Going Full Sadhu
What do I mean by ‘going full sadhu’? I have sometimes made the point that, especially during the height of the Pilgrimage years. I styled myself more upon the concept of a sadhu, the wandering spiritual seeker espousing the life of a renunciate, rather than becoming one literally (e.g., Pilgrims, Mendicants and Beggars) accepting that I simply wouldn’t have the capacity to do this and try to live a life so stripped down to the absolute basics. As eclectic a group of people as sadhus are, comprising those who used to be wealthy and successful, to a generality of ordinary family folk turned renunciate wanderers, most do conform to this notion of the ascetic, having few possessions and having renounced normal society, including family. I am speaking here of the Indian tradition of renunciates, as monks and ascetics of other religious traditions, perhaps especially within the Christian religion, are more usually found within monastic institutions and may still maintain social connections with family for example.
It’s is true to say that, as the imperative to commence this Pilgrimage gained momentum, my inclination to engage in any social life with an attendant network of friends diminished. I have never been someone with a wide circle of friends, but I certainly had and valued the few friends I did have. But, as my interests turned increasingly to transcendental objectives, several of these relationships fell off the radar completely. Also, I have always been someone comfortable with solitude and my own company, so it was never a particular loss to me in more general social life terms. For one thing, as one’s inner world becomes more focused upon esoteric goals, it becomes increasingly difficult to share this and all the related reasoning with people, however ‘spiritually aware’ they might be. People see these things very differently and although it may not be so uncommon for spiritually inclined people to be part of some formal religion or movement, to go on retreats, read spiritually enlightening literature and such, to try and explain why one feels called to give away all that has constituted one’s life and depart for India is certainly more challenging. It’s even harder to explain to those people claiming to be outright atheists with condescending or sceptical views towards people like me, and my inner circle of acquaintances includes at least one of these.
Each one of us is an individual and as much as I have seen my journey in the terms I generally describe it, set within the framework of Pilgrimage involving the renunciation of gainful life and normal worldly pursuits and relationships, that Ultimate Quest for the ‘Pearl of Great Price’, I also see it in terms of what Carl Jung called ‘Individuation’ (1) being that innate and unique life journey that produces each one of us at the highest level of personal expression, involving the difficult and often painful integration of many complex and not necessarily compatible aspects that sit awkwardly together. As importantly, given I also experience myself far more as a mystic, than a classical seeker of Eastern notions of enlightenment, in many ways I find the tales of the life stories of other mystics more helpful to me and able to give a better explanatory context for many of the experiences I have (2).
My general feeling as I write this is that ‘the song is over‘ and that I have taken this all about as far as I can. It is most certainly a journey that has changed me and changed completely the way I relate to the world and perceived norms within this. I have most certainly had my sublime transcendental experiences of ‘realisation’, that have cemented my deeper connection with the Higher Self/Divinity. However, I can also believe that, whilst one continues in this world, it will inevitably be a work in progress, for as the Katha Upanishad cautions, yoga (union with the Divine) can come and go (3). And, as I have oft observed, when the great Vedic scriptures were written, the world was a very different place to what it is now (4).
(1) For a summary explanation see Martin Schmidt. Individuation and the Self. Society of Analytical Psychology, although there are many useful explanations of this process readily found online.
https://www.thesap.org.uk/articles-on-jungian-psychology-2/about-analysis-and-therapy/individuation
(2) Evelyn Underhill. (1911) 1930. Mysticism. The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. Dover Publications, Mineola, New York.
See also In the Spirit: Mysticism where I discuss my views and experiences in some detail.
(3) From Katha Upanishad Part 6 Verse 11. “Yoga literally means to join or to unite the lower self with the Higher Self, the object with the subject, the worshipper with God. In order to gain this union, however, one must first disunite oneself from all that scatters the physical, mental and intellectual forces; so the outgoing perceptions must be detached from the external world and indrawn. When this is accomplished through constant practice of concentration and meditation, the union takes place of its own accord. But it may be lost again, unless one is watchful.” The Upanishads Translated and Commentated by Swami Paramânanda From the Original Sanskrit Text. Published by Dancing Unicorn Books, 2017.
(4) I discuss this in some detail in In the Spirit Prelude
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