"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." - Alice Walker

Why do you suppose so much energy and time is spent on convincing others that one’s particular beliefs are valid?

Why do we care what others think of our beliefs? Can and should any one person define the beliefs of others? Can any one person hold up a spiritual experience and claim that this should be the accepted norm for all?

Have you ever heard a Bushman/American native/Australian aborigine/etc trying to convince the world that their belief is the only way? Of course not, they simply incorporate their spiritual beliefs into their everyday lives in such a way that there is an unbroken flow of spiritual rhythm, and do not give a hoot whether or not outsiders find their spirituality genuine.

This same matter of fact acceptance can be found in many lesser-known beliefs around the world. They are considered lesser-known only because they have neither need nor desire to seek out the approval of others. And the reson is simple: they know that beliefs are very much a personal quest and not need not the empowerment of peers or the rest of the world.

They fully comprehend that each of us is responsible for our own spiritual awakening and growth, and that mistakes will be made – it is, however, what we learn from our mistakes and how we proceed from that lesson to the next that marks personal development.

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly." - Henri Bergson