senses we cannot enjoy the bliss of the spirit and on the contrary if our attention dwells in the silent space within our heart we cannot enjoy the sense pleasures.

We have to choose between the eternal bliss and the temporal pleasure which is the womb of suffering; we have to choose between the illusion and the truth.


Jesus Christ said:
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

Money has no valid in itself, it is only a mean to fulfill our desires.

NOTE: sense-pleasures*: 

Sensual pleasure and the enjoyment of the sense objects are two different things. The sensual pleasure is the result of the projection of lusty passionate energy (which is crystallized in our astral body and it is related to rajas guna) on the sensory object we experience, while the enjoyment of an object is the natural experience of the pleasant sensation which is caused by the interaction of the mind with object through the particular sense. When for example we eat a chocolate we can experience both, the pleasant sensation and pleasure which is caused by the lusty ego by identification, projection and superimposition or we can experience only the pleasant sensation if our mind is free from lust and passion.

 

Sensual pleasure 

When our mind is in contact with the sense objects or when our mind imagines the sense objects, the vital-ego projects on them its lusty passionate energy and gives us the experience of pleasure and satisfaction. This passionate energy clouds our power of discrimination and thus we fail to realize that the pleasure has nothing to do with the object itself. Thus we become attached to the object seeking to repeat the same experience in order to experience the same pleasure again and again.  The lusty passionate vital-ego (rajasic ego) is seeking continuously pleasure because it is made of the pleasure of past experiences. This lusty vital-ego is what Dr. Freud called as Id. This passionate energy assumes the form of like-dislike and desire and it is what deludes us and prevents us to realize our true nature and enjoy the peace and bliss divine.

 

Due to this passionate vital-energy the moment we experience a sense object, a vasana (subtle desire) for this object is created in our subconscious. This desire becomes a tendency in the subconscious mind and compels us to seek and experience the same object again and again in order to experience pleasure. By repetition of the same pleasure attachment is developed, which can take the form of addiction when it is very strong. Due to the vital-ego our mind is occupied daily by thoughts about the objects that give us pleasure as well as pleasant sensations and comfort. The vital-ego (which is essentially lust and desire) assumes also the form of the lower emotions of anger, fear, disappointment, impatience, anxiety, greed, agony, etc. which cause in us the psychological suffering.

 

The only pleasure which is not a product of projection is the sexual pleasure. When we excite the sexual energy then we naturally experience pleasure. However a lusty passionate mind ads to the natural sexual pleasure an imaginary pleasure by projection and imagination. This is more obvious in the sexual dreams in which we experience an imagined sexual pleasure by dreaming sexual scenes.  The lusty vital-ego has been created by the sexual pleasure with orgasm. According the gunas there is the sattvic way to experience sexual pleasure as well as the rajasic and the tamasic which is related with sexual perversions.   

 

The enjoyment of objects, is something different from the pleasure. When our mind is free from the passionate lusty energy (predominates the sattva guna in the mind) then when we experience the sense objects, we experience their qualities and some kind of pleasant or unpleasant sensations. There is natural detachment and dispassion from the sensory experience. 

The sensory experience, in which the lusty ego-energy is not engaged, doesn't create pleasure, attachment and desire. The very moment that the sense-experience finishes we forget the experience and we are totally focused in the present moment. There can be a preference to some kind of food for example but the absence of this food doesn't cause any suffering in our mind. Our mind is free from attachment and worldly thoughts and rejoices always the peace and ananda of our true nature.

The difference of experience of a pure sattvic mind and an impure mind in relation with sense objects is this:

1. A pure mind is detached from the experience and the object itself and experiences with clarity the qualities of sense objects together with the pleasant or unpleasant sensations.

 

2. The impure mind identifies with the object and experiences the qualities of sense objects together with the pleasant or unpleasant sensations (without the clarity of the pure mind) and plus pleasure, which is the product of the passionate energy crystallized in our astral body.