I think it’s obvious that there’s more than one way for human beings to grow and flourish. My firm conviction is that there are wonderful tools and perspectives offered by all of the world’s spiritual traditions, which can be helpful for different people at different times of their lives. The important point is to really learn to appreciate the differences among these practices so you can find what resonates with you personally and then go explore that with confidence.

To make an analogy, imagine if you were interested in exploring the arts instead of exploring spirituality. Comparing dance, painting, music, film, and so forth, wouldn’t it be ridiculous to argue that one of those fields is “more artistic” than the others? Instead, why not take it all in, appreciating and celebrating the amazing range of art that human beings can produce?

I’d make the same argument for spirituality. Someone like Ramana Maharshi was truly a virtuoso of pure consciousness, while Thich Naht Hanh was just as clearly a maestro of emptiness. Ama is just as much a paragon of open-heartedness as Geeta Iyengar was of the refinement of yogic postures. The fact that people can reach such heights in different areas of spirituality, to me, is clear confirmation that there’s no one-size-fits-all path. That means that rating their achievements against one another is nonsensical. Like the arts, spirituality is a wondrous and fascinating dimension of human experience that should be explored, celebrated, and enjoyed in all of its rich diversity.

What about ordinary people like you and me? We may not have as much raw talent as the virtuosos I just mentioned, but some of us will, by our nature, be drawn to appreciate certain forms of spirituality over others. We might find ourselves more drawn to questions about how consciousness and perception work, or to how we can create more love and intimacy in the world, or to how we can meld more completely into the energetic flow of life. In the same way, some people will resonate with Advaita and find that it really works for them, while others will respond more to Zen, yoga, qigong, or whatever. We will find that we have more talent and joy learning certain techniques over others.

Given this natural diversity, does it make any sense at all to debate which spiritual system is the single best one for everyone to follow? Why not focus instead on discovering where our own spiritual talents and inclinations lie, and then work to fully bring those innate gifts to fruition? Instead of conforming to someone else’s ideals or trying to convince people to conform to ours, why don’t we each discover for ourselves where our own path lies?

In the contemporary period we are very lucky to have access to so much information about so many different spiritual paths. In earlier times, spiritual explorers were oftentimes limited, stuck only being able to learn whatever happened to be taught at the local temple up the road. Fortunately, thanks to the internet and global travel, we now have access to a huge range of methods and techniques. It’s now entirely possible to customize your own spiritual path in a way that is optimal for who you are, focuses on what you’re interested in, and takes you where you want to go. 

It is most likely that when you first start out you won’t know what your spiritual orientation is, and you will have to explore a bit to find it. Maybe you get lucky and the first things you try will really rock your world. Much more likely, you’ll change tacks a few different times. Maybe you’ll try everything and decide that spirituality is not your thing after all. All of the above are okay. The point is you have to find out what works for you and then do your best to fully embody your own path.

This kind of DIY spirituality is not anything goes. Its intentions must be grounded in an authenticity that avoids self-aggrandizement. And, its practice must be founded on a solid base, or else the whole structure will be unsteady. The book will help you to get started designing your own customized suite of practices. The videos below are meant to supplement your exploration of the four threads. Enjoy!

(Excerpted, abridged, and edited from A Lamp Unto Yourself, pp. 155–61.)