Episode 44: Spiritual Ambition
“We want to have that destination in our mind while also realizing that there is a journey that’s happening. And that we don’t want to rush the journey. We want to have the full unfolding.”
-Kristen Vandivier
Episode Summary
We’re taught from when we are little to be ambitious in order to achieve what we want, but what if what we want is to strive for something that is already within us, enlightenment? In a teaching that expounds not looking to the future for happiness, where does something like ambition fit into such a philosophy? And is enlightenment envy a thing?
In this episode, Kristen and Isabel get personal about their own experience with feeling ambition in the spiritual sphere and how they have found ways to strike a balance between seeking and relaxing and enjoying the ride.
Highlights
1.30 Pitta dosha personality
5:00 Santosha
5.55 “Suffering is wanting a different experience than what you are having right now.” Kristen
6.30 Enlightenment impatience
7.00 Flower blooming process
7.41 “We want to have that destination in our mind while also realizing that there is a journey that’s happening. And that we don’t want to rush the journey. We want to have the full unfolding.” Kristen
8.20 Enlightenment envy
10.00 Vulnerability
10.50 Nature is never always in bloom
14.26 The trick is to feel sad without being sad
14.46 “At your core you are always fine, but you are still allowing yourself to feel humanity. It’s like being in the big ocean of self while simultaneously being in the wave of self. The wave of self, feeling sad and the ocean of self, the being, is always fine.” Kristen
17.00 It’s about the how
19.50 Status – “True status is something you just experience.” Kristen
24.20 Punya – Spiritual merit
27.15 Karma and Kriya
33.40 “To what extent are you enjoying and experiencing whatever point in the storyline you are in right now. It’s not the what it's the how.” Kristen
37.00 The characters we play
39.00 Big Self goals
43.54 “Spiritual ambition - Once you get there, it won’t matter to you. The unfolding is happening with that. The river is moving, you don’t have to push it. You just have to listen and do the practice and do those spontaneous actions and watch the whole thing.” Kristen