Book: Sceptical spirituality

Is there only one way to spiritual fulfilment, or are there many?

How to tell?

Clarity of mind! (artwork by the author).

Is there ‘only one way’ to spiritual liberation, or are there many paths, all of the same value and efficacy?

This is a massively interesting subject, and we can’t hope to do it justice in a short article like this. The best we can do right now is point out — for those who are interested — one or two of the key factors, which may help anyone who wants to move towards a certain clarity of mind.

So what are we talking about exactly?

We’re talking about the idea, as yet unclarified, that human beings, as they are normally constituted — meaning as they find themselves living their everyday lives — require the addition of some sort of ‘extra element’ to their makeup if they are to be truly fulfilled. Normal human beings don’t consider themselves perfect or whole or complete or fulfilled in their natural state; they normally feel as if something essential is missing, even if they are unsure as to what this missing element might be.

In other words, ‘normality’, for your everyday human being — that’s us — ‘feels’ oddly lacking in something, something relatively important — otherwise we could just disregard the experience of…