Spiritual Indigestion
How do you spell relief? S-I-L-E-N-C-E
Are you a seeker of truth, of spiritual truth and the answers of the ages? Have you spent many weeks, months, years looking for that one answer which says it all, that one teaching which is “it”: the path to end all paths – Enlightenment? Have you religion shopped, changed churches, temples, gurus? Have you tried every technique in the book only to find yourself always back again in your fixations, in your obsessions, in that mental anguish called conceptual thought patterns? In other words can you honestly say to your self any of the following and mean it this moment, “I am completely free, there is nothing else I need, want or wish for, and the big one: God’s will be done –no matter what?” Perhaps the only problem for you is that you have what I call “spiritual indigestion”. Worry not however—there is a simple cure and we’ll have you feeling marvelous in a New York minute!
Spiritual indigestion can be defined as an acute over consumption of reading, studying, praying, worshipping and thinking about things spiritual or religious to the point that genuine integral practice is secondary or even missing and as for enlightenment, nirvana, heaven and Samadhi - they are nowhere in the picture or rather they are some unattainable ideals.
Symptoms are varied and include but are not limited to: feelings of special ness, superiority and a know-it-all attitude especially when it comes to religions and paths, an inability to focus on any one technique, a feeling that there is no end to the spiritual journey, an inability to discipline the mind in a one pointed direction, a belief that one spiritual practice or religion is better than another, a severe inability to accept other paths or traditions, a continuous trying of one technique after another but to no avail, finding no sense of inner peace or tranquility within yourself and mostly the inability to resonate with truth as presented in all genuine paths. Other acute symptoms (which actually can be very positive) can be the throwing out of all books, tapes and personal journals, cursing out God, leaving Gurus, quitting organized religion and having the feeling that all religion is full of @#$%!
The treatment is very simple. Are you ready? Sure? Ok, all you need to do is close the books, stop wondering, stop looking, stop thinking and be still-be silent. “Be still and un-know.” Allow everything you ever learned, ever studied and ever knew to drop away this moment. Give up yesterday with all its memories and surrender tomorrow with all its promises. With all your heart and soul, with every fiber of your being say to your self right now “I know absolutely nothing; I need absolutely nothing and I want absolutely nothing.” “I am ready to die to everything right now.” Now simply allow the ensuing silence within (which should be all that’s left about now) to come to the foreground-without any particular thought or feeling-without the need for anything else except that silence to arise or rather be realized as being the core of your very being this moment. Now take a deep breath; breathe out and relax. That gentleness you might be feeling now is the real you, the real enduring freedom that you are right now-the true Self or God within. This is where all paths and spiritual practices are supposed to take you: right back here to yourself in this moment without any word, any feeling, and any thought- without any thing. All there is is you and this pure silence within.
And this is the cure, your nirvana, enlightenment and bliss-filled Samadhi. It’s that simple – so simple it’s ridiculously funny. YOU are that which you have sought all those years, paths and teachings ago. So very simply: welcome to yourself, welcome to inner peace and the kingdom of heaven, welcome to the pure silence. It’s always been just here and now – within.
Mark McCloskey
December 2002