1. Become self-aware: You think, therefore you exist.
Learning the finer points of language helps with this process, because language is the key to programming your brain. What you take in through your five senses can be expressed in language, but not always. Taking in information through the five senses is only half the equation here, because the other half of the battle is being able to accurately describe it all. Being able to express your thoughts and feelings in a coherent manner, is part of the first step in becoming self-aware, because communication is a vital process. This includes communication with your SELF.
As an exercise to demonstrate this, get a pen and paper. Don't cheat with typing, it cheapens the experience. Write down a list of all of your beliefs. Closely held beliefs, things you take for granted, things you think might be true, whatever. Don't limit your list to just 10 or 100. Don't write about why you believe these things, just write them down first. When you think you're done, don't touch it. Put it away somewhere for a day, and then when you come back to it the next, read it out loud to yourself... And LISTEN to your own voice for the first time ever.
Does what you believe embarrass you? Pretend as if you were reading the list to a friend, strangers, a group of people. Whatever. Keep it on your list, but put a question-mark or something near it. Do not cross it off, yet.
Does it make sense? If not, try to sharpen the items on your list, by rewriting it. Take care to accurately describe your beliefs, while still not explaining WHY (yet) you believe these things. Why comes later.
Can you add or subtract items from your list? Add to, but never subtract. At least not yet. Don't spend too much time attempting to force things.
Do this every day for, oh... About a week.
2. Compare what you believe to reality, and other people's beliefs.
This part builds upon the list you made, and should be attempted perhaps a week from the time you first made it. Trying to do this all at once might be leading yourself into something prematurely, and you might come to the wrong conclusions. Babies, when learning how to speak, don't start doing so by reciting Shakespeare's plays. Some times the only factor is time. Give the list time to take form.
What do other people believe? Why do other people believe what they do? Take your list, and research each item. Perhaps another person has already accurately described what you believe to be true, and can help you fill out your list of beliefs with reasons for WHY you believe what you do. So, do that, while being careful not to be overly wordy or poetic. Accuracy sometimes requires a lot of words, but not always. Describing things in the simplest terms with the least amount of words possible. Poetic expression can be useful, but only as a supplement to the structure that forms, as a result of your attempt to describe why you believe what you do.
Again, when done, read it out loud to yourself. Refine and hone your list just as before.
3. Remove items from your list, as time goes by, that you might no longer believe are true.
The final step in this exercise is, in part, that of experience. Some of the best advice I ever got from my dad was to "learn from the mistakes of others", because "you don't need a broken leg to know it is going to hurt". Some people who wanted to live a more spiritual life, tried to radically alter the way they live, and in the process ruined their life and the lives of those around them. I remember reading a year ago about a woman who wanted to live on a diet of only sunshine. She died.
Some things are false no matter how much you believe them to be true. There are limits to the mantra of "mind over matter", because you are only human after all. Jumping off a cliff because you think your guardian angel is going to save you, is a bad idea. This doesn't mean you don't have one, or that angels don't exist at all, but the underlying principal is to bring your spirituality into focus.
Becoming self-aware is the first goal in spirituality, and I hope this 3-step process helps you on your journey.
Personally, I am a firm believer of biblical truths. People who are unfamiliar with the bible, think that it is merely a book of magic spells and spirits... Or something like that. Most of those people haven't actually read it for themselves. A lot of the material in the bible, is that of real interactions between individuals and groups, with very real consequences. Not all of it is bad, but a good portion of the bible is a reflection of the human condition, a testament to the failure of humanity on every level. With that systemic failure comes the hope of something better over the horizon, as we stumble around looking for answers.
I believe the answers can be found in the life and teachings of Jesus. I would encourage you, in your spiritual journey, to at least give the bible a try. Start anywhere you want, old testament or new, but among all of the holy books and writings on spirituality out there... The bible seems to be something transcendent. It changed me, and after 17 years of studying it, I believe it all the more.
