Spiritual Seekers, Mystics, and the Road to Enlightenment

Spirituality has become commonplace in recent years and continues to spread throughout our culture. What was once considered rare or “woo woo”, is becoming a norm and a way of life.

There’s a certain mindset and flavor around being spiritual in the West — you either are, or you aren’t. You’re either conscious or not. Loving and accepting, or completely unaware.

Black and white, black and white, black and white.

New age spirituality, where journeying and saging have become a way of life, has begun reducing the essence of age old wisdom and has turned into a commodity — something you have or you don’t.

When seeking spirituality and spiritual practice, humans are simply looking for love. They are seeking to find a place within themselves where there is love, acceptance and peace. This isn’t a spiritual goal, this is a human one. This isn’t something spiritual people are driven towards, it’s what humanity rests its foundation on.

When I share my experience being part of a spiritual community where I live, I conceptualize it. “People who do yoga, people who fast all day, people who meditate and do breathwork.”

I start to put them in one category, and the rest in another. Instead of encompassing love for whoever or whatever is in front of me, I’ve created barriers. I see certain people as those I favor and others whom I don’t. This not only hurts me, but it also isn’t spiritual.

The only framework of spirituality we need to work on encompassing and embodying is love. When love is at the center of our attention, there’s no need to separate people or things into categories. There’s no need to push against anyone who’s not doing the same practices or rituals as you.

It’s just that feeling you get inside your chest, when you think about someone you love, or when you hear the heartbeat of an animal resting against your chest.

The rest is crap. It’s just another way of creating separation.

Returning to the essence means embodying love and letting it ripple into every aspect in our lives, as opposed to just safe spaces or with like minded people. Get back to that feeling at the center of your chest, and it won’t matter who’s in front of you and what view point they hold. Having one another is a gift, and our humanity relies on this connection.