January 2 (From my winter volume, Seasons of The Soul)

THE COURAGEOUS PATH

There are many paths available for seeking the Light within. To start, you have to recognize that there is something precious within that is to be found, in spite of our culture’s pressure to keep us externally looking-wanting, yearning. You have to continually struggle against the social current, of course; people who go within are dangerous and unpredictable, so society distrusts, discourages, and often punishes them…

All genuine paths require courage: courage to buck the social tide, courage to see yourself as you really are, courage to take risks. Progress on any genuine path is a gift to us all, as well as a gain for yourself.

From Charles Tart and his book, Waking Up Cited in Meditations for The New Age

At the very beginning of any year or time in our lives if or when a change in some facet of your life is sincerely desired, then it will take courage; Courage is a foundational virtue and, as I see it, necessary for any worthwhile change to occur. To enter into that change in a meaningful way, requires a sufficient amount of courage to sustain it over the long run of your life. 

As I was taught by my most influential spiritual teacher, Oscar Ischazo, that fear is the anchor point of the ego, and in that action, courage is the linchpin or the release point that overcomes those fears. 

     Now, I can anticipate an objection that can rightly declare that “Perfect love casts out all fear.” While that is sublimely true, the love being spoken of in those words, requires a moral courage and an ethical strength. It centers itself on making a courageous choice. It is willingness to be a person who risks the cost of following their heart, and in accord with how the Spirit leads them, they truly become a genuine spiritual warrior.