Have any of you lost your desire for success/fame since your spiritual awakening?
 

I'm a newbie so I don't know if this question was already asked. This must be one of the common theme regarding awakening though.


So I'm not asking if you become nihilist or have lost your desire to live...no, not at all. I'm only asking if you are no longer interested in getting any social recognition after awakening.

I sort of fall into this category.


If you have, do you consider it the necessary step for your spiritual development?
Have you got any favorable changes in your life due to it or do you rather struggle with your low desire?

' Before enlightenment chop wood carry water, after enlightenment chop wood carry water '

yeah true lol.
But do you(/people) derive more pleasure out of it after awakening?
Just being happy with how/who you are now and stuff...without really achieving anything that draws people's attention, you know?

I think you are onto something with what you are expressing. In my own personal experience I find that success has come much more freely the more I let go of any expectation for success. There is nothing wrong with success but connecting your ego to success is different from letting go of ego and welcoming opportunities/success as they come to you.

The converse of the desire for social recognition is the fear of social disapproval. Personality may desire one and fear the other, but consciousness is not concerned with either. Social recognition and social disapproval are both fleeting and ephemeral. Success and fame may happen, but they make no difference to what we are.

Spiritual development is a process of becoming empty, of letting go of all attachments and aversions. We do not have to become anyone.

Peace.

how do you reconcile this with "survival" which may require "success"? :D

I wouldn't say I was ever ambitious, or wanted to be famous; I lived a pretty ordinary small-town life, and could have kept on doing that, had nothing changed.

I did occasionally have fuzzy, unfocused yearnings for better stuff, or more excitement and adventure, and a constant, nagging sense that what I had or who I was wasn't enough. But honestly, that's just part of living in a media-saturated society where you're constantly bombarded by people telling you what you should want.

In the aftermath of my spiritual awakening, I saw that none of it mattered. I didn't reject anything; I simply lost any interest in it.

These days, I lead a very simple life. I bought a house so small, nobody else wanted it, but it's just right for me. I have a job that satisfies my love of planning, problem-solving, and keeping everything moving in an orderly fashion. Most of the people I work with and have as friends might get called "simple" and "unsophisticated," but they're generally happy with themselves and their lives, and enjoy simple pleasures. Nobody's striving to be anything they're not in order to win society's approval.

I can't imagine anything else I actually need, or why I should try to be anything but the truest, most honest version of this earthly thing I call "myself" I can manage. Despite having an awakening, I've never felt a calling to do anything "great" in this world's eyes, or save anybody, or champion a particular cause, or spread an explicitly spiritual message. I've never been so happy to be such an ordinary, unspectacular human being.

What is awakening though? There are many types.

I did for a while initially after becoming empty as iamthat describes it. It seem like none of it mattered, but I know you are differentiating between your question and not caring about anything. Just sharing nonetheless. But now, I sort of want to achieve and be successful.

Thank you all for sharing. These are exactly what I wanted to hear from different people. If you got any, please feel free to offer yours, too!

hmmm good question. Let me define it by this way: being able to make clear distinction between your (true) self and ego. The ability to connect with otherworldly things is not necessarily required. As is clear from youngje847' s response;
True. by not wanting to succeed you may be already successful in your life...
Quite honestly though, I myself don't feel that natural flow too often so maybe I'm still not fully awakened despite all the so-called spiritual experiences.


very well said iamthat. Maybe I should confront that fear more, too!
and yeah, I was obviously trying to become someone by having those desires, but honestly, I feel like I'm nobody now...which relates to the comment from traceyacey12
I wanted to differentiate apathy from becoming empty here, too.
Sometimes (well, too often, for me) it's hard to feel the difference, isn't it? So I posted this question.



Thank you for sharing your wonderful story, Winter Song. Your words are simple yet very impressive.
That's very true, I'm so done with this materialistic hell which keeps being fed by creating hunger among people. It's almost like being told to never grow up, never get bored of playing with the childrens' toys they offer...
Wow sooo I don't think I've reached the level of your inner peace just yet...and your tranquil conviction is truly awesome. I personally think you've already been doing justice to this world by committing yourself to be nothing but yourself.

What you've described as a simple life though, may be something so common in the old days... ohhh those dayz...it also, to me, does sound like how God wants every one of us to live, showing in your story how God loves us.