On Sharing Spiritual Wisdom along the Way

Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” 

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

In the Spiritual Networks community I am part of there is one woman in particular who spends half her time telling everyone that she is love impersonated and the happiest person alive, and half of the time describing how she has to tell others that they haven't discovered the light and how she has the duty to lecture them, and how upset they get with her.

I can resonate with her because I used to do the same when I was a bit younger. Yet spirituality isn't that way at all. The Way will tell you what you need to know when you are ready. There never is any violence or tension along the Way. I now wait patiently for my opportunity to say something, and if this opportunity never comes along, so be it.

Something else has changed in me. Now I perceive no urgency whatsoever to share what I feel works for my friend. When I say what I feel I have to say I of course hope that my friend will see it that way too, but if he for some reason gets mad with me then so be it too. I somehow feel indifferent about the whole thing. I am just Her instrument; the Way always knows what works best for everyone. 

Suffering

I pray that you never, never, never get over this sorrow, but through it, into the very heart of God.
(Forbes Robertson)

Whether you are a spiritual traveler or not, suffering is part of life. Perhaps we Tao travelers have an edge with many of the self-imposed ego struggles, the desire to get stuff, the hunger for the gold that glitters on the horizon and, no matter how hard we run, always will be. But then, when we learn that our friend has cancer we are as devastated as everyone else; perhaps even more. So while we may be able to help you with the ego stuff, we can't really help you with the other pain that life brings your way. Still, we want to remind you that this pain too  has a spiritual purpose, hard though as it might be to believe at first.

 If your ego wants stuff but somehow life seems to have a different plan, you may be able to overcome your struggle by realizing that your ego is on a trip of its own and will never make you happy. You feel a pain inside when you see someone who is better off than you: a bigger house, a stunning body, a life partner to die for, professional success, or the  Harvard education you aspire for your children. Even we spiritual folks might mind if someone else is "enlighted" while we are not, or write spiritual bestseller while nobody reads our stuff.  So the  pain of wanting may always be there but one day you may also realize that this cry for specialness will never lead to happiness. You see for yourself that those who supposedly have it all are also not happier than you, no matter how much they may pretend. Often you find that they are even unhappy despite supposedly having it all. With this realization also comes the recognition that you are always loved and taken care of. And this is when true happiness starts.

So far so good, but what about the other pain? You find one lump in some part of your body.  Before going to see a doctor and finding out what it is, your mind is already made up that it must mean the worst.  You can't sleep and eat well for days and you got grey hair independent of what the medical diagnosis might turn out to be. This is the kind of suffering which is created by the demands of your soul; this is your fate so to speak. It could be anything, like the death of someone who is near and dear to you, a devastating career set-back, or any disability in the family.  This kind of suffering looks like punishment at first sight but eventually you will recognize the silver lining on the horizon.  When you are able to face and deal with the shock, the strength in you is rising.

All these events have a special purpose for your soul development. As your tears  dry see how your Self is shining through. This world is fleeting and these painful events will remind you of this fact. See how the  love, wisdom, compassion and passion for the present moment grows in you as you graduate to the next spiritual level. When you study "wise" people you recognize that those are not the ones who are the most intelligent, or the ones who meditate the longest or read the most books. Wisdom comes from opening up to life no matter whether it is pleasurable or painful.Tragedies help you understand that Heaven on earth is right in front of you, here and now.

 So is there really suffering in your life?  What do you think?

By Christian and Su Zhen

Last Sunday at the Church

As part of the Sunday School series that the boys and I have every summer we went on a  little field trip to church. It was a Baptist church and I was pleasantly surprised how modern it felt. The lyrics of the songs were flashing on a large flatscreen TV and the actual sermon was more a philosophy discussion with the congregation than a spiritual lecture. Unfortunately the subject went straight over the heads of the boys but at least they got compensated afterwards with lemon juice and cookies.

In the sermon the minister remarked that he wanted to be wise but that he had to acknowledge that he wasn't. But then, he added, he had the opportunity to spend time with wise people and it became quite apparent to him that life had molded them that way. A common characteristic of wisdom in his opinion was that they all these people have seen, accepted and embraced suffering, and that wisdom came of it. Well, wasn't that the answer he was looking for?Live your life to the fullest and don't be afraid of anything. At worst some suffering will come your way, but it will make you grow as a person.  So the wise thing to do is to stop looking for wisdom and start living it instead.

The Four Paths Home

There is no path that does not lead to Him.
A Course in Miracles

They say many paths lead to the Lord. Pick the one that is closest to you and follow it. There is the path of wisdom, of action, of devotion and of meditation/channeling our energy. Typically whenever you find a seeker who follows passionately one path, there is very little patience for the other approaches. Yet, the longer you walk on your path the more you realize how connected all the four paths really are. True wisdom comes from falling in love with life, from working hard towards your goal, from falling in love with the many messengers God sends your way. As you mature spiritually the different chakras open up inside and your energy field changes. You also experience the advantages of meditation: the ability to experience who you are when the voice in your head quiets down.

