When Motivation Is No Longer Enough

When motivation is no longer enough, personal development and self-help prove ineffective, and therapy hasn't resolved the core issues, it's time to consider new alternatives.

An extensive variety of self-development and inner transformation resources, such as positive affirmations, mindset work, and self-help content, are accessible both globally and online. This is beneficial, as they propel you forward in life and encourage you to take steps you might otherwise hesitate to take. These resources inspire, educate, strengthen the personality, transforms you into a go-getter and enables you to achieve success.

My friends frequently send me high impact Instagram posts but when we talk about them later, they often can't recall the content. Initially, they resonate with and understand the material, particularly because it often confirms their existing beliefs. This "micro-consumption" of information, as they browse their feeds, is satisfying. However, they find it challenging to use that knowledge or pass it on to others who could benefit from it.

Personal growth oriented information answers the tough questions you have, by

• Validating your feelings and emotions.

• Giving you an emotional boost when required.

• Validates that your friend is at fault, and you have always been correct.

• Telling you are wonderful and that even the moon has scars up close.

Without spiritual insight, self-help materials will merely seem like truths that reinforce what you already know, because they are indeed truths. However, genuine transformation occurs when you can energetically integrate this knowledge; otherwise, you're just gathering information.

How can the change happen permanently ?

• Over time, therapy and healing work can alter certain patterns, and there are numerous techniques you can learn and utilize as tools for yourself as well.

  Time frame: We are looking at years of work.

  Cons: Uncertainty regarding the outcome. An individual needs a reference point to comprehend their personality traits. Often one have to depend on external assistance for extended durations and their ability to understand the issue and their willingness to invest time in us.

  
  

• Consistently practicing new positive affirmations, self-help and consciously implementing behavioral changes over time.

  Time frame: It depends on how well a person can absorb the information, which in turn relies on individual maturity.

  Cons: It's challenging to determine if you're doing it correctly, to know how much work is "enough". It might require multiple detours to arrive at something that actually works.

• Ultimately, spiritual growth is the definitive solution. Applying the above two requires an understanding that only spiritual growth can offer. You cannot recognize yourself as being inside a box while living within it. You must view it from the outside.

  
  

  Reminds me of the quote

  "Until they becomes conscious they will never rebel and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious. " ~George Orwell

To realize you are confined to a particular level of consciousness, you must move to a higher consciousness. To let go of lower frequency energies and transform yourself, you need to first experience a higher frequency.

From my experience, this has been shown to be more effective than attempting to change something solely through intellectual reasoning. I have been aware of my problems throughout my teenage years and into my adult life, but couldn't resolve them.

I experimented with five different healing modalities, and the most effective was a Family Constellations session. It specifically addressed the Transgenerational Trauma I needed to confront after leaving my marriage. I can attest that, although it is less known, it provides the best and most targeted results. It was only a decade later that I discovered how intertwined our lives are with those around us. Healing, while it may appear to be an individual process, actually involves unraveling a web of interconnected patterns.

At this point, one should consider asking questions:

Are you investing in the correct approach?

Have you discovered the one that truly works for you yet?

Is your therapist or healer the right fit for you?

If you have answered yes to both of the questions below, your next step is to pursue spiritual growth.

Who will benefit from spiritual growth ?

I'd like to start with two questions.

Question 1: Are you looking to grow as an individual ?

Do you feel that even though you're doing everything correctly, it is challenging to form understanding of you life and find meaning in your actions or struggle to connect with people in the way you intend?

Question 2: Do you wish to discover what you're lacking?

Are your weaknesses possibly the hidden aspects of yourself that you can't see ? Do you sense that something is lacking even though, on the surface, you have everything ?

If your answer is no, this blog isn't relevant for you right now. If it's yes, this will only confirm and reinforce your idea, but the real work is still ahead, my friend.

Some signs that your consciousness is ready for an expansion and you need to make space for the process to unfold:

• Depression that is persistent with no explanation.

• Experiencing a void that is unexplainable.

• Feeling distant with close relationships, family and friends.

• Feeling isolated from the rest of world.

• Seeing meaninglessness in everything outside of you.

• Layers of unclarity and cloudiness that is not resolving.

This isn't about altering your personality or substituting your personal identity by forming new thought patterns, nor is it about making you feel good about yourself.

