Living daily in the Spiritual Journey

Through my years as a practicing guide and integrative therapist, I have come to the realisation that what is called “The Spiritual Path” has many directions and ways to get there.  There is no ‘One Way’ as all ways lead us to the same place, which is that there is no destination that can be completely understood from this human experience and perspective. I believe that it is impossible not to be on a spiritual path, and that includes those that would be judged to be far from what appears to be that in terms of religious or spiritual doctrine, or indeed, no doctrine at all.  All paths will eventually lead to the realisation that we are souls and an aspect of Divinity experiencing a human life.   We can come to this knowing through awakening whilst we live, or we can come to it when we die.  Either way we will come to it.  And of course, there are billions of ways to be in this world, and from our limited perspective we cannot judge whether another is ‘spiritual’ or not. 

The beggar or the angel?

For instance, the person begging on the street corner may be an angelic being, incarnated in order to bring the knowledge of compassion, kindness, and non-judgment to those who pass by them every day.  Who knows?  Who can judge?  On the other side of the spectrum there are numerous accounts of spiritual leaders who have fallen from grace when it has been found that they have abused their followers.  Again, who is in the position to truly judge.

There are so many spiritual doctrines and practices in the world, such as organised Western or Eastern religion to mindfulness and shamanism.  There are also many gurus and teachers in the world who, whilst preaching the practice of non-judgment are not necessarily practicing and living it.  I see the irony in this statement as I guess that is my ‘judgment’.

The Spiritual ‘Egoist’

I recently watched a talk from a very well-known spiritual teacher who had taken time to dissect and analyse the different types of spiritual ego that we can embody when we are not staying self-aware.  I was interested to hear what he had to say, whilst at the same time feeling into the intention behind his words and his categorisation of the different styles.  I was also interested in what was triggered within myself as I listened to his dialogue.  He is a leader in his field who retains thousands of followers and practitioners through his particular System.  A system I must add that I admire and have deep respect for.

What interested me the most was that in his opinion, the different subsets were deemed  to be upon a ‘skewed’ spiritual path and the flavour of the talk was that there was a wrongness in this.  He also said that he had wished to gain clarity on the types of spiritual ego in order to gain greater understanding of himself as a spiritual leader, I respect this and believe we all need to be discerning about our enthusiasm and how we advocate or justify our particular path to others.  The list of descriptions and sets of the spiritual egoist is one that we may recognise in ourselves, and it requires discernment and honesty.  Any time we find a ‘wrongness’ in our thoughts, feelings and actions, it is a message to return to ourselves.

Watching our own selves

I am aware that those upon a path of what may be termed ‘self-realisation’ can easily fall into the trap of categorising others, and themselves, as right or wrong in the way that they are choosing to experience the divinity within themselves.  It is an easy pit to fall in to, and we all fall prey to this at times, especially if we are not staying aware.  It perpetuates the dual nature of the world in which we live and can lead us away from where we say we wish to be in the lived experience of our particular belief systems and practices.  For instance, if we say that everything and everybody in this world comes from Divinity, then we cannot separate anything from the Divine, no matter who or what that is, whether we agree with ‘it’ or ‘them’. 

I have worked with people from all over the world, and what I have come to learn is that most human beings are doing the best that they can with the information they have, combined with their own personal characteristics and conditioning.  Most people who come to me for guidance, healing, or mentoring, are trying to live their lives through some kind of spiritual practice or belief system, which is why they come to me rather than a purely traditional therapist.  Many are in a state of confusion or pain of some kind whether mental, emotional, physical, and often spiritual existential crisis and wish to truly go deep, realise the answers, and release lingering pain and trauma.  They are usually what may be considered ‘seekers’, people who are wishing to understand themselves and the world in the best way that they can, often attempting to understand themselves and their lives through the perceptual lens of a particular religious, spiritual or what may be considered ‘New Age’ doctrine.

I have no judgment regarding this as I believe that every path is a spiritual path, and every path, whether consciously followed or unconsciously lived, is a journey of the Soul and has purpose whether the individual understands this or not.  I can help guide and bring clarity to their lives, I can provide relief and release, but I am certainly not in the position to judge them as being right or wrong, each path has relevance to that individual Soul. 

No one person holds the truth about this world, and the more knowledge is gained the more we realise that there is more to know and that we really know nothing.  At least this has been my experience.  I do believe that we all originate from one divine source, whether we call that source God, Goddess or Creator or Great Mystery matters not.  I also believe that if all originates from one divine source then nothing upon this Earth, or this Universe, or Multi-verse for that matter, can be apart from this. 

So, all expressions of the One Divinity, whether we consciously experience this or not, has credence, is here for purpose, and only The Divine Creator can judge, or not, as the case may be.  We cannot really deem to understand what is in effect ineffable, too great to have understanding in our limited way.  So why judge another’s path as being lesser or greater than your own?  In the eyes of the Creator, I guess there is reason for all, whether we understand that or not.  We are all, as children, at different stages of development, and that is ok.

What I do know

What I do know for sure, is that the earth and all upon her are created from Love.  Not the love we understand it to be, but a greater love that we are all aspiring, ultimately, to experience in its unconditionality.  And I feel that those times when we are able to do acts of kindness to ourselves and to others, this Love is the motivating force.  Most religious and spiritual teachings will agree on this.

So, what is the purpose of this communication?  It is to remind myself, and others, that another’s path and choices are not my business, or your business, life in all its forms is the spiritual journey.  Each person is a mirror of the One Creator and Divine Source, and I cannot judge the rightness or wrongness of that.  What I can do is to know myself, my motivations, practice gentleness with myself and other, notice when I am not living my Truth and walking my talk and adjust.  I can be discerning, not judge but have preference for those I choose to be in communion with and leave others to their way.  I can honour that each path is a journey of return to The Source of All That Is, and how each soul treads the path is up to them.  We would all do well to remember, especially when we are judging ourselves or others, Life is the spiritual journey, there is not a correct path as all leads to the same destination whatever you believe that to be and we will all get ‘there’ eventually.  In truth there is no ‘there’ as we are all immortal souls and the journey is one of unfoldment.

If you feel I can help guide you upon your path, provide clarity and healing you can find me at The Sanctuary On Church, or message me on samstyves@yahoo.com

Mitakuye Oyasin

To all my relations

With love as always from my heart to yours

Sandra St.Yves

— Quote Source