In Search of the Divine
For fifteen years I have been looking. Looking for something
beyond everyday reality. Looking for greater meaning. This is a search I share
with all religions and alternative spiritualities. The words we use are
different; God, Goddess, One, Universe, Light, Love, Truth, Mystery. The longing
is the same. To know, to touch, to feel, to experience the Divine.
For fifteen years I have been looking. Looking for a teacher to guide me. We might use the word Pastor, Rabbi, Priestess, Workshop Facilitator. Looking for ways in which to fulfill this longing. We might call this praying, making music, reading scripture, casting a spell, walking the labyrinth, cleansing chakras, holding crystals.
For me there are three key words in this search; knowledge, connection and transformation. I may come to know myself through self-awareness. I may connect with the Divine through specific practices. I may then transform into something that I can not yet know. And in this transformation of self I am able to transform the world.
For fifteen years I have made two mistakes. First, I was not conscious of the longing or the search. I mistook the methods and practices as the end rather than the means. And I found those methods empty of meaning and power, empty of ability to further my search. Second, I did not realize that the only way I could satisfy my longing was through the guidance of a teacher who had already experienced the Divine. How could I expect to learn from someone who did not have knowledge, or connection or had not achieved transformation?
In the past year it has been my good fortune to come to the end of my search. I know what I am looking for and how to find it.
And this is what I have learned and continue to learn: through awareness, I can come to know, accept and love my true self; through love, I can connect to and experience the Mystery; I can only transform myself; in that transformation, I can create a field of transformation around me that others may experience; meditation is my method; a living master is my teacher; the mystery school is the ground in which my seed grows.
Words cannot express my gratitude and love.
Ma Prem Shya
July 2002