Inner Work

For the week of April 4, 2005

Laboratory of the Spirit

Each of us is unique, not only in the DNA of our body and the particulars of our life experience, but also in the very core of our individual will, of who we are. To reveal its ultimate spiritual fulfillment this uniqueness must first find its own distinctive path. In Kabbalah for example, it is said that every Tzaddik, the equivalent of a great saint or fully enlightened master, follows his or her own characteristic path to attain that destiny. So while a teaching can provide a set of important, effective practices, no standard recipe suffices to bring the seeker to the Sought.

Even from its earliest stages, the path depends on our own uniqueness, our own insight, intuition and creativity, our own conscience. Through these powers we see how to engage humanity’s remarkable collection of spiritual practices in a way that serves our evolution. Exploration and testing develop our discrimination and individuality, thereby answering the call of the spirit to become our Self. We soon discover those practices most effective for us at the current stage of our path.

A fixed recipe also cannot work because we lack the perceptions to see into the spiritual realms. Thus we could not in any case understand or receive a true recipe, even if one did exist. Again the answer is to explore our spiritual practices and variations on those practices, to find our way.

Intuition and conscience will tell us what is right for us today, what works and what does not. That intuition can be based in part on our own judgment of how our practices affect us in terms of presence, kindness, clarity, joy, peace, energy, depth, and so on. Like any scientist, we seek empirical confirmation of our understanding of the spiritual path and how to proceed along it. The attempt at objectivity helps us navigate between self-delusion and self-doubt. The experience of others certainly can help, but we bear in mind that what works for them may not for us, and vice versa.

A major difficulty with the empirical approach to spirituality is that the results of our inner work may be completely hidden, even from us. Our practice may be building something in us that will only manifest much later, making our intuitive sense of what’s true our best and only guide. Furthermore, we do not work for results, as a mercenary before the Ineffable, expecting immediate payment or gratification. We work because it is right to do so and because we are drawn by love. Nevertheless, the path does have its immediate effects on us. Those effects can help us follow our own unique route toward the realms of the spirit.

For this week, reevaluate your inner work. See what is effective and what is not. If necessary, adjust your practices, extending some, decreasing others, trying variations, or adding new ones.

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