Making progress on the spiritual path does not mean that you have to reject any kind of pleasure and fun and live an austere and harsh life. This idea sometimes holds people from taking the first step toward spiritual growth. Walking on a spiritual path does not require that you avoid everything coming through the five senses, and treating yourself harshly and rigorously.

Pleasure and enjoyment do not hold you from making spiritual progress, but the attachment to them does. It is the attachment that has to go. Attachment is a kind of fear, addiction and lack of freedom. It is the fear of loss.

It might seem to you as a paradox, but you can enjoy life, but at the same time stay unattached anything you experience.

It is the inner attitude that is important. Someone, who has progressed on the inner path, can live and enjoy life, like anyone else, but at the same time not be attached to anything. Such a person may not seek pleasure deliberately, but when there is pleasure, he/she can enjoy it while it lasts, without being attached to it. When the source of pleasure is gone, there is no clinging to it or wishing it stayed, neither there is regret and or a feeling of loss.

Here is what Ramesh Balsekar says on this subject in his book “Who Cares?!”:

“The difference between the sage and the ordinary person, in regard to the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, is that while the ordinary person is continually in search of such pleasures, the sage does not hanker after such pleasures, but enjoys them with zest when they happen in the ordinary course of life. The sage does not seek pleasure, nor does he reject it when it happens.”

Ramesh Balsekar also quotes the words the sage Ashtavakra: “Absence of attachment to sense objects is liberation; passion for sense objects is bondage.”

Overcoming attachment and developing detachment lead to peace of mind and happiness.

People who are on the path of spiritual growth are sometimes perplexed and don’t know what to do. They want to advance on the spiritual path, but they cannot devote all their time to this quest and abandon the material world. Most of them have responsibilities and duties they feel they cannot ignore, and have material needs they have to take care of.

Some people say that in order to walk on the spiritual path, one needs to give up all material possessions and money and live in seclusion. To prove their assertion, they point to the swamis, monks, yogis and fakirs living in the East. True spirituality is an inner state, and is not gauged by external lifestyle. Living like them is not fit everyone, and it does not always leads to real inner growth.

Did you ever stop to think that there might be people living ordinary lives, with job and family, even people whom you might know personally, who are well advanced on the spiritual path, but yet neither you nor anyone else know about this? They just prefer to hide this fact and there is nothing in their external life to denote their inner state.

Most people won’t be able to live without material possessions of some kind, and it is also not necessary. One needs a place to stay and sleep, clothes, food, health care, and all this costs money. Without them, it will be more difficult to concentrate or meditate, because the mind and the survival instinct will continuously distract and disturb your concentration.

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Mouni Sadhu was an occultist, a spiritual teacher and author, who lived in the 20th century. He was born in 1897, some sources stating Poland as his place of birth, while others say he was born in Russia.

Mouni Sadhu studied and practiced occultism and magic for years, but after reading Paul Brunton’s book, “A search in Secret India”, his focus in life changed. He was fascinated by Paul Brunton’s account about his meeting and conversation with the Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, and from then on, he developed a strong interest in the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, aiming to self-realization.

Mouni Sadhu discovered Sri Ramana maharshi’s teaching at the time he was living in Paris, but after some time, in 1946 he moved to Brazil, finally settling in Australia in 1948.

In 1949 Mouni Sadhu visited Sri Ramana Maharshi at his ashram in Tiruvannamalai, where his spiritual quest reached its heights. He later narrated his experiences at the ashram in his book “In Days of Peace”.

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People who follow self improvement or spiritual growth techniques, such as concentration, meditation willpower or self discipline, sometimes get bored, lose interest and desire to quit.

There are many reasons why this might happen. If you over practice, your body and mind might resist your efforts. If this is the case, reduce the time you spend on the exercises. Sometimes, doing less is actually doing more.

Like it is with everything else, so it is on the inner path, there comes a time when one becomes bored or tired. In this case it would help, if you were able to motivate yourself to continue. You can do so by thinking often about the benefits of self-improvement or spiritual growth, and by reading about people who practiced what you are doing now and about their success.

There is another point to remember. The mind does not like to be controlled. It wants to stay free and undisciplined. Willpower, self discipline, concentration and meditation are aimed to control the mind and make it obedient to you. When the mind realizes that it is going to lose its freedom, it uses various ways to prevent you from controlling it. It might make you desire to stop the exercises, feel uncertain about the usefulness of what you are doing, make you feel you are wasting your time or just make feel too lazy.

Sometimes one feels as if he or she is being tempted to stop what they are doing. This is the time to show inner strength and discipline. The inner path requires time, devotion and perseverance.

You can help yourself by reading inspiring literature, thinking about what success would mean, not overdoing the exercises, and not obeying the desire to quit.

Sometimes people say that they feel they are losing interest in material things. It is natural, while on the path of spiritual growth, to lose some interest in the material life. One has to use common sense when this happens, and find the balance between the material and spiritual life. It is quite possible to live in both the spiritual and material worlds at the same time. There are people who live in ashrams, who do not care about the material life and about possessions, and there are people who work, have family and possessions, and yet are intensive in their spiritual quest. It possible to go caring about your business, doing the best you can, and the same time have your consciousness, as if in another dimension.

Change and transformation happen on the inner plane and not necessarily on the material plane. Spiritual progress happens inside you, while your external life could continue with almost no change. You may continue working and living the same external life, and at the same time practice self improvement and spiritual growth techniques. As you progress, you will develop some kind of inner detachment, which will allow you to function harmoniously, both on the spiritual and material levels. You will be able continue with your work, job and relationships, but with a kind of free and detached frame of mind.

Recommeded book to help you develop your inner strength:
Will Power and Self Discipline