Rule # 9 of Love – Love is a Journey ‘Within’

From the world of everything, to the world of nothingness, is the journey of spirituality.

– Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari

Shams Tabrizi in his Rule # 9 of Love said almost the same thing.

“East, west, south, or north makes little difference. No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within. If you travel within, you’ll travel the whole wide world and beyond.”

These spiritual giants speak in such riddles, don’t they?! Where is this internal journey? Journey towards nothingness? Journey within?

Well, let us talk about physical journeys. I have traveled to a few places with company and without.

Travel pics, from a couple of years ago …

These journeys have made me contemplate. Why undertake a journey? For work. For leisure. For a retreat. There always is a reason, a purpose. Is there a purposeless travel? Even if you are a wanderlust, that still is a reason – your love to see new places, eat different foods, learn about cultures.

So what makes a journey glamorous? Different things for different people. And after that, what happens? Some journeys drench you with vitality, some others exhaust you. Why? So, today when I read Shams’ Rule #9, I see that, no matter where I travel, my heart has to be in it. Visiting some places, make me want to run away. At some others, my heart has ached at the thought of leaving. There have been these extremes. It is not the scenery or the food or the purpose.

I have started to believe that a physical journey becomes beautiful because of the hearts of the people you meet along the way, the heart and spirit of the place, the serenity of the atmosphere, the purity and genuineness in the love people exhibit.

So physical journeys are still journeys of the heart for a sensitive person.

A beautiful travel experience …

In the story of “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, the protagonist travels all over the world in search of a treasure, which he dreams to be under a tree, and eventually he discovers it in his own backyard. That book creates an amazing spiritual journey within you if you are in the mood for it. Though it is a book of physical journey for the protagonist, he still journeys spiritually along the way. He goes deeper into himself and changes into a person of intuition, of confidence and acquires a realization.

So, what is a spiritual journey now?

I would say, that my realization that, the happiness of my physical journey is dependent on the love and serenity of the place, rather than all the material tangibility is a journey of awareness of the mind, which is almost spiritual.

Spiritual journeys are journeys of awareness of the self, a process of mental and emotional balance, an expansion of consciousness, a journey towards enlightenment – which means again a journey towards cognizance of the self.

Well, I have lost words to explain this. And it is just not my words or thoughts which are to a spiritual journey.

A traveler of spirituality always travel alone. The saint, Babuji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur quoted saint Kabir das ji,

“प्रेम गली अति संकरी, तामें दाऊ न समाई |

जब में था तब हरी नहीं, अब हरी है में नाहीं ||”

“The lane of love is very narrow, two cannot pass through at a time.

When I was present, God was not, now God is present, I am not.”

In a spiritual journey, at some part, there is a renunciation of the self to become the Higher Self. A deep awareness of being one with the Nature, or the Higher Self. A journey of love, a journey, where the solitude of being one with God, in the presence of love, is a very beautiful journey, albeit tricky to express or understand.

Have you read the Tibetan Book of the Dead? It is a book where the transient states of the soul between two lifetimes, and various levels of consciousness the soul goes through, is explained. Once talking about this book, Beloved Chariji explained that a spiritual Guide of the Highest caliber can place a soul from one spiritual state to another – just like that – like replacing a jar from one shelf to another. A spiritual journey within, is just so simple and also easy, if there is dependence and surrender towards the Guide. He will just take care.

And, where is this destination of the journey?

The goal of a spiritual journey, is not just reaching a destination. It lies far beyond a destination, which we understand as a destination.

Babuji Maharaj says, “every time you reach the destination, your own perception of the destination shifts further ahead.” 

So it makes sense, if there is a Guide, and if we let the Guide guide us…

Being on a spiritual path, is just a start. And as you embark on this kind of journey, the more you go within your own heart, the more you want to go deeper. But first, you must have the heart for such a journey. You must be able to love going within. It may not be easy. It may not even be perceptive to begin with. You just suppose an ocean of Love and Light within you and try to plunge into it. You may get distracted. You may not feel comfortable. You may feel the mosquitoes biting you. You may feel your back aching. You may be reminded of your deadline at your work place. But just continue with the faith that you have the support of your own heart, your Guide who resides in your own heart!

Well, continue this journey, with willingness and love for such a journey, with a passion to experience this! Well, what more can I say? 

And travel light, says Shri Kamlesh D. Patel. What does he mean?

Please check out the below video where Respected Kamlesh D. Patel talks about The Spiritual Journey.

Unlike the physical journey, such inner journeys are not full of tiredness, they are full of joy actually. – Kamlesh D. Patel

VideoCourtesy: http://www.sahajmarg.org/literature/online/speeches/anantpur-20150731

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