are most of you self-taught..or did you find a mentor?

[w8liftinglady]

i have a hard time interpreting a lot of what i read...maybe because i have been in a science field for so long...does it help to find someone to direct you ...or have you found they tend to lead you in their direction?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. My Mother

Family Astrologist, Tarot Reader and part time Psychic. :)

She gave me the 'Cheat Sheet' she compiled years ago for tarot cards, I still use it today.

[jbnow]

2. I was a chem major

and felt logic was my one sure virtue. Logic changed. But maybe that's what you mean about being science minded.

There is a saying that when you are ready the teacher will come...I find that true. But the teacher might not be an outer mentor or it might be for a while. For me it was very internal. I wrote a lot because I felt drawn to and was often surprised looking back at what I wrote. It might be to overcome my logic, my natural doubt, that I would often write something before I would read or experience it and experience it before I read about it or heard about it from elsewhere.
Because had it come in the other order, if I read about something and then had the experience I'd have thought I had tricked myself into it.

I even used words I was more comfortable with on whatever the quest was. As things unfolded I called the changes or the flow things like "Truth" or "This Energy" or "it". I think I'd have been stifled had I used words I eventually came to understand were synonyms of the words I used, words like Spirit, God or metaphysical kinds of terms. I WROTE those words at times early on, but that was my hand. I didn't think through as I was writing, I just wrote.

The guides came...by chance. I'd be drawn to a book (or to put down a book) or to a place or to a person. A stranger might say something as I was thinking on the subject. The universe cooperates. I went for a year or two thinking "What a coincidence, yet another odd coincidence in a long complex series of coincidences" Other people were noticing them in my life before I was, I laughed them off. "What do you think, it's magic?" They did and they could feel uncomfortable.

As I started to see more of what this was I sometimes ached for a "mentor". Sometimes a person would have a powerful impact, but they were not my a lasting mentor. But I honestly think this is a time when the energies are strong, we are coming into ourselves and we find the center within. A "More than us" us.

I found those who wanted to be my teacher did want to lead me in their direction, did want me...to believe their way. As much as I wanted a guide I wasn't tempted.

I'm not answering well. This is what I'd say. Each path will vary, but first "Know thyself". There might be outside triggers or things that draw you but getting through our own layers is where we find the light, hear that still small (or loud, bossy) voice. When we get out of our own way our way is found, if a step at a time. A teacher will not be able to mislead you if you are open to a sense of truth. I have seen some really smart, searching people who did get caught up in a teacher or leader or whatever they called him.

But pearls of truth can be found everywhere. If you're drawn to a book read it. If you feel to put it down do that. Open to yourself and do what draws you. You might write, commune with nature, do yoga, see a movie, you can find it in a novel, a talk with a stranger, comments of a child, on a radio or TV station you turn on. It is everywhere, but mostly in you.

Sometimes a good start is before you go to sleep, invite spirit or truth to commune with you. We are less resistant in our sleep. Keep your eyes open, look for your own center and observe as you experience.

Does this sound like more of the crap that doesn't make any sense? Sorry. It's late...I know what I mean, but not how to say it well.

And maybe you aren't even talking about spiritual path. Maybe you mean astrology? That's easier. Self taught with mentors along the way now and then. I started looking at that much later and even then it was because someone startled me with it and I wanted to disprove it to myself. I kept testing it...
An intriguing art that says something intriguing about our agreement in coming here.

[Mist]

3. Good mentors are hard to find (or maybe it's just me; I have a lot of

"trust issues.") Having said that, I've found a couple of people over the years who ran classes in basic pagan/Wiccan knowledge, and have also gone to the sort of casual "learning groups" that are sometimes featured in metaphysical stores. A Sunday afternoon may be given over to Tarot readings or runes, or whatever. There's so much out there in books, but even there you have to be careful; not all writers really know their subjects. Llewellyn used to be a trusted publisher, but the last 10 years or so, they've let a lot of chaff in with the wheat. I did some early study with a Wiccan priestess who had collected a terrific collection of writings, and presented them in notebook form, for which she charged a modest fee. I still refer to her collected notes (which were not her own writings, but collected from various sources). However, she was, personally, a bit of a mess. She could talk the talk, but not walk the walk. We ended by parting over, of all things, politics. It was 1992 and I worked for several months for the Clinton/Gore campaign, and she was a Perot supporter! Anyway, I've done okay by collecting a decent library of pagan/Wiccan books, and attending classes occasionally.

