Other
Paths
“The
spiritual path is not about finding happiness and love, it is about
developing stamina and resilience...recognizing truth and standing
for principles...you do not 'find' happiness; you generate it from
within.”
Caroline
Myss (Caroline's Blog; “What is the Purpose of Spirituality?”)
Many of us have been
involved in our own spiritual development for years. Perhaps, as
Caroline Myss suggests, it is time to figure out what it means to
us—how it enhances our lives in the world. I went to a Jungian
discussion group last night to hear a talk given by a brilliant young
man who happens to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. He covered both
the ways he has found helpful in dealing with his condition, through
supplements and compassionate therapy, and the way schizophrenia is typically
treated by modern medicine. This young man, and others I have known,
find some of their hallucinations to be spiritual in nature and do
not want to have them medicated away. Some of the medications
prescribed to control them render the personality flat and the person
barely cognizant of their surroundings and some have terrible, long-term
neurological side effects. It's a hard choice to make.
As I listened to him, I
thought how differently he would be treated in other cultures—as a
shaman or prophet. He would be provided for and his visions would be
welcomed as spiritual guidance. Don't get me wrong—there are good
and bad visions, and people with schizophrenia suffer with the stigma
of mental illness and with being feared by others and ostracized from
society. They have difficulty functioning in a culture that is not
interested in their gifts. I don't mean to make light of the
condition, but as with this young man, and others I have known, we
might learn something new by paying attention to them. Some of the
world's most gifted artists have this condition. We seem to like
their product, but we fear their means of acquiring it. Teresa of
Avila, given to visions herself, called fear and anger “reptiles
that contaminate your mind.”
For all of us, if we are
serious about walking a spiritual path, and working toward spiritual
maturity, we may want to take time to reflect on how we may be
changed by it. The stamina and resilience that Caroline Myss speaks
of comes from deep inner convictions and trust. Trust and fear are
not easy bedfellows. In the course of developing our own path, we may
find that our fear of others and their expression of their own
spirituality diminishes. We may find that we are more accepting even
of those whose spirituality we don't understand. And, who knows,
happiness may rise up from within us because of it.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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