Spiritual Hobbyists

I found my Spiritual Teacher through chess. I wanted to be a Chess Grandmaster and he was one of the better chess teachers in the area. It turns out he was/is on the surface what Eckhart Tolle calls a “Frequency Holder” who lives as an enlightened master, but teaches chess as a means to impart the “frequency.” He is also a one on one spiritual teacher but only if the student seeks that out.

There are chess “hobbyists.” In fact, most people in the world are chess hobbyists. I wanted to be a chess professional. I was never a hobbyist. So when my chess teacher would give me a week’s worth of work (literally work that would take one week to finish) I did it in a week (sometimes finishing an hour before our scheduled meeting…) and reported for more work. I couldn’t get enough because I wanted to be a Chess Grandmaster.

I didn’t know, until he told me, that I was rare.

He told me once that he would give out a week’s work and some people either never finished it, or it took months or years to finish.

That blew my mind.

A week’s work took a week if one did it.

Oh…

I see…

They weren’t doing it.

Early in my chess career he also suggested a daily spiritual practice and I said no. He never pushed. He never shamed me. But over the 25 years that I knew him when I had emotional or even concentration/mind-based issues, he would suggest his spiritual practice. I always said no, I was an atheist and thought a spiritual practice would go against such a thing (boy was I wrong!)

When I was finally in deep enough pain (suicidal depression) I agreed to do it.

And I did it.

I was not a hobbyist.

In fact, I did MORE work than he suggested because he gave me a practice and emphasized it was the MINIMUM practice acceptable. Well, I did more.

I was not a hobbyist.

I’ve never been a hobbyist when I took something seriously.

I am a hobbyist with some things but I know that I am. I don’t fool myself into thinking I’m a professional singer for instance but I enjoy karaoke and I have sung in front of people. I’m not a professional singer, even though I have been paid to sing. I’m a hobbyist.

When I began teaching my teacher warned me. He told me that I was going to be shocked at how rare of a student I was. I had no idea what he was talking about.

These days Spiritual Hobbyists are all the rage. People do “Mindfulness Meditation” in the morning along with their daily workout routines. Psychiatrists prescribe it to relieve anxiety and depression etc. More and more there are various people making a living as some kind of “Spiritual Coach” (like a “Personal Trainer” but for spirituality) where they teach Hatha Yoga (the only form of Yoga Westerners know), or Meditation. But Hatha Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation are really only stepping stones for deeper realizations.

Of course, this is better than no practice. But this kind of pace is why Buddhists and Hindu’s invented the notion of “reincarnation” because at that pace it would take ten (maybe a hundred) lifetimes to reach enlightenment…

Much like the students who did a week’s worth of chess homework in a month or a year (or never.)

So, here I am in year eight of being a spiritual teacher. And, as usual, my teacher was right. I am shocked by how rare serious students are. In fact, most students see ME as the work – i.e. talking to me or listening to my Satsangs etc. I give them a daily practice (which IS the work) but unless I’m there to hold their hand they don’t do it?!

So, I have shifted my expectations and now only expect to find Spiritual Hobbyists and maybe one day, if I’m lucky, find one or two serious students.

And that’s fine, as that is the way it is.

This plane of existence is all about form consciousness. Shifting beyond form consciousness seems to be a rare state here and for most people, that kind of mastery must await them at a later time (beyond the death of this form when our lessons continue most likely.)

The real tragedy of this is that, while abiding in a form, touching the formless and experiencing that amazing space between form and no-form is a rare privilege. And if one doesn’t do the work while still in the form, they miss out on that opportunity.

However, as hobbyists, they will have less stress while they try to “make it” in the world of form and maybe even “be somebody” in the eyes of other egos…

Hobbyists would cry a river of tears if they knew how shallow those accomplishments would seem from the space of enlightenment.

Alas, it seems, only a few will ever know this first hand on this plane of existence.

And that saddens me.