Forget benefits, just be spiritual
Questioner: When we are on a spiritual path, how do we know we are moving ahead?
Sadhguru: Initially, you should not worry about whether you are moving ahead or backwards as your logical judgments will mislead you. For example, in the morning when you will squat to do pranayam, your legs will tell you that you are going backwards. There is a possibility that your family will probably tell you to stop this nonsense. So in the initial phase, do not judge anything. It is always best to start a spiritual process with an unconditional commitment for a certain period of time without thinking about its benefits. Nothing needs to happen. No benefit needs to happen for you. Just, simply do it. After a certain period of time, say six months, evaluate your life and see how peaceful, joyous and calm you have become.
So commit yourself to a certain period of sincere practise without expecting any result. Don’t look for miracles to happen. The greatest miracle in life is life itself. The very process of life that you are sitting and breathing is a miracle. It is juvenile of you to not appreciate life as a miracle and keep looking for a “miracle” where God will extend his hand out of the clouds and do something for you. This shows that you have not matured and you still believe in fairytales. So do not be in a hurry to evaluate your spiritual process; just allow it to sink in.
According to the tradition, the timeframe required to start any spiritual process is 12 years. You simply chant a mantra for 12 years and then reflect upon the progress. Even now, many spiritual sects in India follow this tradition. A guru gives you a mantra to utter for 12 years, and it’s after 12 years that you analyse your growth. But today, people have become so impatient that even if I ask for 12 days of commitment, they have problems. Most complain that 12 days is too long a period.
Lord Buddha had his own method of teaching. If anybody came to him, there was absolutely no teaching, no spiritual lessons or anything for two years — the disciples were suppose to simply lead a normal life with the master. If the disciples could wait for two years — i.e. a certain amount of patience had been inculcated — their spiritual journey could begin. But nowadays people find it difficult to wait because the modern mind has become impatient. So do not be in a hurry. Just stick to the practice, evaluate yourself periodically and observe the changes in yourself.
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