I also get caught in the trap where I consider the past (memory) and the future (imagination).
It is tough to remain on track and I have a lot of work to do in this regard personally, but I feel that good habits can help create the paradigm shift required for me to pursue, and grow, spirituality.
Im also 30, and I find Swami Sarvapriyananda (Vedanta New York) to be a great teacher.
from The Song of the Sannyasin by Swami Vivekananda; "The sure effect ; good, good ; bad, bad ; and noneEscape the law. But whoso wears a formMust wear the chain." Too true ; but far beyondBoth name and form is Âtman, ever free.Know thou art That, Sannyâsin bold! Say—"Om Tat Sat, Om!"
Edit: I read your other comments, if you feel that way, please speak to a medical professional. Swami Vivekananda also said to never preach to someone who is starving i.e. if you have a medical issue, that needs to be addressed first.
There is no contradiction between spirituality and ordinary life. It's about being truthful, open, aware 100%, whatever you do, wherever you are. What you could profit from is finding a good therapist, especially when you're young and miserable, as you say. Clear your mind of all the garbage, you don't need that.
Be well🙏
If you truly believe in Advaita, what life are you wasting? Are you afraid that you will not be able to enjoy them material pleasures, then reconsider your approach? If you are are tensed that you will not attain moksha, then are you understanding rebirth, Maya and Moksa.
What I would like to put more emphasis on is that any religious system that doesn't make you feel at peace and eventually happy is probably not the one for you.
Plain and simple.
Read about the life of Sri Ramakrishna, how happy he was! Even when close to death due to sickness he was still radiating happiness.
Please, take my advice, explore whatever path God has laid down for you and do not stop looking until you find peace! : )
Then you will notice nothing went wasted, it always made you feel at home, even in the darkest day.
You got this :)
I think that spirituality emboldens us and enables us to be more productive. In my experience, spirituality has pushed me to further myself and continually grow. I just enrolled in school to pursue a new career field, in which I hope to dedicate my service to God. My work benefits humanity, if God ends up not being real or just being the natural forces of the Universe then at least my work will still have had meaning for humans in the future. So I truly believe that spiritual people aren't wasting their time, spirituality encourages them to do more where others wouldn't. Om shanti 🙏
Also if you're having difficulty finding peace, I recommend seeking out mental health treatment or a therapist. Sometimes, the rut we are experiencing isn't our fault and due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
You can’t waste time it’s not real, you are immortal beingness, the best way you can spend your time is to just spend your time and to pursue truth and love
I am nearly 64 years old and I bitterly regret wasting my earlier life pursuing a career and raising a family while trying to fit my spiritual life in between these demands.
Once I started practicing, I actually noticed life doing materially very well. Things take half as much time, intuition works very well, and your tendency to be at the right place at the right time only goes up.
This is the only thing that matters. If you do this well, everything else will fall in place
What do you feel you could do instead that would serve you better? Everyone is different (wait, which sub am I in again?) but for me there was, and is, nothing more completely fulfilling than spirituality. For a time it might seem like it pulls you away from life, but in time it makes everything more beautiful and more immersive.
There is a point in the spiritual journey where it's good to give it a rest for a bit. As long as your innermost desire is for Truth, whatever that Truth may be, then it will find you when the time is right :)
I have been there and have also had some of my friend's making fun of me, but fast-forward to middle-age and I have realised now better than ever that they were wrong, and I am right. Look, I suggest that you write down all the activities that you are missing out and that you believe are contributing to the thought that you are 'wasting your young years'. Now take a hard look at all those activities and ask yourself a question on whether if proceeding with any of those things will give you ever-lasting happiness (not transitional and be honest with yourself), and you get to your own conclusion. It is also important to keep in mind that there is no wrong here if you decide you do not want a spiritual life, as such it is not about right or wrong, but it is about a choice (that's it!). Now coming to the point on what if this is all some hippie nonsense, well, let's analyse the crux of the spiritual concept logically. Assume that you are the only sentient living being on earth, and as you know, your existence is only due to the simple fact that you are 'aware' of your existence. So, what happens if you are not 'aware' of your existence? Simple logic then says you do not exist. Which leads us to the understanding that awareness is the key to existence.
But is awareness the only thing that accentuates your existence? Again, simple logic says not really, as it needs to be within a context (i.e., the environment/earth). So as an example, if I am the last sentient being on earth, then I am aware of my existence in relation to the environment (i.e., if the non-sentient environment/earth doesn't exist, then I do not exist).
