The longest journey is the journey inward.

—Dag Hammarskjöld

This final chapter contains a collection of tools for awakening to your life purpose and finding self-acceptance. They will help you make peace with the fact that life always contains some kind of discomfort, and therefore you will never feel 100 percent complete.

We encounter various situations and mental states from extreme hardship to total ecstasy. The way we relate to these varied scenarios can have a subtle yet significant impact on our lived experiences and senses of well-being. At one end of the spectrum,.. Read More

The longest journey is the journey inward.

—Dag Hammarskjöld

This final chapter contains a collection of tools for awakening to your life purpose and finding self-acceptance. They will help you make peace with the fact that life always contains some kind of discomfort, and therefore you will never feel 100 percent complete.

We encounter various situations and mental states from extreme hardship to total ecstasy. The way we relate to these varied scenarios can have a subtle yet significant impact on our lived experiences and senses of well-being. At one end of the spectrum, if we resist what life brings us, even small annoyances can feel intensely unpleasant, leading us to experience life’s inevitable bumps as suffering. Alternatively, if we learn to fully accept the reality of the present moment, we can alleviate and potentially transcend physical and emotional pain, perhaps even reaching a transcendent states of mind.

There are many reasons why we may take an interest in spiritual topics. Some of us come to spirituality after attaining material goals and finding our success unfulfilling. Others feel a nagging sense that there must be something more beyond the mundane world or seek a deeper meaning in everyday activities. Whatever our motivation, the tools in this chapter offer pathways to explore.

This, however, leads us into one of the trickiest conundrums encountered by spiritual seekers: The goal-oriented mind may latch onto the prospect of winning the spiritual game for example by getting to heaven or becoming Enlightened, which can entrench suffering rather than alleviating it. Some of the tools in this chapter (for example, Tool 6.7: Enlightenment Is Always Now and Tool 6.8: Beware of Spiritual Ego) address this experience.

Perhaps it’s natural that the pillar tool in this chapter is Meditation, a unique approach to  becoming present, quieting the mind, and exploring your mind and reality firsthand. Meditation, however, is not the only path to spiritual awareness. You will also find other tools that help you question and feel comfortable with your place in the universe and with your suffering, along with tools to help you discern what you can and cannot change about your life.

Although this chapter does touch on the concept of God, utilizing these tools does not depend on any specific religious perspective. They can be useful to atheists, along with people of all religions. Unlike the tools you’ll find in other chapters, many of those you’ll find here are intended to spark self-reflection and perhaps a new perspective on life as opposed to generating practical, technical applications. Let’s take a breath, clear the mind, and explore what the tools have to offer.