"The River of Truth flows underneath every possible source — from the sacred texts of the world's religions to secular sources such as comic strips and screenplays. But in order to recognize the wisdom everywhere you go, you need to look with an open mind that is earnestly seeking to encounter it. Many of us were never taught how to cultivate such an attitude of receptive seeking. Fewer of us have had many opportunities to practice using it.
"Consequently you may not be able to locate spiritual wisdom in what are traditionally seen as secular materials. For this reason you will start reviewing resources in those places wisdom is easiest to find, amid sacred literature like the Christian Bible and the Hindu Upanishads, allowing you the time to develop your detection and exploration skills. Then you will ease your way into more challenging and remote resources, such as essays and poetry, where you will have many opportunities to further refine your ability to detect the presence of wisdom. By this time you will have developed skill in locating Spirit in every source.
"Finally you will move into the completely uncharted territory of writing your own scripture. All of the skills you have developed and all of the knowledge you have obtained at this point will be put to use as you record your thoughts, beliefs, and experiences in your own words. For the first time you will be able to see your progress in evaluating, exploring, and expanding your understanding of and relationship with Spirit take shape using your own voice. Ideas and beliefs that you had not realized were percolating inside you will be brought to light. Growth you did not know had occurred will be revealed, and vague concepts will be clarified.
"Once you have followed the initial sequence — exploring sacred texts, then more secular sources, and finally writing your own scripture — you will have developed enough skill and familiarity with the process to be able to weave back and forth between them according to your need. For example, reading a selection of the Tao Te Ching will spark an idea that leads you to explore the writings of Ursula Le Guin. From there you may decide to write your first poem about what you've learned. Or perhaps you'll journal about the new ideas you're exploring as you turn to the writings of Confuscius. You will be limited only by your comfort with the process and the time you have available."