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 the 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 fulfil 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 specialties 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 provide 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 core 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.