Life's Spiritual Highways

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path to a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.  Our life is a long and arduous quest after truth.

                                            ~Mahatma Gandhi
                                                   1869-1948


This morning my daily meditations did not quench the thirst I had for inspiration.  I pulled out a few favorite authors and gathered in a new book, searching for quotations that would support my morning musings.

In my older books, I found favorite passages that had been underlined or highlighted.  A certain time or place seemed to accompany the words underscored.   Memories flirted through my mind, not all being pleasant.  

In earlier years, I seemed to believe that I was always a 'better' person when I was in a committed relationship.  I believed that when coupled, I had a stronger base that allowed me to search my truths.  Scanning my intimate relationships, I realized that the exact opposite was actually true.  Every relationship called for me to be 'smaller' rather than greater, not embracing  any sense of who I was trying to become.

Then my fires were fueled by participating in classes, workshops, and seminars.  Years later it seemed that I could be teaching the very classes I found myself being the student.  Then there were teachers who finally escorted me on my way to fend for myself, and not to become a simple follower.

One of life's little rules reflects that when we stop chasing what we want, it has room to finally turn around and approach us.  So it is when we stop running, chasing, or pursuing our search for who we really are, we learn to be strong enough to stand in stillness.   It is in this self defined silence that answers seem to appear.

It can be frightening to be still and sense the wisdom flowing through our consciousness.   That which we sought after gently comes to us and we respond in fear.  We doubt our sanity, we question what appears to us, and we find our inner self being repressed.  Once again, we start with the running or chasing.  We run from our own wisdom even though it is what we had pursued.

Free will allows us to roam life's spiritual highways, until Divine finally nudges back in the right direction...inwards.  This time around we are more capable of accepting the inner truths and respecting the integrity of our personal longing.  It is only after we strip away the layers of earlier learning, the conditioning, that we can finally discover the wisdom being passed down througout the centuries.

"Silence is a source of great strength," states Lao Tzu. 

When we grow comfortable with our spiritual quietude, and learn a greater sense of  who we are, our voices grow strong.  We feel safe being present in any given moment, articulating our truth, and finding safe passage down Life's Spiritual Highway.