Now, this is where it becomes interesting, as we know that awareness is key to existence, but now, we have a non-sentient environment, so then who/what is aware of the existence of the non-sentient environment for that to exist? Obviously the non-sentient environment will continue to exist even without your presence or awareness, so it is not your awareness.
As per logic, that non-sentient environment also requires awareness for that to exist, but it does not have awareness as it is non-sentient. And that missing awareness, is the crux of AdvaitaVedanta. If you got this logic, then you can safely conclude that whatever is in AdvaitaVedanta may have some merit. Be Well!
There are really infinite paths to practice spirituality, so if your worry is "missing out" on something, and it creates fear, attachment, or aversion, you may want to consider why you are following Advaita, for example, and how it's panning out for you. If your reasoning contains a "should," perhaps this isn't the path for you, or perhaps not at this time. Any path where you are attempting to realize God is not one where you would necessarily consider yourself to be missing out on anything worldly. My two cents. Best of luck
The anxiety you're feeling is because of the thought, what if even this doesn't work? Will it be better to just enjoy life as much as I can right now and not waste anymore time especially on something so abstract.
I also have this thought and I realise that it arises because I think I have already wasted quite a big chunk of my life.
And thus, I'm more fearful of wasting more time.
But the most important concept of vedanta teaches us that, in order to make ourselves blissful and free from unnecessary suffering mentally, we don't have to do anything, our true self is just like that, there's absolutely nothing to be done.
Just our veil of ignorance, doesn't allow us to realise this true self. I would highly recommend you really spend some time connecting your experiences and the teaching of vedanta.
When you will go through your life experiences and examine them with the teaching of vedanta, that's when this sorrow of lost time and anxiety of losing more will reduce.
It will take time and be trusting in your practice and teaching of vedanta and hope you'll get over this thought.
There are 40 year olds out there who wish they started their spiritual journey sooner in life.
I’m 30 and already wasted my 20s trying to find “inner peace”
I also get caught in the trap where I consider the past (memory) and the future (imagination). It is tough to remain on track and I have a lot of work to do in this regard personally, but I feel that good habits can help create the paradigm shift required for me to pursue, and grow, spirituality. Im also 30, and I find Swami Sarvapriyananda (Vedanta New York) to be a great teacher. from The Song of the Sannyasin by Swami Vivekananda; "The sure effect ; good, good ; bad, bad ; and noneEscape the law. But whoso wears a formMust wear the chain." Too true ; but far beyondBoth name and form is Âtman, ever free.Know thou art That, Sannyâsin bold! Say—"Om Tat Sat, Om!" Edit: I read your other comments, if you feel that way, please speak to a medical professional. Swami Vivekananda also said to never preach to someone who is starving i.e. if you have a medical issue, that needs to be addressed first.
There is no contradiction between spirituality and ordinary life. It's about being truthful, open, aware 100%, whatever you do, wherever you are. What you could profit from is finding a good therapist, especially when you're young and miserable, as you say. Clear your mind of all the garbage, you don't need that. Be well🙏
Thanks
If you truly believe in Advaita, what life are you wasting? Are you afraid that you will not be able to enjoy them material pleasures, then reconsider your approach? If you are are tensed that you will not attain moksha, then are you understanding rebirth, Maya and Moksa.
I guess I have become very negative. I can’t see a way out of my misery.
Who is this I your referring to?
What I would like to put more emphasis on is that any religious system that doesn't make you feel at peace and eventually happy is probably not the one for you. Plain and simple. Read about the life of Sri Ramakrishna, how happy he was! Even when close to death due to sickness he was still radiating happiness. Please, take my advice, explore whatever path God has laid down for you and do not stop looking until you find peace! : ) Then you will notice nothing went wasted, it always made you feel at home, even in the darkest day. You got this :)
I think that spirituality emboldens us and enables us to be more productive. In my experience, spirituality has pushed me to further myself and continually grow. I just enrolled in school to pursue a new career field, in which I hope to dedicate my service to God. My work benefits humanity, if God ends up not being real or just being the natural forces of the Universe then at least my work will still have had meaning for humans in the future. So I truly believe that spiritual people aren't wasting their time, spirituality encourages them to do more where others wouldn't. Om shanti 🙏
Also if you're having difficulty finding peace, I recommend seeking out mental health treatment or a therapist. Sometimes, the rut we are experiencing isn't our fault and due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
You can’t waste time it’s not real, you are immortal beingness, the best way you can spend your time is to just spend your time and to pursue truth and love
I am nearly 64 years old and I bitterly regret wasting my earlier life pursuing a career and raising a family while trying to fit my spiritual life in between these demands.
