More Unusual Tips for Spiritual Awakening
Spiritual Awakening Advise and Help
In part 1 of this series, Unusual Ways for Spiritual Development, I started sharing with you some ideas of how technology can help you on this journey to spiritual awakening, and in this part I will give some more ideas of how to use these advancements to evolve spiritually.
Here are some more tips on using technology for spiritual growth:
4 More Tips for Spiritual Awakening:
1. Use Devices and Technology to Save You Time:
One of the biggest advantages of technology is that it can save you time and having free time for self inquiry and self study is an important aspect of the journey to spiritual awakening.
I have written about this topic before in the Spiritual Story, Money Money Money Mantra and Path to Enlightenment, so you can head over there for more on this important topic.
Essentially, what you want to do, is see what mundane tasks are chewing up your time and see if you can find technology to offload these to. Some everyday examples are…
- Dishwashers, washer, dryer, robot vacuums, etc.
- Automatic Bill Payments and Online Banking.
- Electronic address books and smart use of Social Networking for social commitments.
- Software applications for tasks such as Taxes, etc.
- Car pooling for the busy Soccer Moms, who feel more like chauffeurs than Moms at times.
- If you run a business, spend the money on electronic solutions whenever you can for manual tasks.
2. Meditation Timer:
For spiritual advancement I hope all of you meditate every day and I strongly suggest using a timer instead of a clock to keep time when you do. Again, your handy iPhone or other electronic attachment can be useful here. The problem with using a clock instead of a timer is that you will want to keep peeking to see how close you are to completing your session. Don’t lie now, if you meditate regularly, when the legs start to fall asleep or the back starts to hurt, I am sure you have taken a sneak peek once in a while 
.
The problem with peeking is that it not only disrupts your practice, but that once you peek it is hard to free yourself of the thoughts about finishing your session.
A timer eliminates this issue, as you will hear it go off once the time is done. So keep it behind you, so there is nothing to peek at. Of course, if you are using an electronic clock, you can set alarms, but that might be cumbersome to do every time.
Another good feature of these devices, especially for new teachers who have a hard time estimating how long they have done a particular exercise for, is the stop watch (or timer again). Having your students keep their arms up for 7 minutes in Aura Enhancing Eagle Pose, or do 5 minutes of Ab Blasting Boat Pose, because you simply lost track of time, is gonna have them all pretty mad at you .
3. Inspirational Music:
If you are anything like me, you find music to be one of the most inspiring things in the world. They say music touches the soul and just by seeing how big a part song plays in spirituality this is no surprise. So in addition to all the Bhangra tracks you have on your iPod I suggest putting together some nice inspirational and spiritual play lists as well.
These can be very helpful in giving you the motivation to do your daily spiritual practice, and a consistent practice is the biggest requirement for spiritual awakening.
4. Using the Internet:
You all know the value of the internet already as a great medium for spiritual knowledge and wisdom since you are here reading this article . One caution though I want to point out to you regarding access to so much knowledge and wisdom.
In the spiritual world, we have a phrase that says, “Digging shallow wells will get you no water.” What this means is that if you keep jumping from technique to technique, dabbling here and there and not following through with any seriously, you are going to be digging a lot of shallow holes and you are not going to get to the underlying Truth (water) below.
So, first you should feel lucky to get access to so much profound wisdom, for in the past a lot of this stuff was quite secret and access to it had to be earned, but now, you have to be carefully about what you do with so much information, as I have pointed out above.
If you find a path that suits you and appeals to you, stick to it. Don’t jump around madly switching techniques everyday because of a new website you found. More on using the internet for spiritual awakening on a future date, but for now use this amazing technology for spiritual knowledge, guidance and inspiration.
Summary for Tips for Spiritual Awakening:
So we see from these 2 parts, how something as material as technology can help us on your journey to Self Realization. Next in this series I will give you other interesting ways you may not have thought of to help you with your spiritual evolution. Stay tuned for that…
Spiritual awakening is when a person perceives the world as something else that is definitely much better than how other people perceive it. In a sense, it is when a person develops his inner consciousness and becomes more aware of the value of things which surround him. With an awakened spirit, a person can truly feel satisfied not only with himself but with the world which surrounds him in his everyday life.
If used the right way, technology can provide you with even more relaxation than you though was possible.
Read the Bible, the Qur’an, or the Greek Myths, from a symbolic/allegorical/internal standpoint. All the instructions are there, just as they are in the East.
With much respect to TZ, I must say that I found these suggestions to be fresh and helpful. I am especially intrigued by the idea of using the alarm function on my cell phone to tell me when I have reached a self imposed time frame for meditation. I have considered joining a local group mindfulness mediatation class – and I still may do so – but I would like to try this method first. I worry that I may become distracted by the group setting. Thank you for your thoughtful ideas. I’ll let you know how they impact my practice.
Light and Love to your family and you, Anmol,
Debra
Hey TZ,
Always welcome your insightful feedback. Some good points and additional tips above for everyone.
Wanted to also emphasize that which I suggested music, I mean to get you inspired and as I have mentioned in the past, music during yoga is fine, but not during meditation, unless you are doing Naad Yoga, Laya Yoga type of practice, or a guided meditation.
More on the cautions with the internet as well in a future article. Have a few additional thoughts regarding that as well.
Best,
Anmol
I must disagree with our constant need for technology.
Watching your hands when you wash the dishes slowly or clean your house is a great meditation.
Trusting your computer for finance or banking could create a big disappointment when your computer crashes or is out of order.
Instead of a timer, just use an incense stick and calculate how often a small part of it falls when it burns to know for how long you’ve been meditating. BTW, even if you meditate only 20 minutes, meditate as if you’d meditate all the day.
Music disturbs the brain during meditation, as a part of it tries to decipher the music (do I know it ? What kind of music is it ? Oh, I love or I hate this music !) and/or the lyrics. Meditation must engage all the brain, it’s not relaxation.
Internet could be of great value, this one I tend to agree. But be careful of becoming addicted to web surfing, it can break all your meditation efforts.