Anyone wanting to train their body has within reach an endless choice of different exercises and techniques. If one simply determines the desired result – better cardio-vascular health, for example, or greater joint flexibility, or improved core body strength, the internet will obligingly provide an extensive palette of concrete methods that, if one has the persistence to follow them, will do the job. (It may of course be necessary to purchase some apparatus or other, but the internet will be happy to help with this, too.) Some may choose to put themselves in the hands of a trainer or coach, but many people are content to just cruise a seemlngly infinite library of techniques to achieve their goals, picking what seems best to them.

It is not surprising, therefore, if people do the same with spiritual exercises. It is now possible, as it never was before, to browse a smorgasbord of techniques from different traditions, usually offered with brilliant images and earnest assertions of their mysterious, transformative effects. There are numberless videos explaining ‘how to’ and an abundance of apps that will guide the user with otherworldly music and softly modulated beeps. But regrettably, although shopping in this market may bring about some changes in a person, it is unlikely to awaken any real spirituality.

If one enters a spiritual path, it is common to receive some exercises from one’s guide or initiator. These will tune the life of the student in one way or another, but what the seeker often does not realize is that the essential transformation comes from the connection with the guide and the tradition. The guide serves as an example to which we may aspire, and the link of sympathy we feel gives life to whatever practice we have received. The techniques support this awakening, but don’t engender it. Therefore, the path of self-medication, or the assumption that we can choose off-the-shelf modules and plug them like material components into our life is not helpful, much less so because when we embark on the path we have no idea of what ‘spirituality’ means nor what we should endeavour to accomplish. In the physical realm it is possible to define a measurable goal – to increase the mass one can lift, let us say – but in the inner world our own identity conceals that which we seek, and therefore choosing techniques for oneself, which might be called esoteric materialism, will usually be done without connection to our needs, and may do as much harm as good. The experienced eye and heart of a guide will see what is needed, and the more we can trust that guidance, the more certain will be the journey to the goal.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that a real guide does not seek and does not need the devotion of the student, and will do whatever is necessary to direct the student towards the ideal and not towards the limited self of the guide. If devotion is offered, in reality it is offered to the Divine Presence. That is why we read in Gayan Chalas: The spiritual guide performs the role of Cupid in bringing the seeking souls closer to God.