 Our Spiritual Journey: Living in Two Worlds
There is an old story of a wise man, who was in his garden working, when a spiritual seeker approached him asking how to seek enlightenment. The wise man pulled an onion from the garden and asked the spiritual seeker to dig a hole for that onion in another part of the garden, where the soil was fertile and rich. It was when doing so that the student had an awakening - and began his spiritual journey. We will focus more on this in a minute, but this is a rather typical story, like many Bible parables. They each have meanings that can be interpreted different ways.
This short, but telling story speaks to the true nature of taking a spiritual journey to remove the emotional and psychological blockages caused by pain and struggle. It does so by revealing the true depths and importance of love, life and peace. Digging up an onion is similar to detaching from the things in life that prevent us from connecting with the truths of our inner soul. Replanting the onion is similar to learning to grow in the rich soil of our inner nature. We live in two words and are citizens of both simultaneously; this creates complication. As Jesus once said, we are in the world, but not of the world. We interact in the outer word with physical demands and needs that are brought on by family, friends and careers. With that said, we also have an inner world of intellectual discoveries, emotional experiences and spiritual awareness.
To take a spiritual journey is to learn to live in both worlds successfully and to do this we need methods that offer us support in both worlds. We learn many things from interactions with others, lectures, and books, but we must learn to have our own experiences in the spiritual realm. Simply reading something in a book is not enough for a spiritual awakening. Although books can provide us with some guidance, a spiritual journey is something that occurs from within. We experience an awakening and begin our spiritual journey in a way that is different from listening, reading and watching.
The previously told story of the wise man can be applied to modern society by having the teacher reside in a modern city, but still has a deep spiritual life. He went to the bank and cashed a check one day, where the teller told him that two forms of identification were needed. He reached for and showed the teller his driver’s license, which was an acceptable form of identification. When he was asked for a second form, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mirror, looked in it and replied, “Yes, it is me.”
Although an amusing story, it represents two different knowledge types. He used his driver’s license because we are dependent on indirect information about our self; as the driver’s license defined him. Although it does show who he is, it did not show who he really was. The mirror is like a spiritual practice and a spiritual journey, as it allows us to truly examine ourselves and discover who we are. It both provides first-hand insight and realization that reveals our truth and true nature.
|
|
|
