Comprehesive 9 Day Spiritual Test I Challenge You to Take
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Comprehensive 9 Day Spiritual Test I Challenge You to Take
Spiritual Growth & Personal Development: Art of Living
A few months ago I had written the popular post Test to Determine Your Spiritual Growth, which provided a simple technique with which to determine your spiritual state and progress. This article, however, is going to provide a far more comprehensive and challenging test to determine your level of spiritual evolution. This 9 day program is actually designed to destroy Karma and is considered one of the greatest programs to accomplish that, but, another way to approach this program is to see it as a true test of your spiritual progress.
This test emerges from the South Indian Schools of Yoga and was designed by Maharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri. I came upon it first in the Karma Manual written by Dr. Jonn Mumford. The official name for this spiritual test is Karma Shakta Kriya. Here is Dr. Mumford’s quote regarding the passing of this profound examination…
9 Days to Change Your Life: Karma Manual
Dr. Jonn Mumford
Chapter 12: 9 Day Karma Clearing Program
"If you can do this for nine days, you will experience nine days of amazing unconscious material – you will prevent Agami Karma (un-sprouted Karamic seeds) from being watered and converted to Prarabdha Karma (sprouted unavoidable Karmic consequences). Best of all you will emerge, like a butterfly from a cocoon, a more powerful, sensitive, insightful human with an increased sense of purpose, destiny, self-mastery, and satisfaction!"
Need I say more? A word of advice though. This test is not easy! It is rare that anyone is able to pass it perfectly. I challenge you to take it if you feel ready. I will start it myself in the near future and maintain it for the 9 days required. I will record my progress in the comment section below and invite you to do the same if you like.
9 Day Test of Your Spiritual Evolution (aka: 9 Day Karma Clearing Program)
The test comprises of the following 11 disciplines to be done daily for each of the 9 days. My version is only slightly different from the original.
1. No media news input for the entire 9 days: Take a break from global gossip.
- No newspapers
- No internet news
- No radio
- For Television see #2 below
2. No Television of any kind: Take a break from staring at the box and escaping from yourself and your life.
3. No communication of dissatisfaction: You may do anything you wish to try to bring about the changes you need to, but, you may not express any dissatisfaction regarding any aspect of your life during these 9 days.
4. No Criticism of any kind: Very similar to discipline #3 is this requirement – no criticizing anything… person, object or activity.
5. Witness Thoughts & Actions: This will actually start to happen naturally as a consequence of the above disciplines (which build up immense psychic pressure). Don’t allow anything to happen without awareness. Many articles on this website explain this art of witnessing in greater detail. To read more about it you are check out The True Meaning of Laziness.
6. Wake up Earlier: You are to wake up 1 hour earlier than you normally do. To help you with that and understand its benefits you can read the following article The Secret of How to Become an Early Riser.
7. One Major Meal Only: This requirement in conjunction with the above disciplines is designed to cause deep seated emotions to surface, thus giving you a rare chance to observe deeper aspects of your being. This one meal should also only be a vegetarian meal.
8. Daily Mediatation: Meditate everyday for minimum of 20 minutes between dawn and dusk. I suggest choosing Zen Meditation Technique, Ajna Chakra Meditation Technique or So Hum Meditation Technique all of which are available on this website.
9. Do Something That you Dislike: The important aspect of this discipline is that the activity which you pick to do, is not just something you dislike, but, is also something that is not essential for you to do. This will help you build willpower.
10. Selfless Act: The act of kindness should be done without anyone having any knowledge of the source. So you are not getting any overt credit for your goodness.
11. Review & Recall: Review your day entire either backwards or forwards and pay special attention to emotional situations and decisions you made. Study yourself in this way and reflect on the actions you took. See where you would have done things differently had you applied your higher self. This activity is item #7 in the article 10 Things Your Should Do Everyday for a Happy, Meaningful and Good life, which you will find has many of the elements that are also a part of this test. In fact, once you take this test you will incorporate many of these disciplines into your daily life and find you are meeting most of the requirements set out to help have a Happy, Meaningful & Good life.
