Q: What is the optimum strategy for maximizing personal success and spiritual progress? It seems like people adopt a variety of patterns of spirituality, but these don’t seem to yield the best results.

A: There appear to be several patterns that people portray in their spiritual life, ranging from repression of their spirituality to clear focus. Seven major patterns aspirants adopt include:

1. Resist the Light with all your might – Those that operate from this platform typically are atheists. They repress the inspiration of their Superconscious mind, and only listen to the voice of their own reason. Assuming this posture blocks communion with their higher mind. From this standpoint, they believe that their reason can derive all truth—and others, who operate from other perspectives—are deluded or insane.
2. True believers – These have a spiritual experience that powerfully affects them. Based on this experience, they believe that they have found the ultimate truth. They may be so touched by this experience that they wish to bring everyone else to have this experience. Those who undergo conversion into a religious group or get have a powerful initiation experience commonly become true believers. They may feel compelled to proselytize or evangelize others.
3. The polemicist – These seek to change the beliefs of others so they align with their own. They delight in debating with others and challenging others’ beliefs. You might find among this type, prolific writers, lecturers, teachers of exotic doctrines, and podcast and radio show hosts.
4. Be here now – These “abide in the present time.” They follow the “flow state” and let the Spirit guide their actions. They don’t plan. They let their life and destiny unfold. As a result of this “completely open to experience” mindset, they have many interesting personal and spiritual experiences. Many of them do not achieve much in their lives, but they have many stories to tell.
5. The syncretists – These ones adopt beliefs and practices from multiple traditions, and follow what feels right at the time. One moment, they may do a Krishna mantra; in another, they invoke the archangels; and in yet another, they might do a magical or shamanic rite.
6. The spiritual addict – These use meditation to get high and stay high, so they won’t have to deal with painful feelings and the difficulties in their lives. They may get multiple initiations from different traditions to experience bliss and ecstasy—they chase this high in each meditation. If their meditations do not yield ecstatic light shows or drown them in bliss, they may readily leave the group and go to another, seeking this constant cascade of euphoria and phantasmagoria. Anecdotally, we note that some of those who adopt this strategy may experiment with hallucinogenic drugs, or may be in recovery form other addictive drugs.
7. Laser Focus – These use techniques to achieve specific personal and spiritual objectives—in example, for personal or spiritual transformation, for communion with their higher mind, to work on their personality. They use this laser focus to manifest desired outcomes. Those who can spend time in this focus can be highly productive and achieve much in their lives. [This is the strategy we advocate in our system of Integral meditation.]

At the outer edge of this continuum of spiritual patterns, we have those who don’t have spiritual experiences, and consider those who have them as deviant or pathological. These ones typically are atheists. They embrace an empirical and materialistic mindset in their worldview.

Those that undergo a conversion experience may come to believe that the religion or spiritual group to which they belong is the one and highest Truth. They may feel an urgency to get others to have this experience and join their religious sect or spiritual group.

Others like to wrestle with ideas to arrive at the discovery of truths through disputation, analysis, and synthesizing disparate points of view. These ones become teachers, lecturers, writers, and media hosts: they seek to widely disseminate their ideas.

Those that live “in the flow” have a variety of serendipitous experiences, and follow a breadcrumb trail of coincidences to discover their next insight or realization. These ones become storytellers, musicians, and poets in an attempt to communicate their mystical experiences.

Syncretists put together a toolbox of methods, but they lack a coherent sense of what is their Path and purpose. They have a wide range of things they can do, but they lack clarity on how to tie these skills together towards a coherent purpose.

Spiritual addicts will do anything they can to stay high and dissociate, so they will never have to encounter their pain, shame, and misery. Spiritual addicts commonly present as their “good and spiritual” selves; they will never let you know them personally or intimately.

