What motivates your continual progression of spiritual development?

[serendipity]

If I had to guess I would say pain, and the desire to be free of it... I know that is true for me.

What is it for you? In your own words. Please be as self-honest as possible.

[Miss Hepburn]

Same thing...it is what egged every self realized Yogi on also ...then the desire.
And pain can take all sorts of forms..i mean just simple boredom is suffering, thus pain.
The difference between me and a Yogi is I have a bit more tolerance for pain...he/she had had it up to here and made THE decision;
"No more".

[iamthat]

Pain and the desire to be free of it is perhaps one half of the equation. And it shows that human suffering does serve a purpose. If we never experienced suffering then would we ever seek a way out of suffering?

The other half of the equation is the search for lasting peace and fulfilment and happiness. This is closely related to the realisation that no physical possessions or achievements or relationships will provide the lasting fulfilment we seek.

So spiritual development may begin in the personality as a movement away from one thing (pain) and a movement towards something else (peace).

But there comes a point where our spiritual motivation becomes an impulse from something higher within us. It is no longer driven by personality but instead is driven by Consciousness. There may be times in our lives when we try to ignore this impulse. It is too hard, it is too demanding. So maybe we take a break, we have a rest. But sooner or later we are compelled from within to return to the task.

And gradually we are no longer treading the Path (whatever Path that might be) but instead we become the Path. Motivation or a lack of motivation is no longer an issue. There is no further need to become anyone or go anywhere or do anything. Simply being present here and now is enough.

And in this presence of Being we find all the peace and joy we have ever wanted. And in this peace and joy our hearts are filled with love for the Divine and gratitude to the Divine for all our blessings.

This sums up my experience.

Peace

[hallow]

I don't have a long wordy explanation for this one. I simply want to understand and feel it, I trust in my Angels to guide me where I need to be. I also believe if you don't grow, you die. A person's journey should come from within since we're all different and have different paths.

[JustBe]

Potentialities through my true self without conditioning. I see it more as an ongoing expansion without suffering over stuff that ultimately becomes about opening, letting go and allowing more if life to flow through you..

[Starman]

In the beginning for me it was pain also, I wanted to relieve myself of pain and my own internal discomfort. Then it transitioned to love, as I experienced love, or bliss, within myself I wanted more of that.

Today it is like a snowball rolling down a hill, gathering more and more snow as it goes. These days the practice, or conditioning, which I have developed moves me and I am not the motivator who is doing it.

[Redchic12]

For me it was curiosity.

Although pain nudged it along a lot quicker and deeper.

[Starman]

In my opinion the greatest motivator is longing, and you may ask what is longing? Longing is an urge to connect with, be with, or embrace. It moves us to seek out whatever we are longing for.

Longing may also be described as a hunger, and often it is said about a spiritual practice to stay hungry for truth. Longing can be a passion to fulfill our hunger, and the deeper the longing the greater it may carry us.

Of course there are also spiritual fanatics, fire breathing spiritual warriors. Who feel it is their duty to convert everyone to see things their way. This is their motivator; they are on a mission.

And yes, some people, if not many people, are motivated to continue on the spiritual path by fear, while others may be motivated by joy. Whatever motivates us is usually very close to us.

[JustBe]

In my experience I have had to become everything I was longing for.

If your desires, needs, longings are not being met outside you then recognising what ‘you are’ firstly in and as all this, opens the door to sourcing this outside if you.

When you change change moves through your reality.

This is why people fall away, jobs change, relationships end.

If your not building the foundation of yourself within the experience offered, not opening and letting go deeper of your needs/desire/longing/expectations you’ll always feel the world and others are not providing what you need. You’ll always see a lack and invalidations through others and life.

[Native spirit]

For myself it was an Internal knowing and needing to find out more.
without pain there can be no gain
The mind is like a sponge the more it takes in, the more it wants,


Namaste