Why Some People Seem to Fail in Spiritual Practice
The Question We Eventually Ask
Anyone who spends enough time on a spiritual path eventually notices something curious.
Some people discover a true spiritual teaching, embrace it wholeheartedly, and seem to make steady progress. Others arrive with the same enthusiasm, practice sincerely for a period of time, and then gradually drift away. Some encounter long periods of stagnation. Others reach psychological barriers that seem impossible to overcome.
As a student of Kriya Yoga, I have watched this happen many times. Naturally, the question arises: why do some people succeed while others fail?
For a long time, I accepted the explanation that was commonly given. Some people had the spiritual karma to succeed. Others were not yet spiritually mature enough. There is certainly truth in this perspective.
Yet something about it never fully satisfied me.
If spiritual maturity alone determined success, why did the Masters invest so much energy in those who appeared least ready? Why did they spend so much time encouraging, guiding, and supporting students who repeatedly struggled, resisted, or even drifted away from the path?
The explanation I often heard was that the Guru was simply trying to keep them on the spiritual path by giving them extra energy.
But that answer never felt complete.
It seemed to me that we were all missing something important.
What Is the Guru Trying to Do?
That question became more important as I began serving as an Acharya (guide) under my Guru’s guidance.
As I worked with students, I noticed something that initially puzzled me. I have the same set of notes which I use for my classes. Yet the guidance that came through from my Guru for each student was often very different. The same teaching would be emphasized differently. Different challenges would be addressed. Different instructions would be given.
I began to realize that spiritual teaching is multidimensional. The teaching itself remained the same, yet a different dimension of it seemed to come alive for each student.
The more I observed this, the more a question arose within me: What is my Guru actually trying to do? What is trying to happen here?
Slowly, a realization began to emerge.
He was not focused on the end goal. That goal was already assured.
Nor did time appear to be a variable in his equation. His attention seemed to rest on something much more immediate. Was the student being directed toward the right lesson? Were the right circumstances being provided for the next stage of growth?
What became increasingly clear was that each student appeared to be receiving a curriculum designed specifically for their own evolution.
Divine Mother, working with the Guru, seemed continually to place before each seeker the experiences, opportunities, challenges, and lessons they most needed.
This realization changed how I viewed spiritual growth.
The Divine is not concerned with how quickly we arrive. That is an earth-level measurement. The greater concern is whether consciousness has developed the capacities required for the next stage of realization.
Often people speak of “Divine Timing.” Yet I have increasingly come to feel that this phrase is misleading. We are hardwired to think in terms of time because our experience is shaped by the Earth’s rotation and revolution. But time is not a unit in divine consciousness.
The question is not how much time has passed or how much progress has been accumulated during that time. Those are earthly measurements.
The real question is whether consciousness has expanded. What has been learned? What has been understood? What capacities have been developed that were not present before?
It is the maturity of consciousness that determines spiritual growth. And that maturation unfolds in a dimension where time does not exist.
Yet the soul experiences this growth through physical forms that are bound by time. Bodies are born, mature, decay, and pass away. Because of this, the soul’s evolution appears to unfold across many lifetimes.
For an Avatar, however, these lifetimes are only small events within the much larger evolution of the soul. His time, energy, and guidance are directed by that larger reality.
Story of Kumar's Promotion
One incident from Sri Yukteswar’s hermitage comes to mind.
A young disciple named Kumar had quickly won Sri Yukteswar’s affection. To the surprise of the other students, Master relieved Mukunda of his responsibilities and placed Kumar in charge.
The promotion did not go well.
Enjoying his new authority, Kumar became increasingly domineering. The other students continued to seek Mukunda’s guidance rather than his. Frustrated, Kumar finally complained to Sri Yukteswar.
“Mukunda is impossible!” he protested. “You made me supervisor, yet the others go to him and obey him.”
Sri Yukteswar’s reply revealed that something much deeper had been taking place.
“That’s why I assigned him to the kitchen and you to the parlor,” Master said. “In this way you have come to realize that a worthy leader has the desire to serve, and not to dominate. You wanted Mukunda’s position, but could not maintain it by merit.”
Kumar was relieved of his new duties and returned to his former work.
To those observing outwardly, the experiment may have appeared unsuccessful. Yet Sri Yukteswar had never been trying to create a supervisor or a leader. He had been revealing a lesson.
His purpose was not that Kumar should immediately succeed, but that he should see something about himself that needed to be developed.
Seen in this light, Kumar neither passed nor failed. He was introduced to a learning opportunity. A seed was planted.
The Soul's Personalized Training
Once I began looking through this lens, many things that had previously seemed confusing started to make sense.
Each soul is working on a different lesson. One person may be learning patience. Another may be learning courage. A third may be learning humility. Yet another may be learning surrender.
Though all may be studying the same teachings and practicing the same techniques, the inner work taking place can be entirely different. And each soul learns its lessons at its own pace.
What appears to us as stagnation or delay may simply be consciousness continuing its work with a lesson whose purpose has not yet been fully exhausted.
Seen from this perspective, progress is not measured by how quickly we move forward, but by how deeply we understand what has been placed before us.
The person who appears to advance rapidly may have been working with the same lesson for many lifetimes. The person who appears to be struggling may still be gathering the experiences necessary for the same realization.
There are no late arrivals in spiritual life. There are only souls encountering the lessons they need, when they are ready for them.
The Measure of Progress
Perhaps the greatest insight I have taken from observing my Guru is that the Masters measure progress very differently from how we do.
We are constantly tempted to measure spiritual growth through time. How long have I practiced? How much progress have I made this year? Why is this person advancing faster than that person?
This has often been a point of contention in my own mind and heart. I want rapid progress for myself and for the students. Yet that is precisely what I am learning not to look for.
Time is useful for managing schedules. It is a poor measure of spiritual growth.
The real measure is depth of realization. What has been understood? What has changed within consciousness? What lesson has been absorbed deeply enough to become part of who we are?
This is why the Masters can display extraordinary patience. They are not focused on immediate outcomes. They are focused on the larger journey of the soul.
A realization gained is never lost. A lesson learned becomes part of consciousness forever. Whether it takes days, years, or lifetimes is of little consequence from that perspective.
This is why they invest so much energy in every soul that comes to them. They are not seeing who we are today. They are seeing who we are becoming.
Amrita Ghosh
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