Acedia – Spiritual Apathy
Teachings of Swami Indrananda Ji
Continuing the Series – Shirley Davies
Swami Ji always talked about how we neglect our spiritual life in favour of the material one. Whenever I said anything about my horses, especially if I had acquired another one, he would just say, “Ah, another distraction Ji!” Of course he was right. We all know that he lived a God-centred life and was completely devoted to the Path of Yoga. For some of us that has not been possible, for varied and diverse reasons, including commitments, practical problems and just downright apathy.
Around 271 AD followers of Jesus Christ , in an attempt to immerse themselves in His teachings went into the desert, as Christ himself had done. They are today known as the Desert Fathers. 100 years later an Eastern European monk, named Cassian codified their teachings.
The Desert Fathers gave 8 Thoughts which they knew to be impediments on the spiritual path. They were:-
Acedia – spiritual apathy
Gluttony – lust – greed – anger – sadness – vanity – pride
By the 6th Century Pope Gregory had deemed acedia did not really need attention as the condition only related to monks and nuns and discarded it. The other 7 became the 7 Deadly Sins of the Christian tradition. However what the Pope had not realised is that acedia gives rise to all the other seven conditions. Without spirituality at the centre of our lives we do not have any direction; we can compromise and adjust our values to our own ends, at the same time, giving less accommodation to others. In short, we arrive at a society such as the one we live in today.
And countless centuries earlier, the Rishis were saying the same thing, which was, of course, codified by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras as the yamas and niyamas.
Father Cassian put forward the proposition that the best way to avoid falling into the trap of the 7 Deadly Sins was to cultivate their opposites. So the teaching, again, is identical to the teaching of Yoga, but of course, acedia is still considered in the 8 Limbs of Yoga. The Laws of Life are the same whatever tradition we align ourselves with.
Below is a comparison of the traditions which matches them together perfectly:
7 Deadly Opposites Sutras
gluttony moderation Tapah – Austerity
lust chaste love Brahmacharya – celibacy
greed generosity Saucha – non-greed
anger gentleness Ahimsa – non-violence
sadness gladness Santosha – contentment
vanity magnanimity Svadyaya – Self study
pride humility Satya – Truthfulness
Of course, from the above list, Ishwara Pranidhara – attentiveness to God – is missing. Without Ishwara Pranidhara, acedia arises and gives rise to all the other conditions. Let us therefore, individually examine how much thought/time we actually give to God. Do we offer our spare time to Him, when we have nothing better to do, or the time when we have done everything else? Is it the time when we are in pain – mental, emotional or physical? Or, is it our preferred time of the day? Do we give ourselves the opportunity to commune with God and to study His Divine Word? And when we answer these questions, will we remember Satya – Truthfulness? No excuses, reasons, or justifications, just facts. Until we recognise where we are falling down, we can’t lift ourselves up. No criticism is necessary – understanding is all we need to realise where we can adjust our attitudes and therefore improve our lives.
Hari Om