By colleen-Joy Page

Mothers don’t always know which of the things they say will be the ones that shape their children’s destinies. One night I asked my mother how I could tell the difference between what was true and what was not, how I would know what was make-believe and what was not. Her answer became a core philosophy that I would rediscover over 20 years later and with it, I would weave the cornerstone of my work and teaching. It was a gem of insight that would save my life, transform my world and bring me two of the greatest treasures, wisdom and peace.

She told me, “You know because something inside you tells you the difference. You can feel it inside you. It’s like a voice from inside.”

As a young child, I had an obsession with trying to work out the difference between what was true and what was not true. It bothered me almost constantly and often brought me to tears. It was a strange obsession for a young child to have, but one that was triggered by my facing death at an early age. After dying twice on an operating table whilst having a tumour removed from behind my right eye at age 4, I simply couldn’t rest until I found a sense of meaning in life that felt solid enough to hold in my heart. I would not accept surrogate truths. Images of tunnels of light haunted me after my death experience, and an inexplicable feeling of being homesick for a place that my body couldn’t go to, but to where my heart wanted to fly. My child mind called it “home”. So, I, like many of us, went looking for authentic spirituality.

Could I simply rely on what others said was true, or was there a better way to sift for truth, amongst the overwhelming array of offerings on the table of life’s belief systems. I knew that I didn’t want to gamble with my beliefs. There were so many religions and ideas about spirituality, how could I be sure that the one I decided to back was a sure bet? Could I trust that my parents and the culture that I was born into had chosen the true path? What if someone else, in another culture was right and the people I loved wrong? What if the truth was out there still undiscovered? On the bigger scale people went to war over trying to be right about their choice of spiritual paths. In our own playgrounds, even children segregate based on belief systems. These were the thoughts that plagued my young mind.

How much of what you believe in has been handed to you from your childhood? Of your beliefs, what do you know for sure?

In a world of choices, we often face information overload.

How can you sort truth from distortion, authenticity from plastic, soul from ego?

In a search for meaning, purpose and truth, people often begin a life journey of searching for authentic spirituality. Naturally then, they also seek to find authentically spiritual people as a source for what they crave. Sadly, many find disappointment and disillusionment because in the very spaces they expect to find authentic spirituality, they often find its opposite – ego.

Here are 6 keys to finding authentic spirituality

1. Just because it looks spiritual doesn’t mean that it is?

Flowing robes, dogma, tradition, incense, tofu lunches or sandals do not make authentic spirituality. Don’t presume that it must look spiritual to be spiritual. Some things that have spiritually stereotypical packaging promote dogmas and inhibit personal spiritual strength.  Look deeper than the packaging. Some packages do have authentically spiritual content but don’t assume based on the packaging. Enlightened minds walk amongst us. There may not be that many, but most look like ordinary folks.

2. Being authentically spiritual has nothing to do with your mind, and everything to do with your heart.

The place you can find authentic spirituality is in the heart. So look for the heart of the person. Look for the radiance in their eyes, the compassion, the peace even when moved to be assertive, the lightness of being, the humanness filled with presence, the love and the humour. These are all signs of authentic spirituality. Spiritual knowledge does not equate to authentic spirituality, knowing about the semantics of enlightenment and consciousness does not make someone’s mind enlightened, it makes them knowledgeable.

Which feels more authentically spiritual a) or b) to you?

1. 1. A lady who wears flowing clothes teaches enlightenment and is a vegetarian. She can tell you what her aura looks like, what her numerology and astrological charts contain, she has been to many workshops and read many books, can easily talk about theories and different beliefs. But she battles to laugh, doesn’t feel confident, is judgemental of people who don’t share her beliefs, has little compassion, radiates superiority, has a trail of broken relationships and bad business deals behind her.
   2. A farmer who knows nothing about enlightenment but he feels connected to the land is moved by sunsets, has compassion, works honestly, has inner peace and feels love. He can tell simple stories that move people to deep insights and even though he has little education, he carries a simple wisdom about him that touches others with his presence.

It’s all in the heart. An authentically spiritual person carries their authenticity

in their hearts. They are honest with themselves and true to themselves. They carry their truth not as a belief system filled with semantics and rules, but as an inner knowing, a fullness, a presence that radiates subtle presence wherever they go.

Not all enlightened minds are teachers. Many are not. Only a soul that is designed to teach, when enlightened would be effective at teaching enlightenment. Just because the mind is enlightened, does not mean that there is “anyone” to claim enlightenment. Authentic spirituality, when it completed its path, empties the mind from all concepts of a person to whom enlightenment happens. This ironically is enlightenment. The verb. What is seen, is that we are not the mind. We are whole, complete and ordinary awareness. Nondual presence. When this knowledge is assimilated in the mind, enlightenment as happened, and can continue to deepen in the mind. Like cleaning a window to see the truth, we see that there is no person, only existence. This knowledge is embodied and lived. This is the ultimate result of authentic spirituality.  

3. Authentic spirituality is sourced internally not externally

Authentic spirituality is lived; it is sourced from your inner being. It may have been catalysed by external knowledge systems, but it is drawn and made real from your inner well of knowing. It fills you from the inside, is whole and brings peace.

Even being intuitive is not a sign of enlightenment or spirituality. A person can have a heightened intuitive skill and align it to their soul’s wisdom or to their fear-based ego. The internal source of your authentic spirituality is the wisdom of your heart.

4. Authentic spirituality is not fear-based and does not seek power over others

Authentic spirituality doesn’t need to be right, doesn’t try to prove anything, doesn’t need followers, and has true respect for others with different opinions and realities. It does not breed fear and is not based on fear-filled ideas. It promotes and cultivates peace.

An authentically spiritual teacher isn’t afraid to be questioned, be wrong or look foolish. They are teachers who hold that they are equal to their students and respect them. An authentically spiritual teacher shares from the heart and is comfortable with vulnerability. Does not seek to dominate, control or overpower, but rather promotes independent thought and enlightenment.

5. Know the difference between the inner voice of fear or ego and the inner voice of truth

With many internal voices/sources of knowledge, it can be tricky to discern the difference between the thoughts that are sourced from ego, fear and from your inner connection to truth. Therefore, it is helpful for spiritual seekers to become emotionally aware. Being more in tune with your body’s feelings allows you to sense when your body is in fear or not. If you feel fear, then it is likely that the thoughts running through your mind are sourced in fear. A peaceful body is a sign of being tuned into truth.

6. Spirituality is not something to do, it is something that you are

Authentic spirituality is not about doing, it is everything about being. If you are being your authentic-self then you are automatically being authentically spiritual, because your authentic self is soul! Doing spiritual things will not bring you enlightenment. Integrating who you really are (self-knowledge) from the core of your heart, freeing yourself from fear and teaching your body to be equal to the truth that you are, is the key. Then all doing, all actions will flow naturally from your truth and be an expression of your authentic self.

All actions are spiritual, from paying taxes, to eating hamburgers, to meditating, to holding your sick child, to swearing in traffic, to listening to a grieving friend, to burning incense, to watching a horror movie, to crying over the painful ecstasy of being human.