Earnestworker asked:


Several years ago, I decided to embark on the road of spititual enlightenment. Not satisfied with my life as it was nor at ease with the condition of society and very ill at ease about the global situation, I felt I had to at least do my part in making the world and my life better. Since I was already deeply interested in the study of world religions and personal development, my shift consisted mainly with devoting more time to those areas.

As I became more involved with the task of changing myself, a whole new world of information and pathways opened for me. It was very early i realized; “No easy job is this”. My first discovery was that I was more messed up than I had thought and that the causes were not as pointed as I had believed and the ability to make any changes would not be easy. I was familiar with the theories of “wounded inner child” “learned behaviors”, but the deep rooted, complex, habitual effects I was not prepared for.

I discovered we all live in a world that is designed (largely by accident) to put us in a state of sleep and keep us there beginning from birth. As my efforts to awaken and enliven my consciousness progressed, I found out that most of my inner resources needed to accomplish my mission were either damaged, or under/undeveloped themselves. How does one build a house without tools? The tools have to be constructed first. For the next few years my time was spent studying the writings of several different spiritual enlightenment systems. I extracted as much as possible from all of them, and noted any areas they had in common. Without realizing it at the time, my transformation had began.

There is a lot of information online to assist anyone that seriously wants to change their attitude and outlook. Although there are many systems available to facilitate change, some are not feasible for every individual. Personally, I found most to address issues from a similiar viewpoint and acknowledge basically the same solutions, the difference in programs was with the method advocated to bring about advancement. There are people that claim all one has to do is listen to some CD’s or visualize or some other one-step process. These things are just ONE part of a whole that must be practiced as a whole to gain real, lasting results. There are no quick fixes; you can’t jump the fence, you must come through the gate.

To be that loving, kind, consideration, at peace person we all want to be and that some of us “know” is buried somewhere inside of us requires diligent, hard work and a great deal of sacrifice. I studied and practiced using my intuition as my guide and realized an expansion of intellect, some shift of view, and a gain of confidence. After some time, I felt I had traveled as far as I possibly could on my own. It was time for a teacher.

So began the next on my journey to the gate. Once again, relying solely on intuition, I started my search. Schools are plentiful. But they all seemed to offer instruction aimed at one portion of the problem or another. My experience had shown me that in order to become whole, my fragmentations had to be reconciled with a system that could unite me physically, spiritually, and mentally. Buddhism, yoga, mysticism etc. only address one of the sides only. Meanwhile I knew my growth was pretty much at a standstill.

Finally, one evening, as fate would have it, I discovered two systems of instruction; either of them alone offering what I was looking for. They are Pathwork and Fourth Way. Fourth Way in particular I am excited about. It is the most complete system of instructions for the development of the individual as I have seen.

I am settled in now, and ready to begin the down and dirty work of self transformation. How far have I traveled in 8+ years? I have taken one step on my path. Am I discouraged or unhappy? No way; the journey is as exciting and rewarding as the destination and I know that I am spending my life as I should.