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ernity have to do with you and me? We tend to avoid this large question — too hard to understand and searching for answers seems like an exercise in futility. “Eternity” we might reason, “Offers little insight into my human problems. So why should I try to explore this questionable reality?”.

Think again because our human problems are rooted in our illusions and our disconnect with this larger question of our existence.
Try using the phrase “always was always will be” to place us in the realm of eternal existence. Allow reflection. Since you and I exist, let us consider our relationship to that which is eternal. Who are we? Imagine that somehow we have always existed, not in our present form of energy but still, somehow we have always existed. Seems like a mind twister but let us imagine.

“Always was always will be” these few simple words can give us a handle, a crude insight into the nature of existence. Even this limited perspective of the eternal can lead to some understanding and even some acceptance of death, of loss, of finality.

Stay with me and ponder a bit.
If existence always was and always will be, then in the realm of eternity the passage of time has no meaning. There is no giant clock in the universe marking off the minutes months and millennia. What then is the present moment that we experience? In common time, the present moment is fleeting and then gone. But is it? In the domain of Eternal Reality the present moment has always existed, it always was and always will be. Kind of a mind twister, but think about it.
All that <em>Is </em> always manifests emerging forms of itself. All that Is — One Presence in endless changing forms — appears and re-appears in the eternal moment. I cannot quote scientific proof that all forms emerge from one source of energy, but through the ages, the Knowledge of one Presence, all emanations of the one Source, has come to people as intuition and insight and mystical experience. These individuals report that what<em> Is</em> is only One in presence, and for the perceiver, one finds no distinction between subjective identity and all that exists. All is One, always was always will be.

So from the mystical experience of Reality, I am everything that Is. This is my divine, eternal presence. I live today and I always was – I die tomorrow and I always will be. My form and yours are really only one. We are physical, mental emotional bodies of the one Divine presence that has always been around.

We are not separate beings but it is our temporal experience of separateness and our belief in separateness — the great illusion that we all buy into – that defines human suffering. The human ego is a mental, emotional construct of logic and interpretation that believes in its separate identity, its own self-image. It is a vigilant system of defense that evolved from instinct replacing automatic reflexive actions, and it looks upon “other” as threatening. And yet it depends upon others. The ego must protect itself and its illusions, it fears others, needs others and it dreads loss. It has created the human condition of suffering. <em>It is the ego that suffers not our divine eternal presence.</em>

So for example, when a loved one dies, our divine presence does not experience the pain of loss because <em>nothing has changed.</em> But the ego construct has built its reality on the fear of loss and separation. It suffers, it mourns and grieves. This is our human condition. We will attach ourselves to our own self-concept and to certain individuals that we will love and need and desire and identify with and this is what human beings typically do. We fear the loss of such relationships and seeing the temporal and not the eternal, we dread the eventuality of our own death.

Having evolved spiritually we have a capacity to deepen the meaning of our existence. Those who have experienced the Reality of Oneness and the Eternal Now will feel the loss of loved ones but their human suffering is different. Their personal loss, belonging to the temporal world of the ego rests in the larger context of their inner Knowledge. Yes, this deeper view into the reality of existence, into eternity, adds dimension to the meaning of our existence and within the suffering of the human condition we have the psychological and spiritual possibility of finding real happiness.

When will the surprises end? Never! Life is the process of disclosure always working to appear and then re-appear will never cease. The new and the fresh will always emerge. The surprises will never end.

Over millions of years, life forms on this planet developed, selected, adapted and were carried forward in the process known now as evolution. This cumulative movement reflects the endless dynamic of form building upon previous form. We know now that this fundamental, formational process applies not only to the world of biological systems, but also to our solar systems and other galaxies as well.

Reflecting upon this general knowledge, we realize that a built-in momentum, a forward-moving unfolding process has been at work since time immemorial. Now we are allowed a view into the basic and profound inner workings of Life, a program that sustains creation, a plan with an inner directive that motivates continuing new forms to build upon already present ones.

Quite amazing, this depth principle that keeps Life creating and re-creating, that establishes evolution as a mechanism motivating existing form to adapt and build upon itself. Evolution is a universal vehicle carrying existence forward. How mysterious is its origin! How amazing is its execution! And what a privilege for us to be able to appreciate the inner workings of Life! Our awareness opens up a greater capacity to recognize the Loving evidence of abundance and creativity.

