The Four deadly traps

The spiritual path of devotion (Bhakti) or enquiry (Jnana) is truly exciting and rewarding. In fact, it is the very purpose of our existence here. While several paths have been well laid out by great spiritual Masters and our scriptures, there are some fatal traps which an aspirant should be wary of.

Just as there are several traps in worldly life in which people get trapped unwittingly and subsequently suffer, so too, there are some fatal traps in spiritual life in which an unguarded spiritual aspirant might find himself. In fact, he may not even be aware of being trapped; instead may mistake it to be his spiritual progress! Truly astonishing!

Shall we together explore such traps so that we can exercise caution while treading the spiritual, divine path?

1. The trap of dangerous notions:

In the path of Bhakti and also in the path of Jnana, listening to stories of great ones and divine descents is an essential part of the journey. For inspiration we do listen to the divine plays of the Lord and the life histories of great Masters and Saints like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sant Meera Bai, Mahaprabhu, Sri Ramana Maharishi, etc. It is fine thus far. The problem arises when we start imagining that we are also like these great ones! The mind can play devious tricks to feed this notion. This is truly dangerous. If we keep feeding this notion we shall, without doubt, land in hell (naraka). Even people around us wittingly or unwittingly may encourage or even feed this perilous notion.  The episode of Poundraka Vaasudeva, in Srimad Bhagavatam, who strongly imagined himself to be Lord Krishna gravely reminds us of the repercussions of fielding such harmful notions.

(this episode is in the 66th Chapter of the 10th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Paundraka the ruler of the land of Karusha had sycophants around him. They fed him with the notion that he was the original Avatar of Lord Vaasudeva and that Bhagavan Sri Krishna was the imposter! Therefore, he had the audacity to send a message to Lord Krishna to give up name that was truly his(!) and also other insignias or face him in a battle. The Lord heartily agreed to face him in a battle and Paundraka met his end in the Lord’s hand).

Well! In Paundraka’s case he attained the Lord as he was vanquished by the Lord Himself; but in the case of a Sadhak caught in such misplaced notions only dark regions await him.

Hence avoid trap #1 – imagination of undergoing divine experiences like that of a great spiritual Master and holding a notion that he is like that Mahatma. This is a general human defect that a Sadhak should be wary of.

Trap #2: The deadly trap of imitation

The story of any Saint or Sage is the story of great sacrifice, dispassion, purity, love, faith and tremendous suffering. Unfortunately, normal, non-discerning eyes, see only the Mahan’s external appearance and fails to perceive the fire of dispassion that burns within, the purity and sacrifice in the Mahan. A sure trap of imitating a Mahan’s outward appearance and behaviour!

A spiritual aspirant caught in this trap would start imitating the physical appearance and mannerisms of the Mahan instead of being inspired by his inner excellence. “Imitation is poison” said Bhagavan Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar. When caught in such a trap a weak-minded Sadhak mistakes this imitation for progress in spiritual path. He begins to wear clothes the way his Master does, and holds things in his hands just as his Master does (as in the case of Paundraka who had two artificial arms attached to his shoulder in order to hold Disc and Conch that were part of Lord Krishna!). This is mere illusion!

It will certainly bring about his downfall. A Sadhak who desires to emulate the ways of his Master should imbibe and emulate only the sterling inner qualities of love, compassion, sacrifice, simplicity and purity of his Master. Since it is easy to imitate the Master’s physical appearance viz. long nails, beard, dressing style, the misguided Sadhak copies only this and digs his own grave!

Always remember “imitation is poison”. Imitation is a sign of mental weakness; imitation is a symptom of spiritual regress and not progress.

Next is the trap of “short cut illusion!”

Trap #3: Spirituality is a short journey

The path of spirituality is certainly not a 100 meters sprint but a full marathon!

The spiritual aspirant needs to be prepared for this long journey. No illusions of quick results should be allowed to infect his mind. We need to remember that we have accumulated so much of karma  baggage over millions of births; and, discarding them all cannot happen overnight. A great Avatara Purusha like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa himself spent 12 long years crying for God and practising sadhana before attaining total perfection. This Lila of Paramahamsa exactly underlines the point that spiritual life is a long journey. The spiritual aspirant should mentally strengthen himself with the dual potion of patience and perseverance. If not, undue expectation of quick result would only lead to frustration and other psychological disturbances like anger, helplessness, etc. In extreme cases the aspirant may be driven to become an atheist, again due to psychological imbalance. Remember it is a long, fulfilling journey even if we start with a small step; we need to ensure we progress steadily from strength to strength.

Trap #4: “Efforts are a waste…..”

Every single Divine Name chanted does offer its fruit. Every moment spent in divine contemplation takes us closer to God. In the spiritual path every ounce of sadhana erases our latent impressions (vasanas) and purifies our heart to that extent. Nothing ever goes waste. We need to realize this to ensure we do not get frustrated and lose faith.

Losing faith in one’s sadhana is the deadliest of all traps. We need to persevere with our Sadhana in good faith and conviction that its fruit shall certainly come in due course of time. Srimad Bhagavatam gives us a lovely example. When a hungry man starts to eat, he finds that every mouthful of food taken appeases his hunger to that extent as also gives energy and satisfaction to that extent. So, the final and the deadliest of all traps for a Sadhak is losing faith in his sadhana, as there may not be ‘tangible’ result in sight. A Sadhak should, therefore, exercise caution and be wary of these traps in the course of his spiritual journey.