The Price of Spirituality

Cultivating Presence Amid Hyper-connectivity and Materialism

Fotos por Mr. Ramos Valencia

In the midst of a massive transition into the age of artificial intelligence, we feel unwell—not just because of what's coming, but because we haven’t even digested the last wave of hyper-connectivity brought by the internet and social media. We produce faster than we can process. We're already cooking dinner while breakfast still churns in our stomachs.
Today, instead of seeking protection from the inclemencies of nature, we yearn to escape the tyranny of our own minds. This is the reality we face in modern society. Consumerism has reached a ridiculous peak, where we begin to realize that no amount of material wealth can offer the one thing we truly long for: a state of inner peace.

This dizzying momentum is driven by a neurotic collective force we call capitalism. And that realization is as morbid as it is terrifying—because in order to keep producing, we must keep consuming. And we're not just being spoon-fed anymore—we’re being force-fed. Swallowed whole. No taste. No digestion. Just input.

And the opus magnum of this machine? To make us believe we like it. That we want it. To make us believe we are free to choose.

But I wonder—where is freedom in this story?

And yet, we put on our fancy yoga outfits and head to these temples of capitalism disguised as spiritual sanctuaries. We pray and pay homage to a fascist god of materialism without even realizing.

We are mad and we are lost—without even knowing it.

And I—myself, a so-called yoga teacher of the 21st century— I’m not here to throw the first rock, or to self proclaim as a saint. Far from it, I have been part of this mechanical, sterile game of modern spirituality in the past. And that is precisely why I dare to speak about it—because I’ve been there. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes. I have walked through the valleys of unfathomable thirst—for validation, for self-importance. The consolidation of a fearful ego dressed up as spiritual liberation.

We spend our lives idealizing spirituality as a way to reach a state where all our problems finally disappear. We fantasize about a place where we can rest from suffering and despair. We dream of a mythical Eden—in an age of concrete, screens, and artificial intelligence, without realizing that we already are super imposing our unmeet desires and expectations into these traditions. We take the sacred to turn it into a profane projection of our shadows. Just as we do with dating nowadays. We don’t want to know a person, we want that person to be as we wish.

But you know what? It’s okay. I’m not there to say what’s wrong or right. What’s intelligent or stupid. What’s correct or incorrect. This goes beyond any dualism. I’m here to hold space for that treasure we call “the process”. Because it takes time, effort, consistency, and patience to realize that even in the midst of delusion, there is clarity; in the midst of madness, there is sanity; in the midst of narcissism, there is empathy and compassion. Nothing is black or withe, and the less we judge ourselves or others, the more nuance comes to our life experiences. Life is already perfect, even when it doesn’t feel like that. But that doesn’t take away the opportunity to raise our voice and speak our truth. The more we realize this, the more we understand the value of having a voice and the importance of our message.

After some time of walking this path and accompanying others on their own journeys, I can say that many of the things we call yoga today–specially in social media–are not yoga. And yet—it is indispensable that we go through it. Because there’s no better way to wake up from a dream than by learning what the dream looks like, smells like, tastes like. In other words, we need to taste the flavor of delusion in order to recognize clarity. Nevertheless, there’s a danger: the taste of delusion is sweet—like the sugar we use to make crappy food addictive. We need to be careful and keep our eyes open.

So what to do? Who to follow? How to discern between delusion and reality?

To this, I say:

We need sobriety, not more stimuli.

We need intimacy, not more diversity.

We need contemplation, not more solutions.

Do nothing.
Don’t follow anyone.
Trust the here and now.

Cultivate awareness with devotion.

Open your arms to the Divine intelligence that has brought you here. The same intelligence that keeps blossoming by its own will, even when you do absolutely nothing. The intelligence that rejoice your heart with the purest love, and calms it down in the darkest times.

This is the essence of yoga and meditation. It has nothing to do with thinking or trying to create solutions. None of this can be solved by the mind, because the mind is ruled by the ego—and the ego will never seek to dismantle itself. Meditation is the art of being. And in being, there is no error, no suffering, no delusion—only pure, divine bloom. In a world driven by noise, speed, and reaction, the most radical attitude we can take is silence and stillness. Not as a form of passivity, but as the ground from which true, intentional action can arise.

All is born
from the splendid light of awareness—
in the absence of me,
everything blossoms—
including the presence of being.

The sun shines,
the birds sing,
the wind blows,
the ocean moves—
and here we are,
dancing together.