6 6 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 8 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 2 2 6 Internal Predispositions for Spiritual Endeavors Minařík says there are no coincidences, and that is why encountering a teaching leading to freedom “cannot simply be accepted as some common coincidence occurring in life” (Minařík 1993/1, 204), no, it must be viewed as a movement of the human spirit (Sa. Ātman) that has started longing for liberation from the sorrowful journeying through lives which flows from the “reincarnation process beyond our control” (Minařík 1993/1, 143). Květoslav Minařík has adapted his teaching to the needs of the intellectually developed human being of the modern age. That is why Minařík insists first of all on fully grasping his system intellectually, and only then move to practice. However, looking back at several generations of his pupils, we can say that it is not the outstanding intellectual capacities of his followers, nor “their extravagant inner disposition, their idealism and capacity for ecstasy” (Minařík 2013, 41) which leads to success. If this were the case, Minařík’s teaching would no doubt be the domain of professors, doctors, or engineers. Yet, quite on the contrary, “too much thinking exposes the individual to the danger that he or she will not be manifesting what the teaching has to offer but gets stuck in thinking about the theory of the teaching. Such deliberations, however, will not bring you one step closer to knowledge.” (Minařík 1993/3, 67–68). For a practical trial of the yogic-mystical system described in this article, everyone first must walk on a bit a faith. For modern Europeans, however, the word ‘must’ be indigestible because “we are brought up to consider a lack of discipline to be a manifestation of personal freedom, a manifestation of a well-developed individuality. Because of this, we cannot successfully do other yoga than the yoga adapted do the European mentality. It cannot be based on ‘you must’ and ‘you mustn’t’, but on one’s own responsibility on the way to mental and inner recovery.” (Minařík 2013, 26). Counter-intuitively, one starts with the most difficult and, due the essential resistance natural to man, the least understood, namely with turning oneself, out of one’s own will, into a joyful and happy optimist, although there may be no objective reasons for this state. For that purpose, “yama is prescribed as the first step towards the yogic training. Yama means the discipline of emotion. By the help of it, happiness is literally ‘produced’.” (Minařík 2013, 12). “To those who constantly strive for good emotional as well as mental states, only time will bring the desirable result, i.e., happiness. When this happens, a person will attain success in the most important part of the yogic discipline, in yama.” (Minařík 2013, 13). However, “those who do not apply this joyfulness, because they believe that it is not the right effective means in the order of psychological things, will not be successful in raising themselves into the transcendent world, no matter what philosophical system of spiritual education they may turn to.” (Minařík 2013, 37). 7 Conclusion The efforts for maintaining goodness in thinking, feeling, etc. , create in the lives of both individuals and society as a whole a current, a stream which “in the form of vibration, one day, has to find its expression as the driving force for the good, i.e., happiness” (Minařík 1991/3, 32). Thus, once “a large number of people starts acting according to the moral guidelines of practical mysticism, rather soon conditions for good living will materialize so apparently that they will be dampening the influence of forces halting joyful and peaceful life on earth – the reason being that no mobile energy can stay without effect.” (Minařík 1991/3, 32). Therefore, though our world is rich in excellent philosophical and religious teachings and ideas, “it requires the direction of the life force which, in one’s being, is the decisive factor, that shows which of those ideal teachings has been manifested or whether it has remained an abstract concept that bears influence upon one’s thinking but not life” (Minařík 1992/2, 58). And that is why our planet is on the verge of nuclear destruction. And yet, all of the self-destructive habits could be, according to Minařík, eliminated from the human race. Květoslav Minařík therefore does not aspire to initiate a new religious movement that would enthrall the world but instead focuses on the practical way how make use of an individual’s life force that: 1) “[S]tarts governing the will only on condition that the direction of observation proceeds from the surface of the body, i.e., from a specific shape as a three-dimensional object.” (Minařík 1992/2, 54). 2) Further “under the pressure of their concentrating mind, the energy contained in the flesh of their legs will start thawing.
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