Ways of Seeing the Spiritual Path

The practice of spirituality has been one of the most valuable things that I have done with my life. However, it is often presented in confusing, intimidating, or even scary ways. At their worst, confusing or poorly presented spiritual teachings cause would-be students to turn away from potentially beneficial beliefs and practices.

Over time, in my own practice of spirituality, I have evolved various ways of seeing that have been useful to me in my life. This post is the first in a series of posts that aspires to articulate these ideas about the spiritual path in a simple, accessible, and useful way.

In many cases, the ideas in this series are based on teachings that I have received from my own teacher, Soryu Forall. In some cases, I quote him directly. More frequently, I am adapting and expanding his ideas based on my own practice and life. I am responsible for any errors in this process of translation.

These statements are presented in plain language, with the certainty of maxims and the precision of philosophical claims. However, they are not certain, and they are certainly incomplete. Take them with a grain or more of salt, and yet read them charitably.

I mean my words to be useful to you—see if they are. Try them on and out. Trust your own integrity and experience. Adopt what proves to be true and useful, and discard everything else.

Thank you to Thomas Bonn for reviewing this post.

The art in this post was created by Sílvia Bastos, and is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. You can support her work on Patreon. 

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