Spiritual Awakening – The Thousand Fold Path

During the recorded history of man and probably long before that, human beings have been seeking answers to questions relating to the nature of existence. In all that time there have been many manifestations of religious thought, amongst many variations of human culture. Despite what some religions will preach to their laymen, it is not a question of one religious line of thought being erroneous and another being correct, but rather that they all contain elements that are both true and false. At least in the case of religions that preach from a source of true spiritual awakening at any rate.

How can this be so? I hear you ask. In return I ask you, how can it be that the almighty source of all there is, in whatever guise you want to call it, would deliberately cause the eternal damnation (in whatever sense you understand that word in your own belief system) of those beings it had so carefully created? It does not stand to reason (should you choose to believe in a divine creator of some sort), that the creator would mercilessly and eternally abandon those things it so carefully bought into play. We all have a shot at enlightenment, even before certain modern religions where born. Something ultimately taught by many spiritually awakened teachers throughout the ages.

Humanity is like a swarm, we are legion and we are many faced. Different people, different cultures, even the same people in the same cultures all have different needs for growing their awareness. The search for a spiritual awakening manifests itself to suit the people it guides, not the words of some men long gone. In this way, like a good teacher does, we are led to our own truth and from it we find that which we truly seek.

In the Vodoo rituals of the African nations. It is not uncommon for practitioners to enter an induced frenzied trance in search for spiritual awakening. Whilst in the jungles of south America, potent hallucinogenic herbs are used to induce a similar though less volatile state. It some Christian denominations it is still not uncommon for practitioners to undergo some form of hardship or physical discomfort as a form of penance and to help direct their mind towards spiritual matters.

This is not to say that all the roads to a spiritual awakening on a personal level need be painful ones. Muslims say prayers five times every day, as a means to help remind them of their spiritual heritage and devotion to its service. Buddhist practise meditation and contemplation in order to make themselves more like the god-mind of the Buddha.

These as well as others and a thousand traditions lost to time each hold their own spark of truth. One thing has been made clear by those true sages since the dawn of man. Each must walk their own path. In your quest for a personal spiritual awakening it is very important that you follow the road that resonates for you. You are a being of spirit and life, you were not born into a religion, religion is born from you.