Within our body is a force that gives us life and the ability to live. You may refer to that force as the soul, spirit, or the natural life force - whatever you prefer. Now, where this force comes from, how it comes to life, and what happens when we die are questions we all yearn to understand, even if we don't realize it fully yet. The answer to these questions becomes the absolute truth, which is the fundamental objective of spirituality.
Religion - all religion - began as ways to understand the absolute truth. They were all ways of life - or rather, paths that we could choose in life - that would require certain practices and rituals, intended at bringing us closer to the answers. Without a name to the life force, perhaps it was difficult to refer to it for our ancestors, and they came up with the word, "God". Some of you may not believe in the concept of God, or that of a life force for that matter, but that we are all alive at this very moment is indicative of the fact that there is something that keeps us alive, but doesn't let you assume a similar result if you were to yourself assemble a human body with all relevant components. I'm going to refer to this force as the life force for the rest of this article.
When all these religions began, there was no documentation and rules and regulations that said anything about these being hereditary aspects of a person. There was no mention of having to require *conversion* to go from one way of life to another. People were quite free to choose the way of life that suited them and that seemed to them, at the time, as the best path to pursue the truth. The key phrase in the previous sentence is *at the time*. You may wonder why.
Here's an analogy - let's say that you're using a soap that is supposed to make your skin softer because the advertisements said that it has a little bit of moisturizer in it. After a few weeks or months of use, you still don't find the skin being any softer. So, you make a decision to revisit the available options and let's say, that your decision was to choose another soap. After a few days of use, it starts showing good results and your skin feels softer. You then continue using the same soap for more time. And so on and on...
This is the logic behind religions as well. You read the religious texts, you understand what they mean, and then you see if that's a path that you wish to choose.
But - here's where it gets tricky. We are living in a generation where we consider phrases such as *time is money* and *greed is good* to be valuable. These have become motivating statements for many people to pursue success, so to speak.
This further means that most often we do not have time, let alone the interest, to truthfully and honestly put in the time and effort that is required in pursuing the story of the life force; or, in essence, the understanding of the question, "who am I?". When this happens, we have to rely on interpretations of these paths by others, and hope that their interpretations are sufficiently accurate and able to help us on our journey to understand our life force. This dependency on the accuracy of others' interpretations is a significant disadvantage, because however good or flawed, reasonable or not, we depend on such interpretations and to a large extent, follow what they say. This puts them on a pedestal and gives them a platform to only talk about what they feel is correct. This also puts us at a disadvantage, because by blindly following what someone says, we are killing the life essence that is present within us.
Every one of us - no exceptions - have the ability, the will and the force - that will help us find the answers, by ourselves. Nothing special to do - follow your intuition. Trust in your own self, and believe that you have the power yourself to understand the life force in you.
Your intuition will guide you on your spiritual journey, and your intuition will help you find the correct and true teacher who will help you answer your questions.
A true teacher shows you the path to find the answers, and you will need to find the answers yourself. Answers to spiritual questions cannot be granted for $5000 or $50000 or any other exorbitant amount quoted by a misguided few, for spirituality cannot be bought or sold. It is to be experienced, from within.
If we are blindly doing anything - be it professional or spiritual - we are never fully invested in what we're doing, and never able to reap the benefits.
Instead of being a part of what's possibly misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided, sit with a calm mind and begin to ask questions. Don't demand them. Just simply ask them. You cannot ask these questions to anyone externally - do so within your mind. You will find answers or be guided to those answers - many times in an automated manner. Pay attention to every moment, because you may have seen or experienced an answer but not have been aware that it was the answer you were seeking.
The life force is the Divine, and the Divine is within you. This was what was said by all true saints of all religions. Because this, and possibly a lot more, was what they had realized and understood. You may not believe it now, but you will experience it yourself. You have the ability to do so...
Religion - all religion - began as ways to understand the absolute truth. They were all ways of life - or rather, paths that we could choose in life - that would require certain practices and rituals, intended at bringing us closer to the answers. Without a name to the life force, perhaps it was difficult to refer to it for our ancestors, and they came up with the word, "God". Some of you may not believe in the concept of God, or that of a life force for that matter, but that we are all alive at this very moment is indicative of the fact that there is something that keeps us alive, but doesn't let you assume a similar result if you were to yourself assemble a human body with all relevant components. I'm going to refer to this force as the life force for the rest of this article.
When all these religions began, there was no documentation and rules and regulations that said anything about these being hereditary aspects of a person. There was no mention of having to require *conversion* to go from one way of life to another. People were quite free to choose the way of life that suited them and that seemed to them, at the time, as the best path to pursue the truth. The key phrase in the previous sentence is *at the time*. You may wonder why.
Here's an analogy - let's say that you're using a soap that is supposed to make your skin softer because the advertisements said that it has a little bit of moisturizer in it. After a few weeks or months of use, you still don't find the skin being any softer. So, you make a decision to revisit the available options and let's say, that your decision was to choose another soap. After a few days of use, it starts showing good results and your skin feels softer. You then continue using the same soap for more time. And so on and on...
This is the logic behind religions as well. You read the religious texts, you understand what they mean, and then you see if that's a path that you wish to choose.
But - here's where it gets tricky. We are living in a generation where we consider phrases such as *time is money* and *greed is good* to be valuable. These have become motivating statements for many people to pursue success, so to speak.
This further means that most often we do not have time, let alone the interest, to truthfully and honestly put in the time and effort that is required in pursuing the story of the life force; or, in essence, the understanding of the question, "who am I?". When this happens, we have to rely on interpretations of these paths by others, and hope that their interpretations are sufficiently accurate and able to help us on our journey to understand our life force. This dependency on the accuracy of others' interpretations is a significant disadvantage, because however good or flawed, reasonable or not, we depend on such interpretations and to a large extent, follow what they say. This puts them on a pedestal and gives them a platform to only talk about what they feel is correct. This also puts us at a disadvantage, because by blindly following what someone says, we are killing the life essence that is present within us.
Every one of us - no exceptions - have the ability, the will and the force - that will help us find the answers, by ourselves. Nothing special to do - follow your intuition. Trust in your own self, and believe that you have the power yourself to understand the life force in you.
Your intuition will guide you on your spiritual journey, and your intuition will help you find the correct and true teacher who will help you answer your questions.
A true teacher shows you the path to find the answers, and you will need to find the answers yourself. Answers to spiritual questions cannot be granted for $5000 or $50000 or any other exorbitant amount quoted by a misguided few, for spirituality cannot be bought or sold. It is to be experienced, from within.
If we are blindly doing anything - be it professional or spiritual - we are never fully invested in what we're doing, and never able to reap the benefits.
Instead of being a part of what's possibly misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided, sit with a calm mind and begin to ask questions. Don't demand them. Just simply ask them. You cannot ask these questions to anyone externally - do so within your mind. You will find answers or be guided to those answers - many times in an automated manner. Pay attention to every moment, because you may have seen or experienced an answer but not have been aware that it was the answer you were seeking.
The life force is the Divine, and the Divine is within you. This was what was said by all true saints of all religions. Because this, and possibly a lot more, was what they had realized and understood. You may not believe it now, but you will experience it yourself. You have the ability to do so...