The other end of the spectrum

I did the unthinkable and took a temporary break from Facebook around five weeks back, it was premeditated and I felt it was a good time; the festive period was fast approaching, which for me meant three exciting weeks of giving spiritual literature to friends, family and even strangers on the street; this is something I am trying to do annually with many friends in the lead up to Christmas.

When I mention these three weeks to people, I can't help but translate the puzzled look on their faces to visions in their minds of a bunch of fanatical, religious extremists bible bashing (or Bhagavad Gita bashing in this case) through the streets of England. It couldn't be further from the truth, but trying to clear any misconceptions by trying to explain, usually comes across as defensive, so I don't bother and just get on with it.

So, what is the connection between this time away from Facebook and distributing spiritual books? I hear you ask...

Well... Facebook can be a haven to inflate the ego; create your very own digital self, without all the insecurities, the perfect profile pictures with reality-proof filters, the "relationships" without the time and effort to meet up and talk.  Its the perfect opportunity to promote ourselves how we want the world to perceive us without the work to actually develop those qualities in reality. The trouble is, this can lull us into a false sense of security, consequently inflates the ego and doesn't really give us an indication of how much we've progressed on our spiritual path. As a result, we put more emphasis on looking spiritual rather than being spiritual, our spiritual life becomes superficial and ritualistic, it becomes difficult to gauge how we've improved our character or what good qualities we've started to develop and just as importantly what bad qualities we have hidden in our heart.

Anarthas

Anarthas are various unfavourable qualities which we can knowingly or unknowingly harbour within our consciousness like envy, pride, ego and greed etc. The initial goal of various spiritual disciplines is to purify our consciousness of these unwanted qualities, which in turn situates us in our natural spiritual state, this is symptomised by many good qualities like humility, tolerance and pridelessness etc.

Sitting at home engaging in the various practices of spiritual life like solitary meditation is great and is needed, but solitary meditation by itself can make progress very slow, as there is no challenge and no way of exposing ourselves to situations which highlight where our consciousness really lies and how aware of our anarthas we actually are. This kind of reclusiveness is magnified even more with Facebook, as it's not a great tool in encouraging us to better ourselves, on the contrary, the "Likes" just strap band aids over areas where we actually need surgery.

According to the universal principle of all spiritual paths, one's greatness has to be estimated by our ability to tolerate provoking situations and unfortunately Facebook doesn't provide us with genuinely provoking situations. When provoking situations face us, that is the actual test of the substance of our character. Wherever the anarthas are within the heart, generally they are unchallenged through Facebook, and solitary spiritual practice alone isn't enough because we don't have anybody to challenge us, to test or contest us.

When we associate with spiritually minded people who may have different points of view, we can really begin to purify ourselves and actually see for ourselves the transformation that is taking place by putting ourselves to the test.‎ Even higher than this is when you go out to distribute spiritual literature to people on the street. We interact with strangers and distribute many books to sincere spiritual seekers, but its the seemingly "negative" interactions (which happen every now and then) that give you a real idea of your state of consciousness. People swearing at you, experiencing rejection and worst of all, not being acknowledged. Most of these usually happen in the most obnoxious way. That's when you really have to deal with your own mind and consciousness and is a great place to take mental note of what thoughts go through your head and how many times you feel humility, tolerance and pridelessness come to the fore.

Of course, I still have a long way to go to develop these good qualities, but this short time away from Facebook and engaging with strangers on the street has given me good food for thought. Collecting likes on Facebook and experiencing rejection through distributing spiritual books to people on the street are opposite ends of the same spectrum. One tries to convince you that you're great without actually encouraging you to develop any of the qualities, the other actually gives you the opportunity to develop the qualities which are the constituents of greatness.