Question:

How to do a few days of Spiritual sabbatical?

Answer:

Spirituality is about looking within and finding that peace within. For beginners, who have not yet learnt to be with their own selves, every Teacher/Guru/Master gives processes/techniques so one finally goes within and enjoys the taste of ‘BEING’. All techniques/processes/courses are just a tool to train an individual to learn to go within his/her own self and learn to be there alone. It is silly to spend every year on the training-school without applying the technique when back out into the world. Spirituality is not a constant party-time with others in spiritual-training school. The wise one goes back out into the world and applies that training. Now is that time!

The Germans have a wonderful way of celebrating the time between Christmas and New Year. They completely devote this time to their own self, simply cut off from the regular routine. They do not answer any phone calls during this period either…They call it ‘Zwischen den Jahren – In between 2 consecutive years‘… though there is really no time-gap between 2 years 😉 I think this is a cool way to go within yourself and be silent.

Even if you have not learnt to meditate all day long yet and don’t know what is a spiritual sabbatical, you can still take a break from all the normal routine stuff that you do all year long and just be with our own self from the 26th to the 1st, to contemplate and relax.

There are many spiritual options to choose from:

– Cut off from gadgets and people to spend some ‘Me-time’ OR

– Just be silent for 7days, all by yourself and meditate as much as you can OR

– Read a spiritual book/listen to a spiritual talk that you have been wanting to dive into since a very long time and make notes on how you are going to apply that knowledge in life OR 

– Take a break from family and friends and go to another town [may be in the mountains] alone to spend some time with nature just by yourself OR

– You can come up with your own way for Self-contemplation [being alone is a prerequisite].

The ‘true long-lasting’ taste of ‘BEING’ is different from the ‘experience of ‘I” that one has while being with other people around. Whenever there is a ‘You’, there is an ‘I’. ‘I’ cannot exist without ‘You’. ‘You’ cannot exist without ‘I’. The true taste of ‘BEING’ cannot be a long-lasting flavour when one is surrounded constantly by others [even if they are all silent]. Understand that ‘BEING’ by yourself is the key to Samadhi. And however complicated it sounds, it’s really very simple to taste Samadhi if you are certain that you really want to.

Give yourself a break from others as well as yourself 😉 Dive within! If you are a sincere spiritual seeker, you will relish what you find on the other side. Sukhi bhava!