So many people these days are searching for a spiritual path. Each of us is motivated by our own particular dissatisfactions, but the real motivation is the same: we crave to reduce our suffering and enhance our happiness. Suddenly, we wake up one morning with a new path in our life; it can be Buddhism, Kabala, Sufism, New-Age traditions, or anything else. There is often a whole new community of people indulging in our newfound interest, and another world is suddenly available for us. The new path fills us up with something great, filling a place that was empty for so long. nMost of us are quickly drawn to big words and ambitious goals such as enlightenment, self-realization, getting in touch with god, seeing the light, etc. Thus, the goal of our path is the ‘ultimate’ realization of our most revered spiritual leaders.nHowever, most of us do not understand what is it that we want when it comes to our goals. Mainly we are confusing two ideas: self-development and spiritual enlightenment.nSo, what is it that you want?nAre you seeking to improve the way you are feeling right now? If you are, then you are looking for self-development.nAre you looking for improvements to your life? Increasing your quality of life or enjoying your experiences more? If you are, then you are looking for self-development.nAs long as you are looking for a way to enhance the experience and alleviate the suffering of the person you are, then you are looking for self-development. We should be careful not to confuse this with the search for enlightenment, as these are two different things. Of course, self-development is a very good thing. Improving your quality of life, understanding yourself and how your and others’ minds work is very important and a very spiritual act by itself. These are all issues which are important for improving life and making the world a better place. In that sense, self-development is a wonderful gift for people in the modern world.nHowever, we tend to confuse it with spiritual enlightenment, and, as I have mentioned, it is not the same thing. If you seek enlightenment, then you seek to find out who you truly are, and to find the nature of the universe and of existence, all of which are independent of your normal identity. Self-development, on the other hand, tries to stabilize and enforce the existence of the normal identity that you have. By seeking enlightenment you are not seeking a way to improve the way you normal identity feels, but you are seeking your true identity. Happiness of the normal self is often a by-product of that search, but sometimes that journey requires a great deal of effort and hardships that many of us are not prepared for.nWhatever the path that you choose for yourself, your path is the right one as long as you know what you are looking for. Going on the spiritual enlightenment path while having only self-development goals will require a lot of energy and time spent toward achieving something you will never achieve, because in fact you never wanted it in the first place.
Whether you are interested in Self-Development or Spiritual Enlightenment, you can surf to
the Global Yogi which offers you the opportunity to become a Global-Yogi—to pursue your own spiritual path anywhere around the world, and find resources, spiritual-teachers and spiritual-teachings around the globe. The information listed can help on paths of self-development, enlightenment, or both. n nYou can also view
My Blog to read more articles about spirituality and self-realization.
Copyright © 2007 Uri Kugel & Lindsey Kerr