Imagine an unlimited supply of energy at your fingertips. A powerhouse that never wanes. It’s an experience I want you to get used to having. A spiritual practice makes it real in an ingeniously simple way. How? You tap into love, the most irrepressible source of positive energy in the universe. Untainted by guilt, conditions, or fear it’s pure power we can wield as individuals and collectively. Even the biggest baddest demons within or without ultimately shrivel in the face of it. Love is our destination. It is waiting just for you.

Many paths lead to the heart--the antithesis of extremist "spiritual" ideologies based on hate. A wise Sufi teacher once said, "Love is the religion, the universe is the book." The type of practice is a matter of choice. It can be traditionally religious: church, synagogue, or mosque. Or like me, you may be more private, prefer meditation or communing with nature. (One patient’s Christmas mass is spent at midnight stretched in a God-lit meadow overlooking the Pacific.) For some it may be nameless, the silent place within. Mary Oliver, a poet who’s a beacon for me, sanctifies the details of our humanness. In one poem she writes:

Bless the fingers,
for they are darting as fire...
Bless the eyes
for they are the gifts of the angels,
for they tell the truth.

Guidelines To Discovering Your Own Sense Of Spirit:

1. Questioning is healthy.
Feel free to question everything you’ve ever learned about spirituality, and continue to do so. No one to satisfy but yourself. As I do, sniff out hypocrisy or the inauthentic. If something sounds good, but falls flat, it’s not for you. People can talk until the cows come home about how spiritual they are, but if you can’t feel their heart, all that rhetoric means nothing.

2. Permit yourself the freedom to explore what moves you.
This is not necessarily what your friends and family follow or condone. You may link Spirit with God, Goddess, Allah, the Universe, or the wildness of a wind-blown sea. To begin exploring, get your hands on books from William James’ classic "The Variety of Religious Experience" to the Dalai Lama’s "The Art of Happiness." See what descriptions of spirit intuitively resonate and scrap the rest. A part of you will feel curious, wake up, or affirm "Yes!" If, however, you’re bored, untouched, or offended keep on exploring...

>>> Click to Continue Reading "Find a Spiritual Path"

© Copyright Judith Orloff, MD. This article was originally
published at our website, SoulfulLiving.com, in June-July 2004, as part of Soulful Living's "Spiritual Practice" Issue.

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