As a wise Sannyasi often cautioned the novitiates, the spiritual journey is a steep vertical climb; every day we either climb an inch or slip a foot. There is no standing still. Unfortunately, even sincere spiritual practitioners fail to notice this ‘slipping down’.
Swami Vivekananda says, ‘I am sure you know that we cannot stand still. If we stand still, we die. We have either to go forward or to go backward. We have either to progress or to degenerate.’
It is perhaps because this downward movement is almost imperceptible, that from among the many striving for spiritual perfection just a few get to know Him in truth.
When we talk of a spiritual journey, it is presumed that we have a fixed ideal. For, without an ideal to follow, there is no question of going forward; we simply remain at the mercy of our senses, our lower nature.
Source – Vedanta Kesari September 2017