Elizabeth Lesser is one of the founders of Omega, a retreat center that last year played host to over 30,000 individuals. She's also the author of The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure. On this hour-long dialogue with Michael Toms, she talks about her multileveled spiritual journey from Christian Science to the Sufism of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan to Tibetan Buddhism to Jungian psychology and beyond.

Lesser hurrahs the diversity in the contemporary spirituality field especially the waysAmerica is reshaping Buddhism, Sufism, and other ancient religions. She points out the value of finding a spiritual teacher, making a commitment, and learning a practice. But the eventual goal is to learn from the inner teacher — dependency is one of the risks of losing your way on the path.

Lesser reveals that the adventure of the sacred is letting go of control, relaxing into the mystery, and being grateful for all the blessings of life. She believes that the experience of spirituality is immeasurably enriched by watching a baby being born or a relative or friend pass over to the other side. In both cases the Great Mystery is expressed most vividly.

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