paulkershaw wrote:Spiritual Wisdom belongs to the past - the present is about Self-Discovery.
In the “Hullo from Terry” thread, in response to my question about my “flying” experience and seeking my own path to that place.
I have reflected a lot on this comment because self-discovery was very much my path before I met my BK friend – and has continued to be my path, following what I call “my independent and questioning spirituality”.
At times I see my experience with my BK friend, and interest in outer layers of BK teachings, as a kind of “side-journey” on that path, and ask myself what I will ultimately find as the “purpose” of this “side-journey”, what I will learn and carry with me (the meaningful relationship with my BK friend, the many things I have learned from this website, partially listed in my “Thank-you-the many dimensions of this website” that became a classic post, and other things that are not the topic of this post.)
My reflection on paul’s comment has led to an insight, which I share, inviting comments and responses.
The thing that resonates most for me about the path of self-discovery is that it is a unique journey for each person. We each travel our own path toward our deepest inner truths (although and we may not always recognize that path or those truths at first.)
There are many roads on this path to self-discovery. There are many tools to assist on this journey – some developed by innovative and profound thinkers of contemporary and previous times, and some which we will each have to find and develop for ourselves.
The tools, or ideas, that attract me the most are those that offer a guide or facilitate traveling to our deepest interior, knowing our inner truth, and embodying that personal inner truth in our life on this earth – with no directed agenda as to what that truth will ultimately be. (ie. Those tools and ideas whose purpose is to facilitate and guide in the knowing, not to tell us what we “should” come to know as true.)
In contrast, are the many schools of thought that tell us what we must believe and how we must behave in order to reach heaven or achieve some other previously defined by others goal. Mainstream organized religions fit this definition and have never held much interest for me.
Many alternative spiritual movements also fit into this category, as do groups that meet the definition of “cult” – including Brahma Kumaris. There is something deeply troubling to me about being told to shape oneself into a proscribed way of being-thinking-doing in order reach heaven, enlightenment, be one of “God’s choosen”, or achieve happiness here on earth (and what parts of yourself are you cutting off or silencing to fit someone else’s definition).
It is even more disturbing when this re-shaping of self into someone else’s definition is for the material and ego enrichment of those who made the definition, at the material and spiritual expense of those who try to fit themselves into the pre-defined mold.
There are certainly valuable tools for self-discovery and ways of being in this world in the teachings and practices of many of these schools of thought. After all, they worked for somebody (or many bodys) at some time in human history. The art for each person is to know what teachings and practices can be a valuable tool for their unique personal journey, while not trying to squeeze themselves into a mold created by someone else, for someone else’s purposes or benefit.
So, to better understand my interest in the outer layers of BK thinking, I have been reading about non-BK Raja Yoga. (“The Severn Spiritual Laws of Yoga” by Deepak Chopra and “The Art and Science of Raja Yoga” by Swami Kriyananda). I can see how the BK takes many of these teachings and re-shapes them for their own ends. I can see that there are teachings and aspects of teachings that resonate for me at this time in my life – and there are other teachings and aspects of teachings that are not right for my personal journey. (Some of this may be a future post.)
Learning this art, how to sift and sort and feel what is right for you at a particular time, is an important part of that journey of self-discovery – and something I have learned more about from this website.