As I posted a few days ago, I’m on my own spiritual journey. But have you ever noticed how difficult it can be to stay on the path consistently?

For example, most spiritual masters teach some form of ‘be in the world but not of the world’. This concept is also expressed in the Bible by Jesus: 1 John 2:15-17 (KJV) 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

It is apparent that we live on this plane of existence. We have families, jobs, favorite activities, concerns, fears, likes, dislikes, etc. We have to live ‘within ego’ to some extent in order to function in this world we exist in.

So, my question is pretty simple – HOW do we maintain progress on a spiritual path, how do we continue to study and learn (not to mention applying what we learn), how do we maintain that link with the Divine – while we are changing a dirty diaper, stuck in a traffic jam, wondering where our teenager is, refereeing a ‘kid fight’, trying to make supper, putting the kids to bed, meeting a work deadline, paying bills or a myriad of other ‘worldly’ must-dos? (dang, that was a long sentence, sorry!)

Sometimes it’s like I hit a wall. I’ll spend time every day learning and growing, connecting with the Divine and then BAM – I’m tapped out. Life gets busy – fair starts and I have to haul lambs and horses and kids to various events (or take pictures of my daughter pig-wrestling lol) – and my ‘divine time’, my study time – just doesn’t seem to happen. And when I stop and think “uh oh, I need to read tonight’ (or meditate) somehow I just can’t make myself actually DO it.

After a week or two of this, the hunger for growth and knowledge comes back and my study and meditation time becomes regular once again – usually for about 6-12 weeks at a time. Am I bipolar? Is this normal? How do you balance? If I could find the answer to that single question of balance I think it would make a world of difference in my life and in my spiritual journey.

It’s not like I don’t pray during these ‘spiritual desert’ times – I do. And I do talk to ‘God’ and reflect on ideas, philosophies or things I’ve read and learned (though not as frequently). I just can’t seem to study – to meditate – to slow down my brain enough to truly bring myself in sync with Divinity.

I feel like I’m leap-frogging through my own personal spirituality – and that is probably not the most effective way to go about it. But again….balance – how do you find it? Is it even possible?

Many blessings,
Dee

I’m on my own journey of self-discovery and spirituality. A journey that is at times frustrating, at times enlightening, at times rewarding but at all times worth it – at least to me. I’ve always been curious – much to the chagrin of my elders when I was a child and to the delight, believe it or not, of my church pastor.

I think that’s where my ‘search’ began. I don’t have horror stories of church and dogma from my childhood. I was surrounded by folks who loved God and who lived God’s love. Our church had a pastor who not only didn’t hesitate to say “I honestly don’t know” when asked a tough question he had no answer for, but also followed it with “You need to pray and seek your own answers to this one – and I promise you’ll find them.”

My passion became studying belief systems. I’ve spent hundreds of hours studying Judaism, Christianity, Wicca/Paganism, Catholicism, Gnosticism, ancient Egyptian beliefs, to name but a few. What have I learned? Dang, a lot! lol But mostly I’ve learned that each belief system I’ve delved into shares more in common with all the others than they have differences. The main tenets of any ‘higher power’ based belief system are nearly identical. The lessons taught by the ‘Masters’ of each respective religion are echoes of each other.

Because of how I was raised, I’m most comfortable with ‘God’ and ‘Father’ – but, using those terms with the knowledge that there are a myriad of other ‘names’ for this power and that gender is both all-inclusive and irrelevant. That this power is ‘unknowable’ but so very personal.

So, that is my background, but where am I now? Well, as St. John of the Cross put it, I’m currently in a ‘dark night of the soul.’ I’m struggling with the feeling that I’m not doing enough – with a strong desire to make a tangible difference for the better in our world, yet not seeing clearly what path to take in order to start making that difference.

I also have one heck of a time simply shutting up (my mind, not my mouth!) So prayer and meditation are a HUGE challenge for me. But, as Jesus (and many other Masters) taught, heaven (God-consciousness) is within and that is where I need to search – where I need to ‘abide’. So, I’m working on it! If anyone has any good advice, PLEASE send it to me!

As always I continue to read, to meditate, to pray, to learn, to search within – and I know I’m growing. But how frustrating it is to feel you’re not growing fast enough! Which brings me to The Third Jesus.

This book is by Deepak Chopra – and it’s only the second book of his I’ve read. I guess I always thought Dr. Chopra was very um, commercialized, and I wanted meat and potatoes, not a TV talk show. Well, I happily admit that I was wrong. This book rocks. It offers completely different, yet oh so very obvious, perceptions and interpretations of the life of Jesus and what he taught in scripture.

I’d had hints of these interpretations in other readings – and really agree with most of them – but I’d not seen them so clearly and completely set down in one work before this book. I highly recommend it to anyone – regardless of what system of faith you subscribe to. If I had one wish for those, like me, who are reaching toward God-consciousness it would be to not throw the baby out with the bath water.

You may not subscribe to the fundamentalist version of a particular religion – but that does NOT mean that the ‘Master Teacher’ of that belief system has nothing of value to offer. Quite the contrary, in fact.

I’m not sure how often I will post on my personal journey, but I will try to on a regular basis. I’m not sure I believe there are many interested in my personal story, but I do believe I am not the only one trying to search, grow and learn. Hopefully, we can help each other along this path.

Many blessings to you and yours,
Dee