Sometimes, I think we can confuse being spiritual with being serious or more to the point, we can have the idea that to be spiritual means the sacrifice of anything purely "fun" or "leisurely" for a laser sharp focus on only that that's most evolutionary.
That to be spiritual, we should be more like the monk in the cave, eating only berries, sleeping at sunset and rising well before the dawn, eschewing luxuries and simple pleasures for auesteries and abstinence and therefore less like the regular human out there enjoying dinners, sleep ins and days at the beach.
But I think this idea misses the point.
As Maharishi once said, "We have an infinite number of reasons to be happy and a serious responsibility not to be serious."
Or as my teacher Thom once told myself and my fellow group of teachers, upon graduating, (and I paraphrase) "After a long day of initiating people, go and have some fun. Eat a pizza. Watch a silly movie. Relax. You don't need to then sit down and read the Bhagavad Gita before bed."
Both of these great masters were making the same point. The point of life is the expansion of happiness and sometimes that expansion can be found on page 897 of the Mahabharatta and other times it can be found in the second scoop of ice cream whilst watching Season Two of Perfect Match on Netflix.
Which, speaking of, I can honestly say I'd never heard of - but this past weekend, I had a sore throat from some dental work and did what I would never normally do on a Saturday afternoon - turn on the TV. And for whatever reason, the first thing that popped up as a possible option to watch on Netflix was..drum roll...Perfect Match, Season Two nonetheless. I went with it and to my surprise, I have to acknwoledge, I kind of enjoyed it...so much so that I guiltily admitted what I'd been doing later that day to some friends who came over and the end result - we had a laugh as we watched a bit of it together.
And while on the surface it's hard to find anything "spiritual" about Perfect Match - there is something spiritual in enjoying some light hearted entertainment and then sharing it with friends.
The thing is, the more we engage in the twice daily practice of Vedic Meditation, the more we get in tune with nature. The more we get in tune with nature, the more we have what we call spontaneous right action or in other words, we get better and better at being in the right place at the right time and not being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
As a result, our actions will naturally feel more aligned and from the outside perspective, probably tend to look more "spiritual" but what's so good about this is that sometimes, spontaneous right action may just as validly equal watching Perfect Match at home on a Saturday afternoon as reading the Bhagavad Gita.
At the end of the day, spirituality is a being thing, not a doing thing. You don't do it. You be it.
For example, we could be reading a deep, philosophical book - at a glance, seemingly a highly spiritual thing to do - but at the same time - be plotting some kind of revenge on our neighbour for the party they had last night (not very spiritual) or conversely, we could be watching some silly show on TV - seemingly not a very spiritual thing to do - but completely empathising with all of the characters (a spiritual way of being).
When we meditate twice a day, the rest takes care of itself.
If you’ve fallen off your practise, or would like a re-invigoration, or just love the undeniable feeling of de-exciting as a group, please join me this Monday and every Monday thereafter, for group meditation online or in person in Malibu starting at 6pm PST. We will meditate at 615 and then have time for questions and knowledge until 730. Email matt@matthandley.com for more info.
Lots of love
Matt
Pictured below - the cast of Season Two of Perfect Match
