SPIRITUAL LIVING; Is it possible?

In many occasions I have come accross this question, Is it possible to lead a spiritual life in these times? The topic of Christmas Retreat in 2009 was along these lines. Well, this is what the answer I got on 05th March 2011 to remember when ever my conviction is weakend and I'm over powered by factors of delusion forgetting my goal of life.

I need to take care of my bodily needs for survival like hunger, shelter, clothing etc, I need to care for my soccial needs; my family, business, friends, social status, I need to care for my sensory needs; oral, aural, visual, tactory, olfactory pleasures along with various other actions of mental pampering. Is there a life minus this? Any action I currently perform revolves around these needs. This is the life. I work to feed, cloth and shelter myself. In the next level I want to work more to earn better to care for my various other social needs and further on to meet my sensory needs. I'm engaged in activities totally dedicated to achieving the above needs. This goes on and on as a sense of security grips to ensure sustainable fulfilment of above needs, then further on to cater to the ever growing sensory needs, thus a whirlpool of never ending activities aiming the above.

In the above model of action, the whole direction of action is centric on an individualistic perspective. All the above constantly enhances and asserts the ego.

On the other hand spiritual living, is undertaking actions including all the routines to realize the oneness of the individual with the whole of the Cosmos. Here the efforts are directed in exactly the opposite direction to that asserting the ego. Hence spiritual life is exactly opposite to what most of all have been doing and we consider is the normal and right thing to do. Any thing else is perceived as deviation from normal including the spiritual quest.

Spiritual living will remain irreconcilable as long as a belief remains that the ego centric actions are the correct way and the norm. The conflicts arose with the discovery that all those ego enhancing activities are insatiable and never ending along with a realisation of a sense of inner peace and calmness in turning mind inwards. At this point the struggle is even more pronounced; one force pulling towards the ego enhancement and the other towards destroying this ego. A point where one cannot turn back to sensory life concluding that Spiritual life is not possible in these days as a sense of vacuum and incompleteness persisting in the sensory life. While a march towards cosmic centric belongingness is also not possible with the habit, the past samskaras and lack of conviction keeps dragging back to the sensory life. 

Spiritual life is possible by orienting the activities of life from being ego centric to cosmic centric by undertaking the path of Sadhana.