Who is responsible for your spiritual progress?

Who is responsible for your spiritual progress?

I received a private post.

” Dear Dr. Shah, greetings and best holy wishes for the new year.

I pray that the new year is as fulfilling as ever (I know you are already an ‘ever-fulfilled person, so ‘more fulfilling’ is an oxymoron ).

Thank you for the tremendous life you are leading in this physical form also, a perfect role model for spiritual seekers like myself.

By the way, you should un-retire and care for a few longest-standing patients of yours (like me🤓). I haven’t found any doctor who wants to talk to their patients yet. You are a one-of-a-kind dinosaur breed of doctors !!!

Thank you for everything, Dr. Shah. You have been a great influence on my physical and spiritual well-being, more than you will ever guess. 🙏

My response –

Thank you “ Sam “ ( not a real name).

We have known each other for many years now.

Before I retired, I loved what I did and now I do what I love.

Just don’t let the love dry out ever, and you have known the art of living. ”

Question –

Who is responsible for Sam’s spiritual progress?

One answer –

Teachers like Dr. Shah or others will show up when the student is ready but each one of us has to make effort to get closer to the Truth. Grind your own ingredients to get your spiritual intoxication. Apni ghot to Nasha chade. ( To get intoxicated, one has to drink his own drink ).

Self-realization is, for and by the self only – Guru is only a Nimitt ( incidental presence only ).

I’ll narrate a story.

There was a king who had one rebellious daughter.

King wanted her to stay in his court and gradually take over the kingdom.

She refused. She expressed her wish to live a free life.

King got angry.

He said,” You will have to obey my command. If you don’t, I’ll lock you up in jail. Let’s see whose wish prevails.”

But the princess still refused, and she was locked up in jail.

King visited her once and asked, “Despite your wish to be free, you are in jail now. Do you see now, whose wish prevailed? “

Question – 

WHOSE WISH PREVAILED?

Answer – 

The daughter’s choice prevailed, as she chose jail, over the king’s wish. She did not give in, irrespective of the consequences of the choice.

So far so good.

Next question –

Did the king prove to be good for her or bad for her?

King was not crucial in this equation.

Good or bad are just labels and unimportant.

There is something very important thing that came out of all this though, and that was for the princess.

She was on her way to rising higher spiritually, and the way to do it was not to give in to external situations.

So, choosing prison was also her choice.

She was going through spiritual unfoldment, and the king was only a Nimitt.

Nimitt means someone who has only an incidental presence.

Anyone else would have done the same thing for the princess.

This situation arose in her life, and it became a step for her to rise higher.

If this situation did not arise, some other situation would have.

This is the beauty of the spiritual path.

By refusing to give in to her father, her consciousness prevailed, and it expressed its freedom, irrespective of external situations ( jail in this case ).

Consciousness is the ultimate freedom.

Exercising freedom makes you fearless and gets you ready for communion with consciousness.

The point of this story was to emphasize that Sam was responsible for his own spiritual progress, and I was only a NIMITT.

If you are a seeker, you will always find a guru, and as one answer said – if it wasn’t Dr. Shah, it would have been someone else, but only you have to taste the nectar to see if it is sweet or not, and Sam did it.

One more thing –

The king and the princess both utilized their Egos.

King utilized it to suppress her daughter and she utilized it for her own spiritual growth.

When Ego is used for others, it makes Sansar ugly ( and it has ), because it suppresses someone else’s freedom.

When Ego is used for one’s own growth, it brings heaven to earth.

So, use Ego for your own spiritual growth, by making the right choices in life.

And when dealing with others – give them freedom, so they can have a space to express themselves – exercise their own Ego for themselves.

Protecting your own freedom to choose ( for a worthy cause ), and at the same time, respecting others’ freedom, is the ultimate worship of consciousness because –

Consciousness = Freedom.

Only in the vast space of freedom, the spiritual flower can grow to its max.