How Our Spiritual Connection Fuels Everything

When a person begins to walk the path of truth, something unexpected happens.

Instead of everything becoming easier, we often begin to see more clearly what stands in our way.

Our weaknesses become more apparent. Our ego becomes more demanding. We discover how little control we actually have over ourselves.

It can feel like a contradiction.

We set out looking for something higher, expecting inspiration, clarity, perhaps even a sense that we are getting closer to something profound.

And instead, we encounter ourselves.

This is where many people become disappointed. We think that if we are moving in the right direction, we should feel better. But spiritual development does not necessarily work that way.

As Rabash writes, a person's instincts overcome him every day, and without help from above, he would not be able to overcome them.

The falls are not necessarily a sign that we are failing.

They can be the process through which a larger inner capacity is being built.

You make an effort. You succeed to a certain degree. Then a heavier burden appears, and suddenly you cannot carry it.

You fall.

Then you get up.

And the next time, the burden is even greater.

There is a reason for this.

A person cannot build a greater capacity without encountering something greater than what they could previously handle.

This is why the feeling of weakness can actually be an important part of the journey. Each time we discover that our own strength is insufficient, we are pushed to look beyond ourselves.

And this is where our connection with other people becomes essential.

During a fall, a person may not have the strength or clarity to help themselves. But if they have already built relationships, commitments and a framework with their friends, those connections can carry them through the difficult state.

It is like a donkey that has fallen under a heavy load.

Alone, you cannot lift it.

But together with a friend, you can stand it up, reload it and help it move forward.

This is more than simply exchanging support.

A spiritual society is not a warehouse of energy where I give you something today and you give something back to me tomorrow.

The connection itself becomes the source of something greater.

Each person is only one small part of a much larger system. Through our relationships, we begin to discover that we are not meant to develop alone.

Your strength may be what I need when I am weak.

My strength may be what you need when you fall.

And sometimes, precisely because we are different, we counterbalance one another.

This is actually one of the deepest lessons of the path:

We don't become stronger by eliminating our weaknesses. We become stronger by learning how to connect through them.

Workshop question:

Why is the feeling of weakness along the way necessary for us to build a greater inner capacity - and why can't we build it alone?