A Helping Hand along the Spiritual Path

If you do your best to follow these suggestions, I believe you will find your journey along the spiritual path smoother and more fulfilling.. Remember, these are just suggestions and not rules. You will have to find what works for you, and what doesn’t.

1. Try your best to refrain from eating meat. This will ensure you do not disturb your mind by being part of negative actions.
2. If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. If you drink too much you will be unable to control your mind and may do things you regret.
3. Ensure you live a moral life. Try to help people, but if you are unable to help them, at least do not harm them.
4. Be as generous as you are able. Generosity will help break your attachment to things. Remember, generosity doesn’t mean just giving money or belongings, sometimes, just a smile or a listening ear is the most generous thing you can do. You should also help others on the spiritual path, as this is another form of generosity.
5. Take responsibility for your own spiritual journey. You can seek help from a teacher, books, audio and videos, but in the end, the responsibly for your progression along the path is down to you. The more effort you put in, the more you will get out.
6. Practice meditation every day, even if it is only for 10 minutes. Without meditation the spiritual path is just a path.
7. During meditation, turn your concepts and patterns into experiences. We all pick up concepts as we travel through life. Some may be useful and others not so. When we experience our concepts we can decide which ones are useful and which ones are not. We can then reinforce the useful ones and let go of the not so useful ones.
8. Spirituality is not just about the meditation cushion. We have to do our best to remain mindful for a large part of the day. Pause-Breath-Focus. Pause at least once every hour or so. Take three deep breaths and start to focus on your thoughts, feelings, emotions and body sensations. This will bring you back to the present moment.
9. It is what it is – learn this, meditate on it and make it a part of your very essence. We tend to fight situations or try to manipulate them to suit our needs, but this ends up causing us more suffering. Don’t fight what is, just respond to it in the most helpful way. Let ‘it is what it is’ become your positive mantra and repeat it as often as possible.
10. Do not become overly attached to the teacher. What is most important is his teachings and not him. When the teacher is pointing a finger at the moon, a wise student will follow the finger to the moon. An unwise student will become fixated on the teacher’s finger. The teacher is just a guide along your spiritual path.

Finally, do not forget to have fun! The spiritual path is not meant to be austere and boring.