What is "The Path," and what can it do for you?

[This essay was originally posted to my former Weebly site. In transferring it I have updated and made corrections where necessary.]

The Condensed Version

The Path is a way of seeing that leads to personal peace--in other words, happiness--through

Do you want to be happy?

Who doesn't? But it isn't easy.

Look at this statement again:

"The Path is a way of seeing that leads to personal peace."

This means that finding and following The Path will help you to:

• See clearly
• Break unhealthy attachments
• Transcend ego
• Experience oneness
• Achieve peace

End result? What people call happiness.

Many paths--or One?

"But," you might be asking, "Aren't there many paths? What makes this The Path?"

Good question. There certainly seem to be many paths. In fact, each of us walks his or her own path. But these are all manifestations of The ONE Path.

Like the score of a sonata performed by many great pianists, or the tranquil scene interpreted by many painters, The Path underlies all the various "performances" and "renditions" found in our many individual paths.

Who taught us The Path?

All great teachers of humankind have been teachers of The Path, from Socrates, Jesus, the Buddha, Laozi, the Vedic Brahmins and Egyptian priests in the distant past, to Carl Jung, Mahatma Gandhi, and Joseph Campbell in modern times.

These teachers interpreted The Path to their cultures in various ways. In our own day, we can draw on all of these teachings to help us find and follow our own paths to greater happiness and peace.

Is The Path, then, a "religious" teaching?

While The Path can be religious, it doesn't have to be. Although The Path provides the foundation for all religious teachings, it is also manifested in psychology, literature, history, mythology, and even the Scientific Method--in short, The Path underlies all the highest expressions of the human heart and mind.

How The Path applies to you

The Path is a personal application of something called "The Perennial Philosophy." It has four steps:

1. Something more: There is something "larger than us" beyond the human sphere. Surely you have sensed this "something," perhaps in Nature, or during a religious ceremony; at the time of marriage, the birth of a child, or the death of a loved one; in moments of sublime tranquility, or in the midst of a crisis. Something is "out there," and many of us yearn to be connected to it.
2. Separation: However, most of us experience a feeling of separation from this "something larger." If you grew up in one of the great traditions that originated in the Middle East (such as Judaism, Christianity, or Islam), you were taught that "sin" is a separation from God. In traditions from farther East, it's said that this separation is an illusion, and that true wisdom is to recognize that we are already connected. And if you had no religious upbringing at all, you may know a sort of depression, or boredom, or anxiety, or just "unsatisfactoriness" that leaves you feeling that there is something more. In any case, most of us live with a feeling of distance between what is and what could be.
3. The Path: The good news is that we can overcome this sense of separation and come to feel connected. In fact, whatever you love, whatever you are already doing, whatever path you are on is The Path to greater connectedness.
4. Peace: Once you find and follow The Path mindfully, your life will take on deeper, richer, fuller dimensions. In short, you will be happier, and find personal peace.

Through writing, speaking, images, and personal teaching, I will help you find The Path underlying your path, and teach you how to follow it to a better life.

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How can I get started?

[The remainder is a shameless pitch for a program that never got off the ground. I have left it here for historical purposes. The underlined words were links to features that are no longer extant; many of them were the genesis of materials later found at You Are That.]

Essentials:

1. Sign up for our FREE Introductory E-Course, "Finding and Following Your Path."
2. Sign up for our low-cost Weekly Column, "Following The Path," and receive a few hundred words of insights from my life. As a bonus, you can keep up on what I'm doing right now.
3. Read more about the life that I have been blessed with, and find out why I have started this website.

Other things you can do:

1. Read the blog, "Gurus and Goofballs."
2. Sign up for the free Moonthly Newsletter.
3. Check out the Free Essays.
4. Check out our other low-cost E-Courses.
5. Check out The Marketplace for low-cost downloadable Essays, E-Books, and Journeybooks.
6. While in The Marketplace, don't miss the Fine Art Prints created from my journeys and encounters.

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