Question:

Relatively new to meditation, I’m still finding my feet. I do so want to discover myself as I really am, the spirit I am. Yet, I do have so many material desires that I want fulfilled real fast. I’m looking for miracles which I trust are going to happen.
My concern is, I don’t want to lose the real purpose of my spiritual quest while playing the tempting game of material acquisition, using the power of my thoughts. I know desires are never ending and I’m only human.
I don’t want to find myself lying on my death bed and wondering why did i wasted my ‘powers’ chasing ‘things’ that I had to leave behind.
Will I have the courage to look beyond ‘creating abundance’ after a certain level?

Answer:

Congratulations on starting you meditation practice. This will naturally cultivate your mind and desires to become more aligned to your highest spiritual purpose.

You don’t have to try to only have non-material, universal desires in order to be spiritual. Too often we fall back on archaic, misguided notions of spirituality that tell us spirituality must come through a rejection of the world and the body. In that view, wealth and sex are considered unspiritual, and the spiritual ideals assume a vow of poverty and celibacy.

But spirituality must include the wholeness of life, the inner and outer, the sacred and the profane. So instead of fighting against the mind’s tendency to generate desires, which is impossible anyway, it makes more sense to use that irrepressible force of life within us to carry us forward to our highest spiritual aspirations. The desires that arise within us are part of that evolutionary force of universe that impels all creation forward toward its ultimate fulfillment.

Maybe your desires don’t feel very cosmic and altruistic right now, but instead of trying to squash your natural impulses and try to manufacture spiritual desires in their place, just let yourself easily move toward the attainment of your desires as they are right now. As you continue with your meditation practice, you will find that the next desires that pop up in your mind will be more inclusive of the needs of others. You will also find that you can want something, but not feel desperate for it and not mind when circumstances change to bring you a different outcome from your original wish, because you can now trust that the new result serves your highest purpose more perfectly.

This is how you can relax in the knowledge that  the natural flow of your desires in conjunction with your meditation practice will inexorably lead you to the highest state of spirituality.

Love,

Deepak