Like every smaller or larger community, those walking a spiritual path also represent a distinct world. And as such, it has its own particular vocabulary. The words that appear more frequently in communication become fashionable, and their use almost automatically signals belonging to this “circle.” Among those who come to me, I often encounter the confusion this creates.
The words we read or hear from people we consider authentic or worth following quietly create expectations. We begin to measure our lives, our everyday functioning, our material situation, the quality of our relationships, the level of our “spiritual development,” and our appearance in the world against these. All this while we often have no real personal experience of what these words actually point to, and we do not know how they truly show up in the lives of those who speak them, or what path led them to their understanding. And yet an attachment is formed—one that can be very misleading. The very spiritual support we long for can thus lead us into a dead end.
For what appears in our lives never really meets what the mind imagines about this desired image or quality. This expectation creates a sense of lack pressing down on our lives, and everything is perceived through this lens. We are no longer living the moment itself as it is—created by the Nameless through the convergence of countless conditions, in its wondrous and unfathomable complexity, perfectly tailored to the individual. Instead, we mostly experience the gap that has formed between the events of our lives and the idealized vision. Many thoughts and emotions arise, and they anchor themselves so easily in the sensitive обол of our existing conditioning—most often in what lies deep in almost all of us as a core issue: I am not good enough. And so the spiritual manna that is meant to help us transcend something can become yet another nourishment for conditioning.
I feel it is worth immersing ourselves in this ever-flowing stream of information around us with due care. Because what is often lost is the essence: facing, acknowledging, and respecting our own progress relative to ourselves. I always suggest that this be the measure when we look at the development of our own processes. The compulsion to compare ourselves with others lives so strongly in almost everyone, while in our own consciousness there is no such thing as “someone else.” Everyone is perfectly and unrepeatably unique, carrying a wonderfully individual potential for life. How could this possibly be compared with anyone else’s?
These exploratory conversations are about questioning perspectives that create difficulties, but I also wish to convey that the regular practice of this in everyday life changes our attitude of consciousness. Nothing is worth taking as self-evident—only what remains for us after thorough examination truly matters.
Just like this very writing. It is only worth keeping from it what has passed through every question and found full agreement with your inner truth or your own experience.
With love,
Your traveling companion
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