the way

“The Way is The Way is The Way”

Think for a moment about all the steps you have taken on your spiritual journey. I would imagine for most of you there have been many “ways.” For some, you may be on your first “way.”

For me, it was as an adult and the Catholic Church. I did not grow up in a religious, nor overly spiritual, home. There was love and love is all, but the concept of spending time with a greater Spirit was not part of our routine.

As an adult, I felt the “pull.” I was going through a very difficult time in my life, on all fronts. I was far from home, my job was an extreme struggle, making ends meet was impossible. I was making less than needed to support myself. As is the case quite often hardship causes you to cry out for something bigger, something more. “What is this for?” line of questioning.

To increase the complexity, I was a trained mathematician and looked at everything with an extreme rational mind. Over the years we all ignore God’s countless attempts to say “Hello, I am Here.” For years I pondered (and used) infinity and very rarely did I attempt to understand it more than from an intellectual and mathematical perspective.

I also gravitated toward philosophy, but again, I gravitated more toward understanding it intellectually than feeling it. My strong preference was toward philosophy that conveyed the presence of a higher power. I had a close friend in the field of philosophy that told me that I would be rejected out of hand if I believed in God.

I found it difficult to reconcile this against the supernatural experiences I had over the years. This merely meant I was in tune with the idea there is something bigger, something greater as a force around us if we would simply be open to it and listen.

My Catholic confirmation, I enjoyed the process. I met some wonderful people, it put me in a space to read scripture more regularly, I attended Mass somewhat frequently. It kindled a light within me. Even to this day, I feel a sense of “home” in a Catholic Church. It comforts me.

It also is not “the way” for me.

That is my broader point. I wrestle with it, and I know if you are reading this you are likely to as well. “The way” is mostly defined by our upbringing and geography. If we are born in X place and the prevailing religion is Y, then we are likely to have “the way” defined as in, of and through Y. We are fortunate in the world we live in now to have access to Z either physically or through our ability to read more about it, listen to lectures/meditations and put ourselves in that space.

We are taught that if our “way” is Y, do not even consider Z. You may even love Y, but would never consider Z because of your love for Y. If I were a strict Catholic and maybe Catholicism is the best thing in my life, I may never consider Zen as part of my life.

Here is the simple truth: The Way is through You. We are so consumed with our religious practice we lost sight of The Way that matters.

What happens when we experience frustration or loss? We blame God/our religion and we let it slip away. Our ego is ready to jump in and mock us: “you read the Bible every night, you go to Church and now look at you.” We listen, we let go of whatever spiritual path we were on and when we “need God again” we pick it back up.

That loop we must break out of. God does not punish, God is not the cause of suffering. God is God. In this loop we must come to feel the differentiation between religion: its method, its form, its ritual, even its propensity to generate fear and spirituality: the evolution of your path, finding “The Way” to Yourself in harmonious connection to the Spirit.

You and I are not the same. You and I will ascend through our ability to love, understand and forgive one another. That knows no religion, however it is pure Spirit. Given you and I are not the same, our paths must be different.

There are infinite paths to recognizing who we truly Are and all great spiritual teachers knew and taught this. The Way.

The path you are on now may not be the path you are on a moment from now and that is a beautiful thing.

See yourself in Love, as I see you.