There are so many options available to an "awakening soul" in todays spiritual marketplace. If you feel you are going in the right direction (oneness with God or Source), does the path we take to achieve this state really matter?

asked 30 Jan '10, 06:26

Roy's gravatar image

Roy
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edited 30 Jan '10, 06:59

Vesuvius's gravatar image

Vesuvius
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The reason that Abraham say you can't get it wrong is because you'll never arrive at your final destination (i.e. you can't get it done) because there isn't a final awakened state.

The promise of this eternal universe is eternal expansion of consciousness for all of us.

So, as you imply in your question, only the direction you are going matters and whether you are going the right way is what your feelings tell you.

And just to further throw a spanner in the works, I think we often take detours in life when we come across something interesting to either our physical or non-physical selves, so any Path we take is not going to be a straight one, or even the same one. We project into the physical world for the joyful experience of it so anything that has the potential to bring us more of that will catch our attention for a while.

To me, all Paths are valid regardless of what they are if they cause the follower of that Path to feel self-empowered.

I do often question whether someone should be following a Path that causes them to feel worse about themselves than if they did not follow it. There are so many ways of looking at the/your world - so why choose one that causes you pain?

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answered 30 Jan '10, 07:02

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Stingray
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If you study the available spiritual paths for any length of time, you will find many similarities between them. The teachings differ greatly in form and flavor, but the underlying core principles are essentially the same in every (genuine) spiritual discipline.

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answered 30 Jan '10, 06:52

Vesuvius's gravatar image

Vesuvius
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edited 30 Jan '10, 07:01

Your question, I believe, contains the key. It is in the "If you feel you are going in the right direction". The destination implied, (Oneness with God or Source) is irrelevant. Why? Because How are you to know with certainty that this is why or where you are headed?

Ask you’re self. Did God appear to you and say "Ye shall seek the path of oneness with the source" or did you learn that from all the spiritual material floating around and hoping that this is why you are interested in this journey.

If you honestly think about it, there is no way to really really know why you are on this path. (Unless God appears to you in a vision). But there is something that is always available to you in every moment. That is "Does this feel right?" It is not a logical question with a clear answer. It is a feeling of guidance. The less you think the more sure the feeling.

With this feeling as guidance you are free to adopt & reject as many philosophies as you want as they serve your needs at the time. The only consistency remains this feeling of guidance which begins to grow more & more as you reject old ideas & take on new ones.

Then you will find that the right path is not out there somewhere. It is the path of guidance that is growing within your own self. The poem "Footprints in the sand" is a good reference to this relationship between you and your source of guidance.

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answered 30 Jan '10, 07:07

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The Traveller
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All steps in our Earth Walk, whether seeming correct or not are important to our journey. Learning comes to us in all ways. It isn't so much 'getting something wrong' as having needed to take a turn that would help us understand more clearly how to do something.

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answered 01 Feb '10, 15:10

justTheo%201's gravatar image

justTheo 1
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Nice question and some nice relevant answers, thanks :-)

'Truth' as you know, is always relative and depends upon what it is you are trying to achieve. So in that sense, it is true that mentally going down a negative path where you feel bad will net you something that you don't want over and over again. And if you continually ignored how you felt throughout you life, you may never achieve your desires.

So: Is it “A TRUTH” that we can’t get it wrong? Who other than each individual is best positioned and qualified to accurately answer that question? Who else's answer will you believe as truth and why?

I believe that when we begin to inquire within and ask from a place of love and understanding through awareness, not from a place of fear we begin to receive answers to these kinds of questions and then more questions naturally arise :-)

I have pondered and referred to the statement below over and over for the past 20 years. I hope you derive meaning from it and enjoy it as much as I have:

The Path With Heart

For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have a heart.
There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length.
And there I travel looking, looking, breathlessly...

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - by Carlos Castaneda

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answered 04 Feb '10, 05:16

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Eddie
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