When I started meditating in my teenage years, I didn’t even know that I had chosen the left hand path.

This is the reason it made me spiritually grow fast, but this is also the reason why it was so scary sometimes and why spiritual practices threatened to take me out of balance.

Because of choosing the left hand path, the progress was sometimes so fast that it was frightening. It was scary because you experience things not of this world, and if supernatural things happen every day, eventually you start losing ground, so to speak.

Carlos Castaneda talks about this in his books. He tells that there comes a time during spiritual progress where you open up to a different, supernatural reality. Those who emerge successfully out of it, become spiritual teachers. Those who cannot handle it, get locked up in mental institutions. And those who are able to stay in that reality without it making them lose ground, become masters.

The right hand path allows you to experience supernatural things gradually. So you get used to them and this makes you able to handle more and more of strange experiences. But if you choose the left hand path, you have no control over when and what you experience. And if you suddenly find yourself in totally different circumstances to what people consider normal for a longer period of time, this can really test the integrity of your mind!

Blogging in my rented house in South India

What saved me from losing my mind was the fact that I lived in nature.

At that time I lived in a jungle-like place in India, renting a house quite secluded from humanity.

Nature wonderfully grounds, and this is the reason I was able to experience other worlds and all sorts of spiritual experiences without “losing it”.

I’m grateful to have chosen the left hand path in my earlier years, but due to the risks involved I have switched over to the right hand path.

This path takes to the goal slower but surer, whilst the left hand path is faster, but due to the risks involved you might not reach the goal at all.

The difference between the left and right hand paths is this. In left-hand path meditations you focus on nothing at all, whilst in right-hand path – you focus on something to keep you grounded.

So in a left-hand path meditation you aren’t attached to anything at all, which allows you to be taken to other worlds and to have supernatural experiences without you having any control over such events. But in the right-hand path meditations you focus on something of this world, like on your body or breath, and this is what keeps you in touch with the physical reality even though you might be visiting different worlds or having other supernatural experiences.

Since you’re in touch with your body, you can always chose to go back to your reality. Whilst if you’re in touch with nothing, you cannot decide when to return. It’s like traveling whilst having a home to return to versus traveling without any home at all.

It’s only you who can decide which path is best for you. But I warn you that if you live in a city, and if you’re scared of small things, the left-hand path is not for you. Mental institutions are filled with those who lost the ground. Don’t risk it.

However, if you’re mentally strong and you easily can handle spiritual experiences, plus you live in nature, maybe the left-hand-path is for you.

Some people tend to overestimate themselves, but this is dangerous in meditation. So if you choose the left-hand path, observe yourself carefully, and you can always choose a safer option if you feel you’re getting too ungrounded.

Hi, I'm Simona Rich, the author of this site.

I'm from Lithuania, though most of the time you'll find me somewhere in Asia.

I write about spirituality and self-improvement, and consult on those topics.

Let's connect on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. My bio is here...