Category: Spirituality

What path are you following? There are so many options and choices to be made in life with regard to the “right” path. Is there a right path, one might ask? My own life experience tells me that the path is wide open and there is no absolutely right one. There are different wisdom traditions and different schools of thought a person might pursue or follow in life. The “right” path is one that has meaning for the individual involved and leads that person to live a better life. What is the right path for you is certainly not the right path for me. Don’t compare your path with anybody’s else’s. Your path is unique to you. Whatever path you take, it’s God calling you. – Ram Dass

This “path” that we might take is part and parcel of our journey here on earth. Whether we’re actively immersed in or pursuing a path, we’re all Seekers. We all want to know how we can best live this life we’re given. While we’re seeking, we’re also learning and changing. The questions we have at an earlier stage of life are diferent to those we have later on. The reason is that we have changed over time. What is for sure is that we all have questions. When it comes to spiritual truth, how can we know that we are on the right path? One way is by asking the right questions — the kind that help us ponder our progress and evaluate how things are working for us. — Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Personally, I followed the path that was set out for me by my parents and society. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with their path except that I didn’t know anything else. I’m more open to the paths others are taking and my journey has become a journey of exploration now.

I am going out of my way to find out about the paths and journeys others are taking. It allows me to get closer to others who share different beliefs and ways of thinking and opens up space for dialogue. I realize that the only thing we all really possess are the values and guidelines we follow on this precious, precarious path, called life. “When you are living your life according to your values, you are being true to yourself and others. There is congruence between what you think, what you say, and what you do.” ―Ruthann M. Wilson, Be True to You:  A Practical Guide to Pursuing an Authentic Path. 

Following a spiritual path doesn’t produce the kind of “success” that we normally think of when that word comes to mind.   Our bank accounts may remain the same.  We may not get that bigger house. The promotion we had hoped for may not materialize at all.  Our family life may bear no resemblance to those families in glossy magazines who appear to be perfect as they luxuriate in affluence.  I am discovering that it boils down to living out our own truth and learning to love our neighbour as ourselves. It’s definitely about having less rather than more. Stuff is not passive. Stuff wants your time, attention, allegiance. But you know it as well as I do, life is more important than the things we accumulate. –Dave Bruno

In my sixty-eight years of life, I have yet to hear about a system, belief, or path that teaches how to be “bad.” We’re all familiar with the Golden Rule in one form or the other . “Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.” The equation here is not only about ourselves but about others. It’s about unselfishness, honesty, trustworthiness, kindness and love, to name a few qualities. The spiritual quest is not some added benefit to our life, something you embark on if you have the time and inclination. We are spiritual beings on an earthly journey. Our spirituality makes up our beingness. — John Bradshaw

The Golden Rule is adhered to by others on different paths. They use different words to describe the same thing. A few examples of this follow:

• We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us. (Aristotle, 384 BCE)
• “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
  (Buddhism)
• “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
  (Christianity)
• “Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.” (Confucianism)
• “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.” (Judaism)
• “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” (Islam)
• “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” (Taoism)

It is evident from these examples of the Golden Rule that all paths require that we value and love ourselves first and extend this love and value to our fellowman. We all share the same humanity and as such are working hard to overcome selfishness, greed, envy, anger, hate, pride, laziness, carelessness, and the like. We aren’t perfect people and whatever path we take requires work. “Man is not a being who stands still, he is a being in the process of becoming. The more he enables himself to become, the more he fulfills his true mission.” — Rudolph Steiner

To see if the path we’re on has brought us joy, peace of mind, and a more loving way of relating to ourselves and others, we can ask certain questions. One of my favourite authors puts it clearly and succinctly. Jack Kornfield, a best-selling author and teacher of Vipassana Meditation (Buddhist) wrote “A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. It is an excellent book and worth a read. He says there: “When we ask it about our current path, we must look at the values we have chosen to live by. Where do we put our time, our strength, our creativity, our love? We must look at our life without sentimentality, exaggeration, or idealism. Does what we are choosing reflect what we most deeply value?”

I like this evaluation of a path and feel that our values and our input determine whatever path we happen to be pursuing. What we put into the journey is what we will get out of it. Our choices matter.