You have your unique way Home, but be on the look-out for the co-travelers who can propel you enormously by walking a few spiritual miles with you. Sadhguru told this story to illustrate this point in his "Mystic's Musings":

 One day, one Jnana (Knowledge) Yogi, one Bhakthi (Devotion) Yogi, one Karma (Action) Yogi and one Kriya (Energy) Yogi were walking together. Usually these four people can never be together, because a thinking person has complete disdain for everybody else. A bhakthi yogi, full of emotion and love, thinks that jnana, karma and kriya yoga is just a waste of time. Just love God and it will happen. The karma yogi thinks that everybody else is just lazy. One must work and work and work. The kriya yogi just laughs at everything. The whole existence is energy. If you don't channel your energies nothing is going to happen. Then it started to rain and they all ran looking for shelter, they found an ancient temple. As the storm grew more and more furious they all moved closer to each other inside the temple. Suddenly they felt a huge presence. Lord Shiva Himself was there. They all cried out together, why now, we have pursued you for years and nothing happened. Lord Shiva replied, at last the four of you got together. I have been waiting for this for a long time.

By meditation, some women can see the Self in the self; others, by the yoga of knowledge; others by selfless action.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita on meditation, wisdom and the path of devotion)


Seeing the great Lord everywhere, she knows beyond doubt that she cannot harm the Self by the self, and reaches the highest goal.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita on the path of the Tao)

The Serenity of Walking the Tao

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
(The Serenity Prayer)

The energy exchange of people can be studied every day. I love observing seating arrangements in company gatherings, and although they sometimes seem to be completely random, they always set the agenda in advance. The other day I was pushed into a corner spot by a colleague which always tells me that I am just participating and not leading the discussion. Indeed, when we discussed personnel decisions, I wanted to speak up on behalf of a colleague but I realized quickly that it was a lost cause - the outcome was already predetermined before the meeting started. I am sure that I would have found that out on my own in the meeting, but I kind of already knew that I had a good opportunity to shut up based on the seating arrangement. The person who proposed the agenda also sat at the head of the table, while everyone else was sitting around him. In the Western set-up at least, this symbolizes that the person at the head of the table is in the driving seat and, as it turned out, he had already decided on the outcome. So I didn't need the courage to change things, because I already had the wisdom to know that nothing could be changed about the outcome. The Tao gives you that wisdom, just study the energy dynamics for yourself next time you are in a similar setting.

The Three Paths Towards Liberation

I am currently writing a book that reflects on my spiritual journey over the last 3 years. Initially it was a confusing soul-searching process, but by now I have figured out what my path is all about: it is about work and acquiring wisdom. By completely merging with the Tao, the 'I' gets lost  in the challenging day-to-day activities, which are entirely devoted to the Way. At night I fall into bed, completely spent, only to start the next morning with an infinite new resource of energy.

This polar opposite path is the Buddhist approach of meditation and mindful living. The whole idea is to channel all the energy within and bring it to rest, rather than spending it externally. People keep asking me why don't you meditate and I reply that I tend to reach my meditation state during my peak performances. It is then when I experience the transition into the state of oneness when the 'I' ceases to exist, very much like what the Buddhist enjoys when she brings her system to a standstill.

Lastly there is yoga path, the attempt to channel the prana that rise up your spine until it reaches the last chakra located in your forehead. These yoga disciplines manage to stimulate this energy flow. But it turns out that rising energy is a side effect of all other approaches as well. As the 'I' recedes, the prana expands. In the end all paths merge when your wholeness is complete, but in the beginning of your journey you should experiment which of the different paths is best suited for you.

Have You Eaten Wisdom with Spoons Recently?

There is a strange expression in German 'He has eaten wisdom with spoons', which describes someone who is full of himself and thinks he knows everything there is to know. Isn't that what we are running after when we strive for enlightenment? Isn't there a huge incentive as well for our spiritual writers to describe their spiritual experience of enlightenment, since therefore the book has God's stamp of approval and every word that follows has to be the truth and nothing but the truth?

 Jesus Christ says in 'A Course of Miracles', "think of me like an older brother"; this must be hard to accept for many Christians, but that's how the journey towards enlightenment goes. The word enlightenment implies hierarchy which is not helpful because we are all equals. The enlightenment concept only makes sense if you accept that you are enlightened right here, right now because we have connected at this magic moment. You always have the choice to experience this moment, so there is no need to eat wisdom with spoons; it is always at your disposal when you need it.