Wednesday, February 20, 2019

What is a spiritual journey?

A spiritual journey takes us in mysterious ways to unknown destinations. A spiritual journey traverses the most difficult terrain of big questions:  What is the meaning of life?  What is my purpose?  What is worth valuing?


A spiritual journey is not always, or even very often, a religious path.  Religion offers a well defined contract--with God, with what is good, with what are the norms that guide behavior.  So we might agree with Yuval Noah Harari in Homo Deus that the gap between religion and spirituality is much wider than we think.  "Religion is a deal, whereas spirituality is a journey."

If a spiritual journey does not have rigid ideas and fixed laws, what does it have?  Finding one's own truth of experience will likely be lonely.  You may find yourself living neither in the 'village' of human values nor in the 'forest' of natural laws, but someplace between.

When you follow the path of your experiences--which are made of sensations, emotions and thoughts--you begin to develop your attention.

When you pay attention you develop sensitivity.  Harari says that sensitivity "means two things.  Firstly, paying attention to my sensations, emotions and thoughts.  Second, allowing these sensations, emotions and thoughts to influence me."

Perhaps the most important characteristic of a spiritual journey is that it results in practical skills.  Paying attention and developing sensitivity cannot happen in an abstract way from books or lectures or youtube movies.  A spiritual journey is always made of direct experience. 


Direct experience is the only path to inner change.  And when we change ourselves, we change everything.  So how does one begin a spiritual journey?  Decide on something worth valuing because it has mysterious ways: clouds, trees, drums, horses, oracle cards. Ask it to sit with you, bring you an experience, and then--pay attention.