(image above) Mary Magdalene
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Spiritual Journey
Do ideal conditions exist for a person beginning the Spiritual Journey?
This is a question I am often asked by students.
Normally what happens is this process begins without our intervention.
It can happen anywhere and anytime.
It is not we who determine the time and place or the conditions.
When we first experience being present it is just like someone waking up.
We find ourselves in a life.
Male/female, rich/poor, married/single, beautiful/not so beautiful?
It is not we who determine all this but a mixture of Fate, Destiny, Luck and Mechanics.
Basically we have attracted a life that for many reasons has attracted the awakening process.
Some of you think it is an advantage to be married and enjoy the stability of a partner, while others wish to be single and freer.
Married people dream of the freedom of the singles and vice versa.
Poor people feel if only they had more money and time to study.
We all have thoughts about the ideal conditions and dream of them
Will we really awaken more in a Monastery? Dressed in Holy Robes?
Involved in strict discipline and hours praying to God?
Our minds are quite capable of producing all sorts of imaginary thoughts.
Many of you were seduced by the call from the exotic East, and some of you even went there.
There are many humans who will advise you and tell you how to find these imaginary conditions.
Some of you even think that being fat is a denying force to awakening. Others believe it is drinking alcohol or meat.
Somehow it is possible to start to confuse the awakening of the Soul with ideal conditions for the body.
Let us assume you have children and a husband or wife.
You start imagining how much easier it would be to be single and free to travel where you wish.
Meanwhile singles dream of sitting by the fire with someone they love, discussing the Work.
The point is that we start awakening and this is the first thing we have to address.
We awaken in Life and have to deal with the circumstances slowly if at all.
This is why I want to remind you all that awakening is an internal process.
First the Soul must proceed with its awakening. Then slowly, ever so slowly, our Souls may begin to attract a different life.
Or at least begin to attract a different play based on who we really are.
We have to awaken first in the life we have created.
That is so hard
My advice is, no matter how difficult your play is … keep going.
The impulse to go back to sleep is often irresistible.
Remember, you have nothing to lose … except yourself.
~ Mervyn Brady
"Smelling the Roses:
Memoir of an Irish Philosopher"
by Mervyn Brady
The story of a spiritual teacher's
childhood journey,
told in his own humorous
and eloquent words,
with insightful commentary
by those who loved him.
To order,
visit the Academy Bookstore:
http://www.academyof
europeanarts.com/bookstore/
"Smelling the Roses" is also available
in e-book format on:
Amazon Kindle
iBookstore
Barnes and Noble
Baker & Taylor
Copia
Scribd
Gardeners
eBookPie
Kobo
Sony
|
