Character Building and the Spiritual Path

This may seem like one of those strange statements. After all, doesn't the fact that one is on the spiritual path imply that one is already molding one's character to be a better and more moral person? Not necessarily. When one is exposed to the wonderful field of esoteric studies, there is always the danger of getting too caught up in the myriad techniques and rituals of different spiritual traditions. We're talking about thousands of years worth of traditions across different civilizations, so there's really a lot of them.

I constantly have to remind myself that the techniques are only the tools that are required to achieve the objective. To quote a cliche, we must not be so focused on the trees that we lose sight of the forest. When there is an overemphasis on technique and ritual, we can lose the essence of why the techniques and rituals are there in the first place. The practice can devolve into something like a bodybuilding contest, where people flex their "muscles" to impress spectators. What is worse is that the promise of receiving higher teachings can be used to ensure obedience within an organization, particularly to those who are "addicted" to the prospect of higher knowledge. In this case, the techniques and rituals can become a distraction and a hindrance to one's spiritual progress.

This is not to say that we should give up the different spiritual exercises and rituals. Rather, a proper perspective should always be present. One analogy I can think of is the practice of traditional martial arts. By "traditional" I mean those systems that have a rich collection of preset forms or kata. If one focuses too much on the kata, one won't be able to fight effectively or react in a fluid situation such as sparring or a real fight, yet one could delude oneself into thinking one is a bad ass fighter simply because one is a black belt who knows all the kata. The forms are there to give the foundation that allows the martial artist to execute techniques in a fluid situation such as a real-life encounter.

What does this have to do with character building? Again, the goal of spiritual practice is the perfection of the self. The spiritual exercises are not ends in themselves. The techniques are the support, not the goal.

The work of character building takes on even more urgency when one is practicing advanced spiritual disciplines. Master Choa Kok Sui explains in his books that divine energy activates the kundalini (the serpent fire at the base of the spine) to a certain extent. The more advanced a spiritual technique or meditation, the more divine energy it brings down, hence the more tendency for the kundalini to activate.

There are many descriptions of what the kundalini is, but according to Master Choa, the important thing to consider is that kundalini is like a fertilizer. It magnifies both the good and the bad in us. This explains how there are priests and pastors who become sex maniacs or who embezzle the funds of the parish. Their daily spiritual practices activated their kundalini and made their negative tendencies stronger, often to the point of being uncontrollable. This is why character building is so important, so that advanced spiritual practices produce saints instead of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde parodies.

In pranic healing courses, one will notice that character building is a consistent part of every seminar. The fact that character building is constantly repeated, even in higher courses such as Arhatic Yoga, underlines its importance so that one may avoid complications in one's spiritual advancement. If one's negative traits overwhelm one's positive traits, one may spiritually fall or become worse off than if one hadn't pursued advanced spiritual practices in the first place.

There are many signs of kundalini awakening that are also called kundalini syndrome. But in Arhatic Yoga, "kundalini syndrome" is usually understood in its negative context, referring to problems associated with kundalini awakening.

Some examples of the positive effects of kundalini awakening include increased intuition, increased mental capability, more energy in the body (sometimes one would feel subtle electrical currents around the body or slight vibrations), activation of clairvoyance or other psychic tendencies, increased spiritual experiences, etc. Some negative effects that one might experience could be uncontrollable sex drive, a quick temper, overheating in the body even after meditation, increased bad luck, etc. although some of the effects are temporary and may just be signs that one's energy body is adjusting to the increased energy (like sore muscles after hard exercise).

Before you get scared of activating your kundalini, please note that everyone's kundalini is already activated. The question is how much it's activated. If you compare this to a faucet, most people would only have a trickle of water dripping out, while more advanced practitioners and yogis would probably have the faucet half-way open or more.

Also, the negative effects mentioned above are not inevitable. They are only likely if one has imbalances or problems in the energy body. Think of a dirty hose. If you open the faucet and the inside of the hose is dirty, you could end up spraying dirty water on the floor or the water gets stuck and the hose could burst. Since negative thought patterns, emotions and attitudes dirty one's energy body, then one's character (or lack of it) definitely has an effect on how smooth or rough one's kundalini awakening will be.

Again, the negative effects are avoidable and manageable, and one need not be absolutely perfect in order to start advancing spiritually. We all make mistakes. However, character building is also a continuous process, the same way a gardener prunes the leaves and pulls out the weeds before they grow further. The New Testament makes several references to gardeners and taking out the weeds, and those passages could apply just as easily to the practice of character building.

Lack of character building also explains why one may encounter genuine spiritual organizations that have worse internal politics and backstabbing than ordinary organizations. The spiritual teachings may be real but the practice of the teachings may be lacking, and so the activated kundalini of advanced members may instead fertilize greed, power-tripping, jealousy and other vices.

In case you are now confused about whether to pursue advanced spiritual practices or not, let me say that no single path is better than the other. Like in anything, it's all up to the individual. This is why the diversity of choices in life all have their place. Some people are content with sitting quietly in a corner and praying. Others need the direction and pacing a more structured practice gives. Only you will know the answer.

In the end, we should always ask ourselves, how has our spiritual advancement helped others? As we ennoble ourselves, do we also ennoble others? As quoted from The Science of Mentalphysics by Edwin J. Dingle:

Freedom in life comes through a knowledge of Spiritual Law and luckily the more Man knows the more he is responsible for.

Knowledge without right action is worse than ignorance, because an ignorant person does not know how to act any other way, yet a knowledgeable person has the power of choice, yet chooses irresponsibly. This is why knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge, is a sacred trust.

The spiritual path gives us access to higher knowledge. Character building is the bridge that allows that knowledge to flow from the head and into the heart.