The Internal Compass

“If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.” -Padmasambhava

Many people today are hungry to change their lives and the world, live better, do something that is meaningful, but you will hear the same frustrated mantra from so many people, “I just don’t know what to do.” Finding our way in the world (externally and internally) is not just a normal challenge, it is a test. It is a spiritual test to see if you have the resolve, skill, patience and energy to overcome the challenge. If you don’t, the challenge will be repeatedly presented to you until you overcome it or you come to the end of your life. Challenges are presented in order to make you grow into those skills you are lacking. Once you overcome the challenge you will have grown and the next challenge will present itself. What many people can’t seem to identify in this process is, that it is a process, in order to grow spiritually you need to overcome the challenges presented to you. Many people seem, mistakenly, to believe that growing in terms of ordinary life experiences (career, relationships, arts and skills) is not spiritual growth. In reality, each of these things is a stepping stone to higher levels of development. We are not just speaking of knowledge and skills because even very immature and immoral people can attain high levels of learning. This is also not intended to spiritualize those who dominate and subdue others through belligerent business practices; many such people are not following their true calling, they are simply playing along with our current manipulative and psychotic culture as expressed through our society’s twisted economic system. What we are speaking of here is the ability to learn how to overcome the internal conflicts which can stop one from progressing on the path of their true potentiality.

One of the first challenges in this process of unfolding one’s potential abilities is to overcome confusion and listlessness. To become decisive and take some action, even if it’s a mistake, is to learn and move forward – at such a point the person has grown. But how is one to take an action in the first place? The needle of the “internal compass” seems to point in two directions; toward what we are attracted to, like or enjoy and away from things that are boring to us, useless, life killing. Many times, especially in regard to hobbies, a person doesn’t need to try to figure out how they are going to do some particular activity, it is almost as if nothing can stand in their way. This is exactly how we should guide ourselves in life, by going toward those things that fill us with energy and excitement, not running away from what we don’t like.

One early crux in this process of discovering one’s personal path is finding a way to make a living in the world that is in line with not only one’s interests but one’s values. This is a test that most people struggle with their whole lives. Some people, while seemingly successful in terms of our current wealth based culture fail the test from the very beginning by engaging in vocations which they know in their heart is the wrong path for them but is the safe bet to get by with in this society. If one has begun to awaken to the path of spirit they have already realized that playing along with a corrupt and evil social structure is not the correct path – the compass points away.

If we only follow the compass of what we are attracted toward we can still get lost. The internal compass is complex and needs a map to work with. Part of a map is the intention of the user, where does the map user want to go, what are the goals and destinations? One way of finding the right map and deciding on appropriate destinations is to use the mirror of relationship. In relationships (professional, friendship, intimate etc) we learn about ourselves and others and discover what is valuable and worth pursuing. Also, in relationship we see ourselves as we are, not as we would like to be. In the conflict between our imagined self and reality there are many opportunities for growth. Instead of looking for others faults we should see those faults and always be aware how the lesson of others faults apply to our own lives. In searching for our own faults we begin to draw out the map of where we are willing to go and not go and begin to see distant goals toward which we can chart a course.

The problem is that we can still chart a course to the wrong destination and realize after many years that we have been going the wrong direction the whole time. One way to avoid this is to find the right map with a pre-charted course; usually we find such maps through teachers, mentors, masters, gurus and so on. We have to use our internal compass to know if they are the right teacher for us. With the right mentor/teacher we can save ourselves years of wandering in circles. But with the wrong teacher one is better off to walk their path alone – this is why the internal compass is so important. If one is talented and motivated they can go far on their own, but no one can go as far as they could go unless they are mentored and coached along their path. Everyone intuitively knows that those at the highest levels of academics, athletics, medicine, philosophy and spiritual practice have had teachers/mentors who helped bring out latent potentiality. That is, our compass needs calibration and an accurate map to work with otherwise it will not take us where we want to go.

Our compass will always work, pointing toward what we are interested in and away from what we don’t like. But the compass cannot take us where we want to go, we have to be resolved and stay motivated to actually take the actions on a daily bases to reach our goals. There is nothing more motivating than feeling like one is on a mission toward doing what is right and bringing good into the world. In fact, the mission of one’s life helps define the destination on one’s map. The mission helps motivate us to overcome the obstacles in our way because we have a goal that is bigger than ourselves.

We return to the question, “what is one to do in the world?” The first thing you are to do is find your path, your mission and then find mentors who can show you a map of how to get to where you want to go. Constantly aware of your internal compass and ever looking into the mirror of relationship you will slowly steer toward the path of awakening your true potential. To simply follow the approved paths of our current corrupt society is to go to sleep, comfortable in the idea that one is successful on the path that everyone else is on. To follow the path of your true self, not the ego self which is created out of experience with corrupt human society, is a struggle – it is a spiritual test. As an old Daoist saying goes:

“Life acquires meaning only when we face the conflict between our desires and reality.”