The Subtlety of the Spiritual Path

“You must be deeply involved, you must do things like your life depends on it, but actually it should not matter at all. Whatever you do, it must be just the way the situation demands; nothing more, nothing less. The moment it matters to you, you become a vested interest.”

—Sadhguru

Sadhguru speaks about the subtlety of the spiritual path, and explains why some people may experience frustration in their quest for the Ultimate. He tells us how one can pursue spirituality without creating unnecessary difficulties for oneself.

Sadhguru:

Spirituality is not difficult. It is just that there is a certain subtleness to it that people are unable to get. The hopelessness of it is that the very effort that you make to dissolve, is also karma. You will not grow unless you create a desire, “I want to grow, I want to reach this.” At the same time, if the desire goes on, that itself is karma – it goes on creating new karma.

However, if you can reach a state where you handle life with great involvement and intensity, and still don’t care a hoot about it, then it’s very easy. You must be deeply involved, you must do things like your life depends on it, but actually it should not matter at all. Whatever you do, it must be just the way the situation demands; nothing more, nothing less. The moment it matters to you, you become a vested interest. Whether it is for satisfaction, happiness, money, or because you want to go to heaven, the moment you do it with some purpose behind it, you become a vested interest. The moment you become a vested interest, there is no spirituality in you.

People talk about, “Don’t expect the fruit of the action,” and they misinterpret it as, “The result does not matter.” The result does matter. When we do something, we do it so that it works, isn’t it? When you perform some action, you think about it and constantly apply yourself so that it works. It is just that it personally does not matter. You neither gain nor do you lose from it. You do it if the situation needs it. If it is not necessary, you just roll back everything and sit quietly. Once you have this freedom within you, then, karma becomes a conscious thing.

If you have to know a very deep sense of involvement with something that does not mean anything to you, it can happen only when there is no fear of entanglement. For this to happen, either you must be crazy, or you must be drunk with blissfulness, or you must have fallen so in love with somebody that nothing matters. Without one of these three qualities, it is difficult to do something with great intensity and still not be bothered about what it is.

This article was published in The Hindustan Times on December 26, 2012 .