The invisible wall that most of us hit sooner or later in spiritual life

Suddenly, the enthusiasm from the beginning wanes and everything seems difficult. Following the principles becomes harder, and spiritual practice becomes a grind. How to avoid that?

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It’s not uncommon to see someone starting very enthusiastically in spiritual life, doing service, chanting, quickly starting to follow the four principles, and so on. Often one even goes to live in the temple, or becomes seriously engaged. It seems that the spiritual world is within reach: just continue like this until the end of life, and don’t take another birth again.

However, after one year, or maybe two, or three, things become a little harder. Suddenly, the enthusiasm from the beginning is not so present, and everything seems difficult. Following the principles becomes harder, and spiritual practice becomes a grind. Relating to other devotees becomes difficult, and we start asking ourselves how long we can continue.

Most of us reach this stage at some point. We go fast up to a certain point, but then we reach this invisible wall, and spiritual life becomes a grind. It seems that only the most determined can surpass it.

A crucial point connected with that which we should not underestimate is the importance of finding over time a service that is in accordance with our nature, that is interesting and rewarding for us, and that we can perform without difficulty. Developing our natural talents and then finding a service where we can use them can be the making or breaking point in our spiritual life.

The point is that following the spiritual process demands commitment. This type of commitment, for not only changing our lives but purifying the very core of our consciousness, demands a lot of effort, and such a level of effort can be maintained in the long run only by achieving a higher taste.

For a pure devotee, this higher taste comes directly from his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. At this level, one can just sit under a tree and be perfectly happy by just chanting the holy name continuously. Most of us, however, are not on this platform. We can’t just sit and chant twenty-four hours, much less attentively. We can chant for one and a half, maybe two hours per day. To maintain ourselves connected the rest of the time, we need to perform practical devotional service. It is exactly this combination of chanting and performing service that was envisioned by Prabhupāda as a way to break our conditioning. That’s the formula that successful devotees usually follow.

The problem is that often we perform services that are not according to our nature. If one has a nature to study and teach, and we put him to break stones, he may be able to do it for some time, especially if we brainwash him, telling him that this is the only way to be a devotee. However, he will probably not be able to do it for his whole life. After some time, he will hit the invisible wall, and from there the grind will start. Even if we try to brainwash him by telling him that this is the only way to go back to Godhead, he will probably eventually leave.

This is exactly what we often try to do. We often try to force sincere people into roles they are not very well fit to perform, and this makes their spiritual lives difficult. Without being able to use their natural talents for Kṛṣṇa, their spiritual practice becomes a grind, and they are not able to find the higher taste that can sustain them long term in spiritual life. Insisting on this path, one can develop psychological and even physical problems that make things progressively harder over time. We can see that many devotees develop health issues after many years of practice. Insisting on this grinding process of serving in positions they are not well-suited for is a factor we should not underestimate. In the beginning, we can do anything; the priority is to just start. However, over time we need to find our place.

Some devotees who are especially determined can just keep on and grind through it until they become pure devotees, but most will leave at some point.

On the other hand, we often see devotees who can find a niche or service that allows them to perfectly engage their nature in their service. Because of this match, they wake up enthusiastically in the morning and have energy to perform their services for many hours. On top of that, they add their japa and other aspects of spiritual sādhana, and at the end of the day, they may very well have served for ten or twelve hours, if not more. We can see that just by this, one is already halfway on the path of being engaged twenty-four hours in service. If this is combined with good association and good philosophical understanding, one will already be quite well-positioned on the spiritual path. From this, one can get the higher taste, which is the foundation for everything else in spiritual life. When we get a higher taste, following the principles becomes easy, and developing relationships with other devotees becomes natural, because being happy inside, we treat others properly. Not only that, but we become an inspiring example to others, a role model that others will be inspired to follow.

We often think that spiritual life means that everyone must think the same, dress the same, eat the same, act the same, etc. This is, however, not what spiritual life is meant to be. This form of thinking actually has a name: it is called communism.

Varnāśrama is the precise opposite of it. Instead of trying to artificially eliminate differences and fit people into stereotypes, we embrace them. We accept that people have different natures and have different sets of talents, and try to help them develop their natural talents and use them in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

Of course, when we speak about devotees living in the temple, discipline and standards are necessary. However, devotees living in the temple is a specific situation. If we tell everyone that they need to live in the temple and do everything exactly as they are told, only a small fraction of people will fit into this role, and as a result, our group will always be very small. If, on the other hand, we are able to respect differences and engage people according to their natures, suddenly Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes a universal process that can benefit absolutely anyone.

This devotional service is the original characteristic of the soul, and our job is to help people connect with it, not by trying to force them to fit into stereotypes, but by teaching them to engage their natural tendencies in His service. By this process, they can become gradually purified and be able to also teach others.

We can find a good example of this in the reception to Kṛṣṇa when He returned to Dvārakā, described in the first canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

At first glance, one might think there is not much to learn there, just a description of people offering grains, water, fruits, and other gifts. However, when we go deeper, we find that this chapter is quite important for understanding the spirit of devotional service: how people of different backgrounds, professions, mentalities, and natures all come together for one common purpose: to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is the heart of the saṅkīrtana movement and the real application of varṇāśrama in practice: people with different natures and from different ways of life cooperating to receive and serve Kṛṣṇa. This is the beauty of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: unity in diversity, all centered around loving service to Him.

This is a higher application of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not about enforcing sameness, but about recognizing diversity and engaging it all in devotional service. It is not about controlling others, but uplifting them. It is about training and inspiring each individual, regardless of their starting point, to serve Kṛṣṇa according to their nature. This is the true meaning of varṇāśrama, and it is also the deeper vision of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings.

When we come to this mature understanding, Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes something universally applicable. It ceases to be a narrow or sectarian ideology and becomes a living, breathing spiritual culture that can be propagated all around the world and can be embraced by people from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions.

This was Prabhupāda’s vision, which he clearly expressed in his books, and it is something we, as a movement, are still learning to fully grasp. Our movement is still small because we are still overcoming influences like communism, impersonalism, and sectarianism. But as we grow in understanding, we will become capable of offering something truly valuable to everyone, something each person can take and use in their own life. Not only that, but by understanding this universal principle, we can be more fixed in our own practice, learning to use our natural propensities for Kṛṣṇa and avoiding that invisible barrier that can block our progress.

This is why we study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books: not just to memorize verses or arguments, but to deeply understand, practice, and propagate this universal principle of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.

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