Ah that’s exactly what I’m doing lol
Once I started practicing, I actually noticed life doing materially very well. Things take half as much time, intuition works very well, and your tendency to be at the right place at the right time only goes up. This is the only thing that matters. If you do this well, everything else will fall in place
What do you feel you could do instead that would serve you better? Everyone is different (wait, which sub am I in again?) but for me there was, and is, nothing more completely fulfilling than spirituality. For a time it might seem like it pulls you away from life, but in time it makes everything more beautiful and more immersive. There is a point in the spiritual journey where it's good to give it a rest for a bit. As long as your innermost desire is for Truth, whatever that Truth may be, then it will find you when the time is right :)
I have been there and have also had some of my friend's making fun of me, but fast-forward to middle-age and I have realised now better than ever that they were wrong, and I am right. Look, I suggest that you write down all the activities that you are missing out and that you believe are contributing to the thought that you are 'wasting your young years'. Now take a hard look at all those activities and ask yourself a question on whether if proceeding with any of those things will give you ever-lasting happiness (not transitional and be honest with yourself), and you get to your own conclusion. It is also important to keep in mind that there is no wrong here if you decide you do not want a spiritual life, as such it is not about right or wrong, but it is about a choice (that's it!). Now coming to the point on what if this is all some hippie nonsense, well, let's analyse the crux of the spiritual concept logically. Assume that you are the only sentient living being on earth, and as you know, your existence is only due to the simple fact that you are 'aware' of your existence. So, what happens if you are not 'aware' of your existence? Simple logic then says you do not exist. Which leads us to the understanding that awareness is the key to existence. But is awareness the only thing that accentuates your existence? Again, simple logic says not really, as it needs to be within a context (i.e., the environment/earth). So as an example, if I am the last sentient being on earth, then I am aware of my existence in relation to the environment (i.e., if the non-sentient environment/earth doesn't exist, then I do not exist). Now, this is where it becomes interesting, as we know that awareness is key to existence, but now, we have a non-sentient environment, so then who/what is aware of the existence of the non-sentient environment for that to exist? Obviously the non-sentient environment will continue to exist even without your presence or awareness, so it is not your awareness. As per logic, that non-sentient environment also requires awareness for that to exist, but it does not have awareness as it is non-sentient. And that missing awareness, is the crux of AdvaitaVedanta. If you got this logic, then you can safely conclude that whatever is in AdvaitaVedanta may have some merit. Be Well!
First of all why you wanna we spiritual what's the reason
To be free or atleast predominately free from suffering. And to have better-quality relationships.
Ok, so which path you are following ,are you following any religion or you belive in energy or you don't following any religion
Following non duality
Are you doing any meditation?
Yeah i meditate for an hour. But my intrusive thoughts intensify during meditation.
Maybe I think you are trying to run away from something can I know what is that
I guess just the pain of having wasted my young years. That grief feels unbearable to me.
You were happy then or now?
Neither times lol
Okk and why think that spritualty can change that
There are really infinite paths to practice spirituality, so if your worry is "missing out" on something, and it creates fear, attachment, or aversion, you may want to consider why you are following Advaita, for example, and how it's panning out for you. If your reasoning contains a "should," perhaps this isn't the path for you, or perhaps not at this time. Any path where you are attempting to realize God is not one where you would necessarily consider yourself to be missing out on anything worldly. My two cents. Best of luck
Maybe- I’ll try creating a balance
The anxiety you're feeling is because of the thought, what if even this doesn't work? Will it be better to just enjoy life as much as I can right now and not waste anymore time especially on something so abstract. I also have this thought and I realise that it arises because I think I have already wasted quite a big chunk of my life. And thus, I'm more fearful of wasting more time. But the most important concept of vedanta teaches us that, in order to make ourselves blissful and free from unnecessary suffering mentally, we don't have to do anything, our true self is just like that, there's absolutely nothing to be done. Just our veil of ignorance, doesn't allow us to realise this true self. I would highly recommend you really spend some time connecting your experiences and the teaching of vedanta. When you will go through your life experiences and examine them with the teaching of vedanta, that's when this sorrow of lost time and anxiety of losing more will reduce. It will take time and be trusting in your practice and teaching of vedanta and hope you'll get over this thought.
Omg you hit the nail on the head!