Doubts, beliefs and realization

Along the spiritual path, we get many doubts. How to balance social and spiritual needs? How to handle the fear of missing out the social approval?  Whether consciousness exists and what is its nature? Why science has not been able to understand it so far? Is it just an imagination? What will be the fate of the people moving along the spiritual path? Why people not moving along the path are so happy?

We try to get answers to these questions. The problem with seeking the answers is that, while seeking the answers to these questions, our intellect has still not spiritually matured. It is like a student of the first standard trying to understand the finer nuances of quantum physics. Even the greatest scientists in the world have failed to understand that. Similarly, even the most realized yogis have not fully understood the nature of consciousness and the laws of nature. It's simply because of the natural limitations of the mind.

At this stage, many of us, unwilling to work hard on our quest, start following certain sects or organizations or individuals. They form a strong belief in the correctness of the beliefs of these sects or organizations. Since they regularly interact with people associated with the same sects or organizations, their beliefs get confirmed each day and start growing stronger. In most cases, even the family members also join the same sect or organization and therefore there is questioning. Even if there is questioning the sects and organizations have enough FAQs to handle those questions. 

The path of spirituality is the path of self-discovery. These sects or organizations, at best, can only guide us on how to search for that truth. There is no uniform method to search for that truth. However, there are certain observations, I would like to share:

1. So long as a person is fixated on his ideas of rights and wrongs, it's almost impossible to move on the spiritual path.
2. Fixation with our likes and dislikes saps our energy in pursuit of achieving what we like and avoiding what we dislike. It deprives us of the energy required to move along the spiritual path.
3. We are not even aware of most of these fixations that exist in the unconscious mind.
4. It takes a lot of time and patience to be aware of these fixations and to drop them.
5. The desire to know the reality itself becomes a big fixation in the process.
6. These fixations are like demons which come in different forms, which appear to be very divine prima facie. For example, a desire to be powerful may take the form of contributing to society and may carry on its game unconsciously.
7. Reading books written by spiritual masters always helps.
8. Discussions with people who have gained greater freedom from the fixations as compared to ourselves are of great help. 
9.  Till one realizes the reality, faith is of utmost importance. Faith simply means conviction about the limitations of what we know. It's quite different from belief wherein we speculate or imagine reality. Belief is a big obstruction in the spiritual journey.
10. Mindfulness observation is the key to realization. The mind should be empty of thoughts to allow space for the object of observation to come inside. Then only the mind will be full of observation. 
11. Spirituality is not about moving away from society. It is about living in the same society carrying our Swadharma and remaining unaffected by mindlessness like a lotus in the mud.
12.  Samadhi or meditation happens automatically as we close our eyes effortlessly if we live a mindful life.