And so the world can see the external presence of material formation, but how does spiritual knowledge form and what motivates its intuitive process? Take a closer look. The vehicle of evolution does not restrict itself to the physical and the measurable. The unfolding process is designed to carry forth all that exists, so this interior movement that directs the continuing development of material forms in existence also carries forth the interior meaning of existence.

Carrying Spirit forward, revealing the inner presence of Life — that is the purpose of spiritual evolution. Drawing awareness of reality and existence to deeper and deeper levels — that is the purpose of spiritual evolution. Advancing the conscious presence of Spirit — that is the purpose of spiritual evolution. That is the work of Revelation.

Look beneath the surface of what seems to be, beneath the realm of all that can be seen and measured. Look. Another formational process is taking place. Revelation — an active ongoing process of Knowledge of Life is disclosing itself. Revelation is not restricted to significant moments in the history of prophets and religions, it is an intimate process of disclosure developed by each of us within our experience. This Knowledge must evolve within our consciousness, one form of awareness building upon a previous form of understanding. So from a mechanical perspective our true Wisdom develops as our perception and spiritual insight build incrementally, experience upon experience, insight upon earlier insight.

Crucial to our spiritual evolution is the awareness that Revelation is occurring in the ongoing present. Our spirituality, the development of inner Wisdom, rests in the intentional, evolving process, forever disclosing what Is – now.

Let us move forward with an awareness of Life’s inner workings and take another step in our own inner journey. Stand back and look at how your life continues to develop. Wonder about the process of living with your insights, your own ‘aha!’ experiences, your daily discoveries as knowledge gathers, as you build understanding upon what came before in your personal experiences – wonder what this process of disclosure is that allows us to build meaning upon previously acquired meaning. Look. Life reveals itself to us in the daily now, Wisdom will develop in the daily now of living, spiritual awareness can develop over time as we are living in the daily now. Revelation is a path of discovery leading us into our inborn, natural Wisdom.

The great plan that supports the continuance of life forms and Knowledge of Being is in full operation. The very slow evolution of life forms adapting to this planet will continue on through countless future ages, it is a process that cannot be stopped. But what will become of the evolving Spirit? Can this world afford the slow spiritual evolution that has been taking place over millions of years? Currently destructive energies have magnified and are distorting human development and we must be concerned. At the very least, spiritual evolution must keep pace with the magnified negative developments. Without a vibrant movement of spiritual growth, what will humanity look like in this disturbed environment? Advancing spiritual awareness depends upon the level of consciousness of each individual interacting with others. One by one, each separate life must respond to the presence of Revelation and evolve in the presence of justice and compassion. Will our collective consciousness be able to move closer to enlightenment? Each life can add increments to the collective growing tip of Spirit. The desire to carry Spirit forward is an individual experience that requires personal responsibility. We must awaken to this desire.

People will always try to understand their environment, however not all individuals will seek a deeper understanding of their lives. The spiritually inclined person looks for something more, something that lies beneath the apparent. These individuals find themselves seeking and engaging with the process of Revelation as it discloses meaning hidden, embedded in their everyday experience.

Our spiritual formation, informed by the physical, mental and emotional environment, is a continuous inner movement taking place in the mind and body shaping meaning as it builds upon previous meaning. It is a personal and unique process of discovery. Spiritual development, perhaps fed by religious training, accompanied with fellowship or service to others, disciplined with a practice of prayer and meditation, guided with teachings is very important. However, it is everyday living in the moment and the common experience with its presence of Revelation that ground us in our growing awareness.

Are we aware of the revealing moment? Do we participate in the process of discovery? Or are we like a leaf being carried through the current of Life, tossed about, passive victims of our circumstances? There are two basic human attitudes regarding being alive and these can be found in every culture, in all parts of the world, in all times in history. The active, open, curious, seeking mind that is willing to take responsibility for its attitudes and its search for Knowledge, and the resistant or helpless attitude that is perhaps unhappy, angry or disinterested but certainly unwilling to assume any responsibility for its own reality.

