The vital power of self-work

Suma Varughese asserts that there are no shortcuts to enlightenment. Working diligently on yourself is the only way.

- Suma Varughese

While we all have varying ideas about spirituality, at its core, it is only this one thing: self-transformation; or the end of suffering, as the Buddha called it. That’s it.

It is not about having visions, astral travel, clairvoyance, opening your third eye, or raising your kundalini (latent energy, in yoga). It is much more than that. It is to heal ourselves fully. To realise our full potential. To transcend the ego. To come to terms with our past. To be immune to the pulls and pressures of the body and mind. And above all, to feel no pain. No hurt. No matter what anyone does or says, we will be unfaltering in our composure. Krishnamurti once told his audience. Do you want to know my secret? The audience was agog. And this is what he said, “I don’t mind what happens.” So simple, and yet so tremendous.

Spend a minute thinking about how your life would be if you did not mind what happens. Coronavirus. Broken relationships. Environment crisis. Financial difficulties. Health problems. Conflict within. Still not minding what happens. Can you be in allowance of all that happens? Resting peaceful and easy like a dewdrop on a lotus leaf?

You might ask, is it even possible to live like this? Indeed yes. Others have done it. Why can’t we? All the great prophets and sages are testimony to this possibility.

So how do we get there? Through self-work. It is very tempting to imagine, while on the path, that we only have to look deep into a