Excessive travel and spiritual life

[c.smith]

Hari Om!

I have a sort of odd question and without naming the source, would like the forum members input and guidance on the matter.

Can excessive travel, especially the kind I do for career purposes that keeps me on a plane several times a week, be harmful to ones spiritual well being? Further, can it make the life of a bhramachari more difficult?

I'm not exactly clear why the statement was made or its ramifications because it wasn't explained and I haven't been able to ask the author directly because of a language barrier. I do however want to ask someone who knows him well about the comments but always appreciate the feedback I get here, sometimes as a direct answer, at times a back-up answer.

Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

Om Namah Sivaya
Jai Hanuman!

[sm78]

Hari Om!

I have a sort of odd question and without naming the source, would like the forum members input and guidance on the matter.

Can excessive travel, especially the kind I do for career purposes that keeps me on a plane several times a week, be harmful to ones spiritual well being? Further, can it make the life of a bhramachari more difficult?

I'm not exactly clear why the statement was made or its ramifications because it wasn't explained and I haven't been able to ask the author directly because of a language barrier. I do however want to ask someone who knows him well about the comments but always appreciate the feedback I get here, sometimes as a direct answer, at times a back-up answer.

Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

Om Namah Sivaya
Jai Hanuman!

To the extent spiritual practices gets hampered. If someone has mastered the art to be meditative while travelling or working, I can't see an issue. But for novices like me, I find the santuary of my home distinctly more comfortable than being on the road/air.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam c.smith: My heart goes out to you and the conditions excessive travel brings. Most likely you can't change those circumstances easily.

As sm78 pointed out, there is a certain comfort in home. Most meditation teachers or gurus will suggest regular time and PLACE.

There is another more inner mystical reason, and that is connection to devas. Inner plane helpers get accustomed to time and place. Although ones of the personal type may follow you about, the ones that just like coming to regular pujas wouldn't be able to. Although most people wouldn't take to such 'nonsense', I thought I'd just toss it in for consideration.

When I travel, it is always for another reason: pilgrimage. So I don't really have much experience of what you're talking about. Certainly we do carry a temporary shrine of some sort to provide a place of focus in hotel rooms. Things like japa can be done silently on planes, or aloud back in hotel rooms. I wear a single rudraksha almost everywhere I go all the time. On our last trip I discovered it made a wonderul simple focal point just hanging from a doorknob ... it was at eye level, and became a temporary shrine.

I don't think your acquaintance is right in saying it is harmful. harmful is a pretty strong inference. I would tend to say 'not as conducive'. Regardless, we all have to work with whatever we're given, and there is karma involved always.

Best wishes on resolving it.

Aum Namasivaya

[c.smith]

Hari Om!

What fantasic replies!

As EM mentions, I do travel with a "mobile" altar and while I feel a great connection, it is especially hard to focus during meditation, oft at irregular times though I do make it a habit of being up at 4AM wherever I am to at least work on some of the days sadhana. But it's 4AM in whatever time zone I happen to be which also may account for some instability. ?

My mystery career is that I work for the airlines - now you can imagine why the difficulty is there. After many many years in the same company, I'd hate to give up a job that I truly enjoy.

Another point that EM mentions about the devas - yes I do agree completely. Great to mention it because it's something I would have never thought of.

Om Namah Sivaya
Jai Hanuman

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam c. smith: If you're the pilot of one of those monstrous chunks of aluminum that defy physics, please don't take the traveling shrine too seriously. Shrines tend to be conducive to moving awareness inward, away from external consciousness. I don't want to hear that some plane crashed because the pilot was meditating. It wouldn't look good on our faith. :)

Aum Namasivaya

[NayaSurya]

This conversation is very goodly. As when I am in the car traveling I usually do meditation/japa and even more. It always makes me wonder if traveling at such high speeds in these cars makes the effort more difficult.

I will say that I feel any sort of distraction from this process is very goodly for us.

The more noise we have to filter the better we get seated in ourSelf and learn to move past these potentially bothersom things.

Just like when Navy Seal are taken through very harsh training where they are exposed to extreme conditions to temper their bodies and minds.

C, consider this advance training, because it is.<3

[wundermonk]

@All:

From here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_rotation):


The tangential speed of Earth's rotation at a point on Earth can be approximated by multiplying the speed at the equator by the cosine of the latitude.[19] For example, the Kennedy Space Center is located at 28.59° North latitude yields speed: 1,674|km/hr * cos (28.59) = 1,470.23 kilometres per hour (913.56 mph)
:naughty:

We are always travelling.