When the accepted truths of religion and society fail to satisfy the hunger inside for truth, there’s nothing else to do but seek alternatives. And therein lies one of the primary problems with spiritual seeking.
After leaving one system of thought, it’s just human nature that most people are quickly and easily enticed into an alternative system. The human ego likes the comfort systems provide. We’re trained from childhood to believe having the “right answers”—whether to a math problem, a history lesson, or what happens to us after death—is of paramount importance. The need for right answers is so deeply ingrained we don’t even notice it.
So what happens when we leave an established religious system that no longer suits us? Most of us go straight out and quickly adopt a new system of thought that appears to have the answers we seek. I certainly did.
As soon as I reached escape velocity from my Episcopal and Catholic roots I went on a seeking binge, devouring books about angels and spirit guides, yogis and kundalini energy, vegetarianism and high colonics. I fell into the arms of New Age thought and settled in, thinking, “Aha! Now I’ve found the truth! Now I’ve found my tribe!”
I had no idea I’d simply replaced one system of “truth” with another much more exotically intriguing but equally hide-bound system. Ten years, a zillion books and two teachers later, I knew everything there was to know. All you had to do was ask me. Reincarnation? Check. Astral projection? Check. The origin of Creation? Check. Manifestation? Check. Meditation? Check. Holotropic breath work? Oops. Missed that one.
As much as the ego wants to stand out and be special, it seeks it in safely prescribed and acceptable parameters and organizations. It doesn’t feel safe going out on a limb. The ego seeks security through answers and approval of others. It seeks company.
The trick—which I only discovered after decades of inner work and, yes, a LOT of seeking—is to not seek answers outside myself in systems and books.
Books and teachers and seminars are great and a lot of fun and there’s wisdom and companionship to be found, for sure. But at the end of the day all those things are just part of the same story of seeking instead of finding. The only thing that provides authentic answers and real satisfaction is the discovery of who we really are inside—who we really are behind the veils the ego draws. And the only way we ever discover that is via deep, consistent, solitary dives within.
As much as the ego might like to think otherwise, there simply is no substitute.