These days, more and more people are becoming aware of how valuable yoga, meditation techniques, self-awareness, and focus can be to a person’s spiritual growth and development. However, with a variety of things to take into consideration spiritually, it is easy to overlook some of the most basic and fundamental qualities and habits of life. One of these traits that should not be overlooked is that of being totally and completely honest in the course of one’s spiritual development.
Everyone knows that honesty is a good and valuable characteristic to cultivate, but it is not as often recognized as a necessity when seeking out spiritual growth. However, as most people move along through their spiritual journey, most people start to really discover the significance and importance of honesty as it relates to their quest. There are four primary areas where honesty comes into play most significantly.
The first area is in facing your weaknesses. In order to enjoy significant spiritual growth, a person must be able to honestly see, acknowledge and evaluate his weaknesses. No one is exempt from have having shortcomings, but they can interfere with spiritual development if the person tries to justify them away or refuses to see them. Only when a person is honest with him or herself will they begin to change.
Secondly, honesty is needed in facing up to the realities of your life. You need to be completely honest about the state of affairs of every aspect of your life. Stop clinging to the image that you want to present to the rest of the world, and begin to embrace the true state of your life and your relationships. The problem with clinging to the image, which is most likely “perfect,” is that it gets in the way of being able to make real, lasting and significant changes that can lead to real happiness, rather than just an illusion of it. With honesty, one can look at the real truth and then have a realistic place to begin to improve.
Thirdly, honesty is needed to help people eliminate fake personalities, which must be eschewed in order to enjoy true spiritual enlightenment and growth. Most people put an enormous amount of energy, thought, and anxiety into creating and then maintaining completely false portrayals of themselves. They become more like characters acting in a play than real people engaged in real life. In order to have any hope of enjoying true spiritual healing and development, a person must peel away these false personas and be sincere and forthright beings.
The fourth way that honesty plays a role in the spiritual journey is through the use of meditation techniques. When a person begins a session of meditation, they should be aware their flow of thoughts. For most people who are just learning to master their minds through meditation, they will discover thoughts that are filled with false reasoning and justifications. The best way to begin to control this flow of thoughts is to deal with them in an honest and forthright manner, then setting them aside and allowing the more centered and real thoughts to come to the surface.
During the ongoing journey of spiritual growth, if you keep these four things in mind and strive to approach them will all the honesty you can muster, then you will find yourself moving through higher levels of spiritual enlightenment. At each level it is likely you will be able to be even more honest in your assessments and this will serve to help you continue to evolve to experience your highest self, spiritually.
