Spiritual growth is self-transformation. It is an inner maturity, a deepening of peace and poise in life.
Inner maturity comes from learning from your experiences and the experiences of others, and then imbibing those lessons into your own life. This changes your thinking, which in turn transforms your personality, how you see the world and live in it.
Spiritual Growth Is Auspicious
The first two lines in a peace invocation often chanted by students of Vedanta says, “By our ears may we hear all that is auspicious; by our eyes may we see all that is auspicious.”
Good, pure and noble thoughts, words and deeds that promote our spiritual growth are auspicious. Auspiciousness creates peace, love and joy in the mind.
An unsightly, violent scene is inauspicious as it creates revulsion and agitation in the mind. A beautiful scene such as the full moon, is auspicious as it uplifts and brings peace and joy to the mind. Abusive words and loud noise create anger, while soft, kind words are auspicious as they make us peaceful.
We take in stimuli from the world through five senses, not just two. You may wonder why the prayer is for only the eyes and ears to take in all that is auspicious.
The reason is that we take in information about the outer world predominantly through the eyes and ears. Since they are our main senses, they have the greatest influence on the state of our minds.
Things that we hear and see can corrupt the mind and create disturbances and fears. They stir up base desires and negative emotions such as anger, greed, jealousy, passion and fear. For example, hearing someone talk about his wealth can create anger and jealousy, and watching an R-rated or violent film stirs up fears, base desires and passion.
Impressions left behind from harsh words spoken, a passionate or macabre sight, can linger for years, and constantly creep in between other thoughts to disturb the inner peace. This is why the prayer is that may we see and hear all that is auspicious.
Make Your Mind Your Quiet Sanctuary
The senses are mere gateways through which forms, color, sounds, taste, touch and smells enter the body. But, the main instrument that consolidates and interprets all this data is the mind. The mind is the manager and engineer of our life.
If you are committed to your inner growth, it’s important to be careful to allow only the right data into your mind. Regard your mind as your very private and peaceful sanctuary. Just as you wouldn’t allow dirt, noise and any disagreeable things into your sanctuary, you should protect your mind from all base and negative influences.
Be careful of who and what you keep company with – the type of friends and people in your life, TV, internet, radio, books and magazines, all influence your mind and thereby, the quality of your life.
It is better to prevent taking in inauspiciousness in your mind than to try and remove the negativities that take root there.
Consistently Assert Auspiciousness
To grow spiritually, we must consistently strive to take in auspicious inputs and put out good, pure and noble words and deeds into the world.
This transforms not only the outer world, but our inner world and brings peace, maturity and spiritual growth.
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