Clarity about the Path

It is so easy to become entangled in erroneous concepts or an incor­rect vision of the inner work, that to unravel the true meaning of the spiritual path from within the plane of unconsciousness is truly a supreme achievement. Unless our intelligence reaches a profound degree of clarity and true understanding, we will never arrive at our spiritual destination.

The evolution of intelligence remains the most mysterious facet of the soul’s awakening, reflecting her very consciousness and the frequency of her light. We have to mature over many lifetimes before we reach a level of intelligence that mirrors the truth of our blueprint. Our quest for clarity precedes all other steps of our inner journey.

the spiritual goal

To uncover the nature of our spiritual goal, we must ask ourselves what it is that we are truly seeking. Unless we bring focus to our inner search, our path will lack strength and clear direction. How can we summon the recollection of our evolutionary purpose? How can we avoid living in an illusion of spiritual fantasies and expectations?

Through knowledge imparted by superior spiritual teachings, the help of a spiritual guide, and our own enquiry, we need to intui­tively sense the direction and aim of our internal evolution. Upon entering the path, this can be a great challenge, because we are mov­ing into entirely new territory. Our initial task, however, is not to uncover the final purpose of the path, but its essence. True recogni­tion of why we follow the path directly coincides with this discovery.

The inner way is indeed the great unknown, but within its intangibility we can intuitively sense its silent core, the light of I am. The spiritual search is not the pursuit of an abstract idea of enlight­enment, but of our very self. Only by looking within and diving into the stillness beyond thought can we awaken the inner potential through which the light of I am can be reestablished as the heart of our identity.

encountering a true teaching

A mature seeker entering the path should by all means take into account the experiences of those who have reached self-realization. Many generations of monks, sages and mystics have explored the inner realm, and their testimony is an invaluable resource of spiri­tual understanding. Unfortunately, the extremely varied and often contradictory visions of the inner path presented by different indi­viduals and spiritual traditions can make the process of finding the correct teaching and guidance extremely confusing.

Despite the considerable effort great thinkers have made throughout the ages to try to prove the unity of all religions and spir­itual schools, the irreconcilable differences that exist between them simply cannot be denied. They are at odds not only in the practices they recommend, but also in their philosophies and interpretations of spiritual illumination. No one has yet arrived at an interpretation of spiritual evolution that would be universally accepted.

This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the interpretation of spiritual truth is not only a matter of philosophy and belief, but also an expression of the evolutionary level and spiritual potential of the individual or group of souls that seeks to convey it. Although truth is universal, its perception and reception are by nature subjec­tive, determined by the capacity and point of view of the conscious­ness into which it is assimilated. For this reason, we cannot simply declare the superiority of one tradition over another, for such judg­ment is relative.

What are the criteria for choosing the most suitable tradition and spiritual teaching? Most seekers choose according to their kar­mic predisposition. They feel an immediate sense of familiarity and recognition when they encounter a tradition known personally from past incarnations and naturally gravitate towards it. However, feel­ing a connection to a particular teaching does not always indicate that to follow that tradition is in one’s best interest. Often the soul needs to break certain connections in order to learn new lessons and decondition herself from her karmic past. It may be that an asso­ciation with a particular tradition or teaching is a temporary affair, meant only to be experienced for the sake of learning a specific lesson before moving on. One has to use a very deep and sensitive discrimi­nation to be able to truly feel which spiritual teaching is the proper vehicle for one’s inner journey.

Through our commitment to the path we serve the truth of uni­versal evolution, not a single interpretation of the spiritual dimen­sion channeled through a human belief system. A spiritual tradition remains just one of many vehicles we use to journey within on the path to the self. Complete understanding cannot be expounded by any one tradition for the simple reason that truth is beyond tradi­tions. Truth belongs to universal intelligence, which oversees the whole of existence, and to the intrinsic knowledge of the soul’s blue­print encoded in the consciousness of our higher being.

Finally, we should note that in general, the light of truth needs to be dispensed appropriately and absorbed gradually. For some seek­ers, excessively high doses of truth are indigestible, even destructive. When the level of truth administered surpasses one’s capacity to receive it, it is either missed or misused. As truth is none other than the highest frequency of light and understanding, in order to safely receive it, the ground of our intelligence and consciousness has to be prepared as a suitable container.

recognizing the next step

The inner way is an unbroken continuity of evolution consisting of many separate steps and gradual progressions. However, since we cannot possibly have a panoramic view of the inner realm at the outset of our journey, our advancement depends upon the lucidity of our present state and our ability to recognize the next step. We can liken the inner journey to the ascension of a steep mountain: in order not to slip and fall we focus not on the summit, but on each individual step we need to take to reach it.

The ability to identify and take each next step of our inner jour­ney is an outcome of our spiritual knowledge and a clear insight into where we are in our process. But because it is often impossible to identify one’s exact or even approximate place on the path, the majority of seekers need a qualified teacher to verify their state and provide guidance and support.

