The Hyper-Spiritualism Machine: Devotion, Distraction & the Hollowing of the Self

From devotion to data: the spiritual boom feeding the algorithm

Editor’s Note:
Infinite Awakening is about looking inward, questioning outward, and reconnecting with the deeper currents that shape human life. This essay explores the booming spiritual economy — from reels to retreats — and asks whether we’re truly awakening or simply becoming better data for someone’s algorithm.

Are We Awakening — or Just Uploading Ourselves?

A new kind of race is here.
It looks like awakening, but feels like acceleration.

Reels, shorts, temple tourism vlogs, spiritual podcasts, weekend retreats — an entire industry is selling “inner peace” in 60 seconds or less.

Add tarot workshops, yoga certifications, shadow work coaching, akashic record readings, nadi astrology courses and consultations — and you have a spiritual marketplace that runs on algorithms and hashtags.

But pause for a moment:
Isn’t spirituality supposed to be a journey inward — an individual experiencing the cosmic, rising consciously, becoming calmer?

When did it become a rat race of content creation and competitive enlightenment?

The Business of Being Woke

Every click, chant, and livestreamed darshan is not just a “spiritual moment.”

It’s also data — fueling engagement graphs, server farms, and eventually, AI models learning how we seek God.

Are we transcending — or just feeding the servers that run our collective FOMO?

What’s next — personalized mantras trained by GPT?
Maybe the cloud already knows which temple you’ll visit next.

Madness in the Mountains

Look at Rishikesh, Dehradun, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Kangra, Leh, Ladakh —
bridges, highways, mega-dams, homestays, tunnels, yoga retreats sprouting everywhere.

On paper, this is “development.”
On the ground, it’s chaos: landslides, flash floods, forests stripped, villages displaced.

Sacred valleys now choke with traffic and selfie sticks.

And here’s the uncomfortable question:
Who really benefits?
Infrastructure giants? Tourism boards? Governments basking in optics?
Or the villagers who are paying with rising prices, cracked homes, and migration?

We are building pilgrimage corridors —
but we are also building corridors of vulnerability.

If this continues, the Himalayas may stop being abodes of gods and start becoming ghost towns, hollowed out by climate disasters and forced mass migration.

Influencers, Not Seekers

Social media has turned pilgrimages into dinner outings with hashtags.
Devotees broadcast their divine journey like a road trip,
more focused on angles than aṅgas (limbs of yoga).

The madness is so lucrative that corporate folks are quitting six-figure tech jobs
to run boutique retreats, teach weekend tantra, and monetize “detox itineraries.”

Meanwhile, foreigners still come quietly, sit with teachers, learn texts, return home and actually practice —
spreading a lifestyle we left behind.

We, on the other hand, scroll from one reel to the next,
confusing entertainment with evolution.

The Lost Inner Compass

The Vedic way was never about scale or speed —
it was about silence, tapasya, and direct experience.

Mantras, yantras, and temples were not tourism infrastructure —
they were energy portals to transformation.

Today, we have turned them into mass spectacles.
Our sacred spaces are louder than ever,
but our inner spaces remain unvisited.

The Strategic Cost

This isn’t just spiritual loss — it’s a civilizational one.

A society kept busy in outrage loops, reels, and rituals becomes
easy to manage but hard to mobilize for real change.

Who demands better education, healthcare, climate resilience —
when the next temple inauguration or hashtag war promises a fresh dopamine hit?

The Still Point

Maybe real awakening starts when we stop scrolling, stop reacting, and stop feeding the machine.

Spirituality won’t slow the world down —
but it might slow you down just enough to choose your next move consciously.

And perhaps, in a world of infinite noise,
that is the most radical act of all.

But before you scroll to the next reel, ask yourself:
Where is our Jap, Tap, Dhyan, Karma, Yog —
our mastery over the senses (Indriya Nigraha) that was once the cornerstone of real spiritual work?

Are we building devotion — or distractions?
Are we creating revival — or just reels?

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