Is Something Missing?
More and more people are realizing that something very important
is missing from their lives, that there is something more to life than
they are currently experiencing. The great news is that increasing numbers
of people are beginning to venture on the path to real freedom, the path
of spirituality. Rabbi Michael Lerner says, "Spirituality is a lived experience,
a set of practices and a consciousness that aligns us with a sense of
the sanctity of All Being." He says, "Religions on the other hand, are
the various historical attempts to organize a set of doctrines, rituals,
and specific behaviors that are supposed to be the right way to live.''
Perhaps spirituality is a stage beyond religion where we are overcoming
our fear, pains, dependence and addictions so we can respond with love
and reverence to the goodness and the wonder of Source expressing in and
as our world.
Vital and Awake
A Benedictine monk, Brother David Steindl-Rast, talks about
spirituality in this way: "Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that
spirituality is a separate department in life, the penthouse of our existence.
But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms
of our being. Someone will say, 'I come alive when I listen to music'
or 'I come to life when I garden,' or 'I come alive when I play golf'.
Whenever we come alive, this is the area in which we are spiritual. And
then we can say, 'I know at least how one is spiritual in that area.'
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To be vital, awake, aware, in all areas of our lives, is the task that
is never accomplished, but it remains the goal." In the Tao Te Ching,
Lao-tzu wrote, "See the world as yourself. Have faith in the way things
are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things."
We Think We Are Separate
Tibetan teacher Rimpoche said, "Two people have been living
inside of you all your life. One is the ego, which is demanding, easily
offended, believes in its separateness, thinks that it's special and is
insane. The other is your hidden higher self whose beautiful voice i s
rarely heard or attended to." The truth is that you cannot be separated
from Higher Power/God/Source. It makes no difference what you call this
Power. The problem for most when they desire to connect with this Power
is that they seek It through their limited mental faculties. This will
never work. The human mind can think about something, memorize much, speculate,
or guess but more than mere thought is needed in order to know this Power.
Awareness
How can we know this Power? The only way is through awareness
of It, which is different from thought. What is the difference between
thought and awareness? Many years ago philosopher Immanuel Kant discovered
that there was a wall beyond which human intellect |
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