When on a spiritual path, it is essential that we learn how to assess our progress, but learning how well we are advancing is not as simple as taking an online quiz. How do we even begin to assess our spiritual growth? Our spiritual journey first starts off with a yearning. Some people who are drawn to a spiritual path have come with a desire, a craving. They feel soul-sick for God. Maybe you are a true Bhakta and all you really want, more than anything else in this world, is to find that Creator – the Divine, whatever that is. Or maybe you’re just unsatisfied with your life.
You’re frustrated, and you don’t like the direction your life has gone. You’re upset with your life’s circumstances because you dreamed of something bigger. Maybe you felt you were born with the potential to do something amazing or to achieve something great, yet your successes and endeavors keep falling short.
Whatever the reason may be, whenever you are ready and whenever the right time comes, the Divine will lift the veil just enough to direct you towards a spiritual path. If you are really, truly blessed… if you are fortunate enough, you’ll be introduced to a teacher. Your life will be graced with the Presence of a Divine, Enlightened Being who has awakened that Immortal Consciousness within their own Self. They’ve realized their own Divinity and they can transmit that Divine Light to you and awaken your own Immortal Consciousness within.
If you’re blessed enough to have one of these Divine Spiritual Teachers, don’t expect to sit back relax and have this Light transmitted to you without any effort on your part. Most people think they can act like a damsel in distress and just sit back in their tower, brushing their hair and singing about dreams coming true as they wait for their Prince Charming to come up and rescue them.
You have to take part in your own rescue. You must save yourself.
You have to take responsibility for your own spiritual growth. This Light will act as a gradual unfolding of your own consciousness. It will elevate you beyond your imagination; beyond your wildest dreams… but you have to take responsibility for your own growth and the first step in doing so is cultivating the ability and awareness to assess yourself.
As we are filled with more and more Light, the shadow parts of ourselves become more and more evident. It is essential that we have the insight and strength to look within and see these shadow parts as well.
So, how do you assess yourself? Imagine you’re in a situation, for example, and someone is yelling at you. Perhaps your first inclination is to react. Out of impulse, you become reactionary and start thinking, “How could someone treat me like this? Don’t they know how highly evolved or spiritually advanced I am?” Or perhaps you may think, “Why is this always happening to me? Why me again?” Instead of putting the blame on yourself or looking within, your immediate reaction is to put the blame on other people. That is the ego rising. You are being reactionary. So, part of this spiritual assessment is to address the shadow part of yourself and figure out – are you being reactionary? Are you responding out of impulse and ego?
When you take responsibility for your own growth and you begin to acknowledge these shadow parts of yourself while more Light is transmitted to you, you’re able to see more and more of these shadow parts of yourself. As the shadow parts start to fade away and as you start to become less and less reactionary, you become more in the present moment. That’s where God exists.
God doesn’t exist in the past, nor in the future. Without judgment, God exists only in the present moment. Nothing else has happened yet! Only the present exists. When you’re able to be in the present moment, in which this Divine Energy will help you to stay in the present moment, then you’ll be able to act more as someone who responds. You’ll become someone who observes instead of reacts. When you’ve reached that point, then you’re able to see clearly who people really are. You’re no longer labelling people by their behaviors or their appearances. You can actually see their soul, their true heart.
Another way to assess yourself is to not only become aware of when you’re being reactionary, but also to become aware of when you’re being judgmental… to know when you’re judging people, even those you don’t know. You can never truly know where someone is on their spiritual path, what they’ve gone through in their life or what “level” they’re at.
Only God knows.
This reminds me of a story that a friend told me. A woman was on a train and she saw a man with four kids. All four of his kids were running amok and causing a little chaos on the train. The man, however, just sat on the train and ignored them. The woman started thinking, “How could this man let his children do that? How can he not discipline them? How dare he bring them out in public like this?” She kept sending him dirty looks on the train and continued to think, “How can he not control his kids?” The man, seeing these dirty looks, realized his situation. By the end of the train ride, he stood up to get off and went over to the woman and said, “I’m so sorry for my kids and for the way they were behaving, but we just came back from burying their mother.”
This was a great lesson for the woman. It caused her to be more aware of when she is being judgmental, because when you’re being judgmental you’re not really seeing. Through this Divine Energy from Guruji, profound changes will happen in your life, but you can’t just ride along with it and expect everything to happen for you. You have to put in the effort and take responsibility. Learn how to assess yourself: become more aware of when you are being reactionary and when you are being judgmental. Eventually, you will evolve to a point in which you’re able to see, without judgment and without reaction. You’ll be able to see with a balanced, peaceful mind, without becoming a victim to the pendulum of your states of mind, where one side the pendulum swings to depression, and on the other side the pendulum swings to excitement.
You will be able to act as a peaceful observer and see who a person really is. When you’re able to see, it’s extraordinary. Again, seeing is not being judgmental or reactionary. Seeing is being a witness of who a person truly, really is. People in this world can be very tricky and awakening your ability to see can help you navigate through this world. Seeing will help you find the right life partner and will help protect you from people who are trying to manipulate you or cause you harm. When you’re able to see, you can see when someone is lying to you and when they’re speaking the truth.
So, to summarize what we’ve just discussed, it is important to be able to assess yourself. When you’re being reactionary, it is simply a mirror of yourself: an observable representation of those dark shadows within. It’s not other people that are causing you to react, it’s your own mind. When you’re being judgmental, who are you judging? It’s impossible to know exactly where a person is at on their spiritual path, or what they’ve been through. When you’re receiving this Divine Light from Guruji, your consciousness will continue to unfold, but it’s very important to take responsibility and put in your own effort into developing yourself.
Eventually, you will reach a certain point in which you’re able to see without judgment and without reacting, with the newfound ability to navigate this world in a peaceful and happy manner. So, enjoy these miraculous, beautiful Divine Energy Transmissions, but make sure you work on yourself. That Divine Presence will come forth, and there will be less of you in you, and more of God in you.