This continues our conversation about creating a unique spiritual path. One that is right for you. One that challenges, yet inspires.
Last week (the first of three posts on this subject), we looked at “how to begin” if you feel uncertain in this regard. I also covered the importance of going beyond the “masters” to find your own inner mystery. It can feel daunting to imagine this possibility. After all, we’re talking about people like Gandhi, Buddha, Deepak Chopra, Eckahrt Tolle, Elizabeth Lesser, Wayne Dyer, Gary Zukav, Lao Tzu, Thoreau, Whitman, Neale Donald Walsch, Rumi, Tagore, Osho, Caroline Myss, Thich Nhat Hanh, Kalil Gibran, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dalai Lama, Thomas Moore, Joseph Campbell, Shakti Gawain, Harold Kushner, Basho, Stephen Cope … to name only a few. I’m sure you have many other favorites to add to these names.
Yet, Matsuo Basho’s advice is clear:
Don’t follow in the footsteps of the old masters.
Seek what they sought.
But, for now, let’s say you have taken the first step, you’ve committed to a spiritual path in some form. Something that requires practice, spiritual discipline, and daily attention. You’ve realized that being “religious” is different from being “spiritual.” And you understand that you are life … that you are here as an “expression” of something beyond our planetary home. A higher power. A universal force. The source. Maybe you decided to pick out two special questions to focus on (as a beginning) or maybe you didn’t get quite that far yet.
- So now what? How do you proceed?
Know the whole world is nothing when it is compared to knowing your own inner mystery of life. ~ Osho
Spend some time with nature. Watch the light that dances among the leaves; listen to a strong breeze; gaze upon a garden of blooming iris. Don’t “think” about anything, in particular. See what bubbles up to the surface. Jot it down in a journal you are dedicating to your spiritual path. If nothing comes, try again. Be patient. Let the absence of thought generate new ways of experiencing the world. Allow your sense perceptions to really “see” the tree. Or smell the air. Maybe your sense of hearing can help you connect with your deeper self. Bird song. Rustling branches. Silence.
Try to do this as often as possible. See if nature can urge you onward. See if you can discover a more peaceful essence within, a part of you that isn’t even remotely concerned with the daily drama of life. Something that feels alive yet eternal. What is there when you find a way past mental distraction, petty annoyances — life on the surface?
Do you sense a vibrant presence?
Remember that no one can take this journey for you. No one can chart a spiritual course for you. This is your path — your moment.
Soon you will feel compelled to spend time like this on a regular basis. You will seek the inspiration of nature. You will savor silence.
And your spiritual path will be launched, taking shape. Coming to life within.
Finding your inner mystery, your peaceful essence, allows you freedom from the world of “form” … from an external world that will always fall short.
Let me know how it goes. And, again, if you are already well along this path … please share with others some of your thoughts and experiences. Encouragement is always a good thing.
Blog by DazyDayWriter @ work in SunnyRoomStudio: all rights reserved.