It enables you to view yourself in the mirror, often making you conscious of your own challenges and helps you recognize your true identity. This process ultimately leads to understanding your true essence. It offers a lasting insight into the roots of your shortcomings and reveals what is hindering your progress. It starts to uncover layers of your unconscious, subconscious, and conscious minds, steering you towards a state of super-consciousness, and in advanced stages, towards cosmic consciousness.

It can be uncomfortable when these layers are gradually removed over the years. This is why some yogis choose to live in seclusion, away from society. They give up their careers, embrace celibacy, and relinquish material possessions. This is because once these aspects enter your awareness, you must allocate some of your life energy to manage them. With numerous distractions throughout the day, it becomes challenging to keep streamlining the energy and center yourself which is essential for spiritual development. Fortunately, advanced techniques are now available that even those living in the world can practice and benefit from. Powerful methods like Kriya Yoga are designed for individuals who wish to remain engaged in the external world while continuing their spiritual growth.

In contrast to motivational and inspirational endeavors, the spiritual purpose is unique.

What is spiritual growth in this context ?

Simple.

Knowing that you are not this body.

• You pursue success due to your identification with this body.

• You experience anxiety about the future because of your identification with this body.

• You desire to surpass others as a result of identifying with this body.

• You engage in competition, joining the rat race, because you identify with this body.

• You worry about the need for money to survive because you identify with this body.

Then who are you?

This is something for you to uncover.

I could propose that you are part of an unified field of consciousness, but I cannot substantiate this, nor can I convey my experience to you.

What happens when you figure it out?

There is no more wanting.

There is no more craving.

There is no more hoarding.

There is no more fear.

There is no longer a stranger in the entire world.

What is there then ?

That's also something you'll need to discover for yourself.

Why was Gautama Buddha so fulfilled that he abandoned his kingdom, wealth, and comforts to reside in the forest? What did he uncover that made everything else seem less attractive?

Why should you do it?

If we start discussing it, it might become a book by itself. Nonetheless, numerous books have already been written that serve as excellent reference material if you're interested right now. The book I would suggest as a good starting point for intellectual understanding is I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Once in a while, your whole system needs a reboot to loosen up all the information you have gathered over generations and lifetimes. Your idea about who you are and what you should be becomes so rigid that it needs an energetic purging. The universe is constantly in this process of purging, but when the collection becomes dense over time, the cleanup is going to be rather painful.

When the cleansing happens, everything is purging through your consciousness. Each and every thought and idea that you have ever accumulated is all coming to the surface simultaneously and your physical body, mental body and energy body are not ready to process all this information at once.

To categorize in simple words, this can be collection of you who you think you are, who you should be, where you should be going, who are other with respect to you and what this whole world means to you.

Can this compare to therapy?

What you can truly see, you can begin to understand.

And what you deeply understand no longer controls you.

A spiritual journey is required to bring lasting transformation.

Example:

Knowing: “I have a fear of rejection.”

Understanding: “I see where this fear comes from, how it shapes my choices, and I can recognize it when it arises.”

Integration: “The fear can still arise, but it doesn't automatically decide what I do.” when you understand who you are.

What you bring into consciousness begins to lose its unconscious hold over you.

• With motivation, you have the potential to become a leader. Spiritual understanding will teach you kindness when you hold a position of power. You will see your role as a gift from a source you didn't have a decade ago but now do. This realization will instill humility.

• Along with being assertive, you will know when to bring love and compassion and use less logic.

• Along with taking charge and control, you will know when to let go and allow others to learn to be in their power, helping them grow alongside you.

• Along with being the boss, you will know when you are diminishing another person's personal power and how to help them build it.

• Along with parenting your children, you will identify them as individual souls on their journey and learn to respect their growth and see them for who they are instead of what you expect of them.

What if I don't want to do it?

The Universe has a single purpose:

Ensuring you return home!

You can choose to do it willingly or wait for the Universe to carry you along. In this situation, you don't really have an option. The only option is to act unaware.

When encountering a karmic lesson, the easiest approach is to recognize a higher power at work and let it progress naturally instead of opposing it. The more you resist or pretend not to notice, the tougher the lesson will get. Keep in mind, we exist in a system where you can either work with the Universe or face a more arduous journey. The Universe will carefully remove everything within you, down to your very essence, leaving nothing behind.

Where do you start ?

See my upcoming post on how to start your spiritual journey

~ Shiva Tejo