Channels for the Light

Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate. — Huang Po

This is where a lot of people miss it, and where I did too for a long time. Intellect will get you a long way if you want to have a scientific understanding of the world and the universe and how it all works. Science, and the scientific method, are fantastically useful for learning about the outer, physical world. But they are fairly useless if you want to address the inner, spiritual, non-physical world and learn about it and how it all works — in other words, spiritual truth.

There is no greater knowledge to be gained than knowledge of the Self. As the ancients in India knew thousands of years ago:

“When you hear about the Self, meditate upon the Self, and finally realize the Self…you come to understand everything in life.” –Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5

And as Socrates said:

Know thyself.

And… to know yourself, think for yourself.

And as Jesus said:

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
(Luke 17:20-21, New King James Version)

People look for truth and fulfillment in all sorts of ways — in science, in organized religions, in material wealth, and the list goes on and on. But the truth isn’t somewhere “out there”. The truth actually is found exactly where the sages of old have always been telling us. The truth is to be found WITHIN US. When we look within ourselves and still our minds and discover the joy of just Being, then we come to know the Self, and we begin to understand everything in life.

Be Blessed today!

Namaste!