Finally, there are those that operate from a spiritual laser focus. They achieve this one-pointedness of mind through:

1. They are clear about their innate Path back to Source.
2. They are clear about their spiritual objective and purpose.
3. They have the tools to reach that spiritual objective, and they use these tools in a regular and methodical way.
4. They reflect upon each stage of their unfoldment to mine the hidden truths and insights, and to awaken their latent abilities.
5. They consciously own their problems and emotional issues, and they work with them until they are resolved.
6. They have one-pointed commitment and resolve to achieve their objectives, personal and spiritual.
7. They establish regular habits that promote productivity, and achievement of their personal goals and their targeted spiritual attainment. This strategy yields success in their personal and spiritual life.

Clearly, you will get the best results if you are able to achieve laser focus. Through establishing laser focus, some of our Mudrashram® students:

• Have done the spiritual work of 10,000 lifetimes in this very life, progressing from their original station in the Subtle or Planetary Realm to the Bridge Path—moving from the first or second stage of spirituality to the seventh
• Have dissolved their stored Kriyaman, Sinchit, and Adi Karma from the Subtle, Planetary, Transplanetary, Cosmic, and Supracosmic levels of the Continuum, and from their aligned Transcendental Path, and the Bridge Path
• Have opened each of their vehicles of consciousness on each band of the Continuum, readying them to be an instrument of their Mastery
• Have progressively liberated their ensouling entities and spirits on each band of the Continuum

If you choose to learn our system of Integral meditation—and you can maintain this consistent laser focus—you can achieve these same results.

Q: How do you attain this laser focus?

A: Realize each of these spiritual strategies has some strengths and benefits:

• The first strategy of remaining in the waking state of awareness and relying upon your reason and senses strengthens rationality. This posture is good for the scientist, who must analyze and study phenomena objectively, to arrive at new truths and insights without subjective bias
• The true believers gain the ability to convince and persuade others. This leads to facility with sales, which is the foundation of commerce and political advocacy.
• The polemicist guides people to think, and see new perspectives. Teachers, philosophers, and thought leaders capitalize upon this skill.
• Those that embrace the present moment can deeply process their experience to break up old patterns, to accept change, and to promote growth.
• Syncretists can adopt solutions others have discovered to deal with many types of personal and spiritual issues.
• The spiritual addict can kindle the spirit’s devotion, which is the true motivator for spiritual advancement.

Each of these strategies, when utilized, develops important aspects of your human nature. To break through to laser focus, however, you need to answer some key questions for yourself:

1. What is my purpose for being alive? What is my Soul purpose?
2. Who am I?
3. What do I stand for? What are my core values?
4. What is the source of my consciousness and intention? [What is my attentional principle?] How do I operate from this platform effectively?
5. What is the source of my love and virtue? [What is my spirit?] How do I express this aspect of my nature?
6. What is the nature of my Soul? How do I actualize its potentials?
7. How do I bring about transformation in my personal life and for each of my spiritual potentials?
8. What Path will enable me to know and actualize these seven levels?
9. What is the highest objective of spirituality that ultimately turns all of the darkness of the unconscious mind into light? How can I dissolve the accretions of karma that holds me back from spiritual liberation and Mastery at each level of the Continuum?

[You may find the article, “The 14 Questions of the Seeker,” which is in our online library, will help you explore these key, life-changing questions. This article may also be found in our book, A Mudrashram® Reader: Understanding Integral Meditation.]

If you can answer these questions for yourself, you will facilitate gaining the laser focus that will optimize your time and make the most of your human life.

You cannot guess at these things. You cannot take others’ answers for them, because they purportedly are experts or authorities. You cannot rely upon channeled guidance.

You must know. You must be able to verify all things. You must plumb your mind to its depths and arrive at the Source.

When you do this, you will gain the key to Mastery. Upon attaining this key, you will complete your spiritual journey, and fulfill the aspirations of the countless lives you have lived, but have forgotten. You will fulfill your spiritual destiny, and become a blessing to us all.

We can start you on this journey in our intermediate meditation courses—the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. Will you let us take you there?