The Three Steps

The spiritual landscape can be so confusing, with so many traditions available to us now.  The internet has given us an information boon.  And especially this year – so many of the communities are available remotely… where to go?  On one hand, this is fantastic because the choices mean there is something for everyone.  But on the other hand, how do you know where to begin if you don’t know where to start?

The first thing to realize is that the Universe has our back, and we are already on a spiritual journey whether we realize it or not.  We are already being ushered home, or rather, we are already home but we are gently reminded of that in daily life… but we are so much in the head that we miss the signs that are everywhere.  We miss the Grace that is shining down on us like the sun.

No matter the spiritual tradition, or secular spirituality, all paths remain firmly rooted in three tenets.  These are forgiveness, humility, and gratitude.  One’s grounding in the Truth falls apart pretty quickly if one of these is missing.  The path of finding our true nature begins here and cultivating these in ourselves opens all kinds of doors we never imagined.  So, let’s look at each one a bit closely.

Forgiveness removes blockages from your path to freedom.  If you can think of someone who has faulted you, there is a blockage there that is diminishing your ability to move forward.  This remains true, no matter how you feel about the transgression.  It can be a minor thing, like a one-time verbal insult, to a major incident involving significant physical or emotional trauma.  For as long as you hold that hurting, you are resisting life from flowing within you.  You must find your way to forgiveness, and to release.  You do not need them to ask for forgiveness, you can find your wings within yourself.

Humility keeps your ego at bay.  The ego keeps you locked in at the mind level.  You need to rise to the consciousness level, and to the awareness level, and even go beyond.  In order to unlock this potential, you need a way to quiet your mind.  That is what humility does, it calms the ever calculating and transactional mind into a more devotional state.  You can accept what comes with humility, rather than seeking to control.

Gratitude is a recognition that you are not the doer.  This may be somewhat difficult to absorb but there is a natural unfolding to the Universe, and you are exactly where you need to be at this very moment, and in your personal development.  Relax into the spontaneity of what is arising in your life without judgment.  The universe is always in control anyway, so bow in gratitude to existence and let the flow carry you.

Forgiveness, humility, and gratitude practiced daily are the nourishment that allow love to blossom.  Or to put it more literally, they begin to erase the illusory walls we have built around ourselves, allowing the love that is already there, and was always there, to begin to shine forth.