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My interest in the world of spirituality and the esoteric reached its height at a time when such subjects were considered strange. I was nineteen and I worked in an office at a clerical job yet it was an exciting time in my life. One of my co-workers, Mike, was an avid reader and his interests were in books of an esoteric nature. He introduced me to books by writers like Ouspensky, Gurdjieff, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Herman Hesse, Edgar Cayce, Alice Bailey, Ram Dass and a host of others of that particular genre. That was in the early seventies, the post flower-children generation, when interest in spirituality was a passing fad; cool because the Beatles had gone to India and met a Guru. I knew a few people like Mike who were fascinated and read a lot. The extent of their interest though, played on the surface, an intellectual inquiry. Still I felt like I had some common ground with this group whereas when I would share the fascinating stuff I was learning with my other friends the reaction was either disinterest or ridicule. Today, the subjects of yoga, mysticism and the occult are mainstream and acceptable.
What is the pivotal reason behind this general interest in such subjects as astrology, mythology, mysticism, healing arts, Yoga, and Tai Chi? I believe that this interest is not a new phenomenon. It has always been there. There have been secret societies in the West and visits from Gurus from India as far back as the late nineteenth century. What is different now, is that there have been a lot more people who have gone deeper in their investigation by going to study with spiritual teachers. We are at a stage when a lot of these people are integrating the teachings into their lives. They are coming out of the closet to speak openly about their experiences and passing on wisdom so that others too can find answers for themselves.
When we dare to step off the treadmill of acceptable behaviour and follow our own inclinations, when we listen to our own soul’s whispers, we open a door that makes it possible for others who may be afraid to make change or do not know how. Back in the seventies, Mike used to joke with me and call me a hard core yogi. The hard core yogis were the ones who dared to go into the mysterious, dimly lit, incense perfumed room at the back of the yoga studio to sit and meditate. Most others just came and did their Hatha Yoga workout and had nothing to do with the other weird stuff at the back of the studio. I think it is people like myself who pushed the envelope, and made it possible for others today to be okay about openly talking about learning to meditate, vegetarianism and seeking answers as to what this life is truly about.
I read a brilliant passage in one of Robertson Davies novels, The Manticore, referring to the likes of Jung, Freud and Adler, giants in the world of psychology. The protagonist is getting advice about his indecision as to whether he should work on his own, or continue to go for analysis after a year of working with his doctor. His advisor said, “They dared heroically. And it should never be forgotten that they made the inward journey while they were working like galley-slaves at their daily tasks, considering other people’s troubles, raising families, living full lives. They were heroes, in a sense that no space-explorer can be a hero, because they went into the unknown absolutely alone. Was their heroism simply meant to raise a whole new crop of invalids? Why don’t you go home and shoulder your yoke, and be a hero too?”
This last part of the advice, “…go home and shoulder your yoke, and be a hero too,” is what so many spiritual seekers of the last few decades are doing with their lives now. They are living their truths after their years of studying, hanging out with spiritual teachers, attending seminars and encounter groups. They have opened a door, showing others that they too can follow their lead, bring greater meaning to their lives and come to know the truth of this existence. They have made it easier for a new generation of seekers, having taken the risks of being outcasts in a society that looked upon such passions in esoteric studies as foolish, insane or strange. They have taken the hero’s journey, the spiritual healing journey and are continuing on the path to freedom, but now with a lot more kindred souls on the road.
