The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

[B. de Corbin]

What do you find to be the biggest hindrance to your spiritual development (assuming you are developing your spiritual stuff)?

And... Do you have any practice tips for dealing with this issue?

[thalassa]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I would say that its a combination of a few factors--other obligations (family, work, etc) take up a lot of time. Also, they can cause a lot of stress from time to time, leading to an inconsistent drive for anything other than frivilous persuits.

I make up for this by making my spiritual activities (meditation, prayer, etc) part of the everyday activities that I do. I try to sacralize the mundane act of being alive by making the physical act of living something ecstatic.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

My pick was "amusing distractions."

There are just so many, many interesting things all around me that, unless I ignore them, I can't plot a straight course.

The way that I deal with this is to accept that a straight course isn't in me and never will be, so I have turned experimental living into a spiritual path.

After all, you can't "know" until you "try," and knowing (gnosis) is the goal of my own form of spiritual development. Kind of a weird thing, that snake swallowing it's own tail...

[Gleb]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

My connection with my family isn't very good so sometimes I'm tempted to call Set on them. But I remember I must (maybe "should" is a better word here) follow the principles of Ma'at in my life and help people instead of hurting them. This is my way of dealing with my temptations.

[Yorin]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I put other obligations. Up until just a little bit ago, I was working as a salaried manager at a 24 hour place, and working 3rds, which meant I was the ONLY one scheduled 13 hour shifts that generally turned into 15-16 hour shifts because the GM couldn't have been bothered to come to work on time...ever...and I lived a good 40 minute drive one way to work. So my entire life was "get up, drive to work, kill myself trying to keep that place running properly, go home, die for a few hours, and repeat". Days off were mostly spent comatose to the worry of a LOT of people. Only "tip" I have for dealing with something like that is to just get the hell out of the situation as soon as you can. Took a $6k a year pay cut to do it, but at least I'm out and can get back to focusing on myself and what I need to be healthier both spiritually and physically

[B. de Corbin]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

...Only "tip" I have for dealing with something like that is to just get the hell out of the situation as soon as you can. Took a $6k a year pay cut to do it, but at least I'm out and can get back to focusing on myself and what I need to be healthier both spiritually and physically

I can offer an additional tip, if you like, because I used to be in a similar situation (80 work weeks, plus night school, and about 2 hours on the road per day).

Here's the tip: make good use of mental "down time," the time when you are engaged in activities that require less than full attention - while brushing teeth, showering, driving, doing repetitive tasks...

These are good times to run things through your mind, consider stuff, compose poetry, etc.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

For me i'd have to say it's a combination of conflicting / other obligations coupled to medical issues. Other many times crossing into prioritizing things and not always getting it in the so called right order I suppose.

Medical wise I have severe issues with spinal problems which impact my legs and movement so getting into the woods is not so easy. Wife and sons really get upset if I go wandering off even when the spirit moves me as it were.

[faye_cat]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I put "other obligations".

I have a full time job, plus starting a freelance business. I have two kids in school that I have to balance with my husband and his full time job. I have ailing parents. I currently have way too much family drama going on. I'm also pregnant, have spine and hip medical conditions, and breathing issues, so being active is hard, as is finding time for just me.

I also live in an apartment that we are currently trying to pack items up and downsize, we will be moving in a few months. I have no time left for myself usually to actually DO anything, and then when I find a moment, I'm either too tired or in too much pain or too stressed to actually do it.

I'm working towards carving out a "me time" and a "me space" (I have to have that tangible area/item to focus). I also claim the time it takes to shower as "mine". (I started doing that when I became a mom). In the beginning of the shower, I periodically chant (mentally or spoken, it depends) "Anger, sorrow, pain, nothing negative shall remain" and visualize brown gunk going down the drain. Little things like that are all I can really accomplish currently. =)

[habbalah]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

"Lack of attention span" would have been my choice, but I picked amusing distractions. It's close enough.

[NeoPlatonic]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

"Lack of attention span" would have been my choice, but I picked amusing distractions. It's close enough.

Petty much this. Some days I ponder about theology all day. Others I can barely keep my thoughts ordered.

[Medusa]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I voted medical. I truly believe my bi polar has kept me from being a spiritual person. It's hard to be 'spiritual' when your emotions are lies and can kill you.

[kalynraye]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

My response is time, and this in all honesty is a horrible excuse. I am a solitary because I have never found a coven or group that doesn't meet on a weekend. I get a weekend or saturday off about once every 6 months and I have to special request that off way in advance. Find me a group that meets mid afternoon and during the week and I'd be there!!!

[anunitu]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

Amusing distractions...Life is a feast,and most suckers are starving...(I think Auntie Mame)

Better quote:
Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!

[Willow]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I'm going with not enough time.

Money is an issue (as in, I must give my time to go make money in order to live), as is balancing my family needs and a host of other things going on in my life right now. But the bottom line is that I don't really need money or a more balanced home life to pursue my spiritual practices, I just need the day to be an extra 4 hours long and I need to be able to either stay awake longer or be able to function on less sleep.

[Thorbjorn]

Re: The biggest hindrance to spiritual development

I'm going to say 'Medical issue'. I am bipolar 2 (hypomanic/depressive), have ocpd (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, different animal from ocd), (gad) generalized anxiety disorder, and Asperger's. Yeah, I'm as farked up as a football bat. What those have to do with my spiritual practice is that I tend to put the perfection of a ritual as an end in itself. I want things to be just perfect. On top of that I am easily influenced by what others tell me. One of the worst things I've ever done in my life is gotten information from the interwebz. The conflicting information is enough to make me become an agnostic deist again. Ironically this site (and I am not sucking up to the mods ) is probably one of the most open-minded and tolerant of upg and people's different beliefs out of two sites I can think of.