Why do we have so many different spiritual practices. If the goal is to realize our Divine nature and the duality of our being, then why all the meditation, mantras, and ceremony? This is the ultimate question. Why so many spiritual paths when the goal is pathless? It is nothing more than a realization of what we are in the great Universal Source from whence we came. If we know that, why all the machinations? Knowing is not knowing as the path is actually pathless.

No, I am not crazy and spewing unsolvable Koans. What I am doing is describing why intellectual knowledge is not sufficient to be pathless in your spiritual pursuit. The pathless is not an intellectual concept but an experience one undergoes during full realization of the truth. It is experiential not intellectual. This is because the mind is the ego. When we think, describe, and hypothesize, we are in the realm of the ego not the realm of pure consciousness. In the realm of pure consciousness, there is no path, no practice, no anything. It is just, "I am", and that is an experience.

Think of it as an emotion. We can describe an emotion, but you don't really understand it until you experience it. Take fear, for example. If I look at the description of it, I can easily convince myself it is not such a big deal. Why is everyone so panicked? But when confronted with the experience of fear, then all rational thought and intellectual understanding are thrown out the window. Ask anyone who has fought for their life in the face of pending death. No words can describe it so others truly understand it. That is the same as understanding Universal Source and its relationship to us.

One can only experience it, not know it. Though my experience was not the full expression of union with Source, it was sufficient enough to change me irrevocably. I had no intellectual basis to frame my experience and only learned what it was later. That made it even better though it stopped me from full union out of fear. I believe it is better to have intellectual knowing before experiencing it, though an argument can be made for the other way around.

Combined with my own esoteric path and experiences, I now fully realize the Divine Source and our part of that. Call it nearly Samadhi. I converse with Divine wisdom at all times, I am always in the spirit of Source, and I have experienced states of pure consciousness that many call bliss. I am awakened, yet I immerse myself in this dense realm and still battle my ego for control of my being. Am I really awakened? Well, I have no doubts about reality, I have no fear, I know where I came from and I know where I am going, so yes, I believe I truly am awakened.

The Path of Awakening

It would be wrong to say a spiritual path is not necessary just as it is wrong to say Samadhi requires a path. Both are independent of each other, and I hope to explain that in a way that will help you on your spiritual journey. Step back for one minute and let's examine why this three-dimensional realm exists because that is why a spiritual path is necessary. This three-dimensional realm exists as an expression of Divine Source attempting to understand itself and its purpose for existing. If pure consciousness is all one needs, then nothing would ever be created.

The concept of individuality and the duality this implies is fundamental to the process of Divine expression. We are an "experience" for the Divine source just as Divine Source is an "experience" for us. This perfect symmetry allows both to fully understand themselves as individuals and as "One". We hear this all the time. This concept of "One" is nothing more than a label for Divine Source or original pure consciousness. We can only experience it to truly understand it, but not everyone can simply "experience" it. This is why so many paths exist to move us towards that experience.

The easiest way to understand a path is simply to understand the ego is a blockade to our realization of Source. It isn't that we need something special to fully realize Source, it that we need to "remove" something to fully realize Source, and that requires meditation, mantras, or ceremony. If I am to remove something which is a creation of this three-dimensional realm, then I must use tools from this three-dimensional realm to do it. This is why we need a spiritual path with spiritual tools. We require a path to remove the blockade of the ego to attain the pathless realization of Source.

It is our sense of individuality that blocks us. We cannot understand the "One" when we experience the individual in this dense realm. I do not feel like God even though I am a part of God. I feel like a human, a person, a unique individual with my own goals and aspirations. This is on purpose from the Divine creation of our realm. It is not some cosmic mistake or misunderstanding it was designed this way. You cannot fully experience this realm when you are standing in the other realm. Total immersion is critical to fully experiencing this realm.

So why travel a path back towards Source if we are meant to be here and be clueless. That is the spiritual journey, and it is how we evolve our Souls. Think about a worm and its Soul. How evolved is that Soul? If you ask why a worm would have a Soul, then you have already missed the boat. All things in our realm are part of Source. Therefore, all things have Source within them. Our Souls are a label for that Divine Source within us and within all things. Think about the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant. Where each man was on the elephant determined their experience and description of the elephant. So too is a worm simply experiencing a different part of Source and cannot see the whole of Source just as we cannot.

