Will the survival instinct derail your spiritual practice?
The coronavirus will trigger the survival instinct in many people, perhaps bringing the “self” back with a vengeance. How does one support and maintain a spiritual practice during a pandemic where fear of survival activates self-preservation activity in the masses – and us?
In the Diamond Approach, we have several teachings and bodies of wisdom that support one’s movement toward the truth in the calm and the storm.
The Instincts
Our biological/psychological instincts include survival, sexual and social. The survival instinct is fundamental, as social and sexual instincts serve survival.
What can we expect when billions of people’s survival instinct gets activated?
The survival instinct can be viewed from biological (animal soul) and psychological (self) perspectives.
Regarding covid-19 (coronavirus), the survival instinct will activate both as the “self” is identified with the body. If the body dies, the self dies, but the “death” of the self does not result in the body’s death.
This is the fundamental premise of spiritual work – we are not the self; we are being. However, when the “rubber meets the road,” the survival instinct can knock us off center and bring our self-preservation concerns to the forefront.
What’s important to see is that ultimately, all animal instincts amount to the basic drive for physical survival. And all our powerful needs and instinctual drives can become a force that completely eclipses the love of truth. This is true whether the survival instinct manifests as the need for security, support, safety, affection, social contact, comfort, or money. In reality, all social and sexual instincts are linked to survival. For example, you may just want somebody around or someone to talk to on the phone, and it doesn’t matter whether truth is involved. Just talking is what’s needed. What’s really happening is that you can’t be alone; you are operating unconsciously from the assumption that social contact is a survival need, and that takes precedence over the love of the truth. – A. H. Almaas, Spacecruiser Inquiry, ch. 9
Preserving the self is the key point that needs exploring regarding our spiritual development and physical or biological survival. Common sense, right action, objectivity, and personal will are some elements we need to bring to our practice and daily life.
The Citadel
This invites the Diamond Approach teaching on the citadel – the protector of essence. This teaching addresses right living and right-action in the service of the truth or essence.
We want to continue moving toward true nature and living from the truth regardless of external circumstances. Tragedy and fear of death can challenge us to put aside our practice until things are “under control” and then return to our practice.
The diamond vehicle we call the citadel functions as the true protector of the path, the truth, and its realization. The perspective of the citadel discloses that the true and lasting protection and defense for our essential realization is right living; living our lives and conducting ourselves according to the truth of our realization. As we increasingly see through our habitual identifications and recognize who and what we are essentially, we need to live according to such understanding if we want to support our realization and its development. Practice apart from everyday living is not sufficient. – A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home, ch. 15
The teaching of the citadel addresses how to organize one’s life and environment to support essential development, and to live according to realization while addressing conditioning, reactivity, and habit – to explore more deeply service to the truth.
How we can disregard for reality manifest?
New York Daily News: Missouri coronavirus patient’s family attends school dance.
CNN Sports: Amid COVID-19 outbreak, NBA star Rudy Gobert faces backlash for prank
Regarding the coronavirus, this includes following guidance on minimizing risk to yourself and others and organizing your environment and daily routine to do the same. It would also include getting the facts, educating ourselves, and not relying on soundbite news.
Basic Trust
Another teaching in the Diamond Approach that seems applicable is basic trust. Basic trust in the face of covid-19 can be tricky as it has nothing to do with whether we live or die – only our sense of and underlying connection to the goodness of life.
The self wants basic trust to support its continuity and to do so as much as possible so pleasure outweighs pain. The teaching on basic trust explores our early childhood sense of acceptance, security, and holding.
One issue that always comes up around basic trust is: how can the universe be fundamentally good when there is so much hatred and violence? How can God allow such pain and suffering?
Here is a short list of other Diamond Approach teachings that will serve us in dealing with the coronavirus and living:
- Compassion – empathy, loving-kindness, and our history around hurt.
- Essential Strength – discrimination, appropriate boundaries, initiating action.
- Brilliancy – the essence of intelligence
Drawing from the insights provided in the referenced pages, here are five additional paragraphs that can be added to the post on “Survival Spiritual Practice during Coronavirus”:
The Instinctual Drives and Our Spiritual Journey
In these trying times, it’s essential to recognize our shared instinctual drives with the animal kingdom. We are innately driven by our survival, sexual, and social instincts. These drives, deeply embedded within us, push us towards desires, cravings, and sometimes uncontrollable impulses. The pandemic has amplified these instincts, making us yearn for safety, security, and connection. However, it’s crucial to understand that while these natural instincts can overshadow our spiritual journey if not harmonized with our higher purpose.
The Enlightenment Drive: A Beacon of Hope
Amidst the chaos, a fourth drive emerges – the enlightenment drive. Unlike our instinctual drives that focus on the physical world, the enlightenment drive seeks inner quality and experience. It is the longing for divine union, the desire for truth, and the passion for understanding the mysteries of existence. By recognizing and nurturing this drive, we can harmonize our instinctual desires and channel them toward spiritual awakening and truth.
The Citadel: Our Fortress of Truth
The Citadel emerges as a beacon of strength and support in our spiritual journey. It embodies essential presence, giving us a sense of solidity devoid of grandiose ideas. The Citadel is a testament to our commitment to the truth, offering protection and guidance. As we navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Citadel reminds us of the importance of living in harmony with the universal will, emphasizing the value of truth and essence in our lives.
Challenges to Our Spiritual Integrity
However, our journey is not without challenges. Our powerful needs and instinctual drives, magnified by the current crisis, can sometimes eclipse our love for truth. The survival instinct, whether manifesting as a need for security or social contact, can take precedence over our spiritual pursuits. It’s essential to confront these instinctual drives, ensuring they don’t confine or control our spiritual hearts. Only by doing so can we truly liberate our heart and embrace the love of truth.
Embracing the Path of Essence
As we continue to grapple with the uncertainties of the pandemic, let us remember the teachings of the Diamond Approach. Let us strive to live our lives in accordance with the truth of Essence, allowing it to guide our actions and decisions. By embracing the path of Essence, we find solace and strength in these challenging times and pave the way for a brighter, more enlightened future.
These paragraphs aim to reflect the serious tone of the subject and the gravity of the current situation while drawing insights from the Diamond Approach teachings.
A situation like the covid-19 pandemic will test and reveal the depth of realization as well as personality sectors and ego structures that still need exploration, beliefs, and convictions we still hold on to, and much more.
In short, covid-19 (coronavirus) will most likely stir the pot of self for many, dredging up the muck in the animal soul and ego self.
It will also be a time when the light shines through.
Life!
Great information and perspective.
Two data sources on coronavirus stats:
JH, I welcome the citadel, but for now transparency seem to be prevalent as I open up to inquiry of my self as a health care provider. Becoming aware of the “good” and “bad” microorganisms, continuing to welcome the diversity of life, and taking logical steps manage my environment. Cleaning my rooms, and knowing that complete sterility and isolation is not the answer. We need healthy contact with other Beings to thrive.
“What happens, then, to the functioning ego, when a person goes through this process? Here it suffices to say that the ego identity becomes increasingly “transparent”; the person’s experience depends less and less on unconscious self-images and object relations units. Thus the person comes into clearer, more objective contact with the environment, and as the experience of space is allowed, there arises naturally within that space a clear, full Presence, which without the rigidity and defensiveness of ego can assume ego’s functions in a vastly more mature, objective and deeply fulfilling manner.”The Void. pg 52
Good points Jordan