Thousandroads

Paths, tools, and guides are three very important aspects of a spiritual journey to elaborate on.

I. PATHS:
A path is usually an established tradition of spiritual inquiry (Zen Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, Taoism, and the Scientific Method are examples). Perhaps we are already in of a tradition that clicks with us, or one we grew up embracing.

Starting with an established path is practically a requirement. Charting the waters without one is like trying to sail to the New World from Europe without a compass (and with blinders and no crew). Well, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it is almost mandatory to follow an already charted course in the beginning. Later on, we leave the chart behind and chart our own path.

II. TOOLS:
When we are clear what path serves as our backbone, we include tools that help us explore different aspects of ourselves. Some of these tools, broken into these aspects, are:
spirit tools (vipassana meditation, zen meditation, centering prayer) *
body tools (weightlifting, yoga),
mental tools (scripture study, analysis),
expression tools (improvisation, acting, blogging),
sexual tools (tantra, visualization practices),
work tools (right livelihood, organization),
ethical tools (moral/ethical code),
shadow tools (psychotherapy, psychoanalysis).

There are 1000s of tools out there -- the key is to focus on a handful of them. Which ones to pick? The ones that challenge us, yet still resonate with us, and still address all major aspects of ourselves. As a note, spirit tools especially are of primary importance (for obvious reasons).

III. GUIDES:
Well, we have a path, and we have tools to help us walk on the path -- but we are not set, yet. It also really helps to have a guide. A guide is someone or something who helps us make day to day decisions in the right direction. Not many of us have the benefit of having someone show us the ropes, and even fewer of us have one we can trust. However, nothing to fear. There are surrogate guides in the form of I-Ching and Tarot Cards we can use. More about them in future posts.

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So now that I've clearly outlined the groundwork for the spiritual path, we're ready to start talking about my own adventures and discoveries (the fun stuff!) Right?? No wait, there's an important thing to keep in mind from the beginning -- the shadow! The shadow is so important that I'll dedicate my entire next post to it. A spiritual journey that ignores the shadow is screwed.

Posted by Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga at 09:34 PM | Permalink

I'm gonna mention my motivation for pursuing the spiritual journey. I was actually planning a mega entry today outlining all the different paths, tools, and terrains out there...but I changed my mind. It is too overwhelming (still figuring out how to blog)! So, I'm gonna stick with simply answering why I am on the spiritual path.

To recap what I mentioned last time, this path is an adventure in all senses of the word, except that we are exploring ourselves instead of the outside world, and we are pursuing results beyond anything we can imagine. Sages and mystics describe the result of the spiritual path as the achievement of eternal peace, wisdom, happiness, and universal love flowing through each particle of our being -- you may not buy it, but you certainly can't beat it!

People label this state "Enlightenment", "Awakening", "Union with God", Eternal Bliss", "Genuine Existence", or "Ground of All Being". Whatever phrase we use for it, the ones who have centered in it describe it as the highest state we can achieve.

What more could we want, right? Well, we won't necessarily *want* more than this, but we also still have an inescapable impulse to take this "Enlightenment" through our life and environment. So it isn't about sitting around pursuing eternal happiness all day -- it is about sharing energy and wisdom with everyone (and everything) around us.

Now the spiritual path is cool, but what about my other aspirations? I want to develop relationships, go to dance clubs, make a lot of money, start a nonprofit, travel the world, and listen to gansta' rap...you know?

Well, I'll clarify a very important point. Spirituality in the 21st century isn't about denying our "material" or "worldly" interests. In the olden times things were much simpler -- we had a single path, a single teacher, and prehaps a single ideal of God. And we have undoubtedly achieved heights. While a "spiritual path" may still connotate leaving the world and living in seclusion, praying or meditating for years and years, that isn't what it is truly about. Spirituality is really about being genuine, and integrating with the world around us to whatever degree we are compelled to. We are the most broad minded, advanced, and knowledgeable human beings ever in the history of minkind. And our path should honor that.

In other words, spirituality evolves along with society.

So does that mean I can do whatever I want and I'd still be on a spiritual path? Yes, if our intent is genuine. But as we spend more time on the path, we notice lots of activities we do actually don't produce the fruits we desire. Also, we start becoming more sensitive to our actions, how they affect us, and how they affect others. So we naturally do things differently, and even willingly endure arduous practices at times.

In a nutshell: the spiritual path is a path meant to take us to the highest level of happiness, and it benefits the people around us to the highest level possible. Sounds obvious that all of us would want to include some sort of spirituality in life, right? It is to me (hence the blog)!

Looking forward to explaining some of the tools next time....and describe how can we actually practice!

Posted by Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga at 03:20 PM | Permalink

I am writing a blog to chronicle my spiritual adventure, and the experiences and discoveries I make along the way.

Well what do I mean by my spiritual adventure? I mean the journey to understand who I am, why I am here, what am I supposed to do, how do I relate to the world and to God, and how do I get through suffering and find lasting happiness.

So what does the spiritural path consist of? Well, it's like any other adventure. First off, we chart our own trail, use tools and maps in the form of philosophies and religion, experience adventure, and overcome challenges along the way. The difference (and fundamental difference) is that we are not exploring anywhere outside, but rather exploring ourselves inside. And that makes the journey and the rewards so special. I'll get to all the details in my future posts, of course.

Why am I blogging? Because I want to share with everyone what a spiritual path is -- it may not be something we really talk about in an intelligent and honest way. I'm trying to keep this blog free from abstractions or philosophies -- I really want to be able to communicate my experiences genuinely, without too much airiness. That's my intention -- you guys can let me know if it happens or not. :)

The spiritual path in the 21st century is a lot different than what our notions of what a spiritual path might look like. Today, we have for the first time in history, all the practices and wisdom from around the world at our fingertips (thanks TBLee, thanks I-I). Plus, new technologies and insights keep popping up all over the place -- a very exciting time.

I've been on this path for a while, and although it's been tough as crap, I never for a second would have it any other way. As we go further, we start to expand our journey to encompass more and more of ourselves and others.

Our consciousness gets bigger and bigger, broader and broader, uniting with the plants, animals, and people around us, and then starts encompassing planets, stars and galaxies, until it stretches the whole universe and unites with God Himself (sorry, I have to throw in a little bit of this stuff now and then :) ).

I look forward to posting again. I hope to layout the course in more and more detail, and sharing war stories (or shall we say, peace stories).

Little footnote: this is actually my very first blog post....ever! I'm pretty excited. Don't know where this is gonna go, but should be a blast nonetheless.

Posted by Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga at 01:11 AM | Permalink