Two Core Obstacles to Our Spiritual Growth
by Atman Nityananda
“I don’t have time for practice”
Saying, “I don’t have time for practice” is a common form of self-justification and self-deception. It is, in truth, the voice of the lower ego, the part of us that resists growth and subtly manipulates us to maintain the status quo. Because we identify so deeply with the ego, we mistake its reluctance for our own and accept its excuses as our reality. But this claim that we “don’t have time” is a clever illusion—it’s a mechanism by which the ego keeps us anchored in distraction and prevents us from looking within.
If we genuinely examine where our time goes, we’ll likely find much of it consumed by activities that yield little lasting value: time spent scrolling on our phones, browsing the internet, watching TV, engaging in trivial conversations, or following fleeting news. When we add it up, we see we do have time; what we lack is the inner conviction and enthusiasm for practice.
The truth is that we make time for what matters to us. For anything we deeply value, we manage to carve out time, even in a busy day. Only if we are sincerely interested can we make time to focus on ourselves, to see what’s happening within, to bring some order to our inner world, and to explore what we truly are beyond the body, the mask of personality, and the ego.
Procrastination
Procrastination is a subtle, persistent way we avoid inner growth and awaken to our divine nature.
We might tell ourselves, “I’ll practice later, just after I quickly finish something else,” but when “later” arrives, there’s another distraction, another task, or fatigue, so we push practice off yet again. Each “I’ll do it later” leads to another, and each tomorrow becomes another tomorrow. In this endless cycle, the precious (present) moment to turn inward, clear our mind, and connect with our deeper self (the silent presence of Consciousness) never quite comes.
Procrastination keeps us in a state of constant postponement, and it becomes a habit that extends beyond practice into other areas of our life. But each moment that we delay our inner work, we delay the freedom, peace, and deeper connection with the plenitude and bliss of our essence that only practice can bring.
When we break the cycle, we open ourselves to an experience of life that isn’t constrained by habitual thought or external pressures. We begin to understand that the most powerful change happens not “later” but in the commitment we make now, and by living consciously focused in the present moment.
The ‘secret’ to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind free from desires and ego and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).
🌺 Peace, Love, Harmony
atmannityanada 