The Inward Journey

Seekers of love and truth have only one journey to travel. When we embark on that journey, the outside world benefits greatly. We begin to make decisions that are not only good for ourselves, but also good for everyone and everything else in the universe. In fact, the inward journey is the journey of the inner and outer world at the same time.

When I examine my inner thoughts and motivations through quiet reflection time or when I focus my mind on the presence of the divine, the source of love and truth, in my own heart through meditation I immediately become aware of the unity of the internal and external worlds in which I live.

When I become mentally clear in responding positively to Mary’s wishes and desires, I am participating in creating a peaceful and loving environment in our home and in the neighborhood. Mary then relaxes and becomes aware of a loving, compassionate universe. She rests and cares for herself and others more.

Rather than thinking that Mary’s requests for doing things around the house are burdens and deviations from me fulfilling my own desires and needs, I see how Mary is concerned about the welfare of all and not just her own welfare.

Rather than thinking that people need to wake up to the pain that is in today’s world and in the lives of all who live today, I see how each of them is working so hard to make their life joyful and blessed even if it doesn’t focus on others.

Rather than being critical and judging those who disagree with me, I become aware of how their beliefs were developed from contact with their parents, teachers, friends and relatives and I feel compassion knowing that we all experience this past mental patterning.

Just spending time in reflection and meditation transforms our mind and our environment because this quiet time allows us to connect with our true divine nature—our nature of love and truth. This divine nature is God-consciousness. God-consciousness is our inheritance and our destiny. God-consciousness is always serving the common good, not just the individual good. We realize that we are part of a whole. We realize that we are part of a marriage or that we are part of other people’s pain or that we are all fashioned by our family and friends.

Imagine the trees complaining to the wind for uprooting them or pulling them asunder with tornado-force winds. Imagine the oceans scolding the earth for its volcanic activity. Imagine the deer in the woods crying when it is killed for food by a hunter’s arrow. Maybe there is some communication of disappointment between all these aspects of nature, but there is a deep awareness of their participation in a wholeness of life. I believe that they are in tune with each other and the destiny of the whole. They see their existence as service to a greater good, not just for sustaining their own individual material good.

Reflection and meditation times give us the understanding of our unity with all life. These inward-journey searches promise us access to the experience of love and truth. They promise us awareness of the common good so that we act in a way that is good for each of us and for all of others at the same time.

May all of us who seek truth and love seriously pursue the inward journey of reflection and meditation.

Namaste’