Spirituality Guide

While I don’t often participate in the things that float around the internet here like tags and ‘do this or that’ days, I think this day is a good idea. I would like to take time away from what we have been talking about – Western astrology – so I can talk about reader appreciation.

I am a big fan of gratitude and I think it is something many of us don’t have enough of and a state of being many of us don’t spend enough time in. It is truly amazing how much gratitude, even in the simple gesture of saying ‘thank you’, can make another person’s day that much better.

And yet, how often do you get thanked when you do things for other people? How often do you say thank you to others who do things for you?

Thank you cards after a wedding, birthday or other celebration might be a bit of a pain to do, but letting people know you appreciate them in even that little way can go a long way to your friendship. You may feel like the thank you was ignored or just tossed aside, but the lack of it would have had a much bigger (and negative) reaction.

Though I know there are few and they are very quiet, I would like to say thank you to the people who are readers here. Whether you comment or not, whether you agree or disagree with what I have to say, I do appreciate you for coming here – even if only for one time – and reading a bit about what I have to say.

While it may be strange coming across the internet like this, I truly do appreciate each and every person who comes here.

Be well and at peace,

Aura

While you could say my journey to and up the mountain was driven by randomly picking a spot on a map and everything that occurred was just something my own mind conjured up. Yes, you could definitely say that.

I’m not going to dispute that what happens to us in this in life is made up a lot of things we cause. Life is what we make of it and we often reap what we sow, so to say. A negative person is going to find other negative people to be around or is going to be alone, thus enforcing the negativity towards life and others.

However, if you said that about my journey, I would point you to athletes who say that you never truly know yourself until you find your physical limits. You never truly find the person inside until you have breached all barriers of doubt and fear.

So if you are uncomfortable with calling my journey a spiritual one or with me saying I found the peace I was meant to find by going there, then think of it like an athlete thinks: I went hiking.

On that hike I wanted to turn back many times for many reasons, but I kept on because I had a goal I wanted to accomplish. It was only when I stopped wanting to turn back that I felt like I accomplished that goal.

And having accomplished that goal, I feel like a better person.

Funny how so many of us say the same thing, just in different ways…

(I’m posting these in reverse order so you can read them from top to bottom.)

Occasionally we are ‘called’ – or ‘feel inclined’ if you’re not comfortable with the term ‘called’ – to do things and go to places we wouldn’t usually go. Recently I started to become more and more agitated for no apparent reason until it occurred to me to travel to a mountain range to the west. I was still concerned about the journey, but it felt right to go there.

My partner and I didn’t get into the actual mountains until the third day of our trip, but it was worth the wait. There is something about the mountains that helps me to feel connected to things. It also helps me to realize there is so much more than just what is going on in the present and what I have in front of me. The mountains mean so much more and hold so much more than my daily life.

I picked the place I wanted to go based purely on my ‘gut’ instinct. The place I picked had drawn me since I first saw it on the map and I knew it was the place to go. I didn’t know what I would do when I got there or what I would learn – if anything – but I did know that I had to be there. I had to experience it.

When we finally found the place we were meant to go – a nearly hidden walking trail off the main road (if you can call it a road with all the dirt, rocks, bumps, and other difficulties). We got out of the car, took our water and camera, and headed on our way.

(I’m posting these in reverse order so you can read them from top to bottom.)

The journey up the mountain wasn’t as steep as other mountain trails I had climbed, but it was much longer. Climbing/walking up began to become a challenge for me on all fronts – mentally, physically, and emotionally – and I began to wonder why I was putting myself through all this.

The first trial came physically as I began sweating profusely and needing breaks to catch my breath. It was hard not to entertain the idea of turning back, but I squashed the thoughts and kept moving on. I knew that it was a matter of mind over body and that I could keep going.

The next trial brought the mental. My mind began focusing on ‘that next hill’ and how steep the next part would be. I began to doubt myself, wondering how far I could possibly go when I wasn’t exactly in the fittest shape of my life.

