In Pursuit Of Genuine Spirituality

a reply to: TheJourney

Your story rings very familiar, as it is very similar to my own path.

Regarding the feeling of being detached and sort of in spiritual limbo, I recommend to you the book The End of your World which deals with this very particual subject.

More and more people are “waking up” spiritually. And for most of them, the question becomes: now what? “Information about life after awakening is usually not made public,” explains Adyashanti. “It’s most often shared only between teachers and their students.” The End of Your World is his response to a growing need for direction on the spiritual path. Consider the book you hold in your hands Adyashanti’s personal welcome to “a new world, a state of oneness.”

Adyashanti begins by describing the “I got it/I lost it” phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students—the fluctuation between what he calls “nonabiding” awakening and the ultimate state of “abiding” enlightenment. With straight talk and penetrating insight, Adyashanti then points out the pitfalls and cul-de-sacs that “un-enlighten” us along the journey, including the trap of meaninglessness, how the ego can “co-opt” realization for its own purposes, the illusion of superiority that may accompany intense spiritual breakthroughs, and the danger of becoming “drunk on emptiness.” “Full awakening comes when you sincerely look at yourself, deeper than you’ve imagined, and question everything,” teaches Adyashanti. The End of Your World is your invitation to join Adyashanti for an honest investigation of what you really are—and how to live once you discover it.

The website The Mystic also offers very good advice about "what next" in regard to spiritual awakening and daily life.

The only thing you need to know is that what happens at the sub-atomic level inside your body is scaled up to the galactic.

And of course that all Human intelligence can be directly derived from the celestial observations seen by our ancestors in antiquity. The Seven Visible (not so much now!) planets are the characters of every story ever written. Their endeavours are the origin for all language and design.


Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus
Understanding why they were so important to ancient man is all the spirituality you'll ever need.

originally posted by: 131415
Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus
Understanding why they were so important to ancient man is all the spirituality you'll ever need.

Astrology and spirituality are quite different topics. Not to say they aren't both interesting, but it's only adding to the confusion of the OP to answer to his inquiry about spiritual guidance with discussion about astrotheology.

a reply to: TheJourney

wow you have set yourself a hard target. My own journey went something along the line of "agnostic" (early teens, but at a Christian School) to atheist but spiritual (mid to late teens, still at that school) to non-theistic Pagan (I bowed to no one, Undergrad University) to where I am now which is polytheistic Neopagan Druid and Celtic Recon (Post Grad and working life, now in my 40's).

Along the way I hit lots of moments of doubt. Other humans caused most of the doubt. Hell I think humans are what cause the most problems with being spiritual, because as a species we suck.

However I belong to a group that is organised and has a few 1000 members. Its got its issues, but so do most groups. I feel the spirituality is valid for ME, and probably for most of them too.

originally posted by: DrunkYogi
The Ego cannot release itself from its trap. Passive awareness where there is absolutely no effort required is the way out.

The ego can release itself from its trap, but it's more brutal than the path you propose. What can be learned by passive awareness can also be discovered by a sudden paradigm shift. Sometimes it's called a spiritual crisis, sometimes a psychotic break, sometimes an epi- or theophany.

Whatever the names, the different paths eventually lead to the same ultimate conclusion. And each path is particular and suited to an individual personal story.



I read many posters in this thread sharing their paths and beliefs, telling OP "I think following this path too might help you".

Yet few noticed a few key sentences in the OP that seem to indicate TheJourney already reached the conclusion of the awakening path.

OP isn't asking advice about what faith or spiritual path to follow.

OP is asking "what next? what should I do now that I have something I believe in, now that I realized there is something bigger than me?"


The answer is living a life according to your beliefs and values. To go out in the world and apply what you learned.

It's not as fun and bumpy as the path of spiritual awakening, but it is as rewarding. There is a time to search and learn, and a time to apply what was learned and act. Now OP, you have all the tools to be a truly conscious actor in this play, make good use of that power. (also if you want have a look on the links I previously posted)

Perhaps the labyrinth is more than just a meditation tool maybe it is a snapshot of our lives.
I'm not convinced we are ever moving either forward or backward but a winding path that sometimes takes us inward seeking center shedding the cloak and mask, the facade that the world in one way or another forces on us shedding the cares and stresses seeking quiet and rest and . . .inspiration

And once we have found it the path ahead takes us out to the world to make good use of the inspiration we received because only then do we make it our own, becoming fully aware of all the subtle meanings and nuances, and yes sometimes the inspiration that this life delivers requires us to go out on a limb to take risks that we can only take if we release some measure of comfort and security.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

If that is what you are seeking, you will find it but I warn you that you might not like what walks into your life and it might decide to hang around longer than you like.

