Bhagavad Gita 3.6

karmendriyāṇi saṁyamya

ya āste manasā smaran

indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā

mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

 

“One who restrains the body’s deeds,

Yet in the mind, on pleasures feeds,

That deluded soul, the wise proclaim,

Lives in hypocrisy, having no shame.”

 

My dear Lord, one of the greatest obstacles on the spiritual path is my vulnerability to equate pseudo-spirituality with spirituality. Spiritual growth centers on developing a deep attraction to non-material reality, which is ultimately centered on you. Because such spiritual growth takes much time and effort, my innate tendency for self-deception starts looking for shortcuts. In a culture that respects spirituality, those seekers who follow rigid renunciation—giving up physical indulgence—are often highly respected. If I start craving such respect and maintain my renunciation just for the sake of that respect, while letting my mind run wild in sensual fantasies that are utterly contradictory to the principles I profess publicly, then I am deceiving myself. 

Worse still, if I feel no shame at all about this growing distance between my words and actions, then my self-deception will propel me rapidly toward self-destruction in the form of a catastrophic fall involving humiliation for me and disruption of faith for many others. Please, O Lord, protect me from such self-deception. Grant me the humility to acknowledge the reality and gravity of the difference between principle and practice. Bless me with the strength to do whatever it takes to bridge that difference, so that I can genuinely come close to you and one day relish the sublime joy of living in divine intimacy.

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03.06 One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.

Protect me from my tendency for self-deception