My partner and I took a break and I told him that I was starting to defeat myself mentally when it came to this journey. He remained quiet most of the time, making sure I drank water and rested, knowing that this journey was about me and something I needed to do. The mental barriers lessened as I recognized them for what they were – mental and nothing more.

We travelled on and that’s when I began to get emotional. Many times I almost started crying, both at the thought of continuing on without knowing how long the trail was and at the thought of turning back before reaching the end. I began taking longer rests not only to revive myself physically but to revive myself emotionally.

(I’m posting these in reverse order so you can read them from top to bottom.)

Having dealt with the physical, emotional, and mental challenges while on the mountain path, I began talking to my partner about what I had been through and wondering if getting past those challenges was what I had been meant to accomplish at this point.

I rested once more as he went ahead to see if there was any sign that we were close to the end of the trail, and I began to think about what I had told him. The place I rested was a large flat rock with more rocks like it nearby. Nowhere else on the trail was there anything like it. The flat rock was massive, easily taking three of me laid foot to head across it both ways.

Dark clouds became more condensed and I felt the first of the cold rain drops land on my hot skin. I considered further how I felt about having pushed all of my limits and accomplished so much, even though we hadn’t reached the end of the trail.

My partner and I met up, and we found that the trail headed downward once more, with no lookout to be found even though we had been climbing upward for kilometers. We looked at each other and debated whether going forward would be a bad thing to do with the storm so close.

I searched my feelings and that was when I truly felt like I had accomplished what I was meant to accomplish on that trail. No longer did the thought of turning back reduce me to tears and feelings of unease. In fact, I felt revived, peaceful, changed. I had a new burst of energy.

The rain flooded down on us as we descended, washing away all the dirt, sweat, and strain from the journey up. Though cold with the wind and a bit intimidating with the thunder and lightning, I felt the rain completed everything, washing away the grime of the past to leave the slightly newer, changed me.

The standard view towards intuition is one of wariness or outright scorn because intuition is equated along the same line as psychic or ‘sensitive’. However, if you use the word ‘instinct’ instead, then you are far more likely to get an attentive and accepting audience.

It’s interesting how two words can mean basically the same thing and yet the connotations attached to those words can influence how you think and feel.

I’m not saying that intuition and instinct are the same thing, but I am trying to point out the similarities. Both come from places other than our conscious minds and both are things we react to even though we may not realize what it is we are reacting to.

Intuition is defined as “direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.”

Whereas instinct is defined as “an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species.”

I feel the need to make this distinction because, while instinct is a commonly used word mainly without negative feelings attached, it’s often mixed up with intuition, which I feel is a more spiritual experience.

When I write for this site, I let my intuition guide me. I had fully planned on starting my exploration of the major religions, but something in me compelled me to talk about intuition and instinct. Intuition is something that has been influencing me lately. While I don’t want a lot of my personal life and beliefs to come to play on this site, it seems they have anyway.

Despite the negative attachments to ‘intuition’ I will be talking about it on this site. Whether you feel guided or inclined to feel the same about it as I do is completely up to you, and I certainly won’t judge you for it.

Yesterday I began talking about something mentioned in The Matrix and got a little off tangent. I apologize for that. It’s beginning to become a bad habit of mine.

Back to the main topic:

In the Matrix trilogy – the second movie, I believe – there is a conversation in which it is said that, basically, humans as they are could not tolerate paradise, heaven, Eden, whatever you would like to call it. Humans define their lives through their suffering.

Is this true? What does it mean for humanity? What does it have to do with spirituality?

Simplified, what your answer is to the first question could just be a matter of whether you are an optimist or pessimist. That’s simplifying it quite a bit, but it works.

With a world with such emphasis put on hard work and working to earn what you need, it’s easy to say that it is true. However, in the past decades, we have shifted into such a world of haves and have-nots that a life of hard work get truly get you nowhere.

So do we truly define ourselves through our suffering or is that merely the biggest label we have been given to define ourselves with?

