Life is filled with trials and tribulations even for spiritual aspirants. Following a spiritual path does not mean that life will be free of challenges. It just means that spiritual seekers have greater access to inner resources due to guidance from their spiritual mentor or Guru. One of those inner resources is resilience.

Resilience is the ability to endure hardships, adapt to challenges, and thrive despite adversities. It is an indispensable quality for spiritual aspirants. It helps individuals stay grounded in their faith, turn setbacks into opportunities for growth, and maintain unwavering devotion. This blog explores the importance of resilience and ways to develop this valuable quality.

Understanding Resilience: Beyond Bouncing Back

Resilience is the inner strength to rise above difficulties, adapt to life’s demands, and continue striving toward one’s goals. For spiritual aspirants, resilience goes beyond mere endurance; it transforms struggles into stepping stones toward inner realizations and spiritual progress. Kicked off by divine grace, it is nurtured through faith, self-discipline, and the ability to perceive blessings in every situation.

Swami Mukundananda ji beautifully defines resilience as "The ability to rebound readily after being bent over by adversity, illness, and calamity." This definition focuses on one's capacity to withstand life's storms and emerge stronger. It is not about becoming emotionally detached or hardened to life's experiences. Rather, it is about developing flexibility and adaptability in the face of unpredictable challenges. It is important to note that being resilient does not mean we will not experience stress or emotional pain. Instead, it is about how we manage stressful events, drawing upon our mindset, attitude, and life experiences to navigate difficult times.

Take the example of Narsi Mehta, the saint and poet from Gujarat, India. Despite enduring severe financial hardships and societal ostracism, Narsi Mehta’s unwavering devotion to Shree Krishna sustained him during all adversities in his life. He composed heartfelt bhajans or devotional songs that reflected his deep surrender and trust in divine grace. Saint Narsi Mehta’s devotion, surrender, and resilience, rooted in his unshakable faith, compelled Shree Krishna to come to his aid during each of his innumerable struggles.

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Saint Narsi Mehta’s Resilience was Founded on his Complete Surrender to Shree Krishna

Need for Resilience on the Spiritual Path

Success on the spiritual journey demands resilience. Why? Because the path to spiritual growth is rarely, if ever, a smooth and uninterrupted ascent. More often than not, it is marked by periods of struggle, doubt, and challenge. These difficulties are not obstacles to our progress, but tests of patience, determination, and faith. Doubts, distractions, societal pressures, and personal setbacks are common hurdles. Resilience equips aspirants to navigate obstacles with equanimity, ensuring that temporary difficulties do not derail their spiritual progress.

We can draw inspiration from the life of Saint Tukaram. He was born into a relatively well-off family, but he lost his wealth and family members in a natural disaster. His first wife passed away, and his second wife, who was often contentious, caused him much personal strife. Despite the heavy losses and hardships, both material and emotional, he remained steadfast in his faith. His family circumstances could have easily led him into despair, but he chose to surrender to God's will. His life exemplifies the power of resilience in the face of adversity. It shows that we can endure loss and hardship when we accept life's impermanence and trust that every challenge is part of a larger divine plan. Acceptance and trust in the divine wisdom can provide the strength to keep moving forward.

Saint Tukaram Sheds Tears of Love at God's Compassion

The Power of Spiritual Beliefs in Building Resilience

One of the most potent tools in developing resilience is our spiritual belief system. In The Art & Science of Happiness, Swami Mukundananda ji emphasized the power of spiritual beliefs when drawing upon one's inner strength to deal with problems. When we view our challenges through the lens of spiritual understanding, we can maintain a sense of equilibrium even in the face of stressful events.

We can learn to be resilient from the life example of Saint Meerabai. After being married to a prince in a royal Rajput family, she faced significant challenges all along. Her devotion to Shree Krishna caused rifts in the royal family, leading to rejection and numerous threats to her life. Eventually, she was forced to leave the palace. Instead of regretting the loss of a luxurious life, Saint Meerabai happily lived life as an ascetic. Yet, in every hardship, she found unshakable inner strength in her love for Shree Krishna, using her trials as opportunities to deepen her faith.

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Saint Meerabai's Resilience was Established by her Unshakable Love for Giridhar Gopal

Similarly, we too can turn adversities into opportunities to strengthen our devotion, just as Meerabai instead of allowing these to break our spirit.

