Feeling Your Way

An interesting psychological experiment was conducted, in which people where hypnotized to get up in the middle of a business meeting and water the plants in the conference room. Afterwards, these people were asked why they did whatever they did, and they came up with all kind of explanations such as, "the plants really looked thirsty", but nobody admitted that they had no clue why. It almost seems as if life happens, and we tailor our analytical mind accordingly, explaining why we do whatever we do.

I am convinced - for the very reason that I feel I am going this way - that the advanced spiritual path traveler doesn't have to make any conscious decisions any more. Life just happens and somehow along the Way, the next step follows naturally from the prior one. You somehow just feel your Way, and don't even bother explaining why you do whatever you do. Perhaps you only use your intellect to explain to the next spiritual generation what the laws of the Tao appear to be.

I came across this description of a spiritual path traveler in a collection William James put together in 'The Varieties of Spiritual Experiences' more than 100 years ago, and I immediately felt that he must have been a Tao traveler as well.

"The compensation for the loss of that sense of personal independence which man so unwillingly gives up, is the disappearance of all fear from one's life, the quite indescribable and inexplicable feeling of an inner security, which one can only experience, but which, once it has been experienced, one can never forget."

Yup, that's the peace of mind one experiences once you travel the Tao. I hope you feel it too.