Human experience flows like water in a river. Everything – events both external and internal and their interpretations, circumstances with their reactions and responses, feelings, thoughts, physical pleasures and pains, the intellect, social involvement, intimate relationships, all past and present experiences of a life history intermingle and exist together, all parts of a life history flow as one, like a river.

This stream of experience is met with standard spiritual challenges. Only one will be mentioned here: the basic conflict between surrender and resistance.

The human condition is living in the context of fear, as well as the embrace of Unconditional Love. This conflicting situation is the core of our reality, the dilemma of our existence. Framed within such a difficult paradigm, our personal development – spiritual, psychological, emotional, physical and intellectual – is a continuous striving to reconcile the two opposite realms of experience: fear and Love, Love and fear. This duality is a current moving through our life carrying with it the course of our spiritual formation. Minute to minute we face these two realities. The spiritual path is easiest for those who have no preference, who move with the flow of experience, who do not allow fear to rule. Will we surrender to the moment or resist it? For those who seek something more, something that lies beneath the surface of what apparently seems to be, attitude and choice determine the depth and distance of the inner journey.

At birth we are pure spirit in a tiny body. We come so very fresh from the Eternal Embrace of Love that with a gentle smile one can wonder where we left our wings. And we can also wonder what has become of our spiritual identity, why awareness of our eternal spirit has faded into the background of life experiences, and how our environment has shaped our natural spiritual presence.

In the reality known as “ the human condition” this world of fearful ignorance begins early to define us, to tell us who we are, what we must think and feel, how we must act. Distracted from our real self, we learn to forget and before too long we begin to imagine who we are. Based on misinformation we unknowingly assume a false identity. We create an image of ourselves and this invention, known as the ego, becomes more and more real to us as ongoing experiences re-enforce its presence. The ego becomes “me”, and this “me” feels like a real person that must be protected. So we find ourselves developing ways to serve our needs.

You can see that building a plan of action based on misinformation will always lead to problematic outcomes, yet it continues to happen. This is where psychology comes into the picture. Our psychology is an internal process of self-concern driven by the defensive needs and postures of the ego. From this core definition, the discipline of Psychology established its exploration of human behavior.

The ego’s structure of interpretation is here to stay. Evolved out of the primitive instinct for self-preservation, it is an updated version of fight or flight, an evolved biological mechanism used for modern survival. Instinct designed for self-protection, once a reflexive, even automatic response mechanism that must have been used by primitive humans, has evolved into complex emotional and mental processes. We now possess a sophisticated structure of interpretation so self-involved that its strategies have morphed us beyond protection into pain and suffering. Finding ourselves trapped in the convincing logic that fear is a necessary attitude, arguing that without fear our imagined self would surely die, we are always concerned about our position in life, and we keep self-serving strategies and plans in motion. What to do?

The most we can hope for is a healthy well balanced ego that can be held in check. Good psychological therapy explores the origins of emotional pain, working to free the individual from his own ignorance, providing tools to change the direction of that particular life. The goal here is to awaken a healthy self-image. There are many degrees of physical and emotional wounding that cause a range of mental and emotional disorders, all are expressions of spiritual suffering. In our troubled part of the world more and more people seek assistance for their mental and emotional pain, however severe pathology often goes untreated or cannot be reversed.

Frequently the spiritually and psychologically unaware person cannot identify his distress, may not even recognize his own defense system, believes that attitudes, prideful adaptations, fears, desires, needs and reactions are the expression of the true identity. “That is who I am” you will hear. No, that is not who you are. It is understandable that one might believe this, but we are not this self-involved, psychological configuration. That façade hides our true, natural being. Self-ignorance deprives us of true happiness, often causes intense mental suffering and detracts the process of spiritual formation.

Saints and mystics and all others who embark on a committed spiritual journey become painfully aware of this psychological reality. Left to its own devices the ego will run our life in order to fulfill its needs and it will compromise our spiritual capacity for growing spiritual awareness. Its influence must be recognized and controlled. All who are dedicated to the inner journey learn how this construct is a hindrance.

