How to Begin

[OtioseDodge]

Oh, and a very important note about the role of unconditional love in all of this, since my previous response was very philosophical. I've found that my path toward unconditional love has been very psychological. In other words, the role of intersubjectivity (putting yourself in other people's shoes) has been very important for me in letting go of anger, resentment, and other similar emotions, which block being able to love even the people who you'd think that you'd never be able to love. Think about a person who you really don't like, or even hate. This is probably related to their behavior toward you, other people important to you, or perhaps for a more broad reason. In any case, I've found that putting myself in other people's shoes makes me be able to empathize with them, and loving them comes naturally after that, since I feel compassion for the suffering that comes with treating others badly. Most people behave badly toward others as a result of their own past difficulties. Of course it may seem that certain people enjoy treating others badly, but I've found that most people who I know that seem to enjoy it are actually suffering unconsciously. They may be unhappy with another aspect of their lives which seems unconnected to the area where they're misbehaving, but is actually connected. Or they may repress their suffering so much that it can only manifest when they're sleeping, in the form of terrible nightmares, or it may manifest in physical illness which is the result of the tension that they carry in their bodies as a result of their unconscious suffering. So boning up on psychology may be useful. And to get more esoteric: it seems to me that when someone's behavior is not explainable as a result of past difficulties in their life, that the behavior may be rooted in past lives. Reincarnation, though it's often ridiculed by mainstream Western culture, has a lot more evidence going for it than Wikipedia or other mainstream sources would indicate. (General note: Wikipedia tends to be strongly biased against esoteric material.) If you're curious about reincarnation, look into the case of Arthur Flowerdew and the excavation of the Petra complex in Jordan; it's very well documented by mainstream sources. While the evidence isn't scientific, it's pretty compelling. The Christians believed in reincarnation until it was "struck from the record" at the Council of Ephesus (or maybe Nicea?). There may also be other negative influences in someone's life which cause them to behave in negative ways; negative spiritual energies, which I've found to be the likely culprits as a result of my meditation practice. But that may be difficult for you to accept right now, given that you're a beginner. Oh, and if you're still confused about what I said about the non-existence of self, look into the works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, who explains it in a very down-to-earth, non-dogmatic way. If you're more into heavy-duty philosophical analysis, look into Nagarjuna, a Buddhist philosopher. You can just skip over the dogmatic religious stuff in his work; I've found that his analytic approach is pure gold. :)

[Lucyan28]

Perhaps you've started many incarnations ago ;)

The first place to start in the spiritual journey is knowing yourself.

Find your inner voice (intuition, mind, spirit) it will provide you immense knowledge and wisdom.