Many paths lead to the Beyond

If you are strong, take up the Vedanta philosophy and be independent. If you cannot do that, worship God. If you lack strength even to do that, do some good works without the idea of gain. Offer everything you have unto the service of the Lord.
Vivekananda

When I see devotees sit at the feet of their gurus, I burst out laughing at the image. Get up you moron, I think to myself, no one leads and no one lags in the sisterhood of wo(man). So obviously, the guru model doesn’t work for me; same with the belief that Jesus or some angels would do the work for me.

Yet, I sit in my Pooja room at 5 am in the morning writing this, with coffee in my hand, and images of the cross, Kali Maa, Shiva, Lord Krishna, Buddha, and a photo of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa surrounding me, so obviously I am not willing to take this journey all on my own. Spirituality is a little like relationships, it’s complicated!

I have searched for God all my life. I am an old soul that way, and it came entirely from me. No one in my family or the German society where I am from originally has anything to do with it. When I go through Vivekanada’ s list—he was Sri Ramakrishna’s disciple—I would have to say, ‘all of the above’, though I am a Vedanta student at heart.

Fifty-four years of convoluted back and forth from science, religion, work and raising a family, and I am finally where I need to be. I would hardly call this path an easy one, or even a pretty one, but it worked for me. A higher Power permeating everyone and everything leads us. We cannot make a mistake, so choose the path that works for you.