But look at the challenge here. Disregarding the pressing issue of survival is difficult — it goes against what we have learned to believe — yet when we look beyond our psychological fears, strength flows out of our spiritual positioning, guiding and informing the path of Wisdom. The process of spiritual formation is one of growing awareness of our true Self, of our inner Wisdom. Our tightly braided relationship between psychology and spirituality must be understood and disciplined since the level of spiritual advancement is dependent upon the degree of psychological insight. Striving to develop our full human potential, we must always remember that the lifelong process of building spiritual insight will be involved with the ego’s self-serving structure of interpretation.

You might wonder how writing about your experiences can be a valuable spiritual tool. Perhaps you think that spiritual direction is complete when you have found a teacher, a religion, a discipline using it to instruct, guide and re-enforce your inner commitment. As essential as these may be to you, Life’s questions and opportunities to grow in Wisdom are embedded in your daily living, and for you to feel truly involved with your spiritual development you must draw upon your particular life circumstance for clarity and depth. The introspective method of keeping a journal can place you in your living world where all of the questions about the meaning and mystery of Life reside. A life explored on paper will mirror and solidify internal processes. Honest self-exploration allows you to examine events, important questions, pride-filled difficulties, fears, struggles, doubts, resistance to change, attachments.

Through the centuries saints and mystics have used a diary format to record their inner experiences, their concerns and conflicts, their developing insight. Many of their writings have been a rich source of inspiration for us. Today journaling is considered to be a valuable self-help tool and even young people in school are encouraged to record their feelings as a way of making sense of themselves and the world they live in. Personal journal keeping is now very commonplace.

All forms of self-exploration on paper are helpful, however different approaches to investigating human experience yield different results. If journal writing is used solely to blow off steam, to complain, to vent self-pity, frustration, disappointment and the like, then the writing method serves simply as a temporary release. That approach usually creates a circular situation where, for example, “I hate my job, I hate my job I really, really hate my job”, expressed over and over again comes to nothing but the release of frustration without offering insight into the real problem.

Journaling can have different goals. Some writers use their journal as a way to keep a record of the events of the day, week or month. This method is more like a reporting of facts, often without emphasis on reactions and responses. Others have used the diary as a place to record their feelings along with events. Some journal writing explores the entire history of a life with the intention of “connecting all of the dots” in order to understand how the present is influenced by the past. Still other approaches use writing as a search for deeper meaning and for inner Wisdom which seem to lie beneath the surface of the everyday interpretation.

Journals are also used as a way to enhance spiritual awareness training, as a way to keep focused on the commitment to a particular discipline. These entries act as a spiritual positioning in a daily practice. Many writers dedicate each day with inner intention as they record their thoughts and feelings, their prayer life, their conflicts and insights

When the desire to understand the meaning of personal experience motivates journal writing, much can be learned about what living in this world really means. There are wonderful published works of individuals who, in the process of exploring their lives, have come to express beautiful prose and poetry, often using metaphor to capture an inner reality. Other creative forms such as the visual arts and music, theater and dance, fiction as well as non-fiction, philosophy and social movements have emerged from the result of intense personal journaling. And is all of this “spiritual”? Oh yes. Giving form to that which surfaces from an inner Source is indeed an ongoing manifestation of spirit expressed in human experience.

In the sixties, Dr. Ira Progoff, renowned depth psychologist and author, now deceased, developed a comprehensive way to explore the many dimensions of a life – relationships, conflicts, questions, past experiences, matters of faith, health, work, family life, spiritual reality. His Intensive Journal is a complete in-depth approach to the inner process of spiritual and psychological development. Ira Progoff is the grandfather of modern journal keeping and the effectiveness of his work made a big impact in mental health and faith communities. Over the years his method of exploring all facets of a life has been incorporated by many individuals into different formats. At A Journal Workshop will provide you with an in-depth description of his journaling process. I met this inspired Life teacher in 1970 and dedicated myself to learning his philosophy and methodology. My life deepened, my insight sharpened and my ability to organize and utilize the context of an entire life history has changed my spiritual and psychological direction. I began leading journal participants thirty five years ago and out my deep work and that of countless others in my groups, Wisdom led me to write Our Journey to the Sky – A Guide to the Process of Spiritual Formation and the companion workbook Keeping A Spiritual Journal.

