Spirituality as Fearlessness
"If spirituality is not religion or cynicism or sentimentality or narcissism, then what is it? One thing that we can confidently say is that spirituality is fearlessness. It is a way of looking boldly at the life we have been given here, now, on earth, as this human being. Who am I? How should I live my life? What happens when I die? Spirituality is nothing more than a brave search for the truth about existence. Nothing more, but nothing less as well."
— The Seeker's Guide
Our Own Spiritual Path
"It took me a long time to decide to become a human being, and to look within my own flawed nature for salvation. It took mistakes, dark nights of the soul, hard work, and help from teachers and friends to fashion a spirituality that respected both my divinity and my humanity, my radiance and my shadow. It took my own combination of religion and psychology, meditation and physical healing, mysticism and science, to forge a path that felt genuine and effective. Instead of sacrificing a self I hardly knew or loved, I turned my attention to self-understanding and self-forgiveness. Instead of accepting a straight-and-narrow route to someone else's concept of God, I set out to make my own way, using my inner longing as a compass."
— The Seeker's Guide
Questing
"In democratizing the spiritual life, the burden is on you, the seeker. You are entitled to your own beliefs and practices, but you are also accountable for your own morality and enlightenment. Your path is your own, but you must walk side by side with others, with compassion and generosity as your beacons. You don't have to join a religion or school of thought or a community of seekers to be a part of the American spiritual tapestry. You can do this, and you may benefit tremendously if you do; but you don't have to. If anything is required it is this: fearlessness in your examination of life and death; willingness to continually grow; and openness to the possibility that the ordinary is extraordinary, and that your joys and your sorrows have meaning and mystery."
— The Seeker's Guide
Tranquil Abiding
"We are born with a body that experiences pain and comfort, a heart that suffers and feels joy, a mind that strives and is peaceful, a spirit that yearns for both solitude and communion with others, and a contract on earth that has a beginning and an end. Each one of us knows this, and yet, each one of us spends much of our time swimming against the current of life's reality. The spiritual path teaches us how to float on our backs, relaxed and aware, in the waters of reality. The Buddhists define spirituality asshamatha, or 'tranquil abiding.' "
— The Seeker's Guide
When You Do Something from Your Soul
"One of the problems of contemporary culture is that life moves at such a quick pace, we usually don't give ourselves time to feel and listen deeply. You may have to take deliberate action to nurture the soul. If you want to increase your soul's bank account, you may have to seek out the unfamiliar and do things that at first could feel uncomfortable. Give yourself time as you experiment. How will you know if you're on the right track? I like Rumi's counsel: 'When you do something from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.' "
— The Seeker's Guide
Honesty Is an Aphrodisiac
"It does pay to be honest. It pays in rewarding relationships. It pays in unblocked energy. It pays in passion. To stand tall in who you are, unafraid to reveal what you want and need, kind enough to tell the truth, and brave enough to bear the consequences, is a telling sign of spiritual development."
— The Seeker's Guide
Being Broken Open
"I am fascinated by what it takes to stay awake in difficult times. I marvel at what we all do in times of transition — how we resist, and how we surrender; how we stay stuck; and how we grow. Since my first major broken-open experience — my divorce — I have been an observer and a confidante of others as they engage with the forces of their own suffering. I have made note of how fiasco and failure visit each one of us, as if they were written into the job description of being human. I have seen people crumble in times of trouble, lose their spirit, and never fully recover. I have seen others protect themselves fiercely from any kind of change, until they are living a half life, safe yet stunted.
"But I have also seen another way to deal with a fearful change or a painful loss. I call this other way the Phoenix Process — named for the mythical phoenix bird who remains awake through the fires of change, rises from the ashes of death, and is reborn into his most vibrant and enlightened self."
— Broken Open
Dark Nights of the Soul
"So please forgive me when I say that everything that happens to us in life is a blessing — whether it comes as a gift wrapped in happy times or as a heartbreak, a loss, or a tragedy. It is true: There is meaning hidden in the small changes of everyday life, and wisdom to be found in the shards of your most broken moments. At the end of a dark night of the soul is the beginning of a new life."
— Broken Open
An Art to Grieving
"There is an art to grieving. To grieve well the loss of anyone or anything — a parent, a love, a child, an era, a home, a job — is a creative act. It takes attention and patience and courage. But many of us do not know how to grieve. We were never taught, and we don't see examples of full-bodied grieving around us. Our culture favors the fast-food model of mourning — get over it quick and get back to work; affix the bandage of 'closure' and move on."
— Broken Open
Simple Rapture
"I have a card stuck on my refrigerator that shows a woman standing in reverence before an open freezer door, saying, 'Amazing! Perfect ice cubes again.' That's the kind of simple rapture I am talking about. I realize we are not put on this earth to stand around open freezers ranting like idiots about ice cubes. But a good quesiton to ask yourself is this: If perfect ice cubes or an evening sky or an old song on the radio has not made your heart flip-flop lately, why not? What is keeping you from feeling the rapture?"
— Broken Open
