If we are to neutralize the effect of worldly influences, we must assiduously practise, every minute of our waking life, what is called spiritualization. It consists in looking upon everything as Divine. This is a very helpful practice. It not only obliterates worldliness, but develops spiritual consciousness very quickly.
Whenever we meet a man, we consider him only a man. But we have by no means a clear conception of him. Do we consider him as a body? No. As a Mind? No. As a spirit? No. Our idea of him is a confused conglomeration of all three. What we need is to perceive him as spirit only. But this is not an easy task. We have for ages habituated ourselves to associate certain ideas with the perception of what we call man. We consider him to have a certain form, a mind, good or bad, agreeable or disagreeable, and behind that an indefinite something. If we analyse our conception of man, we shall find that that indefinite something is the essential being. Forms and modes of mind are as it were extraneous wrappings. Yet these wrappings predominate in our conception. Then there is the name.
Suppose you meet your friend Hari. Around this name you have associated certain ideas, of body, mind, and consciousness; and you call it the man Hari. But analyse. When you meet Hari, do you meet a body only? You will certainly say, No. If that is so, why do you associate a particular body with your idea of Hari? You know perfectly well, it is matter, it was once small, it has now grown big, and it changes continually. Besides it is very, very limited. But surely you do not think of Hari as being so limited. You rather think that he is a soul, a spirit in essence—illimitable, eternal, full of bliss. Is it not absurd to combine these two diametrically opposite ideas—body and spirit? So whenever you meet Hari, try to eliminate from your consciousness of him the element of body. Try to think of him, if you like in the beginning, as a mind. When you talk to him or behave with him, try to feel that you are behaving with a mind and not with a body, as you really do at present.
But that is only the beginning. Mind also is extraneous. You see how outer circumstances change the mind of Hari, how the mind has changed from infancy to manhood and how it is changing every moment. Infinite are the moods of mind. Which of them is really Hari? Of course you will say that of all those moods you find some to be more lasting and therefore they constitute his personality. But do you ever think that even those lasting elements are not really lasting? We Hindus believe in reincarnation. We know personalities change. Hari’s personality then is not eternal. If that is so, then why think of Hari as a person in that sense, having certain mental modes? Why associate him with the mind? Go beyond that. What do you now find him to be? Beyond all limitations and qualifications, what is he? He is the spirit, he is God Himself! What you have so long considered to be a man, is really God Himself, infinite, eternal Sat-Chit-Ânanda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss)Brahman. This realization is tremendous. It is revolutionary. Henceforward whenever we meet Hari, we do not feel his body or his mind, we feel him as eternal Atman and Brahman. This is spiritualization.
It is easy to conceive. But very difficult to achieve. The human name and form have been associated in our mind with certain modes of consciousness, which are the antithesis of the consciousness of Atman or Brahman. The moment the mind perceives a human form or remembers a human name, those ideas are associated with it. We have to deny and destroy this association; and we have to associate human name and form with the consciousness of Divinity. It is a very strenuous struggle. Every time that the mind reverts to the former associa-tion at the sight of a man, it must be made to forgo it and conceive the new association. Thus the practice must be constant, every minute of the day. But how fruitful it is of results! Of course, in the beginning, it will appear exceedingly difficult. The mind will refuse to act as desired, and ideas will become confused. But slowly the practice will begin to tell. If we can pursue this practice earnestly, in one year we shall perceive a great change in our consciousness. Men will no longer appear as they do now. With this change in our outlook upon man, will come a simultaneous change in our perception of other beings and the world. The world will reveal a new content. It will appear as instinct with Divinity. Our consciousness of our own Self will also change. We shall no longer feel ourselves as body or mind but as something finer and vaster than these.
This is a very fruitful practice. It requires a strong brain and great perseverance. But it is extremely helpful. If a man—whether in the world or outside it—practises this, there will be much less obstruction to spiritual progress. Especially is this true of those who remain in the world. It will neutralize the antithesis between the world and God and make other spiritual practices easier, and life as a whole fuller and sweeter. (Source: Spiritual Practice by Swami Ashokananda)