The greatest challenge in the spiritual world appears to be constant awareness of the truth. The world is so full of distractions that it is quite easy to fall into their trap. It is like remaining committed to being healthy at a place where every day there is a lavish party with thousands of different types of dishes. It's natural that our senses will tempt us to taste these. In this world too, our senses get attracted to worldly objects quite easily. A hungry man would definitely get attracted towards the dishes on the platter and that is the reason why one can not artificially stay away from the temptations. One has to fill the stomach with nutritious food before going to the party and that is the reason why daily meditation helps. Once we are filled with divine grace, the pleasures of the external world do not attract us.
However, it is not that easy. The temptations of the world come in different forms. It is quite difficult to distinguish between love and lust. While love is the expression of purity, lust is the trap of the devil. A person in love is interested in giving. He is full inside and wants to share that purity and joy with somebody. On the other hand, the person driven by lust is hollow from the inside and seeks pleasure from the other person and therefore acts impulsively. Often lust tries to camouflage in the form of love. It tries to take the form of care and concern while at the core of that is always self-centricity. What matters is the pleasure for self and to get that pleasure lust often tries to position itself as quite caring and once that prevention finds its way into the heart of the other person, it comes out with its real colors and shows its real form.
Many of the spiritual seekers get tempted to help others. However, quite often this willingness to help others is an endeavor to feel good, gather good karma, implant an image in the minds of others, gather fame, become popular, get social media likes, and sometimes just an escape mechanism to run away from the dark shadows of our past. This is not love. This is just a manifestation of lust in a different form. Like Ravana assuming the form of a Saadhu. That is not going to help anybody.
We can not help others unless we are complete and secure inside. As we connect more and more with the inner reality, we realize that we do not require much from the external world. Of course, there is a need for food, water, and shelter for the body but there is not much issue with that. An aware soul can't struggle for the basics. Even the monks get the food to survive. Beyond the necessities, it is all lust. We want luxury cars and houses, powerful positions, fame, and social validation because we are weak from the inside. Why would a Buddha seek social validation or a powerful position? He is so full of love that the lust for any and everything drops as the desire to have food drops as our stomach is full. The best dishes in the world can't attract our attention when our stomach is full. I feel that we need to constantly watch if we get attracted to the world and the moment we feel attracted, we have to immediately address the inner hollowness. This world is a wonderful place to explore but a very poor place to get trapped. The heaven and the hell depend upon our state of awareness.
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