Redirecting One’s Path
Some days ago I got an e-mail of a person in search of the next stage of his spiritual journey which he is pursuing over many years. He had been with a South Indian guru for 12 years, then switched to a North Indian teacher who had passed over about 10 years ago. He now came into contact with the path I am going, which he had contact with some 20 years ago. The cause of his changing from the South Indian guru was related to the feeling that there were some manipulative energies, maybe even an infringing of personal freedom, for he had sometimes the feeling of energetic “grabbing”. This was also hinted to him by another teacher.
Inner freedom, freedom of choice is the most important and sacred aspect for spiritual evolution. Many systems – spiritual, political, social – don’t respect this and want to hold members in their grip. It often needs a long time until you sense this grasping and feel strong enough the urge to go away, to search for another direction and to leave the “security” of the old group. This is not easy.
I felt a subtle “irritation” in his search, which I have also been through during different shifting periods of my spiritual “career”. I was reminded of similar experiences which had caused me to change teachers and systems. It is something like marrying and divorcing and leaves traces.
For finding one’s path logic doesn’t help. However, a good sense of discrimination is very important, and you have to be very careful. The best is to ask within for guidance. It is the inner master who is calling you to the path, which expresses through the outer path /teacher, no matter which form you chose. When you listen deep within, you will sense whether there is a call into this direction or not. And then follow that call, wherever it might lead you. The subtleties of the path reveal only with the time you are practicing, you cannot understand them by mere reading or reasoning.
