One of the most important things for anyone who sees themselves as a spiritual seeker is self-realisation. I know it sounds difficult, and I know how it goes.

When people are given a technique, they get enthusiastic at first, and then after a while it fades. But with self-realisation, a real spiritual seeker cannot treat it lightly or come back to it only when it suits them.

You can do all the retreats, all the gatherings, your prayer, your spiritual practices, but none of that deals with the real issue inside you unless you do self-realisation. Ritual alone doesn’t change you.

Look around. Look at religious people, spiritual people, even countries that say, “We believe in God.” But when you look at behaviour, sometimes you really doubt the humanity. So let’s look at ourselves, after all these prayers, how much have we actually changed?

Until we become human, we cannot really become spiritual. And the only way to become human is through proper self-realization.

Without it, people do everything outwardly but may become narrow-minded, fanatical, or harsh with others. That’s because they never looked inside. And then we start assuming we are spiritual when actually nothing much has shifted.

With self-realisation, you start chipping away at things you didn’t even know you had; jealousy, insecurity, fear, lack of confidence, attraction to negativity. And at the same time, you may discover qualities that you never recognized. This is not emotional work, this is real work at the level of the soul. Coming to retreats and doing practices is good, it creates positive energy, but without self-realization that energy can even boost the ego and give a false sense of safety.

When that work is done properly, the heart becomes clean. Otherwise, the light cannot shine, and a rusty mirror won’t reflect it.