Why so many paths?

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, ..." -- Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

This question about many paths is like asking why so many people? The uniqueness in our diversity is what makes so many paths necessary. You may wonder, are all paths accomplishing the same thing? The answer is yes and no. To better understand this conundrum, we must understand the various stages along our path and what tools we need to keep us moving forward. These stages correspond to our spiritual evolution or the evolution of our Soul. Just as we are all unique individuals, so too is our evolution unique. We are not all in the same stages of evolution at the same time. If we were, so much of our conflicts in this realm would not exist, and we can all agree there is a lot of conflict.

Each incarnation is a chance to experience this realm and accomplish some aspect of Soul Evolution. You may need to experience loss and the pain that creates. Mine may be to experience hard work and the lessons of building something permanent. Others may be here to experience the emergence of their Soul into this realm and the realization of duality between Source and the three-dimensional ego. I can go on and on with an infinite number of reasons why you are here and what you are to learn. This is why everyone's path in this life is different and may require different set of tools.

Some people demand a simplistic set of procedures from which to practice their religion or spiritual growth. Otherwise, it is too much work to attempt to achieve something so nebulous as an awakening. Go to church, pay a tithe, say some prayers, and attempt to be a nice person in your life and in the end, you will see the spiritual results. This may sound easy and reasonable, but it will not get you a Cosmic Connection to your Creator. Yes, in the end, we all return to the Astral Plane after we die, so yes, you will see the spiritual aspect of yourself. But what evolution did your Soul experience under such a bland spiritual practice?

I believe our Soul's evolution comes from the combination of life experiences and spiritual practices we have during a particular incarnation. These could be extremely powerful negative experiences or positive experiences. The spiritual aspect of it is what anchors the experiences, so we do not simply give up thinking nothing has any meaning and no matter what we do has not effect. This leads to chaos, narcissism, and a fatalistic ideology. No one wants that. I have heard many people tell me that what we do here does not matter and that when we die, we simply disappear forever.

I know that to be false but completely understand why people might think that. They are missing the spiritual aspect of our incarnation and have no anchor to their lives. Even during my most hedonistic parts of this incarnation, I simply could not divorce myself from my Divine roots which is why I called myself Agnostic. Why couldn't I divorce myself if I was questioning everything. It was because of the spiritual and paranormal experiences I had when I was young. You can't simply put those aside and say there is nothing. And that is why we pursue a spiritual journey, to have those experiences that anchor us to this idea of something more outside our small little existence as humans.

No two paths will be the same, not even within a monastery where it is regimented. We are all unique Souls on a unique journey for our evolution, and whatever spiritual path we need will be made available to us with a nudge so that we understand which way to go. Listen, and you will hear what you need and how to get it. Maybe Kriya Serpent Yoga and the Kundalini path is calling to you, or maybe it is not.

Listen and you will know. I first started down the path of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International and loved the meetings, socializations, and lessons that were imparted through that organization. In our group, there was a younger man and me who always questioned things and thirsted for more even if we could not describe what that more was. The organization could not provide the things we were both looking for, so we both eventually left to seek a different path.

I do not know where the young man's path took him since I lost contact with him, but my path was found when I read the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. It spoke to me in a way I couldn't quite describe or fully understand. Like Buddhism when I started studying that, the message in this book felt like something I already knew. It resonated with me, and I started down the Kriya Yoga path which led me to where I am right now. This was the Divine speaking to me and leading me to the path I needed. You can expect the same thing but only if you start searching for a path and listen to what each says to you. You will know when it is the right path.

Find your path and you will find the pathless when you awaken through experience. You may know a lot about the Universe and Source, but until you experience it, you do not truly comprehend it. Consciousness, like its definition, is at once the most familiar aspect of ourselves while being the most mysterious. Delve into your Consciousness and see what there is to experience. It will forever change you and send you down a spiritual path you were meant to follow, regardless of which path that is.

Namaste

Agni