What does this have to do with spirituality? Think of the mind maps. With the mind mapping you are trying to figure out the inner, subconscious beliefs and where they come from. Now, if a small group of ‘big haves’ in the world are telling you that you have to work hard for your whole life, told your parents that, told their parents that…

If you haven’t seen The Matrix trilogy, I recommend you give it a try. If you can watch it and take a step further into the area of critical thinking, you might just start thinking of some interesting possibilities when it comes to the source of what makes you, you.

In the Matrix trilogy – the second movie, I believe – there is a conversation in which it is said that, basically, humans as they are could not tolerate paradise, heaven, Eden, whatever you would like to call it. Humans define their lives through their suffering.

Is this true? What does it mean for humanity? What does it have to do with spirituality?

To answer the last question first: A lot, actually.

When you define (or try to define) human nature, you then step into the territory of what makes us who we are. That can venture into a multitude of different subjects such as the soul, the mind, the Self, how humans got started out, how life on this planet got started… You can see where I’m going. There are a lot of subjects.

The same goes with the second question. You move into territory like global consciousness, evolution, our future as a species…

Now, perhaps, you can begin to see why spirituality can be so hard to define.

Even the answer to the first question can have a lot of implications. No matter what the answer, why? If yes, is it inherent or learned? If it is inherent, where from? Why?

“Why?” is always the big question, isn’t it?

Which brings me to the next question – why am I telling you about this? What am I on about?
I suppose the first thing (I seem to get in a habit of multi-part entries on this site) I would like to point out is simply all the questions.

If not proof, this should show you that no one knows all the answers. We, in our current state, simply cannot know anything without doubt.

This is where the protests start, but ‘knowing without doubt’ and ‘believing without doubt’ are two separate things – as much as some would like to try to convince people otherwise.

More to come…

It’s easy enough for me to sit here and advise you that a good first step on your spiritual journey is to identify your prejudices and determine why you have them. By me saying only that, you are left to wonder exactly how you are supposed to do that.

First, we’ll get rid of the word prejudice. Prejudice is an ugly word that often brings negative things to mind. This should not be an exercise in berating yourself but rather identifying ingrained beliefs. That’s what we’re exploring – unquestioning beliefs.

We’re often raised with certain beliefs. Everything from artificial sugar causing cancer to all other religions besides the family religion being ‘wrong’. Sex, money, gender roles – these are all things we learn about not only by observing but by what we are told growing up. This exercise is about mapping out what connections you make to these things.

You might find something that surprises you.

I have been doing a lot of mind mapping lately for this very purpose – to get to the root of what I believe, what associations I make, and why I am the way I am. I am on a quest to find my true self.

You’ll need a blank piece of paper and a pen for this. Unlined paper is better as it encourages you to be free flowing in exploring your thoughts. Then you are going to have to pick one subject you’re curious about.

Do you find yourself looking at disgust with men and wonder why? Write ‘men’ in the middle of the page. Do you have an obsession with money and wonder why? Write ‘money’ in the middle of the page. Perfection? Love? Sex?

You can do this as many times as you want for any subjects. That is the beauty of it – it’s not limited to one subject, one sitting, or one anything.

Now that you are ready to go, stop back soon for part two of mind mapping.

I have been thinking lately about my negative experiences in the past in regards to religion/spirituality as well as the negative experiences of others. With those thoughts came not so much the need but the want to restate what I said when I began writing for this site.

I want to promise you a few things:

*I will never ask you for money, gifts, or anything of that sort.

*I will never claim to be your guru, your yogi, your priestess, leader, prophet, star child, spiritual beacon of light or goddess. Because I’m not.

*I will never say this or that religion/belief system is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. I will agree or disagree from time to time, but I am no here to dictate.

*That being said, I will not hesitate to point out alternative possibilities or holes in logic when it comes to any religion or belief system. I’m not here to be politically correct. A hole in logic is a hole in logic whether you’re talking about a minor cult or major world religion.

*However, I will do my best to be equal and fair without letting my personal prejudices dictate my words.

All I am here to do is explore. Learn. Prod. Point. Whether you see God or Devil, blasphemy or epiphany in what I point at…well, that’s up to you.