You can find spiritual enlightenment in prayer and fasting.

It cant be any worse than giving our power to the archons of the abrahamic religions

mind to receiving any spiritual enlightenment. By opening your mind to suggestion, opens all spiritual doors which can lead to a good revelation or a negative one

So seeking spiritual enlightenment equates to opening your mind to suggestion? So better they don't do anything other than read the bible...yeah right

What is spiritual enlightenment to you? What do you seek? What do you need?

I too float around in limbo from time to time, but it is not a void where I am lost. I embrace it as a respite from all the clamour of inside and outside noise. A place of solitude and reflection.

Religion and Spirituality seems to be about
fitting in and being part of a cult um! group.

I believe being good, Spirituality.
should be about doing good because it makes you feel good happy.
Happy in a empathic emotional way.
you feel good making others happy.

and not to avoid going to hell!
or to PAY to get into heaven!
I do NOT wont to go to their heaven.
it is a big Lye!
I would rather have just a end to life/soul.

a reply to: buddha

This thread is not about religions. Unless I missed something?

Spirituality is not about fitting into a group. It's a personal, internal practice, while religions are social expressions of spirituality.

They are related but they are nothing alike. Spiritualities are the sources, religions are the cultural results.


PS: the only modern religions asking you to tithe to go to heaven I can think about are some forms of Protestantism in the US. I personally know no religions saying you have to pay to avoid hell. Actually even the Vatican recognized hell is a state of mind and not a place.

Your views about religions seem to be caricatural and mostly based on a few extremist sects FYI. The vast majority of religious people worldwide are more open-minded and do not hold such beliefs.

An apple is not a banana yet both are equally as nurturing and beneficial to the body. Thus it can be said that only a fool argues over which tastes better. Such is the same with spirituality and religion.

Genuine spirituality cannot be genuine for if it was genuine it would not be spiritual the same of which religion has become unreligious by declaring itself religious.

 With that understood it may be assured that spiritual understanding is universal in appearance and countless in form, its essence being the progenitor of existence, its non-form being the progenitor of form.

Spiritual understanding may be attained from any book, any movie, any experience, any form, and any concept because fundamentally all appearances and labels are a projection of ourselves, our mind.

A wise man perceives the indistinguishable inseperateness of the internal self and the external world and thus seeks self-understanding with mindless observation while seeking no inquiry outside of his own understanding. This leads to profound wisdom and enlightenment.

A foolish man will seek self-knowledge by filling his mind with the conceptual thoughts of others never seeing the folly of such error. I ask, how is it that one may come to know himself by seeking to make someone elses concepts his own? A true aspirant seeks no authority above his own.

If it is spiritual its essence is non-physical. By being non-physical it has no form, color, taste, or appearance thus a true understanding of the spiritual reality cannot be efficiently conceptualized into language.

Therefore the moment spiritual understanding is communicated in word-form its essence is lost and no longer can it be understood.

The wise spiritual aspirant does not seek spirituality through means of thought or concept, but in feeling and experience. A man knows not of love until he has been in love. A man knows not of spirit unless he has been in spirit.

If spirituality is given thought it will not be understood. Is it possible to experience the unity of the inner self and outer world when ones attention is given to the mind and its incessant thoughts? If one is always thinking about thoughts how may one attain wisdom of what is?

Yet if one tries to not think of thoughts then one is surely thinking about not thinking about thoughts. Therefore the mind must be regarded as an unnecessary tool in cultivating spiritual wisdom.

Be with what is, feel yourself as you are and trust in your own ability to attain. Accept everyone and everything as part of the whole and attain perfect insight, reject anything and surely you'll remain in ignorance. That is the way.

a reply to: EviLCHiMP

That was beautifully articulated and very much speaks to my spiritual journey as encompassing my whole being.

a reply to: EviLCHiMP

TY! Def a flood of dichotomies, haha. IMO it is all relative, everything is relational. Without one side you cannot see the other, this is how we experience the physical. Love the way you word things and love to read, take care and thanks again dear one

originally posted by: JUhrman

originally posted by: DrunkYogi
The Ego cannot release itself from its trap. Passive awareness where there is absolutely no effort required is the way out.

