“As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.” – Albert Schweitzer

I’m in the process of formulating  and writing a number of articles that will follow on from my recent What is spirituality? post. One article is almost complete but before publishing it I decided there’s something else that needs to be said first, which is the subject of the great mystery.

What mystery? you might ask. The mystery of EVERYTHING! The mystery of the origins of life, God, consciousness, spirit, the universe and everything that’s ever come into being. It really is all a big mystery and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The question of ‘why is there anything?’ has always (and I’m sure always will) troubled the greatest philosophers. There really are no answers to that question that make a great deal of sense.

It doesn’t matter if you’re religious, spiritual, philosophical, or only a believer in science, the question of how something came from nothing is probably never going to be adequately explained (not from the average humans level of consciousness anyway).

Or perhaps there never was nothing, and maybe there’s always been something. But that doesn’t make any more or less sense either does it?

Perhaps you believe in the big bang. Fine, but what banged? And how and why did it bang? Does it make any sense at all that there was once nothing, and then that nothing banged and an entire universe came into being? I don’t think so.

If you’re a religious person then you might say that God created the universe. Well how did God first come into being? “Oh, God’s always been around!” you say. Does that make the slightest bit of sense at all? Of course not.

The trick is to agree that it’s all a great mystery and be totally comfortable with that.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein

One of the things that almost all mystics, spiritual adepts, shamans, yogis and enlightened masters etc agree on is that the source of everything is a mystery. They often call it the great mystery, or the unfathomable mystery.

So one of the things I want to make clear as I begin delving more deeply into the spiritual realms is that I don’t pretend I have the answers to everything. I accept the mystery for what it is.

Having said that, I definitely do believe that we as humans can certainly come to know and understand many things that current science tells us is not possible to know. That includes the reality of other worlds/dimensions, higher states of consciousness, communication with other beings/intelligences, the multi-dimensional nature of reality, the ability to heal, astral projection, telepathy, remote viewing, psychic powers and much much more.

If you think that sounds crazy then stick around, you might learn something

“The real mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, it is a reality to be experienced.” –J.J. Van der Leeuw

A musician friend of mine, Cornelius, from London (well he’s Irish actually) has come up with the slogan “Do what you love, it’s your gift to the universe“. He’s a musician/songwriter who I definitely recommend you check out, and he plays a lot of the alternative UK music festivals.

Anyway, more than I want to promote Cornelius (which I’m always happy to do – check out his blog, music site and t-shirt store), I want to promote the importance of doing what you love, because I think Cornelius is so right in what he says.

Doing what you love is just so important if you want to live a happy and fulfilling life (and I’m assuming here that doing what you love won’t harm another human being in anyway).

Not only is it important for your own wellbeing, it really is important for the whole world and even the universe. Imagine a world in which every single person was doing what they truly loved. Would there still be wars, hate, disharmony, depression, unhappiness? I don’t think so.

Consider these not so good statistics:

Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world. (source)
In the UK, 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year. (source)
In 2006/7 530,000 people in the UK suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (source)

Why is that? Why are so many people unhappy?

Well, on the surface, people get depressed or unhappy for a countless number of different reasons. But I think you could probably distill almost all those reasons to one single reason – which is that they’re not doing what they love.

So many people have jobs they hate, and even relationships they hate, but they feel hopelessly trapped in them. People growing up in the western world are conditioned from a young age to believe that they need to get good qualifications in order to get a good career, so they can live a nice comfortable life, probably get married, have the obligatory 2.4 kids, nice house (with a not so nice mortgage), nice car, and whatever else it takes to keep up with the Jones’ next door. Then if you’re lucky you’ll retire at 65 with a nice pension, and you can relax and take it easy….until you die! Woohoo! What a great fucking life that is! (if you’ll pardon my french!). No wonder everyone’s so bloody depressed!

I interupt this post with a short commercial break, put together by the makers of South Park featuring the voice of the late great Alan Watts.

The fact is most jobs and ‘good careers’ are boring as hell. They don’t fulfil you in any meaningful way, they don’t give you any meaningful recognition for the amazing being that you truly are, and they sure as shit don’t make you happy.

