spiritually overwhelmed

I feel as if I tend to overindulge in spirituality sometimes. I learn about all these religions and their ideas of God, find all of this beautiful artwork of buddhist and hindu deities and I can't help but hang them all up. I feel bad if I don't. But once I do that, I feel the necessity to repeat their corresponding mantras and think of them all all the time. So it's like I'll have a whole bunch of Krishna pictures, an Avalokiteshvara statue, Green Tara, Lakshmi, and Shiva pictures and a Gautama Buddha picture all up at the same time, different religions even. And that leads to confusion, and too much responsibilty, but I'm only trying to love God. Is it all for a good cause or am I too attached to religion? I believe they are all emanations of the same all-loving Godhead, but I feel like I put to much stress on myself. I wish I could just choose one and put all of my devotion towards it...it's hard to form a relationship with so many at the same time... Does anyone else have this problem or am I just silly and naive?

 

just remember that you can be spiritual all day every day without being "religious" honoring god in everything you do doesn't have to consist of contstant prayer and repetition.

and sometimes you just need a break from all that.. especially if it's all alone in your room. that can really hinder your growth.

 

you're surrounding yourself with idols. Of course, your own ideas and opinions are the worst idols of all, because they are less easily thrown out. Not that you have to throw them out, but you must recognize that opinion, statues, posters, and thoughts are not God, but just images of it. Many people consider the Bible as an idol, the worst in history and I can agree, but then, so are any scriptures that become something read over and over again for spiritual comfort (like a drug) rather than something you read once or twice and move on, because you got the message. We unenlightened people are all guilty of this, I have pictures of natural scenes all over my room, but they aren't the real mountains or ocean. Sometimes I get angry and pull them down, because they're so empty. Just like repetetive thoughts, but I can't easily tear those down.

so, ask yourself why you feel compelled to put these posters up, and then do special chants when you see them. Remember that you need no external things to "be spiritual" because it's all already within you. You're it! External things aren't bad (don't get me wrong) but they can become negetive attachments that just hold you back.

 

It isn't the idol or picture that I love. It's the idea behind it, and they just seem to help me approach such an abstract idea. But I do understand where you are coming from, that they may jsut be bumps on my path...attachments in the name of spirituality. That confuses me sometimes, I know attachments are obstacles, but what about when they are spiritual...will they just fall off if they take me anywhere, or are they a bad thing from the start???

 

Another thing...opinions and views and all that. How do you be spiritual without some sort of idea of spirituality??? Its so hard for me to practice at all if I shut off all of my spiritual opinions. I feel like I just shut off and get depressed without them...Any recommendations on how to live a spiritual life without some sort of preconceived notion of what spirituality is???

 

i think you're simply admiring the beautiful craftsmanship of something a brainwashed people devoted much time and effort to create to the best of their abilities, and the mixture of 'spiritualness' and quality of the product they produced is confusing you, makin you seriously believe there is a god.

 

Oh thank you for clearing that up for me!

 

To think about spirituality and to BE spiritual are totally different. If one indulges in the icons, he will lose himself in the process of becoming, and forget the state of being.

Ever just stand outside, or inside . . . And the whole universe seems to be on fire? Not hell's flames, but . . There's passion and life in every thread of the cosmos, including yourself? There is no symbol or image, it is the very essence of the universe itself. Ever have that happen? I'm just curious, sharing my two bits . . .

 

Indeed. I think I just need to set some time aside for a moment with my devotion focused on an image of ONE deity. I suppose it is my chosen form of meditation. Why not make my concentration practice aimed at God?

 

Spirituality isn't an idea. Spirituality is reality. Thinking about it won't really get you anywhere. Once you have an idea about it, you've got the wrong idea. It's too big for ideas, I guess is how I'd put it. In the end, the ideas and opinions must be put aside.

Recommendations... just meditate, get to know yourself, open yourself to what IS, not what you've pondered and considered to be what is. As I wrote in a poem, "A crystal must dissolve for any changes to occur/the latticework lines of stagnat selfhood be released and left to blur". Ideas are so very limiting.

Oh, and spiritual attachments, why, those are the most poisonous and dangerous of all attachments. Spiritual pride is the highest sin.

 

When I read the Dhammapada, or the Bhagavad Gita, I can't help but hear it as truth. It's intuition I guess...I just can't deny the wisdom in those books. Do you think it would be safer for me to avoid them all together, and just live and take things in as they come? I just know I feel happier when I practice bhakti or karma yoga, but should I not trust this? It gets so confusing. Once I finally develop any sort of faith in what I'm doing, some idea always comes up that denies everything I do. The book Siddhartha is the perfect example of someone following what you tell me, and I've often considered it's message. It's just the peace I feel chanting a certain mantra, or looking at an image of Krishna, or reading from the Gita...I just can't deny it. I feel like if I just went with what I was doing, continued chanting, continued reading from religious texts etc... than I would progress, and maybe those attachments would fall off. But there is always this point, no matter what, where something comes along that encourages me to just let go of those things and just experience life...but then depression strikes, and I always end up right back in the Gita or Dhammapada. Conflicting views are a bummer

 

There's no need to indulge oneself in this or that. Just be, let things come and go. In the words of Miyamoto Musashi, "let the spirit of the thing reveal itself to you."

