Spirituality is not about the trappings of religions, it is not about esoteric rituals, and it is not about putting your trust in gurus, objects, or “spiritual practices” outside of yourself. It is purely an emotional and deeply personal journey.
This should come as a relief, because what it means is that you can stop doing every “spiritual” thing that you don’t enjoy. You can stop memorizing foreign mantras, you can stop collecting “spiritual” paraphernalia, and if you like, you can cease learning about spiritual practices altogether. Unless your heart sings or you feel unburdened or released when you do these things, they are only serving to cover up and muddle your path even more, rather than reveal it. Only following your emotions can do that.
So if you get great joy from your mudras or from taking on the fashion of a new-age hippie, do those things. But do not believe or pretend that they are the requirements of spiritual expansion. They are completely superfluous. Completely and utterly superfluous.
Practicing yoga or crystal healing is no more spiritual whatsoever and is equally as absurd as going around town with a can of red paint and a q-tip and placing a single polkadot on every spoke of every white fence you find. These things are completely and utterly meaningless beyond the meaning you give them. So there is no reason to do them unless you love them, and never any reason to judge somebody else’s goofy superstitions. You have your nonsense rituals; let others have theirs in peace.
Practicing yoga or crystal healing is no more spiritual whatsoever and is equally as absurd as going around town with a can of red paint and a q-tip and placing a single polkadot on every spoke of every white fence you find.
Do what you want, what is fun and funny and relaxing and expansive, but do not attach a clinging neediness to it. Do not confuse your spiritual practice with your spiritual path. If all your practices were stripped away tomorrow, if you forgot language and became deaf and blind and could not bend into a downward dog, your path would not dim.
All you need is your own emotions. Your emotional guidance system IS your intuition. They are one in the same, and it takes bravery to begin your emotional journey. You are used to relying on other sources to tell you which way to go or which practice is “right.” The spiritual work is to slowly peel away all of those external layers that are muddying up your mind until your emotions shine through clear and you can begin to sort out what they are telling you.
Men may find this more alarming than women. Men have been conditioned to hide their emotions and not to cry. If you are afraid of crying, you are going to have a lot of trouble sorting your emotions, because you won’t be able to feel them. You’ll have to be willing to cry on this path. You’ll have to let yourself fully feel the truth of your life, or you won’t be able to progress from exactly where you are right now. Your life won’t seem to change until you can confront your feelings.
It makes no sense to begin to learn rituals that do not call to you in order to make spiritual progress, because progress can only be made when you follow your emotions. Without an emotional pull toward something, there is no reason to do it. Your progress on a path that does not call to your heart will be exceedingly slow. If you constantly force yourself to do things that bore you, you’ll get nowhere fast.
It makes no sense to begin to learn rituals that do not call to you in order to make spiritual progress, because progress can only be made when you follow your emotions.
You and each person on Earth has their own perfect emotional guidance system. What these means is that every single feeling and thought you are having right now is exactly the perfect path for you. Spirituality is not about arriving at happiness tomorrow, it is about confronting the feelings you have right here, right now. What is it you think about most with the most passion, positive or negative? That is your path.
Are you aching in love? And you afraid of your boss? Are you overwhelmed by your possessions? Do you daydream about sewing dresses but work in a doctor’s office? What “little” things consume your thoughts? Do you feel guilty every time you buy coffee? Annoyed every time a customer asks for help? Do you feel schadenfreude when you hear your ex is unhappy? Are you angry at your spouse? Do you have too many mismatched serving spoons? These are exactly your spiritual path. These mundane things that are right in front of your nose every day are your path. Your path is not hiding in The Tibetan Book of The Dead, it is right in front of you and in your mind, all day, every day.
Your path is not hiding in The Tibetan Book of The Dead, it is right in front of you and in your mind, all day, every day.
What is meaningful to you? Follow that. Untangle it until you find its source. And then do it for your next feeling, again and again and again until only one single untangled thread remains between you and your soul. That is alignment. That is the path to Enlightenment. That is your path.
In Love,
The Universe
