For all the sincere seekers out there, I have a bit of bad news.

The fluffy ideal that when some concept in the future is understood, when a person becomes enlightened, then one has arrived. The pinnacle of human experience, the merger of god and human, the full awakening of the soul…

There is no future enlightenment.

It doesn’t matter how well a person breathes, how many hours of meditation one engages in, how perfectly a pose can be held, or the number of conferences attended, gurus known, or hugs received. The number of books read has nothing to do with wisdom. Hard work, effort and discipline have benefits and remains incomplete.

While going through college to earn my marketing degree, the tactics used to get sales ranged from honest to devious. Finding a market of people who are lost in life, confused about who they are, angry about religion, and yearning for more is a gold-mine. All it takes is a little bit of spiritual photoshopping to turn common wisdom into the next spiritual path to enlightenment and make bank.

The new-age market is a very large industry and as a result is full of people who have no love. Wolves in sheep clothing, just because a person wears white, appears appropriate and positive, speaks the right words, does not make them spiritual, knowledgeable or loving.

The wisest individuals who I have had the grace to encounter are not religious.

They love their family, community, nature and life. They have lived close to the land. They have been patient, kind, gentle and have never heard of any new age personalities. These people have been the truest example of how to live a fulfilling life I have ever encountered. Yes, they do have a spiritual aspect to them and have gratitude, appreciation and deep wisdom. But I’ve yet to witness them cut down any one in anyway, even in the name of being “spiritually helpful.”

A person is only who they are.

Now, tomorrow, next year, in a decade. They are never somebody other than who they are. The qualities of heart, spirit and personality are pretty consistent. The idea that something has to be added to be special, loved or holy stems from a self-defeating perspective that one is already not enough, that something is missing. There is never enough to be done to feel that wholeness. Being whole demands an appreciation and recognition of the fullness of life, its joys and tribulations.

It is true that people can become lost, wounded in a spiritual sense.

That does not diminish the beauty and life gift of who that person is. Walking through the shadows of life can never be healed by seeking outside oneself for wisdom and guidance. Though such guides can be useful to gain perspective, the real work always must be done internally.

Gurus and spiritual teachers can be a detriment and remove a person from their authentic path.

The true work always resides within. The path for peace must be explored by each individual according to their own nature. There are no two people who are alike. As a result, there can be no singular path that can bring a group of people to self realization. The journey is uniquely individual and personal.

There is no magical formula to be oneself.

For those people who are seeking, please continue to do so. The seeking is part of the path. All of us do it. It is a phase which must be engaged in. Just be aware of the simplest truth of all, the fulfillment of wisdom demands self-introspection. Nobody else, no book, no technique, no method can bring this.

Remember, each of us is a child of the stars. We are already complete, even when feeling broken.

To judge another, is to reveal the judgements that person holds about their own self.

To demand that another speak a certain way, reveals the disconnect of that individual and their own pain.

Demanding another to be spiritual is the demand for living up to one’s own standards.

Remember the Golden Rule: As is done to others, happens to oneself. It is an accurate concept applied to language, deed and thought.

Go with peace and wisdom.

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Editor: Travis May

Photo: Pixoto/Tijana Lubura