Principle 2: We believe in the indomitable power of the human spirit to ultimately triumph in the face of any dilemma; the answers we seek already exist within us. We invoke and exert the counselor and guru within.
Humanity is a race of survivors. The very fact that you are reading this is a testament to this truth. Humanity has overcome the most tragic hardships imaginable from prehistoric times right up to the present day, and yet, humanity endures. There is something special contained within our psyche that drives us forward in the face of adversity; that motivates us to push past defeat; and to triumph in the face of all odds. As a race, we faced and conquered beasts many times our size in the distant past, and in the not-so-distant past, we defeated tyrannical beasts of a different kind in two world wars. This human ability to overcome is one of several precious and beautiful characteristics that separates us from all currently known species.
The human spirit is unequalled in power, for nothing can defeat it. We literally have a powerhouse of energy within us that can be channeled into any endeavor just like a mighty river that is diverted with intent and action. Given time, nothing is out of reach for us.
Along with this great power comes great responsibility, and along with great responsibility comes intrinsic guidance in the form of conscience, an inherent knowing between what is right and what is wrong. And though some have chosen to ignore their conscience by inflicting pain on others either intentionally or thoughtlessly, the vast majority of humanity maintains their moral compass in the direction of “right.”
Fortunately, a moral compass is not the only compass we are born with; we also possess an existential compass that contains the answers we seek as well as the seeds of our own unique and individual purpose, but this compass is not nearly as instinctively apparent within our consciousness. In other words, deep down, we often feel the subtle and intuitive coaxing that shows us the way or hear that quiet inner voice giving us an answer, but we often repress or ignore it. It seems that this inner “knowing” is often just beyond the threshold of our conscious awareness but is there, nonetheless, as an undercurrent amidst our daily mind chatter. And then the day comes (due to the circumstances of the moment) when this knowing rises to the surface, so to speak, and becomes part of our conscious awareness; our Higher Self is finally able to establish a pathway to our conscious mind. We call these times “moments of clarity” or “epiphanies” and often realize that the answer was there all along, but we just didn’t see it.
The task at hand is to routinely embrace the quiet times of the day in reflective meditation; to let the atmosphere around us settle so that we can tune into that “inner voice” of guidance, our Higher Self. By so doing, we tap into the abundant resources intrinsic to our nature and eventually find the answers we seek. In this way, we “invoke” and “exert” our own inner guru. Given this intrinsic ability to be our own counselor, we do not put another person on a guru pedestal. It is fine to seek advice if necessary, but we make our own decisions rather than blindly following another person.
—Rev. Douglas R. Kelley, PhD, CH, CSL