What’s Missing When We Are Not Free

Continued from yesterday…

For any genuine seeker, the question of whether our spirituality brings us freedom is embryonic. What good is our spirituality if it doesn’t improve our lives and the world as a whole?

Imagine for a moment that you have no spiritual, religious, or agnostic biases or beliefs. One day you are placed in a room full of people from every religious and spiritual tradition, including atheists and agnostics. Some of the people appear to be rigid, fearful, and even depressed. Others come across as unkind and bitter.

But there is a group of them who are truly at peace, radiating love and compassion to everyone in the room. They have what you might call the sparkle of life. Who would you want to be around—the rigid and fearful group, or the loving and compassionate group? And whose spiritual path would you trust to work best for you?

You would probably pay little attention to what each group believed at first, instead choosing to associate with the latter group because they seemed so happy and alive. In other words, you would evaluate the authenticity of what they believed based on their level of freedom.

To be continued tomorrow…

Adapted from Section 1 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren