How do you imagine a REAL, SINCERE Spiritual Practice?

 I think the Buddhists have done better than anybody.  Both in laying out the problem-Sufferring. And in offerring the 'solution'-Detachment.

Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, but that is the bare bones of it.

I much prefer simplicity, don't you?  And I would rather get the bad news first and then figure out what to do about it.

I would rather not be LIED TO, and told some Father Figure in some Invisible World REALLY LOVES ME and wants to help me and maybe will invite me to His Place after I die.

And, btw, I just have to 'trust' XYZ authority that it's the Truth.

Which, strangely, has a COUPLE of benefits:

• It gives one the opportunity to believe in the magical belief without the work or waiting to find out for oneself and,
• It absolves one of the time-consuming responsibility to test out the Truths Offerred PERSONALLY.

I mean, it's possible something like the 'Father God Figure' IS the truth, can I BE SURE another human being has intimate knowledge of that?  No-- He can never prove to me he has Direct Contact With God.

Where it gets a little complicated is when a person is REALLY SERIOUSLY DEPRESSED, and lonely, drinking too much, etc. and someone shows up and delivers, "The Message of the Peace and the Love."

It's very tempting to believe Mr. Godguy is telling the Truth.  

And so, I did.  

But, after that, I lost any serious motivation to do the actual, hard work of self-discovery that is proposed by Buddhism and/or many other schools of religion, philosophy, and psychology.  

It's often called The Perennial Philosopy:

Perennial philosophy, also known as Perennialism, is the idea that there is a universal core truth or set of principles underlying all major world religions. It suggests that various religious traditions, despite their diverse doctrines and practices, share a common ground rooted in mystical experiences and a transcendent reality. This philosophy posits that a deeper understanding of this shared truth can be achieved by studying and comparing different religious texts and traditions. 

Key Concepts:

• Universal Truth:

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  Perennial philosophy proposes that a single, underlying truth or reality exists, accessible through mystical or spiritual experience. 
Core of Religions:
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It suggests that the diverse religions of the world, in their essence, point to this same truth, despite their varying outward forms and practices. 
Mystical Experience:
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The shared truth is often linked to mystical or transcendental experiences, where individuals directly encounter the divine or ultimate reality. 
Pluralism:
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Perennial philosophy promotes religious pluralism by acknowledging the validity and value of different religious paths while emphasizing their common ground. 

Interestingly,  Aldous Huxley, who coined the term, also was a friend of Bill Wilson, the architect of Alcoholics Anonymouse, who used the power of a universal ,though largely undefined Higher Power, as a helpful force for alcoholics to work with.

And just as the process of RECOVERY is SIMPLE, but not EASY,  the same is true for rudimentary Spiritual Work.

There needn't be anything mystical or divine about it AT ALL, since it has to do mainly with opposing the Self and all its Desires.  

Many practices can help work on the selfish Self.  Among them yoga, prayer, fasting, service, mantras, etc.

But the most favored practice is meditation.  Because the Mind is the source of Everything-Good and Evil, Confused and Enlightened.  Most of us simply allow our mad minds to run here and there everywhere, like a monkey.  Inherently trusting it will lead us in the right direction.

It turns out we most likely DO need help--trusted friends and advisors.  And, perhaps in the Advanced Stages, we need some kind of Spiritual Guide, so long as we have accumulated sufficient evidence of his or her veracity.

Unfortunately many of us, before we have even commenced on a genuine spiritual path, come accross some figure like Sidi who seems to offer a shortcut of some kind.  And we end up wasting years of our lives following an empty vessel who leaves us upset and angry at our fate rather than illumined.

All we can do is offer up OUR experience of such an experience so that the next person who comes along DOESN'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!

BTW, here's a posting I read about why someone who wants to tame the mind might decide to become a full time monk or nun:

The answer doesn't require much reasoning and conceptualization, but rather can be experienced in the here and now. Stand up and and do walking meditation right now. Despite attention being directed appropriately to awareness of the body and the sensation of walking, and the arising and ceasing of errant thoughts, attention will eventually leave this territory and pursue appealing or displeasing thoughts related to the world due to the craving and engrossment for them. 

This craving is powerful, and you can see it for yourself- when awareness detects it, there is bargaining and reasoning on why this thought is necessary; there is rarionalization and conceptualization on why it is important to continue thinking. Being aware with appropriate attention is very hard. Having the motivation to pursue this is probably very rare in this world. It takes lots of practice to go against this stream and divert attention back to that which is appropriate- and this is if you practice! In short, wordly thought are delicious and seductive, and going against them is very difficult, and for that reason the world goes on and on.