{"id":24,"date":"2010-09-29T14:21:13","date_gmt":"2010-09-29T14:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/09\/spirituality-see-it-for-yourself.html"},"modified":"2010-09-29T14:21:13","modified_gmt":"2010-09-29T14:21:13","slug":"spirituality-see-it-for-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/09\/spirituality-see-it-for-yourself.html","title":{"rendered":"Spirituality: See it for Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to understand the stars you will need to
\nuse a telescope. If you want to understand a molecule you will need to use a
\nmicroscope. If you want to understand the ocean eventually you will need to get
\nwet. If you want to understand the spiritual nature of the world you will need
\na spiritual practice. In the center of all the philosophy and science that
\nexplains and debates the existence of the soul and God lays one simple truth:
\nspirituality is an experience. It is a journey that no one can take for you. It
\nis an understanding that no one can give you. <\/span><\/p>\n

The greatest challenge Galileo faced when he
\ndiscovered the truth about the organization of our solar system was that the
\n“experts” and “officials” of his time period refused to look through his
\ntelescope to see what he could see. Many of us reject the Galileo’s of our
\ntime; we avoid spiritual ideas that challenge the way we see the world. Or we swing
\nto the opposite extreme and believe them without a second thought. We look to
\nthe experiences and ideas of others to tell us what to think and feel. We make decisions
\nabout what we believe without investing ourselves fully in the questions. <\/span><\/p>\n

We have forgotten that the mind is only a small
\naperture through which we acquire limited kinds of knowledge and that the body,
\nthe heart, and even the soul itself, have ways of perceiving what is true and
\nhealing. Wisdom is much more than an idea. Spiritual enlightenment asks that we
\nawaken our spiritual senses so that we might personally discover and remember
\nwhat is sacred.<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpt from Return to the Sacred<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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