During the Olympics, competitions are held in many sports to find out who will earn the gold medal. People compete from all over the world for the gold medal in different sports.
If we analyse what sets apart a gold medalist from those who get the silver or bronze medals, those who finish as runners-up, or those who never even make to the Olympics, we find certain qualities make someone go from good to great. By analysing these traits, we can incorporate them into our own lives as we pursue excellence in any field, including spirituality: These traits are Focus, Passion and Drive, Time Commitment, Discipline and Perseverance.
FOCUS
The first quality we find with Olympic champions is that they focus one hundred per cent on their goal. When Olympic champions are interviewed they often describe how their entire life was based on the ruling passion of winning their goal. Some began preparing for the Olympics at ages three, four, or five or older, and they spent every waking moment of their lives focused on winning the gold medal.
They are trained not only to strive for the top scores but also to break existing records. They are not concerned with what others are doing. They know that if they do what they are supposed to, they will have a chance at winning. Those who do not win often lose their focus and instead get caught up in what others are doing. They did not drift from one thing to another; they set a goal and stuck to it without wavering. They put all their attention into that one activity. Their focus was not just on participation, but also on winning and being the best.
likewise, in the arena of spirituality, we should keep to our schedule of meditation and stay focused on our own spiritual progress rather than what others around us are doing. This quality helps us use our time wisely toward attaining union with God.
PASSION AND DRIVE
Not only do gold medal winners have one hundred per cent focus on the goal, but also they are filled with passion and drive to achieve it. They are full of energy for what they are doing, not lackadaisical in their approach. They wake up each day excited to perfect their skills.
likewise, from the moment the question about the mystery of life and death enters our being, we should have a ceaseless ruling passion and drive to unravel that mystery. Just as passion and drive are key ingredients in making a gold medal winner, they are also key ingredients to recognising our true self as soul and realising God.
TIME COMMITMENT
The difference between an average athlete and a great one may rest in the time spent in perfecting the skill. For the body to perform at supersonic speeds or to do twists, turns, and rotations requires an incredible degree of synchronisation of the body and mind. This takes training and repetition. They have to repeat this hundreds and thousands of times until the body and brain can do the extraordinary feats automatically. Olympic winners put in the maximum possible time to perfect their sports. Similar time commitment is needed for meditation and spirituality. Inner experiences do not come by a sudden effort. They come by gentle and steady effort, day after day over time. It is by steady practice that we make progress.
DISCIPlINE and PERSEVERANCE
Another important ingredient to winning is having the discipline to do what it takes to be the best.
One can show up for practice for 12 hours a day, but it is the discipline of doing what is required during those hours that makes one a winner. likewise, as seekers of God, we need to exemplify discipline. We must do whatever is necessary to be successful in the goal of finding God. This success depends on meditation for the longest possible time. If we think that by sitting in meditation on the inner light and Sound for six hours only once a year we will attain our goal, we are mistaken. The key is to put in as much time as we can, no matter what amount of time it is each day.
Another quality that sets Olympic gold medalists apart is that they do not let failure stop them, but learn from their failures. Winners will look at videotape of their performance to spot their errors and fix them. If they fall, they get back up on their feet and try again. If they do not win the first time, they try again. They take failure as a challenge to overcome and use it as an incentive to try even harder and keep going.
Similarity, in spiritual arena also, we need to have perseverance. We need to keep trying unless we reach our goal.
Along with this, we must live up to the ethical virtues. This involves leading a life of nonviolence, truthfulness, purity, humility, and selfless service.
All the above qualities needed to make an Olympic winner in the field of sports also apply to reaching our spiritual goals. By looking at the examples of Saints and Masters who reach the heights of spirituality, we can see what it takes for us also to reach the spiritual goal of union with the Divine. Saints exemplify the qualities that make a gold medalist.
Their achievement is the Olympics of meditation and spirituality. They attain the goal that every person who meditates is trying to attain — reuniting the soul with God. Their lives exemplify all the qualities an Olympic gold medalist needs to win the gold. If we examine their lives from this angle, it gives us a blueprint of what we need to do to also achieve the same goal in spirituality and meditation.
In the physical Olympics there can only be one gold medalist, but in the field of meditation and spirituality each of us can win the gold medal. It is not restricted to an Olympics every four years — we can participate in this Olympic 24/7 and can attain the gold at any time.
The question is: Why waitIJ Why not complete the course nowIJ If we apply the dedication of Olympic gold medalists and follow the example of the spiritual Masters, we too can win the gold medal of spirituality.
The writer is a spiritual leader