Here’s the problem. Most people are just too afraid to take risks, they’re too afraid of what other people think, and they’re too afraid of failure.

If you’re not already doing what you love (and my hat off to you if you are!) then I’m absolutely sure that you have a secret dream of what you’d much rather be doing other than your current boring, crappy job! But, you keep that dream a secret don’t you? And for whatever reason you probably believe it will always remain a dream, and nothing more!

Well here’s a friendly rocket up your ass! Please get over yourself, get over your fears, and most of all get over what you think everyone else might think about dreams. You can’t change your family, but if your friends won’t support you then they’re not authentic friends so get rid of them, and find friends you know will encourage and support you.

What’s the point of living an unhappy and unfulfilled life? What’s the point of having dreams if you can’t realise them (or at least try to realise them). There is no point.

Please wake up! Know that you really can create the life you want. Know that your dreams can come true. Know that you have nothing worthwhile to lose, and everything to gain by chasing your dreams  and doing what you love.

And also know that what you’ve been conditioned to believe by western culture (ie that you need to make lots of money, and have a good career, to be happy and fulfilled) is the biggest load of bullshit that’s ever been sold.

I’ll leave you with the story of the Mexican Fisherman….

The Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

“You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

“Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

I was just sent this pretty cool chain email. It’s definitely worth sharing on the blog. Thanks Sue..

A friend of mine opened his wife’s underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

‘This, – he said – isn’t any ordinary package.’

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

‘She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said:

‘Never save something for a special occasion.

Every day in your life is a special occasion’.

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.

I use crystal glasses every day…

I’ll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.

I don’t save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words ‘Someday…’ and ‘ One Day…’ are fading away from my dictionary.

If it’s worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now…

I don’t know what my friend’s wife would have done if she knew she wouldn’t be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.

I’d like to think she would go ou t for Chinese, her favourite food.

It’s these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come..

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.

'Wonder' by Alex Grey - www.alexgrey.com

Now that I’ve posted this blog to my Facebook newsfeed I’m guessing there’s going to be a rather eclectic bunch of people from many walks of life taking a look at this blog. I think many of my Facebook friends are on a fairly similar wavelength to me, and this post is not really aimed at you. It’s more for the people who I went to school or uni with who perhaps don’t know about or understand the direction my life has taken over the last 10 to 15 years.

I want to emphasize that this is not an attempt to preach anything or convert anyone to a particular way of thinking, but if nothing else I hope to pique your curiosity so that you might look further into some of these facinating subjects.

Spirituality is so important and fundamental to my life, however most people seem to have no idea what spirituality means, so this is my attempt to explain it, or at least explain what it means to me. One of the things you soon find out is that it’s a very personal subject and it can mean many different things to different people.

First of all I want to say what it’s not. It’s nothing to do with religion. I can’t emphasize that enough. That’s not to say you can’t find authentic spirituality within religion, but you certainly don’t need any religion to find authentic spirituality.

I don’t consider myself religious, or certainly not in the way most people understand the word. I’m actually fairly anti-religion in many respects, although I try to be respectful of other peoples customs and beliefs particularly if it really is having a truly beneficial affect on their life.

Although I’m very aware that religion does do a lot of good in the world, I personally think the negative side of religion outweighs the positive side. The negative side is of course the wars, hate, violence, intolerance and suffering that religious people have inflicted on each other (and the so-called heretics) down through the ages. Which is ironic because the true teachings of practically every religion actually promote peace, harmony and understanding between people (even those that believe something different to yourself!). Anyway, I’m getting away from the point, so back to spirituality!

I tend to find that people who are not spiritually aware think they only have three options in life when it comes to matters of God and spirit. You either join a religion and become a believer in God (theist). You reject ideas of god completely (and become an atheist). Or you sit on the fence and happily admit that really you have no idea (agnostic). This is what I remember learning in RE at school and I’m sure this is what most other people think are their only options.

However, there’s a fourth option I want to tell you about. An option that sadly too few people are aware of right now. You could call this option gnosis or gnosticism. The essential meaning of those words is knowledge, but for now let’s use the more general umbrella word of spirituality. Believe it or not, you positively and definitely can acquire real knowledge of the spiritual worlds if you’re willing to open your mind (and perhaps more importantly, your heart).