The ego can release itself from its trap, but it's more brutal than the path you propose. What can be learned by passive awareness can also be discovered by a sudden paradigm shift. Sometimes it's called a spiritual crisis, sometimes a psychotic break, sometimes an epi- or theophany.

Whatever the names, the different paths eventually lead to the same ultimate conclusion. And each path is particular and suited to an individual personal story.



I read many posters in this thread sharing their paths and beliefs, telling OP "I think following this path too might help you".

Yet few noticed a few key sentences in the OP that seem to indicate TheJourney already reached the conclusion of the awakening path.

OP isn't asking advice about what faith or spiritual path to follow.

OP is asking "what next? what should I do now that I have something I believe in, now that I realized there is something bigger than me?"


The answer is living a life according to your beliefs and values. To go out in the world and apply what you learned.

It's not as fun and bumpy as the path of spiritual awakening, but it is as rewarding. There is a time to search and learn, and a time to apply what was learned and act. Now OP, you have all the tools to be a truly conscious actor in this play, make good use of that power. (also if you want have a look on the links I previously posted)

Thanks for the perceptive reply. Especially at the end of your post, you remind me of some thoughts I was just having. Namely, realizing that there is no external source, system, phrases, which will have a particularly transformative effect on me at this point. But this just means that everything has to be based on real, tangible internal shifts. Which I guess all of this means, in a way, the only spirituality left IS genuine spirituality. It's about honestly applying it all and incorporating it into your being.

originally posted by: TheJourney

originally posted by: JUhrman

originally posted by: DrunkYogi
The Ego cannot release itself from its trap. Passive awareness where there is absolutely no effort required is the way out.

The ego can release itself from its trap, but it's more brutal than the path you propose. What can be learned by passive awareness can also be discovered by a sudden paradigm shift. Sometimes it's called a spiritual crisis, sometimes a psychotic break, sometimes an epi- or theophany.

Whatever the names, the different paths eventually lead to the same ultimate conclusion. And each path is particular and suited to an individual personal story.



I read many posters in this thread sharing their paths and beliefs, telling OP "I think following this path too might help you".

Yet few noticed a few key sentences in the OP that seem to indicate TheJourney already reached the conclusion of the awakening path.

OP isn't asking advice about what faith or spiritual path to follow.

OP is asking "what next? what should I do now that I have something I believe in, now that I realized there is something bigger than me?"


The answer is living a life according to your beliefs and values. To go out in the world and apply what you learned.

It's not as fun and bumpy as the path of spiritual awakening, but it is as rewarding. There is a time to search and learn, and a time to apply what was learned and act. Now OP, you have all the tools to be a truly conscious actor in this play, make good use of that power. (also if you want have a look on the links I previously posted)

Thanks for the perceptive reply. Especially at the end of your post, you remind me of some thoughts I was just having. Namely, realizing that there is no external source, system, phrases, which will have a particularly transformative effect on me at this point. But this just means that everything has to be based on real, tangible internal shifts. Which I guess all of this means, in a way, the only spirituality left IS genuine spirituality. It's about honestly applying it all and incorporating it into your being.

I love how when I go out in public everything works for me. When I am strapped for money some manifests, not much but enough, if I go somewhere, I have a good parking space, if I am in need of help someone shows up. One example all be it a funny one. My husband and I were loading a lawn tractor onto his truck, the ramps were steep and he decided to drive it up the ramps, not cool! Of course as he started to go up his weight caused the tractor to tip backwards his legs went up in the air, I am kind of laughing and freaking the f" out all at the same time. So we got the tractor on the ground and he said lets push it up, and I am like Hell NO, really NO, I am not the biggest person, 5'1" and I didn't want to get crushed that day. So I removed the ramps and said lets find a hill or something. Then this fellow pulled into our drive and asked if we wanted help, he had been watching us the whole time, prob laughing his ass off. Any way he showed up at the perfect time and I thanked him so much as I could without kissing the fellow!! I wanted to, what an Angel.

