In 2 Parts

Part 1

Polar night has just started at Ruben’s house in Tromsø, Norway—the sun is gone and will be back by the end of January again. This, together with the outdoor temperatures of -18°C, inspired us to cosy up about the fireplace and speak about how to be able to maintain an inner warmth through cold and dark times, the importance of being adaptable in this world and how we tend to project happiness on things that really have no pleasure in them.

This all leads up to an inspiring story and discussion around how Balakhilya met his spiritual guide on a remote island in Hawaii, living in an old sugar cane camp house in the jungle with no running water or electricity (but with vegetables trees all around for his sustenance). And like he says, he realised that “… as far as the philosophy, and the direction in life, and understanding what is true and what is not—when I met these teachings, I just knew; ‘This is perfect. This has got all the answers, this includes everything I need to know. I don’t have to look for anything else. I don’t have to change.’”

You’ll hear us talk about how finding a spiritual guide is all about accepting that the Supreme Soul will arrange for to come into contact with such a person, at the proper time for us. We have to be able to trust in the higher plan, but also dare to actually trust in another person—which may be hard, since it seems like at soon as we start trusting somebody, we get burnt.

We end by speaking about how spiritual life is the real adventure; an exhilarating, ever-fresh, increasingly satisfying journey toward actual life.

Highlights

– Intro: Meeting a true spiritual guide is a very rare thing
– 4:41 Polar night has come to Tromsø; no sun for 2 months to come
– 9:06 In material life, we project pleasure on objects, situations, or relationships to actually experience pleasure there. But it’s just another dream, another projection.
– 11:05 We need wisdom to be able to know which things I need to put effort into changing in my life, and which things I just have to let be
– 16:58 How Balakhilya came to receive this way of life, living in the jungle on a remote Hawaiian Island in a sugar cane camp house without electricity or running water
– 23:40 Finding a spiritual guide is all about understanding that the Supreme Soul in within our hearts, and when he have a desire to come closer to the Absolute Truth; it will be arranged
– 28:54 How to make it so life is not gray and boring; embark the adventure of spiritual life and let the sun of internal happiness shine, though it disappears on the horizon

Part 2

It sometimes seems like the whole world is going full speed off track. With no proper spiritual leadership guiding the way forward, moral standards have been replaced by ‘just do what you feel like’. In part 2 of Finding a Spiritual Guide, we discuss how you and me can be lights in the world, an inspiration for others.

As an ancient Vedic text states, “Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues” (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 3:21).

Highlights:
– 0:00 Intro – “If the common man in our society acted like the leaders of your society, we would kill him.” Chief Seattle
– 5:30 Moral guidelines & rules enable us to make a free choice in which direction we want to go, instead of automatically being pulled toward a negative direction
– 7:02 All too often when we interact with people, we’re trying to draw attention to ourselves. We should instead communicate; “Put your attention on spiritual growth and accomplishments, make this your horizon.”
– 12:23 The story of professional Slovenian snowboarder Marko Grilc, who recently died in an accident during filming. At the time of death, what have we accomplished?
– 16:52 An action is worth 1000 words; how we can be a force for good by being an influencer of positive values & morals.
– 19:43 As the world is designed to be imperfect, there’s no such thing as material perfection
– 24:33 Understanding that, “I’m not the body” is a huge step toward spiritual perfection