Our awareness has its own source in Unity. Instead of seeking outside our self, we need to go directly to the source and realize who we are. Seeking is a word often applied to the spiritual path, and many people are proud to call themselves seekers. Often people continue to seek with an addictive intensity seeking with a new hope to find God, the soul or the higher self. The problem here is that seeking begins with this false assumption; the seeking is doomed because it is a chase that takes one outside of self.

Productive seeking requires that one throw out all assumptions that there is a prize to be won. This means acting without an attachment to the outcome of rising to some ideal self, hoping or wishing that you will get somewhere better than the place you started from.

We are starting from our self, where ever we are in the moment; and it is that self that contains all the answers. So we must give up on the idea that we must go from A to B. In fact there is no linear path when the goal isn’t somewhere else. We must discard any fix judgments about high and low, good and evil, holy and profane.

There is only one reality and this reality contains everything in its tangle of experiences. What we are really trying to find is the experiencer who is present no matter what experience we are having.

Somewhere along the way someone coined the phrase “spiritual materialism” trying to model and transfer the values that work in the material world over to the spiritual world. My feeling is that there are pitfalls associated with this.

Pitfalls of the Seeker:

Knowing where you are going
Struggling to get there
Using someone else’s map
Working to improve your self
Setting a timetable
Waiting for a miracle

There is no better way to be a genuine seeker than to avoid these pitfalls.

Don’t know where you’re going. Spiritual growth is spontaneous. Both the big and small events come along unexpectedly. A single word can open your heart; a single glance can tell you who you really are. Awakening doesn’t happen according to some plan.

Don’t struggle to get there. Does it help a two year old struggle to become three? No because the process of child development unfolds from within. The same is true for spiritual unfolding; it happens just as naturally as childhood development; but on the plane of awareness rather than in the realm of physiology.

Don’t follow someone else’s map. If we follow someone else’s map, we might be training our self in a fixed way of thinking. Fixed ways even those devoted to Spirit are not the same as being free. Try on teachings from all directions, using those that you feel are bringing progress and yet still remain open to changes in yourself.

Don’t make the spiritual path a self-improvement project. Although self-improvement is real and it does help….don’t live there….do your inner work but don’t get stuck in the mire. It takes a strong sense of self to confront the many obstacles and challenges on the path. Expanded awareness comes at a price ---you have to give up your limitations----sometimes your feelings of being victimized as these limitations will slow down the spiritual progress. The wise thing to do is to seek help at the level where the problem exists by confronting the shadow energies within.

Don’t set a timetable. I’ve met many people who give up on spirituality because they felt it wasn’t working for them or it didn’t happen fast enough. The best way to avoid this pitfall is not to set a timetable. Discipline is involved and getting into the spiritual habits of meditation, exercise, reading inspiring books. Allow the process to unfold while giving support to our self in the process of spiritual growth. This support may be in the form of a spiritual teacher, a discussion group, a partner who shares the path with you, regular retreats, and keeping a journal.

Don’t wait for a miracle. It really doesn’t matter how we define a miracle ---whether it is the sudden appearance of a perfect love, a cure for a life threatening disease, a blessing from a great spiritual leader, or permanent and everlasting bliss. A miracle is letting God do all the work. Since there is only one reality our task is to break through boundaries of division and separation. Watching for and waiting for a miracle keeps the boundaries in place. There is no separation, there never was. There is only one Unity of all there is.

Seeking can’t get anyone out of the tangle because everything is tangled up….everything is ONE. The only thing that will ever be pure and pristine is our own awareness of the mystery of it all. As the awareness grows, the opposites, the separation and division begin to calm down and something else emerges….a world we will feel at home in. Awareness offers an alternative beyond the fray. When we meet our self there, we will be able to create anything in existence. The “I AM” contains all that is needed for making a world, even though by itself it consists of nothing but a silent witness. 
……Love and Light Christina