Are you ready for the journey?
Life is a flow of becoming, and so the journey is the process of becoming. On this journey there is no goal, for the journey is the goal, writes VILOO H. ADAJANIA.
Man cannot live by bread alone. He always feels there is something missing because intrinsically from childhood, he is full of love, hopes, enthusiasm and aspirations. Until they are fulfilled, he feels some sort of void within him. So he asks himself, ‘Is that all there is and is that all there’s ever going to be?’ The soul of man is never satisfied in the long run with the so-called entertainment, attractions and glamour of life. It craves for something better, nobler, fulfilling, something which nourishes and enriches his soul and promotes its growth. When that time comes, the individual is ready to begin the fruitful ‘journey’ ahead.
Every human soul is a drop of consciousness in an infinite ocean of consciousness, a spark of fire from the Divine Essence. But average man is oblivious of his divine nature because of the limitations of the human brain and because of the conditioning from the belief systems of the particular society in which he lives. He is assailed by doubts and uncertainties concerning life and haunted by the fear of death because he identifies himself with his physical body.
The fears and uncertainties are suppressed with more and more gadgets and pastimes that keep him from discovering who he really is. He does not realize that the real self is something far more glorious and majestic than the bag of skin and bones he refers to as himself. Dr. Douglas Baker has finely said: Man is an ‘imprisoned splendour’.
To, ‘know thyself’ means to know the real self, the transpersonal essence within us, not just the personality with its senses, feelings, thoughts and emotions. Yoga or union with the Divine Essence or Universal Consciousness gives us a momentary glimpse of ourselves, this imprisoned Splendour, which is our true nature. It is often referred to as ‘the mystical experience.’
So, it is time that we changed the direction and charted the course of the Journey towards the inner regions of our being, to get an insight not only into the nature of the self but also into the very vastness of this phenomena that is life. We have to have keen vision because it is only by seeing the falseness of our values can we discover truth.
Whether you realise it or not, we are all on an evolutionary journey - a journey of becoming whole. You can take millions of years to make this journey of becoming a perfected man by treading the long and winding arduous path up the ‘mountain of illumination’, making only a little progress in each life. Or you can scale the cliff face in a few short lives by undertaking the disciplines of Yoga and short-circuiting the longer evolutionary process.
In esoteric language, this is referred to as the ‘Path of Discipleship’ or the ‘Way of the Disciple’. A disciple by definition, is he who begins to discipline himself, one who begins to go into training. If you decide to undertake this training you will find that you are treading a narrow razor-edged path, for you must learn to function in two worlds, the outer objective world and the inner subjective world.
This inner world is as real as the outer world of your waking consciousness. That you mistakenly conceive of the latter as being the only reality, believing every subjective experience to be a figment of your imagination, is simply because you have been told that it must be so. What you must do is to link the two worlds together in your daily life reaching into the subjective worlds to contact your Higher Self or the transpersonal essence that transcends the ordinary personality, and then bringing that Higher Consciousness and inspiration into manifestation in your daily life.
However, on this journey there is no goal, for the journey is the goal. In other words, it is the process, the experiences you have, that bring about the psycho-spiritual growth with the resultant changes in consciousness and levels of being. It is well said, ‘Life is a flow of becoming, and so the journey is the process of becoming.’
You have to be prepared to undertake such an arduous journey which means you must be inwardly prepared firstly by shedding your selfish attitude, ego, envy etc. and secondly by learning to break your attachments in the worlds of illusion - attachment to the attractive and glamorous things of this world, for these are the main obstacles on the path of spiritual unfoldment.
Therefore, ask yourself what your aims are, your hopes, your dreams and your motives. Are you ready for the demands that will be placed upon you? Are you strong enough to undertake this journey, and is your strength sufficient for the whole journey? The way is infinitely long, rough, and you do not know whether it is possible to rest along the way nor where it is possible to rest.
Of course, you will need a guide on this journey, and everyone dreams of a Master who will be his spiritual guide and teacher. But are you worthy of being guided? Are you ready to follow the way? One of the requirements of meeting such a guide is total commitment. Are you totally committed to the way of the Disciple? When you have answered these questions sincerely, in the affirmative, you can begin your ‘Journey’.