Walking The Path of Spiritual Growth

From my experience while traveling the path of spiritual"An openness to the truth, no matter what the
growth, I can confidently say that once you begin inconsequences,no matter where it leads you and when
earnest to seek a deeper understanding of yourself,you don't even know where it's going to lead you.
as well as the nature of existence itself, it's impossibleThat's faith. Not belief, but faith. Your beliefs give you a
to turn back. The more you open your mind to newlot of security, but faith is insecurity. You don't know.
ideas and concepts, the more you will want to explore.You're ready to follow and you're open, you're wide
There is no way around it; it actually gets into youropen! You're ready to listen."
blood.This doesn't mean that you become gullible and
This discovery is a fascinating process; one that isimmediately accept new information to replace the old,
incredibly rewarding, and at times very demanding asbut instead you learn to question everything - new and
well, simply because spiritual growth requires that youold - with an open mind. It is also essential for you to
step out of your comfort zone. It also requires that youunderstand there is nothing at all irreverent about
become increasingly open-minded, and focus morequestioning traditional religious concepts, for even
and more of your attention on the present (i.e., on thisBuddha himself cautioned against blindly embracing his
life), rather than looking toward the potential afterlifeteachings when he said:
rewards typically touted by organized religion."Monks and scholars must not accept my words out
Traversing this path is a lot like walking a high wireof respect, but must analyze them the way that a
without a safety net, because unlike traditional religiousgoldsmith analyzes gold, by cutting, scraping, rubbing,
practice there is no rigid dogma that exists to providemelting."
you with all of the 'answers'. Instead, on this path youIn developing your own spiritual philosophy, it is very
take on the responsibility for finding your own answersimportant that you, too, adopt a similar approach.
to questions such as: Who or what is God? What isAdditionally, you can accelerate your spiritual growth
the proper code of conduct for me to follow? What isby not limiting yourself with respect to what types of
the purpose of my life? What is the meaning of life inself-development books you will read, tapes you will
general?listen to, or seminars and workshops you will attend.
The decision to take responsibility for discovering yourEven if some of the content you encounter appears
inner truth requires that you embark on a quest toto be a bit 'out there', you never know what gems you
develop your own spiritual philosophy. This does notmay uncover as you proceed through the remainder
automatically mean you must completely discard yourof the material.
traditional religious beliefs, but it does require that youI know this to be true, since on my own shelves there
be willing to question literally every aspect of what youare a number of books that at first glance contained a
have been taught. It also means that you learn tolot of material that either didn't interest me, or was in
challenge everything you hear and read as you movemy judgment, somewhat bizarre. Interestingly, it was
along this path, including the contents of this article.within many of those same books that I ultimately
In other words, you no longer simply accept somethingfound incredibly inspirational and/or thought-provoking
based solely on what another person's religiouspassages. In several instances it was necessary to
doctrine, or philosophical author tells you is true. Instead,read perhaps a hundred pages to find even one such
you closely examine it and ask yourself if that truthpassage, but in the end the discovery was well worth
actually feels right to you. If the insight or conceptthe reading time invested. I experienced essentially the
doesn't resonate positively within you, this is usually asame thing with various self-help audio programs as
clear signal that it is time for you to put it aside andwell; there was always something of value to be
replace it with something that will.found within them.
The following passage from Michael Newton's bookBefore leaving this subject, it is important to note there
Destiny of Souls confirms how very important it is forare many who would argue that the development of
each of us to define our own spiritual truth:individualized spiritual philosophies is potentially
"Because each of us is a unique being different fromproblematic, particularly given the so-called natural
all others, it is incumbent upon those who desire internaltendency of human beings to be self-serving. In other
peace to find their own spirituality. When we totallywords, if people are left up to their own devices, what
align ourselves to belief systems based upon thefeels spiritually right to them may not be in the best
experience of other people, I feel we lose somethinginterests of the aggregate society or culture.
of our individuality in the process. The road toIn response to this, one need merely look at the
self-discovery and shaping a philosophy not designedsuccess that organized religion as a whole has had in
by the doctrines of organizations takes effort but thefostering peace and goodwill throughout the world;
rewards are great."regrettably, much of the ongoing conflict in the world is
Many in the traditional religious community might arguebased on some form of religious disagreement. So,
that having 'faith' means we may not questioncould things really become any worse if people
established religious doctrine, for the sheer act ofassumed the responsibility for developing their own
doubting what we have been taught to believe is to bespiritual philosophies? From my perspective, they could
considered blasphemous behavior. As this quotationonly improve.
from Fr. Anthony DeMello's book Awareness(The preceding article is an adapted excerpt from
illustrates, however, that is really not what faith is allSpirituality Simplified, Copyright 2002, by Jeff Maziarek.
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