The road ahead...

[vivoz]

Hi all,

First time poster here and thought I would say hello as well as take the opportunity to put out a general request for advice to anyone who is willing.

Erin, really awesome site and very informative, kudos Its really great reading some of your articles and posts as they tie in very closely with my own beliefs and add insight to some of my own gray areas

What brings me to posting is to ask for a little nudge in the right direction. A few days ago I was reading a book (as I'm prone to do) when I felt the need to move forward, as such, spiritually.
Now I am no stranger to the spiritual life, if i could put it that way. While growing up our family circle was very active with the likes of Ouija boards, automatic writing, healing hands, trance mediums and a long list of others. And on odd, spontaneous, occasions I have passed on messages, or given readings (I cant say I know what to call it really).

Where I am having difficulty is I know I need to move forward, I can feel the urge pulling me on, but I dont quite know how to go about doing that. I have tried looking inside for guidence but between my own ego, intuition and many other feelings going on inside I seem to end up with a lot of mixed signals.

What I would really appraciate, is if you (or anyone on the forums) could give me some advice on how to go about finding the answers I'm looking for. Nothing happens over night, and I know some answers are going to be a long time in the coming, but if you could possibly suggest a starting point for me I would be very thankful.

Sorry if this seems a bit cryptic, I've never been very good at descibing things when it comes to talking about a feeling such as this.

Thanks for your time and any help you may be able to give

[Erin Pavlina]

Tell me where you want to end up and I'll draw you a map.

[Simmiah]

I hope I can be of some help here & just take my story here as my story.. maybe you'll be able to see some of yourself in me.

I also grew up with an interest in the paranormal. I then became agnostic because I wasn't sure what to think. I've been confused all over the place.. suffered from some pretty severe emotional traumas from the experiences in my life that had me really desiring for a spiritual change yet I wasn't sure what direction to go.

What ended up happening for me was a lot of trial & error. I don't know if this is the best or most efficient way but this was certainly the way for me. I'm still growing though so take what I say with the proverbial grain of salt.

It took a lot of experiences that were painful for me to begin to discern between what was working for me & what wasn't. What didn't usually ended up with painful results. What worked made me feel better or more motivated to keep growing & becoming a stronger more empowered person.

I read lots of books. I would go to the bookstore & thumb through a lot of traditional religious texts (emphasized buddhist texts.. I read a lot of Tibetan buddhist books), thumbed through the metaphysical section, & did a lot of thinking on my own. I took what worked for me from each book & what didn't was discarded... & sometimes I came back to what I discarded later finding that it was true for me at that later point in time.

I hope I am not rambling here but.. basically, it was a journey & still is one for me. I hope you find what you are looking for.

I can empathize with you. I wish you the best in your journey!

[vivoz]

Erin: I have the feeling that where I want to go and where I should be going are not the same place, if that makes sense

Simmiah: Many thanks for the info, and yes I can relate in many ways. There have been times in my past where I was a complete emotional wreck and like you, I also spent a lot of time in the books and on countless websites. Also like you, I took what felt right and passed on the rest and that led me to my the beliefs I have now, which coincidently fit in very nicely with Erins writings.

Where I find myself now, is actually being happy. Thats not quite true to fact, I have been happy up until now, but now I am happier that I have been in a long long time and I wonder if that also has to do with wanting to move on. My previous spiritual growth has been the result of negative experiences in life and I think the desire to find the meaning (or reason) for going through those experiences.
I am happy to say I did find the answers to those questions quite some time back and I cant say how much it has helped. It is also nice to know that now I am wanting to move on without having had a negative experience so that confirms for myself that I am not just looking for excuses if you know what I mean.

Where I feel I am now is looking for answers to which I dont yet know the questions.

[AndyMartin]

Originally Posted by vivoz

Where I feel I am now is looking for answers to which I dont yet know the questions.

vivoz: That is your consciousness signaling you that while the answers you found before were good for your level of development, it's time to move up to the next class.

Quick: What's more important, the question or the answer?

In earlier stages we are more concerned with answers than questions. We ask questions to get answers and then we accept those answers as absolute. As consciousness expands, it realizes that behind every answer is another question. At some point, answers cease to be meaningful because they obscure more than they illuminate.

If you want a good jumping off point, take a look at some of the answers you have and start asking why that answer is important to you and what it would mean if it were different. See what questions that raises and explore the ones that shake you up, not just by consuming other people's answers, but through your own personal practice -- whatever that evolves to be. But if you want my sincere advice, don't waste your time looking for answers. Read the signposts as you pass by, but don't stop to live there.

Good luck!
Andy

[vivoz]

Hey Andy,

Many thanks for a great reply.

Quick: What's more important, the question or the answer?

Personally, the quest to find the answer

I will take your advice to heart for sure, it sheds light from a very interesting perspective. Again thanks for the reply

[Simmiah]

Originally Posted by vivoz

Where I find myself now, is actually being happy. Thats not quite true to fact, I have been happy up until now, but now I am happier that I have been in a long long time and I wonder if that also has to do with wanting to move on. My previous spiritual growth has been the result of negative experiences in life and I think the desire to find the meaning (or reason) for going through those experiences.
I am happy to say I did find the answers to those questions quite some time back and I cant say how much it has helped. It is also nice to know that now I am wanting to move on without having had a negative experience so that confirms for myself that I am not just looking for excuses if you know what I mean.

Where I feel I am now is looking for answers to which I dont yet know the questions.

You know Vivoz, I actually found more help from your post because I am where you're at also!

So thank you for posting as it must be some interesting synchronicity for me to read your post the very moment I am pondering the same thing.

I also was motivated to find answers to questions initially for why certain experiences occurred in my life. Now I am slowly moving & also recently became unsatisified with my framework & was desiring to move on again.

& I am becoming motivated by something other than just negative experiences too. Interesting. Just thought I'd share!

[vivoz]

Simmiah, thanks for sharing and I'm glad you were able to find some help in the post too Good luck to you as well