Practical Steps to Cultivate Resilience

Drawing inspiration from the teachings of Swami Mukundananda ji and the examples of bhakti saints, we can adopt several practices to build our resilience:

  1. Daily Sadhana or Spiritual Practice: We must engage in daily meditation, prayer, and contemplation of divine knowledge to strengthen our spiritual foundation. Understand that every experience, pleasant or unpleasant, is part of God's plan for our growth and ultimate good. By viewing adversities as opportunities to develop virtues like patience, perseverance, and faith, we will become more resilient. Spiritual aspirants who are new to this path can utilize an excellent structured course on My Daily Sadhana offered by JKYog to learn the practice of Sadhana.
  2. Develop Scriptural Knowledge: Spiritual aspirants are encouraged to regularly read and reflect on spiritual knowledge to reinforce their understanding of life's deeper truths. Recognize that all situations, no matter how challenging, are temporary and will pass. By practicing detachment from outcomes while doing our best, we can develop resilience knowing that ultimate control lies with the Divine.
  3. Participate in Satsang: Satsang means to associate (Sang) with the Truth (Sat). It is characterized by a congregation of devotees who engage in holy communion that helps to attach the mind anywhere in the Divine realm. There is no better strategy than to free the mind from worldly distractions and focus the intellect on the names, virtues, pastimes, abodes, and saints of God. Seek the company of like-minded spiritual seekers and enlightened teachers to bolster your faith and understanding.
  4. Engage in Seva (i.e., Service): Serving others selflessly strengthens one’s connection with the Divine. Participation in community service or temple activities can shift focus from personal struggles to collective welfare, enhancing resilience. Practicing selfless service and seeing all work as a devotional offering to God, helps to develop detachment and equanimity.
  5. Practice Gratitude: Cultivate a habit of thankfulness, even for life's challenges, recognizing them as opportunities for internal growth and a powerful means for developing resilience. Recognizing blessings during challenging times fosters a positive outlook, enabling us to overcome these difficulties with inner strength. We can also start each day by listing at least five things for which we are grateful. This strategy builds an optimistic perspective instead of becoming depressed during adversities.
  6. Seek Inspiration: Reflect on the lives of saints to draw inspiration and maintain the motivation to deal with stressful events. Reading scriptures or biographies of saints provides valuable insights and encouragement during difficult times.
  7. Put Things in the Proper Perspective: Try to not see adversities as insurmountable problems. Reflect on how the future may be better than the present due to the challenges presented in life. Develop confidence in your ability to solve problems by meditating on receiving divine guidance from God/Guru.
  8. Associate with a Divine Guru: Most novice spiritual aspirants do not possess the knowledge regarding the essential aspects of spirituality. A Divine Guru guides us in a variety of ways to find meaning in life and enables us to live our life to the fullest potential. By developing an attitude of servitude when associating with a true Guru, spiritual aspirants can successfully navigate life’s challenges and become resilient.
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Associate with a Divine Guru to Develop Resilience

By internalizing these practical tips based on eternal spiritual truths, we too can be resilient and rise from the ashes like the legendary phoenix, emerging stronger and wiser from each challenge we face.

Conclusion

Resilience is the cornerstone of a successful spiritual journey. It enables aspirants to remain steadfast amidst trials, deepen their connection with the Divine, and inspire others along the way. Drawing inspiration from the teachings of Swami Mukundananda ji and the examples of resilient saints, we can learn to see each difficulty as an opportunity for growth, each setback as a circumstance for a comeback.

As we develop resilience, we will find ourselves not just enduring life's storms, but becoming dispassionate toward them, knowing that each challenge brings us closer to our ultimate spiritual goal – to attain Divine Love. We will become like the deep-rooted oak tree that may shake in a hurricane but not be uprooted.

Call to Action

1.    The lives of bhakti saints offer timeless lessons on how to develop and apply resilience in practical and spiritual contexts. Reflect on their stories, imbibe their qualities, and take the first step toward cultivating resilience by engaging in practices like Satsang, meditation, and seva. For deeper insights, explore Swami Mukundananda ji’s Nourish Your Soul: Inspirations from and Lives of Great Saints, which delves into these themes with wisdom and clarity. Let resilience empower you to thrive on your spiritual path.

2.    How resilient are you? Assess yourself by answering these questions:

  • During difficult times, do you maintain a balance between reality and hope?
  • Do you see adversities as opportunities for growth or threats to your life plans?
  • Are you adaptable and open-minded when solving problems?
  • During setbacks, do you focus on what you still have or what you have lost?
  • Do you refrain from dwelling on negative thoughts or blaming circumstances?
  • Do you avoid magnifying the adversities by putting things in perspective?
  • Are you kind and compassionate with yourself when you make mistakes?

If you answered “Yes” to all the above questions, you are a very resilient person! If all your answers are “No,” it means you need to develop resilience using any or all of the strategies described above in the blog. For a combination of responses, you can judge the areas that need work.

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