The path to this kind of knowledge can be an arduous one, that usually involves leaving your comfort zone far behind you. It often means realising that everything you thought you knew about the world is in fact quite wrong, and your life will never be quite the same again. Sometimes it means you have to let go of your friends and family because you can’t relate to them any more, although it certainly doesn’t mean you will love them any less. The rewards however, are immense.

So, what is spirituality?

For me it’s about love, knowledge, sharing, connection, and understanding the deeper mysteries of life. It’s about finding  answers to the questions of who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? And what do I do now? It’s about not being afraid to question absolutely everything, and to always think for myself, and not to believe something just because someone has told me it’s true. It’s about making the most of my life each and every day, and being the best person I can be.

Perhaps more than anything it’s about remembering. Because I know that this knowledge is not exclusive, and it is in fact hidden within each and every person on this planet, but for most people it’s just been deeply locked away in a place where they fear to look – deep inside themselves.

I would also like to share a definition I got from a course I did last year with a British spiritual teacher called William Bloom -

“Spirituality is our natural experience of the pure wonder of life; and our instinct to deepen that experience and explore its meaning.”

Perhaps you think you’ve never had a spiritual experience. But have you ever had a moment, perhaps out in nature where you’re staring out at a most beautiful scene, may be the sun is setting and everything is glowing and suddenly you’re completely awestruck by the incredible beauty of your surroundings and you start to feel a deep but unexplainable connection to everything around you? Welcome to the world of spiritual experience. That’s where it all starts for many people, although it’s certainly not where it ends.

Authentic spirituality is not really about beliefs (although some beliefs may come into play), and it’s certainly not about dogma and imposing your views, although there’s certainly nothing wrong with sharing what you know. People will come when they’re ready, or not at all.

If you had to boil it down to two things I would say it’s about love and connection, although the two are practically the same thing, because when you love someone or something then you’re deeply connected with them.

Through this blog I intend to explore the subject of spirituality (inner journeys) more deeply, as well as talking about my adventures (outer travels) in Peru. I hope you will follow along, and if you haven’t been stirred already, I hope I can somehow stir that place deep inside of you that is longing to be free and awake. However, if you want to reject it all as a load of old new-age hippie bullshit then that’s ok too. I wish you nothing but a happy journey through life and I hope that all your dreams come true.

With deep love and respect

Andy

PS. For those reading that already consider yourselves spiritually aware. Perhaps you would like to share what spirituality means to you in the comments below.

It’s now been almost three weeks since I decided to move to Peru and I’ve told several people about it since. A few people have asked questions like ‘why are you going?’, ‘what will you be doing when you get there?’. And I usually have to respond with “I’m not sure yet!”. Understandably people are a little bemused by that.

It’s true I don’t have any concrete plans, or even a place to live yet. And that’s how I like it.

I’m following my intuition (a powerful driving force in my life) so I know that I’m going to Peru for a good reason but I don’t need to be too concerned about what that reason is yet. I just trust that everything will unfold as and when it should – just like it always does.

I think too many people get so caught up (and even obsessed) with their plans and goals that they lose sight of the present moment and forget just how magical life really is. But magic can only happen in the moment, not in the past or the future.

Now, I’m certainly not saying it’s wrong to have plans or goals. Some things definitely benefit from planning, like a business for example. Or any large event like a festival, exhibition or even a wedding is not going to be successful if it isn’t well planned out in advance.

However, I think it’s easy for people to get so obsessed with planing that they often lose the ability to be spontaneous. And trust me, spontaneity is where most of the fun happens!

Think of the last few situations where you were having the most fun and experiencing the most joy. Were those situations planned long in advance, or did they happen fairly spontaneously? I think most people will realise that the best times just seem to arise from nowhere.

So no plans for me just yet. I want this journey to unfold and be as spontaneous and magical as possible. Hopefully that makes sense!

Question for the comments: When was the last time you had an incredible life experience that you weren’t expecting?