Boundaries On The Spiritual Path

The first rule is that there are no rules. A teacher may guide you within a framework for a while; but that is only for your garden path. When you open the gate to the soul, there is no course you can plot, nor can a map be given you. That you write yourself as you travel.

You must set some boundaries though. Like an ancient mariner, you must take care not to fall off the edge of the world until you can fly like an albatross. That sea bird flies with the most subtlest movements. It glides between the wind, using the spirit of the wind to fly it. Soul traveling is much the same.

It is advisable, until you find your wings, to first try walking on air. To follow a trail that has legs. A path that will take you to a place you have imagined before you. Thus you envision the end in the beginning and start from wherever you end. This can be confusing at first, but remember, this is not a journey in time, but a walk around that circle of yourself you have thought alone contains you. You have to discipline yourself to study the duck pond before you remember how to pour it into the ocean.

You may need to wear your shoes out on this route many times. For you have unconsciously dived into the hedgerows on endless occasions looking for God, not realizing the pond was the very nexus to the sacred ground you were seeking. So make a habit of patient reflection of the contours of yourself first.

Next, you must have the right lungs. You have to submerge initially in order to fly in inner skies. Think of the flying fish that rejoices in momentary breakthroughs between one medium of reality and an other. Give up your ordinary ways of breathing and rest in the transpiring breath of adaptable change, inspiring the air of time and eternity in gradual leaps of faith. Jumping too high, or diving too low without the net of total trust, can lead to prolonged free fall. Upwards or downwards, sooner or later you will hit the earth too hard for your own good.

Yes, there are boundaries that you must set in order to get moving in the right direction. However always remember -- it only requires effort to overcome your initial inertia, to get the ball rolling. Once you are comfortable in the duck pond, God takes the next steps for you. The ugly duckling did not have to seek a face-lift in order to transform into a swan. The swan was always there waiting to be released from the circle of self, the pond it believed to be its proscription.

One day, from wing tip to wing tip, there will be nothing but you in the elysium of awareness. There will be sky, and that sky will fly you. You with be boundless.

The soul bodies contain within them,
points of solar birth that leave no shadow.
Soon your hands and tongue
your very heart and identity
shall be God's radiant gestures.

from Dancing With Sophia