You are spiritual by nature which means that your inborn capacity to live within the meaning of human experience and participate in the development of consciousness is a process waiting to form over time. The depth, the extent to which this capacity forms, depends upon you. Spiritual illumination comes with honest effort — do not expect it to drop out of the sky or come in a special, hand-delivered envelope.

Where to start? The desire to grow in wisdom and understanding is a first step. At birth as you are trying to make sense of the everyday world, your spiritual awareness takes the opportunity to grow as meaning forms. Insight will evolve as you grow within a willingness to explore questions and change personal attitudes.

From your early days until the present, the ordinary world has offered endless opportunities to mature in a process of discovery leading to deeper insight into the mystery of Life. Because these experiences occur every day in the context of personal history, your interpretation of them plays a big part in the direction you take. Exploring the emotional history of your life can reveal the unresolved issues that might be delaying, distorting or misdirecting your natural desire to grow in Spirit. Problems, pain, human suffering of all kinds will strengthen your interior life if these are grounded in the attitude of personal accountability. Without honest self-evaluation, your spiritual path can seem to go around in circles.

You may choose a specific belief system within a religion to guide you, and you may rely upon your insight and personal experiences to deepen your spiritual journey. You may seek out life lessons found in literature, art, music, philosophy. There are many religions, many teachers, many spiritual disciplines to inspire, guide, inform your spiritual journey – all are vehicles to carry your process of developing awareness leading to your inner Wisdom. But finally the most important spiritual tools to take on you spiritual journey will be your attitude of interest, your openness to discovery, your willingness to discard fixed interpretations. These will allow you to choose the appropriate path as you direct yourself forward.

There is always an interior dialogue between the everyday experience lived in the conditioned mind and our deepest Wisdom present as an unknown inner directive. The conversation may be very lively and coherent or it may be struggling to articulate itself. We can describe this dialogue as the process of spiritual formation — a dialogue between Wisdom, rooted in its unknowable Source, and our mind, planted in its world view. This is a relationship between the mind already conditioned to our human experience filled with pre-conceptions and expectations, and Wisdom emerging from an inner directive revealing its presence in the world of events.

Yes, Wisdom is a presence embedded in the ordinary experiences of everyday life. This remarkable arrangement always offers the opportunity to engage the outer world of reality and the outer purpose of the conditioned mind with the true meaning of experience. Imagine what the world would be like if this inner connectedness were always complete. We would be seeing a very different society, a very different interaction within among people.

In this human world, however, we cannot wait for some great revelation to sweep us into transformation and enlightenment. We cannot wait for the world to come to its senses. The responsibility for the advancement of spirit lies with each single person. One by one we must engage with Wisdom, and as Wisdom forms, one by one the individual carries it forward into the collective world of outer purpose.

My spiritual questions might include the following:

“Am I ready to see that my true outer purpose must serve the collective process of advancing spiritual consciousness?”

“Can I see the value of living within the awareness of an ongoing dialogue between inner wisdom and the conditioned mind?”

“Has everyday experience, loaded down with preconceived notions, eclipsed my process of spiritual formation?”

“How have I lived my outer purpose? Has it become so burdened with goals that defend personal fears, pride and all manner of off-the-mark motives? Am I ready to examine its intentions? Am I ready to look with honesty at my desires and goals? Am I ready to evaluate and redirect the path I am on?”.

One reality is certain. When my interior conversation with Wisdom and my outer purpose are aligned and when I assume the full responsibility for how I live within my goals in this world, then I have opened up the exciting possibility real spiritual happiness.

There are many religions and many teachers and many spiritual disciplines to inspire, guide and inform our spiritual journey – all are vehicles able to carry a process of developing the awareness that leads to Wisdom.

“Awareness of what?” we might ask. Although we have a longing to understand the meaning of human experience, we may not be able to name this longing. Usually when this need has not formed in our consciousness, we will find ourselves confused and feeling misdirected, trying to fill a void, looking for an un-named something.

At other times we seek out life lessons found in books, religions, teachers, literature, art. Sometimes we choose a specific belief system within a religion to guide us. Sometimes we rely upon a philosophy. Sometimes, in surprising and unexpected ways, our insights lead us into deep personal experiences and we draw upon their meaning for guidance.

But whatever the path chosen for our journey toward Wisdom, we must create a place within ourselves for Wisdom to emerge. To seek the inner truth of human experience we must accept our life and ourselves such as they are. We must be willing take responsibility for what we believe, how we think about and relate to others, how we act upon our feelings and what the consequences of our reality are. Without this attitude of open self-examination, we find ourselves serving the needs of our self-protecting ego instead of feeding our spiritual hunger. Honest self-acceptance and personal inquiry open up the space for inner Wisdom to develop and nourish the process of spiritual formation.

Having made a commitment to self-disclosure and humility and by examining our pride and admitting our imperfect choices, we have invited discernment and are prepared for our journey. The wisdom of spiritual awareness will develop over time as meaning builds upon previous meaning, deepening insight builds upon previous insight. Now we will find ourselves on a life-long path that seeks truth and meaning.

This path may be followed within a spiritual practice such as prayer or meditation or worship, or the expansion of meaning may be carried within a promise to live in the present moment as we take our guidance from that moment. All intentions may be at work. But in order for spiritual consciousness to evolve, for Wisdom to deepen, we must make every effort to clear away personal attitudes that obstruct its process.

Because conditional love is a very big part of your life.

Have you realized the extent and power that conditional love has to alter the direction of your emotional development? Have you discovered that it pretty much defines your behavior? And have you known that it has profound spiritual consequences?

Look around. It is not hard to see that we live in the human world of conditional love – a world where rewards and punishments are part of giving and receiving love. Conditional love always holds out a promise, yet always requires something of us. Consequently we learn to receive love under certain circumstances when particular requirements are met.

Conditional love is pervasive. Its specific patterns are shaped first within the norms of a particular culture and then individualized within the emotional system of a particular family. Having learned very well how to be loved conditionally, adults unknowingly pass the same set of emotional rules on to the next generation. And generation follows generation within a social structure, engendering and fostering particular aspects of incomplete nurturance.

Love that creates a nurture/wound environment is a compromising paradox disguised in the everyday environment of care giving, love, reward, criticism, punishment, emotional repression, emotional distancing, emotional smothering. It becomes very real to us. Offered in varying degrees, it is sometimes overt, sometimes disguised, but when nurturing is bonded with wounding, it builds a nesting place where fear of rejection and abandonment can develop. Imagine the effect this everyday reality has on a small child in the process of forming a personality and a belief system.

So here we are, adults predisposed to live with an underlying angst rooted in the dread of being worthless and in the fear of rejection and abandonment. Sometimes this inner reality is glaring, sometimes it is subtle, and often it is denied. But the unsafe feeling is there expressed in how we choose to live. We find ourselves adjusting to the grip of conditional love, and the interior process of spiritual awareness — designed to grow and develop within the everyday world of experience — is distracted and often blocked.

Wonder, then, how conditional love affects not only you — the individual — but society and the world. Look around. Conditional love re-enforces success, failure, power and vulnerability, and we see its presence in many forms of pain and injustice.

And yet the process of spiritual formation continues to advance despite the man-made reality of fear and insecurity. The inner movement of spiritual evolution persists, always moving forward threading its way through our misguided intentions, always working to surface in our awareness, always guiding us to articulate inner Wisdom.

This ever-present inner Wisdom is Unconditional Love.

Look for it.

This question wonders about the way we live in this world – a world in which we see suffering, we feel suffering, and we cause suffering.

Universal pain has been passed down through the ages. Once our instinct for survival began to move out of reflexive, unconscious action — as it began forming more deliberate, defensive strategies, as emotions and intellect developed and joined with reasoning — the human condition began to evolve. Different, complex ways to protect ourselves emerged, and with them, the level of human suffering also became complex.

Logic, emotions, strategies, attitudes all formed over time. Leaving instinctual behavior behind, human fear evolved into man-made interpretations, creating a complex, threatening reality to be dealt with. Pain and suffering took on new meaning. Self-protective strategies became the order of the day and the opportunity for choices and personal responsibility become available. Could human beings control their desires? Their impulses? Their behavior? The possibility for deliberate action and self-control was now an added part of the emerging process.

