There’s one thing nobody tells you about the spiritual journey: Pain is guaranteed… In fact, way more pain than you would’ve endured had you ‘chosen’ to remain asleep.

Spirituality has been commercialized and monetized in countless manners.. and the truth (pain) in most cases just doesn’t sell.

We are bombarded with ideals of happy people, basking in bliss and imperturbable mental states of ecstasy, confidence, clarity and fun. Visions and projections of “gurus” (teachers) that market themselves as if they had THE insider secrets to life and the universe..

Hint: 99.999% do not.

And although I’m not denying that it is possible to abide in such peaceful, blissful and impeccable state of being, it is rarely available to most people.

Why?

Because the road there is paved with endless pain.

A true spiritual journey (not merely an online course, trendy cult or bypassing teachings) essentially puts your life on fast-forward.

Everything starts moving rapidly and wave after wave of karma is unlocked at a pace that drowns most. The “stuff” gets waken up to be dealt with in a shorter time-span (depending on the intensity of the path you’ve chosen) which means that chaos tends to emerge by the bulk before things get any better.

What you were supposed to live over the course of 10-20 years you are now experiencing in only 1-2..

So most people inherently imagine there must be something wrong with them when they see the chaos that their life continues unfolding into… especially when measured against the bold promises of a sneaky “spiritual” copywriter..

There is NOTHING wrong with you.

PAIN is a part of the journey..

and in most cases, THE journey.

(And remember that although Pain is guaranteed, suffering is always optional.)

But let me help you take the “pink-spiritual-googles” off and embrace what a spiritual journey *actually* entails.

It is far from being sunshine and rainbows, because once you open this pandora box you unleash all the things that were kept hidden there for a reason:

Old trauma, memories and patterns resurface to be fully dealt with (not merely ignored/dulled down)

Relationships, Friendships & Work situations take a drastic shift because once you’ve become conscious of the importance of your life you just cannot continue engaging in toxic romances, meaningless connections and soul-sucking jobs.

When you become present to how precious life is you are now forced to deal with all the ways in which you were wasting it..

Something about throwing pearls to the pigs, a guy named Jesus once said.

But be VERY careful about your intention to go down this path.

If you will take the first step, you better make it to the last – otherwise you’re in for a rough, tormenting journey.

A LOT of people that have the courage to open the box lack the follow through to boldly step towards and through what comes out of it, and as a consequence end up in severe depression and anxiety.

Because depression and anxiety are the natural consequences of SEEING the shifts you MUST make in your life and not making them.

They are the inevitable result of KNOWING who you truly are, and betraying that.

At least before you were blind to it and could go through the motions, numbing yourself out with distractions, vices, addictions, work, food, sex and tv shows…

But once you’ve seen past the surface, what lies behind the veil cannot be ‘unseen’.

Truth is therefore the spiritual journey’s greatest gift and curse.

For it will burn all that is false -and it will burn it ruthlessly!

Yet in today’s world, most of a person’s life is false.

The way they eat, the way they move, the place they work at, the relationships they have, the work they do, the thoughts they think.

So when seeking truth in a society built by deception, pain is unavoidable.

You will endure the pain of losing people you thought were your friends..

And jobs you thought were good enough because they paid the bills..

And the pain of noticing how you’re responsible for your every emotion and thought – so the soft comfort of blame is now out of the window.. for you have now realized that both misery and bliss are YOURS to create.

There is a subtle, ever-present pain when you become aware of every single thought and emotion that’s out of harmony. So instead of pretending they aren’t there, you are now forced to sit with them, inquire and explore how deep the rabbit hole goes…

Every.

Single.

Day.

It is painful to look around and see the delusion in which the world lives, the self-deception that most operate from and the utter ugliness life on earth has been turned into.

It is painful to look at your family and recognize the trauma and pain they’re not willing to heal (and therefore, the pain they unconsciously keep making others feel.)

So hear me out:

The spiritual journey will demand that who you are -and the world as you know it- die.

And this death is utterly painful..

Yet the alternative is NOT an option.

The alternative is wilful ignorance, fear-driven blindness and life-long torture.

The alternative is never knowing who you truly are and what you’re capable of because of fear.

So the spiritual journey will turn your life upside down before it sets it straight..

And you will most certainly go through hell before you reach heaven…

so as you go through it, remember that the goal is NOT to be happy.

It is to be FREE.

And -ironically- lasting happiness is reserved for those who’ve given up their aversion to pain.

For once you welcome pain with open arms and a smile,

That’s the end of suffering.

And the final reward of having pushed through the rough edges of your spiritual path.