Wednesday, July 5, 2006 at 1:01am
Your teacher is right in front of you
Column: Writing Down Your Soul
In her "Spiritual Geography" books, Janet Conner walks beside the broken-hearted, guiding and encouraging them as they travel through the seven "countries" of spiritual healing. Everyone's journey begins in the Country of Betrayal with a relationship trauma, and proceeds through the Countries of Pain, War, Illusion, Surrender, and Choice. The journey culminates with the miracle of forgiveness and the receipt of a whole, holy, and healed heart in the Country of Peace.
We are seekers, you and I. We read spiritual books. We listen to wise speakers, attend stimulating workshops, and form prayer groups. We search for our spiritual community, and when we find it, attend the services, absorb the lessons, and follow the prescribed practice.
Why do we do all this? Because we want to find our perfect teacher - the teacher who will teach us the truth. And why do we want this elusive truth? Because we want a better life — a life filled with joy, peace, and prosperity.
So, why don't we have it? Why haven't we found that all-knowing teacher, the one who knows — truly knows — how to transform life from problems to peace?
We've all heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will come." Does that mean we're not ready? Is the teacher waiting patiently in the wings, but we, the students, are simply not ready? Or, does it mean the teacher isn't coming, or isn't here, or — horrors! — doesn't care?
No, the students are ready and the teacher is most definitely here. We just don't recognize our teacher because our teacher is standing too close.
Consider this: Why are you looking for your teacher, anyway? Because life hurts, right? Your heart is broken. Broken by a shattered relationship, an agonizing loss, a formidable illness, a financial disaster. Something has happened.
Well, this may sound crazy, but you are blessed to have this problem. Because of it you are about to discover your answers, heal your broken heart, and, in the process, find your wise and perfect teacher.
You can begin right now. Look your trauma square in the eye and ask, "Why is this experience in my life?" Chew over that question in your journal, prayer, or meditation practice. As you kick it around, consider the possibility that your teacher isn't out there in any book or seminar; your teacher isn't a particular spiritual leader or a set of principles. No, your teacher is right in front you.
Your trauma is your teacher.
We know this — not when we're deep in the maelstrom, but after, when the pain subsides and something new and better emerges. After losing an unfulfilling job, haven't we all said, "If I hadn't been fired, I never would have found this great career?" Or, after the demise of a strained relationship, "If Harry hadn't left me; I never would have met Brian." We know this. We just have astonishingly short memories for the process of uncovering the gifts buried in our pain. And, because we have such tiny memories, when a new trauma explodes into our lives, it all starts again. Fear invades our psyche and we frantically renew our search for the perfect teacher with the perfect answers.
I know. I did this, too. When my marriage imploded and life got scary, I fell into total panic. Out of sheer desperation, I started writing to God. In black ink I screamed: "Are you paying any attention? Do you have any idea what's happening here?" Just in case God missed it, I described all the wretched things that were happening, how my child was suffering, and the worries that tormented me all night. I noticed that each day, when I finished venting, something happened: a bit of wisdom appeared on the page, an answer here, a shift in thinking there. Bit by bit, day by day, I followed that trail of guidance, like the crumbs in Hansel and Gretel.
At the time, I didn't know that I was going through a process that made sense or had meaning. I didn't realize I was on a spiritual-healing pilgrimage, and I especially didn't realize that it would end — and end well. I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I just stumbled along, feeling my way. I knew only one thing: Personal prayer and sacred journaling were healing my life.
When people saw my transformation, they asked me to share my spiritual practice. Looking back, I realized I had gone through seven distinct phases of healing. But I didn't like the word "phases." These were not bland, clinical "phases" from some textbook. Oh, no. I knew from brutal experience that when life explodes and your heart is shattered, you are catapulted into a terrifying foreign country full of chaos and pain — a place you've never been before, and certainly never wanted to visit.
Everyone begins in the Country of Betrayal, where we learn our first critical spiritual lesson: to see what is, not just what we want to see. Then, we learn how to soothe our emotional wounds in the Country of Pain and we struggle to choose wise action in the Country of War. In the Country of Illusion, we make an astonishing discovery: it was our thoughts and beliefs that co-created our situation.
When we realize that we are not — and never were — a victim, we get a ticket to cross the all-important "Not-A-Victim Bridge" and enter the Country of Surrender, where we learn to open our hands to release what we don't need and receive all that we do. What a miracle it is, to discover that Spirit truly does provide.
When we are ready, we use all the spiritual tools we have acquired in our travels to build a new kind of conscious, joyful life in the Country of Choice. The journey culminates with our last, and most profound, spiritual task — total and complete forgiveness — and we are ready, at last, to live and love again.
Spiritual Geography is both a map and a navigation tool for the total healing process from Betrayal to Peace. It is also a reminder that your trauma is your invitation to meet and work with your perfect teacher: your own, personal, focused, inner divine guidance.
Your teacher has been waiting for you all along and now, thanks to your broken heart, you are ready to turn inward and say, "Show me the way to Peace. Lead and I will follow." Ask Spirit for guidance and Spirit will answer. Every time.
Follow that guidance and you will find your way through the seven countries of spiritual healing to your full, rich, joyful life. And when you do, from the bottom of your healed, whole, and holy heart, you will feel overwhelming gratitude for the heartbreak that thrust you into your spiritual-healing pilgrimage.
Standing on the shores of Peace, you will smile, knowing the stunning little secret that your trauma was a gift. It was your invitation to discover your perfect teacher, who was there all along, waiting — waiting for you.