As we move deeper into the inner realm, the vision of our evo­lutionary purpose becomes increasingly apparent and we grow more independent. Our personal intelligence gradually merges with the higher wisdom of the soul, who timelessly knows her final destiny and recollects all the steps of awakening as the natural landscape of her evolution and blueprint.

the role of doubt

No true understanding can be reached without first going through the fire of doubt. Doubting supports the development of clarity and in many instances protects us from pitfalls on the path. The function of doubt is particularly critical at the outset of our search when we are faced with a vast and varied array of spiritual teachings; we must exercise doubt as we weigh our options. An intelligent mind does not subscribe to a teaching indiscriminately, but investigates and consid­ers it thoroughly before making a commitment. Only a dull mind blindly accepts a teaching.

Naïve and immature seekers routinely become victims of teach­ers with inadequate or even questionable qualifications. The price they pay is grave, for they can become spiritually stagnant for long periods or, worse yet, regress in their evolution. To assure our for­ward movement, we must remain alert and critical in our perception of the path. We are not suggesting that one should be resistant or closed. On the contrary, constructive doubt serves as an intelligent test of reality that leaves the door open to all possibilities in choosing both a spiritual teaching and a teacher. Although our capacity to ver­ify a teacher’s qualifications and recognize the quality of a teaching is restricted by the level of our own maturity, within our limitations, we absolutely must practice discrimination with the highest level of clarity, wisdom, intuition and simple common sense. Choosing the right teaching and teacher is of the utmost importance and often determines the course of our whole life.

If the absence of doubt is coupled with insincerity and arro­gance, a dangerous kind of spiritual ego that blocks the evolution of the soul can easily develop. One has to honestly question one’s intention, spiritual direction and inner experience. Only with the emergence of complete clarity can doubt be abandoned.

Although the role of doubt is essentially positive on the path, excessive doubting can undermine the inner work. Doubting can become an addiction based on fear, insecurity and the inability to discern between right and wrong. For this reason, we must keep the doubting mind in check so that doubts will not erode our basic trust in the path and our courage to enter the unknown.

the role of trust

When our doubt exceeds our trust and faith in the path, we lose our spiritual force — we feel helpless and powerless. Trust is the quality that channels the doubting mind in a positive direction and main­tains the basic balance of our intelligence.

Trust must be founded upon clear discernment. We must not believe with blind faith, but recognize the truth of the direction we have taken. Our trust should be rooted in the intuition and wisdom of the heart, for not everything can be verified by the mind. The mind, in fact, very often proves quite limited in its ability to find the right way. To trust is to follow a sense of rightness into uncharted territory. This does not mean that we are one hundred percent cer­tain of what we believe to be true. In fact, once we have reached a particular point of inner certainty, there is no longer any need for trust — we simply know.

Trust also serves as the foundation of the student-teacher rela­tionship. It grows as a student gets confirmation from his inner expe­rience of the accuracy of the guidance received. Trust in a teacher is the natural outcome of a student’s progress. In the process of seeking out and committing to a teacher, the initial degree of trust should be based on a sense of the quality of the teacher’s heart and being. One should not look for eloquence, charisma or ‘spiritual’ gestures. A student has to feel genuine light and truth behind the presence of a teacher, his pure intention and wisdom.

cutting through confusion

Just as doubt can be caused by confusion, confusion can be the out­come of unresolved doubt. If we are unable to transcend our confu­sion because we keep feeding it with doubts, we may experience a major crisis in our evolution. However, the presence of confusion, like the arising of doubt, is a natural aspect of the spiritual path. If a seeker never experiences confusion or doubt, it suggests a serious lack of spiritual refinement and a gullible type of personality.

Confusion is a feeling of being lost, of lacking a clear sense of direction or satisfactory understanding of one’s inner situation. It is not an enemy, but a challenge to be faced and overcome so that at a certain point the light of clarity can emerge. We need to accept confu­sion as an inevitable part of spiritual exploration, but also know how to break through it. To cut through confusion, we must call upon our passion for understanding, faith in the spiritual path and determina­tion to see clearly.

There are two basic types of confusion: the natural and gentle kind of confusion that arises from the sheer impossibility of compre­hending all the intricacies of the path, and the obstructive kind that arises from intellectual dullness and lack of imagination. It is the latter type of confusion we must be most wary of, for if it remains unresolved, it can seriously impede our spiritual progress.

Although the presence of confusion often serves as an incentive to strive for higher levels of understanding, we should never dwell on it or allow it to take root in our inner life. Confusion is fundamen­tally non-existent, and according to the law of reality, must eventu­ally be dissolved by the light of truth and understanding. Sooner or later, a true seeker will triumph over any kind of confusion or doubt. He will know.