When we embark on a spiritual path we become aware of the many influences to which we are subjected. Initially we see them as external influences – parents, friends, education, the many forms of media, peer pressure. On and on it goes. We deal with them as best we can but eventually, after many years, we become disenchanted, bored, over-saturated, and we start to look elsewhere.
We start, perhaps, to look within, within our own being. And even there we find many influences. Influences from our upbringing, our inheritance, our blood-state. Our “own” ideas, feelings, thoughts and opinions. A veritable sea of them! We may have all but given up on the outer search, now we have another dilemma to face within! Which influence, which voice are we to listen to? None of them, because what we realise is that they are all connected to the outer influences, subtle representations of them, working within. Our dilemma increases – is there anything else? Are we an abject failure? Should we just give up?
And then we hear it – softly at first, maybe an inclination, maybe a feeling or a fleeting thought that is entirely different. Maybe a distinct voice. Something that turns us around, makes us look in a totally different direction, that unsettles us. An influence in whatever form it takes that becomes stronger to the degree that we notice it, that we heed its presence. And we do that because there’s no mistaking it, it’s distinctly different from anything we’ve experienced before with often a deep inner sense of knowing. It brings with it peace, a deep inner peace, a sense of tranquility and joy that we’ve never known before. As if a sparkling new atmosphere surrounds us, pervades us, just for a moment. We can’t mistake it or avoid it, it’s just there.
So now to which voice do I listen? To those of the past, to the merry-go-round of life? Or to this new voice, this inner direction, that leads to a new reality, perhaps a new life path? No one can make that choice for you, it’s entirely yours to make. Your new direction, your guidance from within.
When you hear it you will know it – without any doubt.
