Where does a path begin?  Does it begin where you can see it?  Or does it begin when you start looking for it?  Does it begin when enough people have worn away a groove in the earth, or does it begin after the first foot passes by?  I hike a lot and can often see a path where animals (coyotes, deer, foxes) have been the night before, but for every path I see I wonder how many I don’t see. How many were trod by only one or two animals?  Not enough to leave a trace, but it was a way for them to hunt, get shelter, or travel their territory.

If we are all on a spiritual path, when and where does our path begin?  My spiritual path may have begun on the walks outside of Chicago that my grandmother used to take me - and all her grandkids – on where she would point out trees, flowers, different types of plants and tell us about them.  Nature seemed so full of beauty, so full of miracles.  Imagine-the towering oak tree came from the humble acorn!  The empty, stark branches of the trees in winter would spontaneously sprout new leaves in Spring!  Nature and God seemed pretty much the same thing to me.  Maybe my spiritual path began with attending mass at Saints John and Mary Church in Chappaqua, New York every Sunday and where I delighted in singing the songs.  My spiritual path could have begun in grade school when my friend Terry Greene’s mom started taking yoga classes and in order to really learn it, would teach Terry and me the poses.  I would feel so alive when we did yoga, so calm, graceful, and strong at the same time.  Maybe it began when my parents bundled us all up one Saturday morning in June to go to church.  We had never been to church on a Saturday morning before, but my mom, who looked like she had been crying, said that a good man named Bobby Kennedy had been killed.  My parents were clearly upset and sad as my four brothers, my sister and I filled a pew on the left side of our local little Catholic church.  I saw the right side filled with nuns wiping tears from their eyes as they prayed along with the priest.  A curious little girl, I wondered what the priest would say to all this sadness, all these grown-ups crying the way I sometimes cried.  All I remember of his sermon was that he said “God is love”.  I’m not sure why, but I felt like he had imparted such truth in those words, and it seemed it was the only thing he could have possibly said at that time that could have comforted those distraught adults.

Actually, I believe my spiritual journey began before I was even born into this life.  Who I call “me” may have been on many spiritual paths in many different incarnations.  So even though I believe my spiritual path started before this lifetime, I can look back on so many different spiritual events in this current incarnation and know that I am on one!  Nature is still one of my main interests, filling much of my free time with hiking and gardening.  Yoga is another mainstay and has led me to be part of a beautiful ashram called Kanzeonji Non-Sectarian Buddhist Temple where I meditate, do yoga and learn about Buddhism from the abbot, Osho, the monks, and the ‘sangha’ (community). I still get comfort and inspiration from church, although my church is now the trans-denominational Agape International Spiritual Center where I take classes in spiritual studies, am a member of the choir and of the dance ministry, and give service with the children’s church.  I think of the Ashram and Agape together as my spiritual homes.  We just attended ‘Hana Matsuri’, the Buddha’s birthday celebration with our Buddhist brethren and the very next day celebrated Easter at Agape. I met my husband at Agape, and the monks from the Ashram have come to our home to perform a house blessing.  The two places make up the foundation of my spiritual beliefs.

I am one of the happiest people I know, and I wake up each day with a sense of excitement and wonder at what will be revealed in the next 24 hours.  The first thing I do is meditate and take a moment of gratitude for everything.  My spiritual beliefs are built around the concept of ‘one-ness’.  When you really embrace one-ness, there is no duality in anything-even ‘good’ and ‘bad’ become two different perspectives of the same thing instead of opposites.  Rev. Michael at Agape says “A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste” which really encapsulates this notion of one-ness and frees us from being a victim of the so-called ‘bad’.  A crisis is really just the opportunity to live your spiritual truths and beliefs and show the world what you are made of!  It would be terrible to waste an opportunity to go deeper into your faith, to listen even more closely to that still small voice, to take the time to “…be still and know that I am God”.  I don’t even feel that I have crises anymore since everything ends up on my gratitude list.  My Buddhist studies echo this with the “Middle Way” teachings.  Osho teaches us to have our feelings but not wallow in them-see them as if from a distance. 

Also, I am blessed to have a mother who taught me from a very early age the importance of giving service, so starting from my days as a candy-striper I have always found a place to give service.  In addition to giving service at Agape, for the last few years my dog Tucker has been a certified therapy dog with “Love on 4 Paws”.  We visit several settings including a Special Ed. School, Shriner’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  A visit from a dog can do a lot of good for the kids that we see, as well as for the doctors and nurses.  If you ever feel like something is missing from your life, get yourself into service!  On the outside, you are giving, and on the inside, you are receiving so much more than you could ever imagine.  My life is so much richer for my service.  Also, making regular visits to Children’s Hospital guarantees that in case I forget, I have nothing to complain about.  Ever.

And sure enough, each day brings more and more blessings, lessons, revelations and laughter.  By the end of the day, I find that my list of what I am grateful for continues to grow.  My life is constantly unfolding and deepening, with my spiritual practice being the core of all that I do.  Now, I have been called to make the spiritual pilgrimage so many thousands have made for so many centuries, The Camino de Santiago.  But preparing for this pilgrimage has only made me see more clearly that we do not have to go anywhere to be on a spiritual journey-the truest spiritual pilgrimage is the one that we can undertake anytime, anywhere.  That is the journey inside, the journey to the self, the Buddha nature that we all have, the Higher Self, God within, the Atman presence…it doesn’t matter what you call it.  That still, small voice within you is always ready to guide, teach, and center you in the truth.  That is the pilgrimage we can choose to make each and every day.