The Flame Within: Arunachala’s Light

During my years as a seeker, I stumbled into numerous spiritual traps. Each time, I thought I was on the right path, only to realize I was led astray by my own misunderstandings and desires. When I began teaching, I saw the same patterns repeat in others. I witnessed sincere seekers making the same mistakes, struggling with the same illusions.

Waiting For The Guru To Enlighten You

Enlightenment isn’t a prepacked snack that the guru can simply hand out; it’s a revelation that emerges from within.

One of the most widespread trap is the belief that enlightenment will be bestowed by some enlightened master or guru. This idea stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of awakening. True enlightenment isn’t something that can simply be given – it must arise from within your own being through direct experience.

The idea that someone else can enlighten you bypasses the essential inner work needed for true transformation. No guru can do the inner work for you; the real journey begins when you dive into the depths of your being and face your shadows, embrace your fears, and ultimately realize your true nature.

While spiritual teachers can offer valuable wisdom and guidance, the path is yours to walk, the discoveries yours to make.

Too Much Reading And Watching, Too Little Practice

In this era of millions of YouTube videos, it has become easy for spiritual seekers to fall into the trap of becoming perpetual students – devouring book after book, video after video, in an attempt to intellectually comprehend the nature of reality. While teachings can offer insightful maps, they are just maps – not the real thing.

I fell into this trap myself. At one point, my bookshelf was overflowing with spiritual texts, and I could recite teachings verbatim. But there was a disconnect. I was accumulating knowledge without practice.

An obsession with accumulating spiritual knowledge, without the practice, becomes a form of avoidance. It allows the seeker’s ego to feel spiritually superior and without actually doing the hard inner work.

True awakening is not a philosophical concept. It is a radical undoing, a shedding of every belief, identity and concept until only the vastness of the present moment remains.

Enlightenment -A Magic Cure-All

Most seekers have the concept of enlightenment as a magic pill that will instantly solve all their problems and make life a perpetual state of bliss. They fantasize that awakening will make them invulnerable to any future suffering.

Even the most enlightened masters aren’t immune to the challenges of human existence – aging, sickness, and taxes. What awakening provides is not protection against life’s challenges, but a profound openness, acceptance and spacious perspective to meet those challenges with equanimity and wisdom.

The enlightened ones have realised that suffering is an innate part of existence. True freedom lies in giving up one’s resistance against that reality, and learning to flow with what arises with unbounded compassion and clarity.

Mistaking Spiritual Glimpses for the Enlightenment

On the spiritual path, seekers encounter profound mystical experiences, visions, states of bliss and insights. These experiences can be deeply transformative and provide glimpses into the nature of reality.

However, it is a common mistake to confuse these experiences with true enlightenment. While these spiritual experiences can be powerful catalysts for growth, they are ultimately transitory. True enlightenment is not a fleeting experience but a fundamental transformation in one’s perception of reality.

Seekers also get seduced by spiritual glimpses and begin chasing after those fleeting highs. They get attached to the experience itself and essentially turn it into a new object of desire, a new drug to be craved. The search then becomes about reliving those experiences.

At some point, you must be willing to let it all go – the endless mystery cannot be contained by any experience. To cling to them is to mistake the horizon for the entire sky.