Please, don’t take my word for anything I present here. Explore things further on your own. Find your own truths. You are your own responsibility – not mine nor anyone else’s.

Feel free to use this site as your first step, but please don’t make it your only step.

Intolerance of people with different lifestyles, beliefs, and any other little difference seems to be running rampant in today’s world. While fear and persecution all of all that is ‘different’ to those in power certainly isn’t anything new, it’s sad to see so many people haven’t learned over the centuries.

Even so-called spiritual ‘gurus’ who have claimed to have found a higher path beyond the structure of major religions sometimes gather together to form elitist groups who look disdainfully at ‘the unenlightened population’.

As far as I am concerned, if you have that sort of elitism in your heart, then you are not on a true path of spirituality.

Before you start calling me a lovey dovey tree hugging pacifist (smiling), I am not here to preach at you about loving everyone and every thing no matter what they do to you.

In the world we live in, I believe acceptance is more powerful (and more reasonable to expect of people) than forced love. I don’t believe most of us know enough of what love is to ‘love thy neighbor’. Acceptance, however, is a step towards love and is something we can most definitely learn.

Given how similar we all are – we’re all human, whether we decide to have sex with a man or a woman, believe in God or Allah or Amun-Ra, or believe everything has a spirit – it’s not exactly a surprise that we point out the differences to distinguish ourselves from the group.

However, using differences as a way to persecute each other is where we stray from the path of light and acceptance.

A good first step for finding your spiritual path is to identify your prejudices and examine why you have them. Perhaps in examining them you can find and root out false believes and taught prejudices.

It’s hard. Spirituality is hard, gaining knowledge is hard, expanding the borders of your mind, finding out previous beliefs don’t quite work anymore…it’s can be quite hard.

Yes, you can find guides and gurus, but in today’s world, it’s not always easy to find a person who hasn’t or won’t take advantage of their power of authority as a guide or guru. It’s not easy to find groups without an alternative goal – usually money. It’s also not easy to find unbiased information.

So the simple answer to the question above is ‘no’. There is no map, no magic pill, no mystical wonderful thing that is going to give you all the answers. As many people have said thousands of times in many ways, it’s not the destination but the journey that is important.

Other people will feel differently, but I believe the best path to spirituality is knowledge.

As I have said before, the less knowledge you have, the easier you are to control. Blind faith and belief, while seemingly admirable to some, is not actually a good thing.

We live in a world that is composed a good part of people who feel if things don’t effect them directly, then they don’t have to do anything about it. It’s not surprising that, at the same time, people are searching for more meaning and purpose in their lives.

It’s not going to be easy, but wanting more is the first step.

Go out and find things out for yourself. You might find wonderful things.

But don’t take my word for it.

Perhaps it is the never-ending questioning of what is truly right and wrong that has brought about the New Age movements and furthered spiritual studies. Or perhaps it is the other way around.

While spirituality, finding Self, and seeking Truth are certainly not new to more of the eastern philosophies, we are at a point where the ‘people of the west’ are exploring more into these subjects.

Why I say perhaps one has caused the other or vice versa is because when a person begins on the path of finding spirituality and self Truths, the journey will be filled with questions. It is very possible you will question every piece of your knowledge.

In questioning, you will find answers. You will often find even more questions, though, as frustrating as that is. But it is in the questioning that we find shades of grey. It is there we realize the beauty and complexity of even ‘simple’ life.

You are reading this post for the first time in this moment. Now that moment is gone. You can read the post again, but never again can you live in the moment that you first read this post.

Simple, and yet complex. Why can’t we go back? Why do humans have a longing to go back? Is there any way to stop the process of life? Is moving ever forward the true process of life?
You begin to see what I mean about questions.

The path to inner peace can be a complicated one but so fulfilling. The path to true spirituality and acceptance begins with an open mind. That is why shades of grey are so important.

Shades of grey belong to the open mind, while the closed mind faces only black and white. The closed mind may have a simpler and more organized existence, but it will never see all the true beauty the world and life can show it.