And look … yet another new component to human experience also evolved.

Leaving instinctual behavior behind, the human spirit was then free to move into our more developed consciousness, carrying with it the possibility for enlightenment … so now we have a range of possible human experience that moves from profound degrees of physical, emotional, psychological pain to spiritual transformation. What an amazing mix!

Fear can be consuming, subtle or denied, but we must understand that survival is hard-wired into our biology. The human condition acts on the need to feel safe and drives us to create self-seeking goals. Fear is often translated into the disguised motto — ‘To have and hold, to keep and protect’—and this motto motivates attitudes that justify all manner of behavior. Look around … everyday living is now designed have, and have more, to exclude, ignore, even destroy those who seem to be in our path.

Let us use our capacity for honest reasoning to reflect … how do our choices alienate us from our own real self and others? How does alienation cause suffering? How have you and I created a world that denies equal value to all beings and how do we suffer the consequences?

Deeper than the everyday principle of self-justification, our spiritual awareness moves forward, and we find ourselves wondering about the meaning of Life; we find ourselves seeking Wisdom and longing for an un-named inner freedom.

Can we make an internal, intentional decision?

Can you, can I shift mental and emotional gears away from fear and trust Life to sustain us? Can we move through the process of living in a humane, inclusive, accepting way? Is it possible to allow ourselves to live in this world within the Wisdom of Compassion?

And if we become a part of the growing tip that carries loving intentions forward, what do you think would become of the human condition?

True wisdom is marked by a willingness to live within the experience of our questions about Life – it is a desire to seek a path of insight and understanding and knowledge. Formed within our experience of living and our intuitive insight, wisdom is the human capacity for deeper and deeper perceptions of reality.

An innate capacity we must choose to develop, wisdom requires the discriminating use of any acquired information which could come with education, specialized training, scholarly knowledge. Wisdom should not be confused with the results of having collected a lot of facts and information. Wisdom expects us to examine and sift through the concepts and judgments we have accumulated, discarding what is useless, in order to reach the heart of what is real in our life.

“Who am I?” we might ask. “Why am I alive? How am I supposed to live?” Discomfort with the mystery of our unknown self, allowed expression, flows into nagging questions.

These kinds of questions mark the essential crossroads in our spiritual development, for they point us in the direction of our personal responsibility, toward deeper knowledge of our true purpose.

Wisdom is marked by a desire to search for meaning, to look beneath the surface of what seems to be — searching for something which exists in existence. Wisdom is a gift of Life to be treasured.

Yes. We do … we believe that our own interpretation of the world is valid—that it is the only one, and that it is completely real. And we can always find people that will agree with us.

Yet all of us share in the Greater Reality of an abiding presence of Love and Unconditional Compassion. And many have discovered a way to live in this awareness.

How does one examine a lived and believed reality? Fear and self-defense, long ago imprinted, have formed logical strategies, plans and conclusions, making it difficult to explore the origin of our long established, set-in-place world view. It is so very hard to grasp the need to control our life, established very early on, that keeps shaping and distorting our power to interpret.

And so we find ourselves struggling, searching and suffering.

Everyone has fears. Everyone. Sometimes they are hidden, covered up, disguised. They might seem minor. Perhaps they are unrecognized. But fear is built into human experience. Look for it. It needs to be reckoned with because fear naturally wants to move into self-protection, which creates opposition with self-defeating attitudes and behaviors, which leads to alienation and all forms of justifications.

The system of self-defense, learned and re-learned, multiplied and re-multiplied, becomes the human condition – a system of fear and desire that creates separation and conflict, as it flows through daily experience.

And still, always present is the Reality that all of us rest in the embrace of Unity and Wholeness.

Everyday living is an endless flow of experiences moving forward, moments of awareness building upon previous ones.

Think about it …we live as a form of growing awareness

Our spiritual nature is expressed as a form of growing awareness. As we begin to awaken to our true nature we become aware of a desire for meaning. Deepening this desire will lead to questions about why we are alive and what it meas to be alive

Our life experiences flow together like water in a river. Past and present flowing together…moving foward toward something - but what? Think about it.

