Why Your Spiritual Checklist Might Be Working Against You
4/2/202653 min
In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha ask a question that cuts to the heart of any serious spiritual practice: is my practice actually changing me.
Goodhart's Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. The classic example: British colonial officials in India offered a bounty on cobra skins to reduce the cobra population, only to find that enterprising citizens began breeding cobras to collect the bounties. The measure designed to solve the problem made it worse. The Srimad Bhagavatam, an ancient Sanskrit text on Bhakti-yoga, offers a startling example t...
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First 90 secondsRaghunath· Host0:00
I was thinking about Joppa, right?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:02
Oh.
Raghunath· Host0:02
Like, it's a good example how our measurement replaces meaning.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:07
Mm-hmm.
Raghunath· Host0:07
Like for example, in our spiritual life, this is-- In the way we set it up in our sadhana. We can do this all the time. It's like, um, we start a practice. We commit to chanting a certain number of rounds. How about that?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:20
Yes.
Raghunath· Host0:21
We're reading a certain number of pages, right?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:23
Yes.
Raghunath· Host0:23
We're fasting on certain days.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:25
Yes.
Raghunath· Host0:26
And even though these are beautiful things, and they're meant to uplift us, and they're tools, and they exist there for the end game, which is, "How can I open my heart?"
Kaustubha Das· Host0:35
Yeah.
Raghunath· Host0:37
And, you know, somewhere along the line, and it, and it's subtle, and this is why it's dangerous, 'cause it's subtle. It can just sneak right in. Somewhere along the way, the number becomes the thing. Huh?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:53
The number.
Raghunath· Host0:53
The number becomes the thing, and the external measure becomes the goal itself. Did you finish your rounds? Check. Did I fast? Check.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:02
Check.
Raghunath· Host1:03
And then we close the book. You know, did you eat onions and garlic? Check.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:06
No. No, you're not. You're not supposed to eat [laughs] onions and garlic.
Raghunath· Host1:10
[laughs] Check. Oh, I did. [laughs] Okay. You know, can we hit every target? Can we check the list and feel a sense of accomplishment? And, um, and, and, and, and then there's that feeling like, "I've do- I've done it," and then boom, we're further from God perhaps, right? 'Cause I feel the, a sense of superiority with it. So the question is,