NEWSLETTER EWSLETTER NNER L IGHT M INISTRIES N IINNER LIGHT VOLUME 16 NUMBER 4
DECEMBER, 2005
THE ANSWER TO LIFE’S QUESTIONS by Jim Gordon, President of ILM
T
he spiritual journey is like any journey. A journey has a beginning point, an initial destination or goal, and a final completion point. Unlike a journey that we might start in the physical, however, a spiritual journey’s starting point — where the wordly ends and the spiritual begins — may not be very well defined in our awareness. I share this because over the last few years I have been sharing much more about the inner focus, the inner journey, and about inner awakening. And yet much of my sharing has also been about the outer journey of life as well. How do the two interact? And where do they ultimately diverge? The outer journey is much about the physical body, the physical experience; and so the focus is on the external. We learn how to walk in the physical, talk in the physical, and so much more. We live in a physical body and in a physical universe, so it makes sense that our experience, our process, our responsibilities, and our questions are in the physical. “What will I be when I grow up; who will I be; how will I make my living; do I change jobs; do I get more education; do I change my relationship; why are things not working the way I want them to; who do they think they are, telling me how to live my life?” And so these are some of the topics of concern in people’s lives that I have dealt with over the years. And yet, many people eventually realize, “There seems to be something missing. Why do I feel empty, why do I not feel complete? If I can just find out what is missing and get that, then I will be complete.” What that missing something is can be unclear, but it has to do with things such as: “How do I love myself even when others do not seem to love me; why can’t I forgive others and myself; why do I hurt inside; why can I not have joy in my life; when will things change; why can I not change?” The questions seem endless and complicated. We are taught by the world to look ‘outside’ for
solutions, for answers, but when I have looked outside I have found only partial answers and solutions, which only lead to still more concerns and questions. And yet there is an end to these big questions of life; there is an answer to them; there is a way. The thing is, it is not found in the outer physical world at all. It is found inside, in the inner kingdom, in the inner way. The inner way, the inner path, the inner truth, the inner kingdom: these are things we hear about from time to time, especially if we go to religious services, read philosophical or spiritual books, or work with self-help materials. Then the next question is, “How do I learn to walk this inner pathway?” That was my question when I was growing up, and I think at some level that is always the deeper question that is ever being asked inside each of us, even if not on a conscious level. And so many of us go on a great quest. Like the knights of old looking for the Holy Grail, we go walking the planet, walking the outer physical world, looking for the ‘gold’, looking for the solution, looking for the answer, looking for the love, looking for the way. Where do we find the Truth? This is the real challenge in this life. The one thing I have found over the years is that the answer to the questions, the solution to the problems, the way to get peace, joy, loving, acceptance, forgiveness, and so much more — is found inside. I have also learned that very few people, and I mean very few, know of, understand, or can truly share about this inner way to loving. There seem to be so many people who are sharing about getting the answer to all life’s problems, and yet when we listen to them and follow their instructions, we may not get the fulfillment we are wanting and that they say we are going to find. So what should we do? I have found a way that does work and that does give a full answer, and that does give access to the inner kingdom that religious teachers and philosophers have shared about. It has been called The Way, or The Tao, (ANSWER continues on page 10)