There is no way to avoid our spiritual nature …We have an inborn attraction to Life. We are drawn to respond to Life’s presence. We want to experience Life, know its truth, participate in its reality.

Our spirituality is a fundamental predisposition that motivates our survival as we seek to understand why we are alive and why we must die.

So there is nothing extraordinary about our spirituality - it is simply our PERSONAL INNER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRESENCE OF LIFE. And like all relationships, spirituality is interactive - it must develop - it is designed to be a process that unfolds in the context of human experience.

We might then ask ourselves “If this is a natural, developing process, is it possible to drift away from our inner directive?”

Any comments?

Everywhere we look we can see the consequence of human abuse and neglect that causes so much suffering. We can see the greed and self-centered goals depriving others of their dignity and basic rights. Daily we witness ignorance that allows indifference as discrimination, violence and destruction escallate.

When we look at what is happening in the world, can we balance the genuine loving dedication of those caring people who work tirelessly for social and economic justice, who look for ways to care for the health of our planet, who do all that they can to protest and prevent war and violence - can we balance their loving dedication with what looks like an all-out juggarnaut of power and greed grinding its way over the continents forcing huge populations into vulnerable and powerless positions?

Love and fear - fear and Love. This duality is a current moving through our collective lives carrying with it the course of our spiritual formation. How do we reconcile these two realms of experience - the presence of Divine Love and and the ignorance of this Reality that breeds fear?

When we see the suffering of the world, does it affect our spiritual journey? Do we strugle to reconcile two opposite realms of experience - Love and fear?

And when we look into ourselves, do we wonder how we might be part of this worldwide condition of spiritual ignorance?

Do we recognize that Love and fear are moving through our daily life expereince?

What does each of us have to offer to the Life-giving presence of Love and compassion?

Can we develop a deeper awareness of our true spiritual presence?

How do we build and maintain an interior compassion and understanding for the ignorance of our collective actions when we are afraid and self-protective? How is this fear threatening our spiritual and physical health and well being?

How can we become a part of the solution for spiritual ignorance?

Today is February 16, 2007 and a group of eleven participants have come together to explore their ongoing spiritual  development.  We  will be reading the text Our Journey to the Sky - A Guide to the Process of Spiritual Formation and following instructions for journal keeping in the companion workbook.

I will encourage the participants to contribute to this forum with some of their insights and experiences.

We began to day with the question  WHO AM I?

This is the ultimate question.  WHO AM I? contains answers to all of the larger questions about our true nature and the Divine presence.

Every day we pursue the answer to this question.  Sometimes we are on an unconcious search - sometimes we are very intentional and focused.  Every day  our thoughts and actions are  a quest that may be taking us forward into spiritual awareness or leading us into a maze of confusion.  Every day the question WHO AM I? is an internal process of discovery available in  ordinary experience.

Spirituality is an experience

not a belief system, as it is often thought to be.

Belief systems, found in all religions

rely upon prophetic revelation, doctrine,

sacred texts, forms of worship and tradition.

Over the centuries, these religions have acted as vehicles

meant to carry the process of spiritual development.

However, belief systems differ from inborn spirituality

which is a natural process of insight and awareness

that develops separately, informed within personal experience.

Religion and spirituality can intermingle and compliment one another,

they can carry one another toward enlightenment,

and they often do,

but spirituality always exists as a single universal process

of evolving consciousness.

Spirituality, belonging to all of mankind

is a deeply personal interior process

that experiences insight, connection, relationship

with the experience of being alive –

with the divine, creative presence of Life.

There is nothing extraordinary about spirituality.

Simply put, it is our personal, interior relationship with Life’s presence.

It is the essence of our human nature — always available to us

 as we experience our existence –

always building upon our unique, ongoinf interaction with the daily environment.

Notes on Love and fear:

Love and fear — fear and Love. This duality is a current moving through our life carrying with it the course of our spiritual formation.

How do we reconcile two opposite realms of our experience?

What if we were to place our trust in the flow of Love? Could we allow experience to be what it really is? Would the flow of experience carry us safely forward?

Surrender versus resistance. In this conflict lies the foundation upon which our spiritual attitude is always shaping and changing.

Your reflections and responses are welcome