Alan Watts, of whom I am a big fan, wrote an autobiography entitled In My Own Way. In it he discusses how he both did things his own way and also got in his own way. (He was always very clever with a turn of a phrase.) That each person must find his or her own spiritual path seems to me to be undoubtedly true – but, just as with other trips, making one’s way down the path is more fruitful if others have left signs and markings along the way. It is the signs and markings along the path that define progress – if we as a species let each person flounder along and learn everything “the hard way” we would still be living in trees at the mercy of whatever predator happened by. And, the idea that we must each find our own way is inconsistent with the thousands of books published (seemingly) weekly on the subject of spiritual growth. No, most people who are “spiritual” do not really believe that each of us must sink or swim in the ocean of beliefs – that “each person must find his or her own path” is usually used simply as a defense against anything that even remotely resembles analysis or discussion.
In my own way
In my own way
In my own way
Alan Watts, of whom I am a big fan, wrote an autobiography entitled In My Own Way. In it he discusses how he both did things his own way and also got in his own way. (He was always very clever with a turn of a phrase.) That each person must find his or her own spiritual path seems to me to be undoubtedly true – but, just as with other trips, making one’s way down the path is more fruitful if others have left signs and markings along the way. It is the signs and markings along the path that define progress – if we as a species let each person flounder along and learn everything “the hard way” we would still be living in trees at the mercy of whatever predator happened by. And, the idea that we must each find our own way is inconsistent with the thousands of books published (seemingly) weekly on the subject of spiritual growth. No, most people who are “spiritual” do not really believe that each of us must sink or swim in the ocean of beliefs – that “each person must find his or her own path” is usually used simply as a defense against anything that even remotely resembles analysis or discussion.