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E. (Spiritual Explorer), is an expert on the power of practical spirituality to heal your broken heart and transform your world. She is the cartographer of the map of spiritual healing and author of the seven travel guides in the Spiritual Geographyseries. In addition to divine dialogue, she welcomes human conversation at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Janet Conner
— — —
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.
We are seekers, you and I. We read spiritual books. We listen to wise speakers, attend stimulating workshops, and form prayer groups. We search for our spiritual community, and when we find it, attend the services, absorb the lessons, and follow the prescribed practice.
Why do we do all this? Because we want to find our perfect teacher - the teacher who will teach us the truth. And why do we want this elusive truth? Because we want a better life — a life filled with joy, peace, and prosperity.
So, why don't we have it? Why haven't we found that all-knowing teacher, the one who knows — truly knows — how to transform life from problems to peace?
We've all heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will come." Does that mean we're not ready? Is the teacher waiting patiently in the wings, but we, the students, are simply not ready? Or, does it mean the teacher isn't coming, or isn't here, or — horrors! — doesn't care?
No, the students are ready and the teacher is most definitely here. We just don't recognize our teacher because our teacher is standing too close.
Consider this: Why are you looking for your teacher, anyway? Because life hurts, right? Your heart is broken. Broken by a shattered relationship, an agonizing loss, a formidable illness, a financial disaster. Something has happened.
Well, this may sound crazy, but you are blessed to have this problem. Because of it you are about to discover your answers, heal your broken heart, and, in the process, find your wise and perfect teacher.
You can begin right now. Look your trauma square in the eye and ask, "Why is this experience in my life?" Chew over that question in your journal, prayer, or meditation practice. As you kick it around, consider the possibility that your teacher isn't out there in any book or seminar; your teacher isn't a particular spiritual leader or a set of principles. No, your teacher is right in front you.
Your trauma is your teacher.
We know this — not when we're deep in the maelstrom, but after, when the pain subsides and something new and better emerges. After losing an unfulfilling job, haven't we all said, "If I hadn't been fired, I never would have found this great career?" Or, after the demise of a strained relationship, "If Harry hadn't left me; I never would have met Brian." We know this. We just have astonishingly short memories for the process of uncovering the gifts buried in our pain. And, because we have such tiny memories, when a new trauma explodes into our lives, it all starts again. Fear invades our psyche and we frantically renew our search for the perfect teacher with the perfect answers.
I know. I did this, too. When my marriage imploded and life got scary, I fell into total panic. Out of sheer desperation, I started writing to God. In black ink I screamed: "Are you paying any attention? Do you have any idea what's happening here?" Just in case God missed it, I described all the wretched things that were happening, how my child was suffering, and the worries that tormented me all night. I noticed that each day, when I finished venting, something happened: a bit of wisdom appeared on the page, an answer here, a shift in thinking there. Bit by bit, day by day, I followed that trail of guidance, like the crumbs in Hansel and Gretel.
At the time, I didn't know that I was going through a process that made sense or had meaning. I didn't realize I was on a spiritual-healing pilgrimage, and I especially didn't realize that it would end — and end well. I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I just stumbled along, feeling my way. I knew only one thing: Personal prayer and sacred journaling were healing my life.
When people saw my transformation, they asked me to share my spiritual practice. Looking back, I realized I had gone through seven distinct phases of healing. But I didn't like the word "phases." These were not bland, clinical "phases" from some textbook. Oh, no. I knew from brutal experience that when life explodes and your heart is shattered, you are catapulted into a terrifying foreign country full of chaos and pain — a place you've never been before, and certainly never wanted to visit.
Everyone begins in the Country of Betrayal, where we learn our first critical spiritual lesson: to see what is, not just what we want to see. Then, we learn how to soothe our emotional wounds in the Country of Pain and we struggle to choose wise action in the Country of War. In the Country of Illusion, we make an astonishing discovery: it was our thoughts and beliefs that co-created our situation.
When we realize that we are not — and never were — a victim, we get a ticket to cross the all-important "Not-A-Victim Bridge" and enter the Country of Surrender, where we learn to open our hands to release what we don't need and receive all that we do. What a miracle it is, to discover that Spirit truly does provide.
When we are ready, we use all the spiritual tools we have acquired in our travels to build a new kind of conscious, joyful life in the Country of Choice. The journey culminates with our last, and most profound, spiritual task — total and complete forgiveness — and we are ready, at last, to live and love again.
Spiritual Geography is both a map and a navigation tool for the total healing process from Betrayal to Peace. It is also a reminder that your trauma is your invitation to meet and work with your perfect teacher: your own, personal, focused, inner divine guidance.
Your teacher has been waiting for you all along and now, thanks to your broken heart, you are ready to turn inward and say, "Show me the way to Peace. Lead and I will follow." Ask Spirit for guidance and Spirit will answer. Every time.
Follow that guidance and you will find your way through the seven countries of spiritual healing to your full, rich, joyful life. And when you do, from the bottom of your healed, whole, and holy heart, you will feel overwhelming gratitude for the heartbreak that thrust you into your spiritual-healing pilgrimage.
Standing on the shores of Peace, you will smile, knowing the stunning little secret that your trauma was a gift. It was your invitation to discover your perfect teacher, who was there all along, waiting — waiting for you.
— — —
Janet Conner, S.E. (Spiritual Explorer), is an expert on the power of practical spirituality to heal your broken heart and transform your world. She is the cartographer of the map of spiritual healing and author of the seven travel guides in the Spiritual Geographyseries. In addition to divine dialogue, she welcomes human conversation at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}. © copyright 2006 by Janet Conner
UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by UPI Religion & Spirituality Forum.