Caring for the Soul is really less about belief and more about experience. In writing about the spiritual life I am actually writing about living each day to the fullest while also staying in touch with the spiritual being or essence that I experience living in myself and others.
This topic is more about awakening to the truth within, finding the sacred in our ordinary lives. It is about finding peace and joy within, but also about enjoying that life whether it is partaking of the greater awareness that comes from meditation and contemplation or hanging by fingertips from an "impossibly" slender rocky ledge before pulling oneself up to the mountain top.
In Caring for the Soul, my view is that there is nothing to learn; no great spiritual mountains to climb; no profound thoughts to dissect and digest. Like the sun, the spirit is always shining. To experience either, just remove the clouds (which admittedly can be pretty dark at times).
I believe that we all enlightened beings; we just need to awaken.
For most humans those clouds are mostly made of fear in all its various guises, such as anger, resentment, envy, greed, insecurity, addiction, etc. As Frank Herbert continually points out in the science fiction series, Dune, "Fear is the mind killer."
Of course in dealing with fear, we must also come to terms with its corollaries: Anger, frustrations, uncertainties, attachments, greed, selfishness-the whole litany of human concerns, ailments, and impediments to health and wholeness.
The Path through one's fears is not always easy, and may necessitate trips to the priest or therapist or those wise in the ways of the heart. Sometimes you may need to jump off the diving board into the deep water just to prove to yourself you can do it. That is part of overcoming fear also, but be very sure that you know how to swim!
As you are work through fear and other obstacles to the realization of your true self, you will know you are getting clearer because your heart feels uplifted.
As we journey together in this life, we find that there are spiritual practices and techniques that can help put us in a better space to experience our soul. Great artists and teachers enrich our lives with wonderful inspirations and insights. Fellow travelers on the road of the spirit encourage us by example to live our lives with consciousness and love.
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