Conclusion: This test is a real opportunity for you to not just evaluate your spiritual prowess, but, also to make incredible progress on the spiritual path. Often we end up just reading about things, this test is a chance to really act and do something very unique and beneficial. So take up my challenge and go for it. I want to wish you the very best on this 9 day adventure of yours.
Feel free to post your experiences with this test in the comments section below, I think that would help and inspire others trying this difficult test as well.
Article Series - Tests to Determine Your Spiritual Growth
- Today I Finally Passed the Test and Have Officially Become a Man
- Test to Determine Your Spiritual Growth
- Comprehesive 9 Day Spiritual Test I Challenge You to Take
- 20 Interesting Ways to Test Your Spiritual Development
- Awareness Test for Developing Your Spiritual Mind
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January 16th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
I am following all the above suggested things… for the last few months..
rgrds Ooma
November 30th, 2011 at 1:28 am
I’m already on this 9days spiritual retreat. I’m learning to be with myself at all times, being aware of all my thoughts and actions every moment. It’s a beautiful experience.
June 13th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I have noticed that since committing to my spiritual practice, I’ve started to cut down on TV automatically. When my parents are watching a show I’ll automatically do yoga, pranayama or meditation quietly in the background. I’ve been really surprised at how much TV people actually watch!
January 10th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Anmol,
I went to cross the road and almost got splashed by roadside splodge by a person in a BMW who looked possessed.
I purchased a product which was in a large box and apon opening realised the product inside was a third of the size, so challenging…
September 12th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Hi Diane,
Great to hear you are going to take up this challenge.
Great monks and spiritual giants are aware of their patterns, so they are mostly amused by these aspects of their personality/ego. Similarly, your adding awareness into the mix, thus makes these patterns of yours more transparent. That itself weakens them and prevents them from influencing your behavior beyond a brief lapse.
In other words, once you catch yourself, you don’t continue down that stream of thought, this in itself means you are transforming into a conscious person.
Keep the light of awareness lit, all else will fall into place.
Best,
Anmol
September 12th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Hi Anmol…
I am wanting to start this soon and right now I am practicing some of the exercises in preparation for the 9 days. I am having the most difficult not complaining and not criticizing. I catch myself right after I say it but then it is already said. Do you have any suggestions for this?
Thanks for the amazing website and for this challenge!!
All my best to you,
Diane
April 13th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Kristo,
Thank you for sharing.
This just shows that Yoga has been around … and around… and… :-)
Great to know that you have found the way you want to live – it takes most people a lifetime!
Namaste,
Trupti
April 10th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I started this program today, but i was thinking of adding one item called “the seed exercise”. I read about it in Paulo Coelho’s “The Pilgrimage”.
The Seed Exercise:
Kneel on the ground. Then seat yourself on your heels and bend forward so that your head touches your knees. Stretch your arms behind you. You are now in a fetal position. Relax, releasing all of your tensions. Breathe calmly and deeply. Little by little you will perceive that you are a tiny seed, cradled in the comfort of the earth. Everything around you is warm and delicious. You are in a deep, restful sleep.
Suddenly, a finger moves. The shoot no longer wants to be a seed, it wants to grow. Slowly you begin to move your arms, and then your body will begin to rise, straightening up until you are seated on your heels. Now you begin to lift your body up, and slowly, slowly you become erect, still kneeling on the ground.
The moment has come to break completely through the earth. You begin to rise slowly, placing one foot on the ground, then the other, fighting against the disequilibrium just as a shoot battles to make its own space, until finally you are standing. Imagine the area about you, the sun, the water, the wind, and the birds now you are a shoot that is beginning to grow. Slowly raise your arms toward the sky. Then stretch yourself more and more, more and more as if you want to grasp the enormous sun that shines above you, giving you strength and attracting you. Your body begins to become more and more rigid; all of your muscles strain, and you feel yourself to be growing, growing, growing – until you become huge. The tension increases more and more until it becomes painful, unbearable. When you can no longer stand it, scream and open your eyes.
Repeat this exercise for seven consecutive days, always at the same time.”
Thanks for this program.. It’s already helped me alot to commit myself to live the way I know I want to live!
Namaste :)
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Hi Anmol, I listen to the radio whilst working during the day – it is only music no news, would that be classified as a distraction? I feel I can still observe my thoughts with a nice tune going on…
blessings
September 25th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
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