The Spiritual Leader
How beautiful is this life! There are countless ways to describe the joys and vicissitudes of life. But when looked at from a spiritual perspective, life could be categorized into 7 stages, where we can move unto as we grow up and understand it. It’s important for us to know our potential and the possibilities that life offers. Hence we need to stay in the path that will lead us to be best version of ourselves.
The first stage is the most basic the instinct to fill our mind and body with materials; the baby is unaware of how he or she comes into this world but still loves its mother, as it is the place where its primary requirement is getting fulfilled .A baby knows it's mother by smell and knows that this is where my hunger is taken care of. This is the first stage, the stage where we attract materials. As we grow up in life, we accumulate sometimes more than we need. That is the reason why there are rich humans and poor humans No other species has such classifications such as rich or poor. This is the first stage of life that we should learn to step out of.
The second stage is when you start appreciating aspects of life such as a cool breeze, music, a beautiful landscape etc. During this stage, at any point of time you could get immersed in enjoying the natural beauty around you and forget the basic needs like hunger. You cannot possess the natural beauty; you enjoy it without worrying about who else is sharing the pleasure with you. Materialistic things may seem irrelevant for some time and lose their importance as we learn to appreciate the intangibles of life.
The third stage is where we start getting curious. We are in a quest to absorb knowledge and learn different things, to satiate our thirst for knowledge. We realize we need a teacher, as an individual's life is too limited to learn from one's own experience only. We take pride in questioning, learning and knowing. Knowledge forms the building block of skill development, which eventually brings out historians, inventors, artists, engineers, etc. in us.
The fourth stage is where we like to teach. Whether our lessons are accepted or not, we start giving lessons and get satisfaction in enforcing or enlightening others with our experience, thought and idea. Almost everyone enjoys these stages in life. You can observe this in young siblings as well. It’s interesting to see how the feeling of superiority takes its importance through knowledge and experience sharing during our growth.
The fifth stage is where we like to lead. This is the stage of the leader. The leader is one who has followers. A Leader doesn’t impose. People love and idealize the persona. A leader is charismatic, magnetic and more often than not has a larger than life image. A leader can be an entrepreneur, politician or a spiritual guru. This larger than life stage needs a clear heart and mind with a focused vision, with tremendous self-confidence. This is the stage we should work our way onto.
The sixth stage is the stage of withdrawal or pratyahar (retracting). This is the stage of peace where one is at absolute control of their emotions. Here, we stay emotionally detached from any situation that involves us and keep ourselves unaffected. It’s a kind of yoga where body and mind unite to control and manage thought process. For instance, somebody you may love might be suffering, who in turn would make you suffer. This is maya or emotions that control us by playing with our imaginations, bouncing us between future and past and making us suffer. To detach and get disconnected is the goal. Living in present and maintaining peace and harmony of your soul is the primary responsibility of each one of us.
The last stage is Samadhi. It’s the stage where you could manifest a control over life and death. Fear of death is the biggest insecurity a human being has. When death is accepted that makes you fearless. That’s the stage of eternal peace. Everything around us responds to our state of mind. A stage of absolute control without greed, ego and with clear thought process that is fearless and kind, makes you eternal.
As we grow spiritually we become aware of higher thoughts and we get into higher stages of life. At a certain moment in life, we might be overlapping simultaneously across these multiple stages. So these stages will overlap. But to be successful in life we must master our mind to attain the fifth and sixth stage. To be a leader who is at peace, secure, courageous, has integrity and kindness. A leader who is spreading positive energy and happiness. Let us be the leader who can bring prosperity with love and kindness, thus making this world a better place.