Live, learn, keep spiraling out there. Don't attach to things, don't bind to them. Revelations and learning is like the wind. Leave the window open for it, and it will come when it may, it will leave when it may. If you try to hold it, the air will become stagnant, and the journey's vitality will frost.

Leave the door half open. Let revelation and insight come as it may. Let no one way be the right way, for the wind comes when it comes, and we are not the judge of that.

 

In a sense, yes. I am finding, more and more, that all these scriptures, and books, websites, and tv shows on spirituality, are other people's ideas. They aren't mine. And though they are useful in some ways, the most important job we have is to find our own perspective, our own path. Trusting your heart, following your bliss, these are what we should follow; not scriptural laws, moral codes, or rules. Even the practices they offer as the way to enlightenment are not universal rules. Everyone has to find their own way. All these things are comperable to the guru/teacher. He can help you along, but in the end, you must do all the work. And many times, you must break with what he says, even to the point of contradicting them.

You say there's all these conflicting ideas, and that's true. We are all unique, individual points of view; each person has his own perspective. Thus, nothing anyone else says will ever be totally true for you. Thus, follow your heart/bliss. You'll know deep down if what you're doing is right. Better to get rid of all your books, posters, everything, stop reading OTHER people's philosophies and find your own. You don't have to stop your yoga or whatever it is you find joy in...the joy is the whole point.

 

Thanks!

 

I just found a nice quote by Sri Ramakrishna that helped me a great deal...I suppose I'll share it:

"If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled."

 

All these forms, all these teachings.

I have been through phases similar to what you describe. It's not a question obviously of rejecting anything one feels has some spiritual value or significance. Perhaps the key lies in something that underlies all these various forms and teachings. Perhaps it is within yourself, and the forms of the gods and so on reflect this back to you.
The problem that arises is really that if you have all these various forms, one's attention and concentration is divided. Maybe you need to find the form that can represent for you all the others, and make that one your main focus. That's the characteristic approach of many Hindu teachings.

I think it's good to read a wide variety of books on spiritual topics from varied authors and sources. This can lead to a broad minded kind of view, which is better than the one-track-mind of many 'religious' folks. But you may find that in time, you will find yourself drawn in a particular direction.
It all takes time.

 

More from Sri Ramakrishna.

“What will you know by reading books? Till you have reached the market place, you can only hear noises like ‘ho-ho’ from a distance. It is quite different when you reach the market. Then you will clearly see, you will clearly hear, ‘Take these potatoes, pay for them.’

‘‘From a distance there is a sound of ‘ho-ho’ from the sea. When you come near to it, you are able to see that so many ships are sailing, the birds are flying and the waves are rising.

“One does not gain the right kind of experience by reading books. It is quite distant. After realizing Him books, scriptures, science all seem to be ‘khadkuto’ (dry straw, grass, twigs, etc.).

 

My dear razor, in a very short time, you have becom very dear to me. Don't ask me to explain that.

Why do you fear spirituality? Embrace it! Let it engulf every moment you live, let it enrich every breath! When the rivers pour into the sea, the sea never overflows, nor tells the rivers to stop. So too, let the wisdom flow into you, from all the many rivers, deny none, accept all, and hold on to that which is best for you.

Worship the lord, not only every idol, not only in Krishna and Christ, Buddha, Alla and Tao, but also in yourself and in all creatures and all things.

The more you open yourself to spirituality, the more it fills your life. The more it fills your life the faster you grow. Let your spirit guide you to that seat of inner bliss, when all idols and all scriptures merge into the ocean of peace, your own true self.

 

A scriptural passage relevant to your situation...in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna is describing to Arjuna the process by which spiritual advancement gained by a yogi in a previous life again manifests itself:

"By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles — even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist, striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures."*

Your intuition is correct. You should trust your attraction to and happiness found in bonafide scriptures and spiritual practices, continue them, avoid those activities and people which cause you to become diverted and depressed, and seek to associate with persons that are of like spiritual-mindedness.

Avoid marijuana, hallucinogens, and hard drugs like the plague. They can damage your subtle spiritual faculties beyond repair. Alcohol...extreme moderation, preferably none.

Siddhartha is a wonderful spiritual classic but since it is basically a poetic work of fiction, relying on its "message" can be confusing...rare is the person who can eventually attain spiritual perfection by just "living life" and having things work out right, as the character Siddartha did, and many are those that miss it by becoming too rule-bound and institutionalized, as Govinda was. The average person does have to follow some kind of established, tried and true discipline and process to make progess in yoga and self-realization. This will always require the eventual complete renunciation of those aspects of life unfavorable to spiritual development, but again, for the average person this renunciation must come gradually...it can't be forced.

*A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter 6, Text 44.

 

'All life is Yoga' - Sri Aurobindo.

Maybe it's not so much conflicting views, as conflict between the mind and the impulsive or instinctual nature. The spiritual life vs. the worldly life.
That's quite a common thing with those who are attracted to Yoga teachings. It depends on which side of our many sided nature has got the upper hand, so to speak. Sometimes the aspiration for the Divine is dominant, then the desires etc, or even a different layer of the mind kick in and dominate. Thus one goes back and forth, or round in seeming circles.
The only thing is to keep going with the practices - but don't try to push yourself too hard. It's better to do a little with real feeling and sincerity than a lot whilst thinking of other things. One has to learn how to 'pace' oneself.
One has to try for a balance between the inner and outer life.