Test to Determine Your Spiritual Growth

Are you a Saint?  A Zen Master?  How about just a good human being?  How do you know?  What are the qualification?  Are there any tests you can take to find out your spiritual growth?  Yes there are.  There are lots of ways to test your spiritual progress and life is constantly doing just that — giving you tests to help you evaluate yourself in order to make spiritual progress.  There are also many ways to assess your spiritual level proactively and in this article I will provide one such illuminating test.  Human beings are complex and so is life.  I am glad it is so.  The test I propose in this document is to evaluate some aspects of your being and is by no means a comprehensive examination.  Perhaps I will come up with a more complete system down the road, but for now let’s try this one test to get us started.  This test will help you determine if you have the right perspective, the right spiritual attitude towards life or if you have been snared by society and entrapped by the ugly web of attachment.

Your Spiritual Growth

From my experience this one test, although simple, is quite revealing.  It is incisive and cuts deep into your psyche to reveal the conditions under which you are currently operating.  Using it, I can not only keep a sharp eye on if I am slipping into the jaws of ambition, but can also determine the state others are in, with regard to their “spiritual evolution”.  By no means am I suggesting that you start to use this test (or others I might propose) to start judging the world or yourself harshly.  The test is simply to be used as an indicator, to give you insight and help you with your spiritual work.  So here is how the test works.

Test To Determine Your Spiritual Growth & Mental State 

Step 1:  Take a few moments and determine what you are very passionate about.  This can be your career, but, does not necessarily have to be so.  It should be something, though, that you are actively engaged in doing and something that you feel deeply about.  Here are some examples:  Yoga Teacher, Professional Blogger, Health Care Professional, Technology Professional, Businessman, Politician, etc…

Step 2:  In this field that you care very deeply about, think about someone who is enormously successful.  Successful in all ways if possible.  Someone who has made a huge amount of money in that field, become famous and is powerful.  Now one more criteria is important about this person.  If possible, have it be someone who you don’t like, or don’t agree with.  The more you dislike their ways and methods the better, but the test will also work pretty well even if you don’t dislike the person or their systems.

Step 3:  Watch your reaction to when you hear complimentary information about this person, or just hear about the success this person is having in their life.  Be brutally honest, or you will just be cheating yourself.  Does it create any negative wave within you?  Any tinge of jealousy?  Any feeling of irritation?  Any feeling of frustration?  Any feeling of hurt?  Does it cause any ripple, any disturbance, in your psyche?  The greater the disturbance the more the test indicates its time to get busy with your spiritual practice.  Here is a more detailed analysis of the test results.

A negative reaction or disturbance can indicate the following with regard to your spiritual state…

1.  Too Much Ambition:  You are probably focused too much on getting results and are overly ambitious.  These attachments to the results can cause jealousy and ill-will towards those who have already achieved what you so badly seek.  Another way to look at this is you may not be doing what your really love to do in life?  This is the only way to be free of the clutches of society and gain oriented living.  Doing what you love to do, will free you from everything.  If this test produced negative waves, it could mean that you are only doing things to see what you will get out of them, instead of doing things for their own sake.

2. Non-Dual Perception of Reality:  The test could also indicate that you are living excessively in an ego-centric way.  You are seeing the world as full of separate people and focusing on the various personalities, instead of seeing the world in a non-dual light with all of creation being One and having nothing but divine nature.  As Yogi Bhajan points out, “If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all.”  Are you seeing the Divine Nature of he who is getting under your skin?  Are you seeing the Oneness of Reality?

3.  Chasing the Wrong Things in Life:  If you have never thought about it, let me point out an interesting fact about enlightenment.  In society there is so much competition because resources/rewards are limited.  There are only so many top 10 Blogs, there is only 1 winner in the tournaments, there are only limited political seats, there is only 1 CEO, only so much oil, land, etc etc.  This breeds competition and conflict.  But Enlightenment is not limited.  Just because I am enlightened, does not mean you can’t be also.  We can all be enlightened (and are), so this is one of those things you can chase without worrying about having to wrestle it away from anyone else.  There is no need to compete, it is an infinite, inexhaustible resource.  So this test implies that you are not exclusively chasing enlightenment.  You are getting distracted and running around all over the place chasing useless stupid things.  Time to buckle down and get back to the business of going after that which is the highest purpose of man.  Time to fulfill your destiny.

Take this test from time to time, or be aware when life brings it your way.  It is an insightful instrument to gauge your goodness and spiritual understanding.

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  1. hira
    hira says:

    hi anmol
    u’ve been doing a great humanitarian work
    i want your advice
    i being doing japa for around 2 years and also doing the five tibetan rites almost for 2 months now
    yesterday i had a strange feeling i felt something hot rising up through my spine and felt my heart throat hot
    i also feel vibration around my perineal region
    is this the sign that my chakra is activating
    hoping to get your advice as soon as possible
    thanking u in advance

    Reply
  2. Trevor
    Trevor says:

    Brilliant. I was surprised when it was suggested to choose someone who you don’t like.. What resonated with me most overall was Point #2, “If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all.” That shocked me a little. I will absolutely be taking that away from this and implementing it into my life TODAY!

    Thank you very much.
    Trevor, writer and researcher @

    Reply
  3. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Marek,

    Thank you for your feedback and adding to the discussion.

    The statement is simply to make the point, that enlightenment is not a limited resource. In that unlike other resources, it is unlimited and can be enjoyed by all, thus the spiritual path does not have to be one of competition and conflict.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  4. Marek
    Marek says:

    You said “Just because I am enlightened, does not mean you can’t be also” Surely enlightenment is a eternal process not an end result. Such a claim could be misconstrued as an echo from your ego.

    Reply
  5. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Matt,

    I have not forgotten your excellent question above. It is just so good, that it deserves more that a comment to answer, so I am putting together an article to give it it’s due respect. Should be published in a week or two.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  6. Matt
    Matt says:

    Hi, I am having the hardest time allowing myself to accept/believe in the non-dual nature of the universe. Ive been practicing kundalini yoga for 2 weeks and have meditated off an on for years. But this concept by far is the hardest thing for me to grasp. Is it nondual because our perception is ultimately our reality regardless of “outside” events brought on by others? Im baffled.
    I want to believe and understand Anmol. Please help
    Many thanks

    Reply
  7. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hey Albert,

    You hold a very special place at Mastery of Meditation because your encouragement early in the life of this blog inspired me in a big way.

    Am glad you are playing pirate and digging up some of the hidden treasures :-).

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  8. Albert | UrbanMonk dot Net
    Albert | UrbanMonk dot Net says:

    Another fantastic post Anmol! As you can see I’m slowly working my way through the archives of your blog and man, there are so many gems in here!

    Reply
  9. Shobha
    Shobha says:

    This explanation clears my thinking of what “Being Spiritual” is. Just focus on my self and keep marching ahead. You make it sound so simple and do- able. When there is no one else to compete with, I will carry on at my own speed.

    Reply

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