The Universe does make room for you, and of course there is always a space for you!! That is the beauty of it, I noticed such wonderful things happen when you are in the right frame of mind. Everything seems beautiful in my perception, I try to look below the superficial/physical. Even something perceived as negative isn't so bad, cause I know it won't stay there and I try to look at the big picture. At least that is how it works for me. I do get pissed off still and rant for a bit I am not perfect, but that is what our feelings are there for to use them, and not to let them control us!

Thanks for letting me share! Love Tina

a reply to: TheJourney

I enjoyed your post, and wish you the best in your pursuit of being spiritual. Just like our ability to focus on our work, spirituality can be the same, we zone in and out through our lives. At times I have a very clear perspective and can keep it for days or a few minutes, but every day life distracts and I get caught up in it. It's like I forget that I am playing a game and lose track of time, it consumes me then I come back to my senses and see things for what they really are. If you want to stay on that spiritual path without the distractions then be prepared to sacrifice some things, look at most mystics, monks, shaman, even some christian clergy. They can often go to extremes in isolation to achieve an enhanced spirituality, each a different path with one thing in common, they all believe and follow that belief. Call me a slacker but I am not willing to put in that kind of effort but prefer to enoy the every day, touching base spiritually when it is needed. Just because I don't give it 100% all of the time doesn't make my beliefs any less geniune. Keep looking, keep an open mind and most importantly find out what you personally believe.

Some general thoughts on the nature of many of the replies, in terms of giving me advice and saying what I should be doing...

I think many spiritual people are very unconscious of the fact that it is their own beliefs which give their advice meaning. For instance, I say a thing like this, and people give their advice with things like 'just don't think, go beyond mind.' And that is maybe good. But, what gives it value is your belief that it has value. So, some may say I think too much. But I am trying to find something that is honestly meaningful to me right now. There was a time when I found the idea of 'going beyond mind, not thinking' to be very meaningful. And so that is what I pursued, and it was very spiritually fulfilling. But without belief in its value, who's to say it has value? You have to personally have the idea of something having value, in order for it to have value...you can't just accept and do it because someone else says it. So, you may say it's so simple, just do this...but be conscious of the fact that there are underlying beliefs that are causing you to find it so meaningful, or else everyone would automatically agree with you...

a reply to: TheJourney

I like your thoughts here.

Would you say that determination of value and worth of the objects we come across in our lives is a spiritual pursuit?

I ask because from what I can tell, the determination of value and worth in spirituality is focused mostly upon objects and situations one might never come across in his entire life, for instance God, the afterlife, mystical union, nirvana etc.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: TheJourney

I like your thoughts here.

Would you say that determination of value and worth of the objects we come across in our lives is a spiritual pursuit?

I ask because from what I can tell, the determination of value and worth in spirituality is focused mostly upon objects and situations one might never come across in his entire life, for instance God, the afterlife, mystical union, nirvana etc.

You seem to be always seeking and never finding.

a reply to: InTheLight

I have found many things through my travels. I have even reached the peak of Everest. Perhaps you can tell me what I have yet to find?

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: TheJourney

I like your thoughts here.

Would you say that determination of value and worth of the objects we come across in our lives is a spiritual pursuit?

I ask because from what I can tell, the determination of value and worth in spirituality is focused mostly upon objects and situations one might never come across in his entire life, for instance God, the afterlife, mystical union, nirvana etc.

Well, it either has to tangibly connect to something in your life, or else it becomes not only belief in the value of something, but belief in the value of that belief. For instance, as I mentioned in the OP, the very beginning of my taking spirituality seriously was taking the religious beliefs I had passively accepted my whole life very seriously. And this led to me into some serious religious fundamentalism, not in the sense of bigotry, but in the sense of a lot of effort towards believing and practicing in the original way. And now I can't see what possible fulfillment there could be in that path. But, it was just belief that my having the correct beliefs and practicing in the correct way was meaningful. So, I placed high value on those beliefs and practices, thus the very beliefs and practices were their own fulfillment. Kind of circular in a way, but that's the basic way religious thought goes.

But to your question, I would say yes. In fact, I tend more and more to the idea that it's all about the subjective and relative meanings the mind gives to symbols. We define things, we give them meaning, we give them value, we define their relationships. But people take their personal evaluations to be objective, because they are only conscious of a limited surface level of the, let's say mental chain of causation. So at a certain point following the basic mental process, it goes unconscious, and that is the point where things are assumed, and thus projected onto everybody.