Explorers throughout time have opened up the wonders of this beautiful planet, and taken us to the stars. As individuals we may not have the opportunity to make such exciting discoveries, but we also love to travel and experience new places.

However, we expect too much of these adventures. We hope they will change our relationship with life and with ourselves. And yet, too often we find that we bring along with us the very problems and feelings of discontent we had hoped to leave behind. Even Apollo astronaut Stuart Roosa once said, “Space changes nobody. You bring back from space what you bring into space.”

But there is one journey that does bring us the change we want. It is the greatest journey of all.

This journey doesn’t take us outward into earthly realms. It’s the journey inward, into the deepest part of ourselves, and back to our very source. It’s the journey that reconnects us to the origin of our own being.

Not only does this journey put our own lives in a timeless perspective, but it brings us to unity within ourselves, and with all things. The discovery of our true nature shows us the true nature of all things, of which we are a part. Once our inner home is found, there’s no more loneliness, no more resistance to life’s events, and no more enemies. There is understanding that lifts us above life’s difficulties and helps us meet them in a whole new way.

Throughout the ages individuals have told of this return to wholeness. It’s really the basis of every spiritual and religious teaching. Here are just a few examples…

Whoever sees all beings in the soul and the soul in all beings…
What delusion or sorrow is there for one who sees unity?
It has filled all. It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable…
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
It organizes objects throughout eternity.
— Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

Greater than all the joys
Of heaven and earth,
Greater still than dominion
Over all the worlds,
Is the joy of reaching the stream.
— Gautama Buddha (564 B.C.)

If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
— New Testament

We have borrowed these clothes,
these time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise,
we are pouring them back in.
— Jalal Al Din Rumi (1207)

It is the central urge in every atom, to return to its divine source and origin.
— Walt Whitman (1819)

God dwells in you, as you, and you don’t have to “do” anything to be God-realized or Self-realized, it is already your true and natural state. Just drop all seeking, turn your attention inward, and sacrifice your mind to the One Self radiating in the Heart of your very being. For this to be your own presently lived experience, Self-Inquiry is the one direct and immediate way.
— Ramana Maharshi (1879)

A Practical Guide to Life’s Greatest Journey

Making the inward journey home should be the most natural thing for a human being, but it seems to have become more difficult. Instead of gathering ourselves inward, we see that people have just become more and more scattered.

For close to forty years, OneJourney founder Guy Finley has been providing practical wisdom for those wishing to take the journey. Here is a quote from Guy that may help light your way back home, even in a difficult moment…

No gulf exists between your life and God’s life, except for your awareness of yourself. No time, no space exists between you and God’s life. Only the level of awareness from which you live determines whether you understand this unity or not.
— Guy Finley (1949)

Can you share with us a quote from your own tradition that tells of the joys of returning to our inner home, and gives insight into how to reach it? Please click here to submit it to the OneJourney Living Book. We really are all seeking the same inner home, and always have been. Seeing that others share in the same truth helps us have faith that there is an invisible cosmic curriculum that will see to our success, if we will do our part.

Best wishes,

Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project