We've all come across situations where we just can't get clear as to what we should do, and the huge array of choices we have in seeking advice may only add to the confusion. No matter how many outside sources we consult, we are ultimately the ones responsible for making our own decisions.
It is said that viveka, or, spiritual discernment, is the clear light of truth and non-duality cutting through the fog of uncertainty. But, with bewildering array of messages we receive from the media and the increased busy-ness of our lives, how can we tell if our decisions are in alignment with our higher goals or hampering to our spiritual growth? (Of course, spiritual growth will happen, regardless of any decision we make. The question is, how many times do you want to learn the same lesson?!)
In the Hindu tradition, we are living in the Kali Yuga or, the Age of Confusion. Kali Yuga is said to have begun about 5000 years ago and will not end until 432,000 of our years has past. In the Mahabharata, it is said that in the Kali Yuga, “Men generally become addicted to falsehood in speech,” and “intellectual darkness will envelop the whole earth.” (1)
Whether or not you subscribe to the Hindu calculations of time, I think you will agree that the zeitgeist of our current era tends towards a bombardment of messages which are manipulative or based on partial or inaccurate information. Our societal propensity towards information overload, a chronic sense of being in a hurry and gullible belief in false prophets, ("science will solve all the world's problems" for example), makes it difficult to trust our stressed mental circuits when it comes to crucial decision points.
The good news is that Kruta Yuga, or the Divine Dawn years, will be ushered in (again), after Kali Yuga has past, marking the beginning of the next Brahmin cycle and the return of a purer age. But, in the remaining 427,000 years or so of Kali Yuga, we may find a need to balance the tendencies of the age with our real spiritual needs!
There may be a simple way to cut through the veil of illusion, allowing us to connect with our own wisdom by using vairagya or dispassionate questioning. Michael Paul Gallagher writes of St. Ignasius Loyola who used this method and saw "...consolation as coming from God, marked by an increase of love, and as leading to potentially good decisions, and desolation as coming from the bad spirit, marked by disturbance and restlessness, and leading to 'continual deceptions'." (2)
Of course, we won't notice the restlessness of body and mind unless we can embrace a period of solitude, quietness and reflection, if only for a few minutes a day. Try Loyola's method the next time you are confronted with a situation for which you don't have an immediate answer.
First, gauge your physical reaction to the activity, person or object in question. Is there any place on your body where you feel a tightening? Does your heart feel open or closed? Do you feel fear? Euphoria? Is there a physical place where these emotions manifest?
Now, start to relate the physical feelings to your psychology. Is there any self-deception involved in your engagement with this activity, person or object? (Are you about to buy a more expensive car than you can really afford to "increase" self-esteem?). Does engaging with this activity, person or object inspire impulsive actions, or is there a shutting off of your usual circle of support? Are you acting out of fear rather than freedom, or from material desire rather than to meet your spiritual goals?
If any of these things are true, then it is possible that your decision to engage with this particular energy is not assisting you on your path. Conversely, if you are feeling expansive and loving without an unrealistic sense of euphoria, and open to new experience without denying all that has happened before, there is a good chance you are on the right road!
The encouraging thing about the Kali Yuga is that while our perception of time and life itself may be speeded up, the outcomes of cause and effect also move much more quickly. So, whatever decision is made will make it's nature known with immediacy, along with it's lessons. This allows a true spiritual seeker armed with the double swords of viveka and vairagya, to make much more progress in this age than any other!
References
(1) Vana Parva, 187, 189. Retrieved from www.bharatvani.org/michel_danino/kaliyuga.html on 12/27/02.
(2) Michael Paul Gallagher SJ: Traditions of Spiritual Discernment as relevant to NRM's in Europe. Based on "Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius", Loyola Univ. Press, Chicago, 1952, p. 329-333. Published in ISKCON Communication Journal, Vol. 3, No.1, June 1995). Retrieved from http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/philosophy1.htm on 12/27/03.