Experiencing Spiritual Progress In Groups (Part 2)

Spiritual growth is an inner journey where we seek to constantly learn and grow into a better version of ourselves. This involves conscious attention and consistency is hard to sustain if we practice spirituality alone. Yesterday we understood how spiritual communities or groups play a huge role in addressing this issue.

Being part of a community helps us fulfill our emotional, mental, social and physical needs. The gathering and the collective vibrations of the spiritual family help us remain constantly motivated. 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 –

1● Adapt to people of different personalities
2● Tolerate, accommodate, adjust
3● Co-operate and not compete
4● Listen, understand and empathize
5● Communicate clearly and sincerely
6● Remain emotionally stable during challenging interactions
7● Forgive and forget unpleasant energy exchanges
8● Become a detached observer of situations and people’s actions
9● Notice the qualities of all individuals (instead of judging their weaknesses) and offer generous praise
10● Discern situations and people
11● Go into inner silence even amidst actions and interactions
12● Respect everyone and remain in self-respect
13● Be open to giving and receiving constructive feedback
14● Learn from each other’s experiences
15● Go beyond the self-needs to share, care and co-operate

When spirituality is practiced alone, progress in all the above parameters is restricted or lesser, whereas being in groups provides us more prospects to express all of them. By practicing the above-listed qualities within a group, we strengthen them further within the self. The 𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 inculcated become a strong foundation on top of which we can build other roles and responsibilities. Encouraging our family, friends, and office colleagues to take up spirituality with us and visiting a spiritual centre for spiritual progress is one positive step in this direction.