Many Paths
There are many “paths up the mountain” for people who intend to grow spiritually. The mountain exists and the paths lead up to the one peak. Perhaps now is the time for humanity to take this analogy to heart; there is one peak and all seekers, no matter what their path, are all searching for the way Home.
Wayne Teasdale in his book, The Mystic Heart, says that, “we are at the dawn of a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to our life as the human family in a fragile world.” But this message is not new; Baha’u’llah, in the early 19th century said, ”Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.”
There is no doubt that our world, the planet, is spiralling into a very fragile state. But Teasdale’s main concern is humanity’s spiritual journey. It’s fragility may well be related to one of Einstein’s observations: You cannot solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it. It seems to me that this is one of the main failures of so many of our current social systems in our culture. We keep on trying to move ‘forward’ using the same beliefs and assumptions that have created the current fragile and potentially precipitous religious, social and economic conditions we have in our world today. The prevalent religious, social and economic systems we have relied on for decades, if not for centuries, may need to be examined from the perspective of a new consciousness. If we continue to try to move forward using out dated and often mythical suppositions about how things work and what motivates our behaviour, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence that what we are doing does not work, our institutions, our social systems and we ourselves, may become extinct like so many other species and institutions that were unable to adapt to changing conditions, social developments and new, and even old readily accessible, information.
Like in other communities and countries, many people in Muskoka are reaching out in directions for new values, new ways of thinking, and like-minded people. Collectively, I feel they are reaching out for greater awareness, understanding, and a life style that is more conscious, gentle, holistic, and wellness based. This searching frequently includes or even has as its focus, a new, larger expression of their authentic selves, an expanded sense of spiritual understanding.
In the last few years here in Muskoka, there has been a growing number of offerings that can facilitate and support this thirst for growth of environmental sustainability, social awareness and growth of consciousness. In my own work and chosen lifestyle, I have acknowledged and supported these developments. This page of my website is devoted to a more active support for these individuals and groups in Muskoka who are intentionally walking one or more of the many “paths up the mountain” and may be hoping for companionship.
Every year in Muskoka new groups form, and individuals are offering up the wisdom and experience they have gleaned from their own lives. Some churches feel this sense of searching in our community and engage in active outreach activities that include opportunities for spiritual growth, and a fresh look at religious thought. And Muskokans are responding; there is an evident thirst for fresh understanding of old beliefs. The rapid expansion of and the increasing availability of knowledge, along with a new generation of people raised using the new forms of connectedness offered by social media, will only accelerate the social, cultural and spiritual changes. The numbers of people seeking for more meaningful, holistic lifestyles is increasing; current research suggests that our numbers are far greater than is thought. The research calls people who pursue holistic living, their own well-being, and our environment’s well-being cultural creatives, and repeatedly estimate our numbers to be greater than 28 %. The problem is that these creative people underestimate their numbers. As a result, people seeking to live more meaningful lives, to live values not supported by our materialistic, consumption driven, social/economic system, don’t have an influential voice.