avatarDamian Clark

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4 Habits of the Highly Intelligent Spiritual Seeker

Synthesizing the sacred and the smart

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Walking the spiritual path is like walking on a razor’s edge.

A wrong decision can take you down a path that can waste years and cause life-altering trauma.

Personal preferences and being haunted by the past can weigh heavily on decision-making. Questions arise.

Should I stick to yoga or change to qi gong? Is it time to change from Indian philosophy to Buddhism?

Change too early and you lose the treasures that could be found in the next class. Linger too long and miss meeting an old, powerful master who will change your life.

If you’re feeling at sea when it comes to spiritual decisions, apply these 5 intelligent habits to fast-track your growth.

Know when to fold’em

We all have spiritual practices that we do regularly.

It may be mantra meditation 5 times a week. A weekly study of the Upanishads. Three yoga sessions a week.

Year after year, we try sticking to the same practice. With the same teacher.

And yes, depth can come from sticking to one thing over a long period.

But after some time, the intelligent spiritual seeker (ISP) knows when to call time on the practice.

It’s nothing mystical. God doesn’t speak to them, and they aren’t visited by angels.

Being emotionally intelligent, they use 3 emotional indicators as a means of gauging if their practices are still effective or not.

  1. Frequency of emotional disturbances — The number of times you experience an emotional agitation in your mind.
  2. The intensity of emotional disturbances — The force and power of the emotion that you experience. High — is when you are affected at the level of your mind, speech, and body. Medium — at the levels of mind and speech. Low–experienced at the level of your mind only.
  3. Recovery period — The time it takes to come back to a state of equilibrium after experiencing mental agitation.

The intelligent spiritual person (ISP) will call time on a practice if they are not emotionally maturing. If the frequency, intensity, and recovery period aren’t decreasing.

This doesn’t mean there is something wrong with mantra meditation. But they see with their inner eye a new meditation technique or an alternative practice needs to be called in.

After 15 years of studying Advaita Vedanta and frequent arguments with my ex-partner, I knew something was amiss.

So, taking stock, I pivoted to therapy as a means to continue on my path. Working with a therapist, they were able to assist with identifying emotional blockages that I was completely missing due to spiritual bypassing.

Know when to hold’em

With the changing of the guard to therapy, I saw a lack of formal spiritual practice.

Loving the depth of knowledge in Asian practices, I took a deep-dive into Buddhism. Scouring the internet and the library as a means of research, I found a liking for Zen.

After visiting various Zen groups for 2 years, I found a local Zen group that had potential. I practiced with them for 8 months. But with no monk to learn from, the lay practitioners had limited experience.

I wanted to find a Zen group with a teacher who could guide me, and in particular, I sought the age-old practice of koans.

Kōan 公案 gong’an; ”public case”, ”public announcement”, or ”precedent for public use”. A practice, challenging the pupil through a question, phrase, or answer to a question, which presents a paradox or puzzle. It requires a pupil to abandon reliance on ordinary ways of understanding to move into or toward enlightenment.

Finding a spiritual teacher that you gel with is like trying to pin jello on a pinboard. It ain’t easy.

After leaving this group and moving to a new area, I was blessed by the Zen gods.

I found a Zen group that had been together since the 80s. So they had a lot of mature long-term practitioners. Tick.

And more importantly, a Roshi.

Rōshi 老師 Lit., “old teacher” or “elder master”, Zen monastic master.

While I had experienced some frustration because it took a few years to find a Zen teacher, it was worth the wait.

Doing Koan work is tough work. If I had found a Zen teacher immediately and not done the preparation work by myself, working with a Koan wouldn’t have provided much growth.

I have now seen progress from practicing Zen the last 5 years. I’m doing much better, based on the following measures:

Calmness. A state of being free from agitation or powerful emotion. I even remain calm in the face of my mom starting each sentence with, “Well, in my day….”

Cheerfulness. A happy disposition. Bubbling happiness and gratitude — irrespective of my boss wanting me to work back late.

Confidence. A belief in my ability. For me, that meant launching my personal development events.

Life is about perception

The ISP views life a little differently from your everyday person.

Hamster on the wheel. The ISP sees something more to life than the generic life cycle of school, marriage, kids, holidays, house, retirement, and death. This readily adopted default mindset is seen as being lifeless, a waste of human potential.

Universal view. The ISP sees underlying intelligence that governs the universe. Whether it be called karma, fate, God, Brahman, or Allah, there is appreciation and acknowledgment of this unseen Principle.

Where to live. While most are reacting to the past, and hoarding for the future — the ISP knows where life takes place in the present moment.

Know when to use Intuition

The intellect is like a knife. When a murderer uses a knife, it leads to horror and pain. When a surgeon uses a knife, they give life.

We can use the intellect you have to effectively weigh the pros and cons of any situation. But there are times when even when the pros stack up, but an inner sensation tells you to take the path less traveled is the way to go.

Your intuition is an inner knowing. It’s a pre-cognition. A sensation that something is about to happen. It gives guidance.

When you get triggered emotionally due to past trauma, or you’re feeling extremely anxious about something, the mist of brain fog can descend. Confusion reigns supreme.

But the ISP can sense a fleeting sensation that can provide guidance in these situations.

There is a heightened sense of alertness and certainty. It can vary from a danger warning or guide to success.

Intuition can pop up at seemingly random times. Most ignore it. But the ISP doesn’t.

Final thoughts

The spiritual journey is very personal. But working smarter, not harder, applies not only to the business world but to the spiritual path as well.

Take a step back and see where you can apply these intelligent spiritual habits.

  • Know when it’s time to change your spiritual practice.
  • Know when it’s time to change your path.
  • Adopt a different view of life.
  • Use your intuition for intelligent decision-making.

Small subtle shifts can lead to massive progress when applied at the appropriate time. Take stock now to leap forward.

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Spirituality
Self Improvement
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Psychology
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