The sun will stand as your best man … when you have found the courage to marry love.
—Hafiz
The path is now laid out for you. Only you can choose the work of removing the barriers to love’s presence by unearthing the sources of pain and by becoming a spiritual warrior, undoing each blockage that prevents you from identifying with your spirit self, with love. It is not easy work, yet as you experience the rewards, you might, like me, find yourself becoming enthusiastic about digging out and casting away your pain. It is a very empowering experience and one that builds self-respect, self-love and self-trust.
There are so many, many books with a myriad of teachings and teachers. I can’t stress enough how important it is to choose only those teachers who clearly know your innocence and can reflect that back to you. Make sure that every teacher, therapist, or clergy person you go to always sees and treats you with compassionate understanding and loving kindness.
As my awareness of my true self grew, I began to write spiritual poetry. I’d like to share one of my poems with you:
I am a petal on the flower that is god’s temple
god is my fragrance, god is my beauty
You are a petal on the flower that is god’s temple
god is your fragrance, god is your beauty
I recently discovered this quote from Hafiz: “I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through; listen to this music.”26 Whether we refer to fragrances, beauty or music, remember that you are the energy and you are the essence of the spirit self, the “all and the everything.”
My preference for a psycho-spiritual approach to achieving self-love and awakening is based on the fact that, with most other spiritual teachings, there are no real “hands-on” road maps for traversing the bumpy path