We often think that “the spiritual path” is something exotic, to be undertaken in the mountains of India, or in a retreat beside a waterfall. Yet really, it is all inside, all in the little things, all in the right here, right now of daily life. Sometimes it is in a simple recognition – “I am afraid I will have to change”, for example – that we take the first step onto the Path….
In Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the small parable of spiritual transformation, Sullivan tells his pupil Jonathan: “You have less fear of learning than any gull I’ve seen in ten thousand years.” Of all the words written about the spiritual path, these are, in my view, among the most important. They capture the essence of the spiritualized life.
In the embrace of learning we throw ourselves wide open to the unknown – from the alchemical impact of new insights to the outcomes and social costs of our experiments with Life. In learning, we offer ourselves up to a process of deep, permanent, and ongoing change. Such change can separate us from family, careers, friends and material security. The price of learning is high, bringing cycles of small deaths and rebirths at every stage of the Journey.
The embrace of learning requires great courage. It also requires us to think deeply about the nature and consequences of spiritual learning. It is not a Road from which one can turn back, once begun, for the early changes will make the old world and its narrow confines unbearable, and we no longer will find companionship with those who never set out upon that Road.
Having made the commitment to learning, we must approach it with compassion and tolerance for the self in the strains and sufferings that will surely come. There is no place here for self-blame, for that merely becomes an excuse not to go forward, and ill-becomes the nobility of our souls. We must sift ever-so-gently through our “mistakes” as we prepare for the do-overs that Life will devise. We are Children of the Universe and this is our School. God looks on with love and interest as we correct our own exercises. So let us rejoice in the gift of learning, respecting too the lessons of others, for these are their fine carvings on the Pillar of Life
©Carol Leigh Rice 2009
"What is not conscious will be lived as Fate..." Carl G. Jung
Embodies the feminine principles of creativity, understanding, self-reliance, serenity, and love. Represents education, knowledge, wisdom, secrecy, and esoteric teachings. Aquarian Tarot
Here is an excellent Beginner's Series in Astrology - all free, and online - at 
Aquarius, the natural Fool in the Tarot, sees life as a dramatic adventure, with the Road always beckoning towards far-off horizons. The Seeker (Fool Card) from 
And with that, Jonathan held in thought an image of the great gull-flocks on the shore of another time, and he knew with practiced ease that he was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all. Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
"In psychic readings it seems taken for granted by one's guides that as individual souls we forge karmic bonds with soul groups - ethnic, religious and political entities. Whether we are presently incarnated within them or not, we remain connected in a psychic way to their history - past, present and future. In time, however, our karmic bonds dissolve, leaving us free to move on."
Thank you carol for the reminder in the piece “fear of learning and the spiritual path”. Every once in a while we need to hear, what we, really, aready know, but
have for the moment lost sight of. It is the echo of truth in the words that soothe the soul and remind us of the larger purpose of which we are part. I am happy that you have created this blog, so much beauty and truth is reflected; just what is needed, when we are amid so much change and chaos. So lovely to hear from you.
Dear Angela, this has always been one of my favorites – Fear of Learning…these little “sets of thoughts” come as gifts which lift my spirit as they lift yours! I agree, we all “know these things” but that is not the point – there is a certain kind of “knowing” that must have roots in the appropriate timing or “season” to be knowledge we can use. When we need that kind of knowing, it seems we just naturally find it, and though it seems to us that we have found it “again” – in reality, it is always the first time, when it is the right time.
Thank you for the kind thoughts about my blog. I am just happy to have found a little corner here, a small Christmas tree, where I can place some of the gifts that have come to me through the many years, in meditation and of course – in the readings. God bless you on the Road, Carol