The Danger of Oversimplifying Spiritual Teachings

Spirituality is so simple and yet should not over-simplified and thus misunderstood. So frequently we tend to oversimplify these spiritual teachings. We pull that which we want to hear, that which we are willing to implement and live by, that which validates the path we are already living or provides a simple easy tweak that will make us feel spiritual or awakened…..

I love to teach by story-telling so enjoy this story of a young seeker who THOUGHT he understood when his guru told him that everything is God and there is nothing but God; however, as it turns out he had over-simplified the teaching a bit and didn’t really quite get it…..you’ll have to listen to the story to hear what happens to him!

Spiritual teachings, while on the one hand they are SO simple because they are speaking to the simple, fundamental Truth of who we are and what our relationship is to this exquisite universe, on the other hand they are so deep and require us to understand them in context. I see so frequently people pulling a line, a phrase, a story out of complex and deep spiritual wisdom and simply co-opting that idea to justify their own way of living.

These days we so deeply need our spiritual wisdom to guide us and show us the path. Take it in its fullness and let it really transform you, rather than taking it in bits and pieces that can end up causing more harm than good….