[I Have A Dream]

4. I pretty much have just gone where my heart led me.

I have certain teachers that I follow, but I never accept something just because they say it. I follow them as long as I am still able to stay on my path. I do feel that they lead you in their direction because they feel that their direction is correct, and they want you to go towards the truth. However, you may find that you disagree with their assessment of what truth is.

By the way, I'm a computer programmer with a degree in Computer Science. :hi:

[DemExpat]

5. I have developed my intuition, spirituality, sensing of soul's purpose,

through my own learning and from my experiences of the pregnancies, childbirths and nurturing of my 2 children.

My holistic-minded psychiatrist pointed me in the right direction to Astrology and reincarnation, and I must say that my favorite learning books for these and other topics enjoyed in this Group were books that I encountered in bookstores and libraries by feeling strongly compelled to walk straight over to a particular bookshelf and reach out for a certain book! Definitely guided!

Trying to remain open, brutally honest, and searching for my truth has been my basic path this lifetime.

Even though I have always been intuitive and a ('overly' sensitive) feeling person, I also enjoy scientific topics and value the development of rational thinking and logic. Next year I graduate with my belated University degree in Social Sciences majoring in Human Geography and Politics :-), and I have greatly enjoyed the process of using these functions of my brain, although it hasn't been particularly easy at my age!
I turned my back on the practice of organized religions at age 17 after being very interested in them as a child and young adult.

To answer your question then - I never actively sought a mentor or teacher, but several people who have come into my life have been great teachers (not formally, but by example or by pointing me in a certain direction)......while hidden forces have guided me to books and activities to help me along.

DemEx

[w8liftinglady]

6. These are great answers...

I am trying to understand my newly discovered intuitive side,and sometimes wish I had someone to "guide" me into understanding it better...

[I Have A Dream]

7. Have you asked the beings that work with you for your highest good...

to guide you or to help you to find what your next step should be, w8liftinglady?

One thing that I can say is that this forum has helped me immensely. I had already found my spiritual path by the time that I found this forum, but, by coming here every day and getting support from people here, I felt more inclined to stay on my path and stay focused. I also feel that the Universe spoke to me through members of this forum even if they were not aware of this personal message to me. (i.e., they would respond to something, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.)

Good luck!

[cassiepriam]

8. You might want to use this forum as a mentorship of sorts.....

That is what it has been for me. This is a great place to think, reflect, and discuss spiritual and psychic issues. I have learned a great deal. I would suggest you just keep jumping in, it feels a bit risky at first but gets easier!

I too come from a scientific background and this forum has been very accepting of me as I think about things in both a left and right brain way. Not many places are comfortable with how my brain works! But one of my soul missions is to integrate those two parts of me, and this forum has been very nice about it!

They have also been kind enough to let me do karmic readings, and to use a few other small gifts I think I might have.

Also I have read very extensively, whether I understand it totally or not, I just keep reading. After a while it all comes together in a unified way. When it does that, you get much better at identifying what seems meaningful and what is not.

Might I ask what you are reading and struggling with? Maybe we could all discuss it.

Good luck to you on your journey, it is quite a ride!

[peacebuzzard]

9. I grew up in Brazil where spiritualism is more main stream and integrated

into daily life.
My grandmother was a spiritualist.
Many people I knew and had ample interactions with were spiritualists as well.
I tend to think of it is a natural progression of Catholicism as well as other deviations into Zen meditations. I do not think there are well defined boundaries of this, just different interpretations.

[rumpel]

10. Since early childhood...

what I perceived as normal - was not a mainstream matter - I learned to shut up.

Later, I found people among my friends, who did not feel spooked, and in fact, some studied the paranormal. This gave me the ok to check into it further.
As an example, at 18, when I started practicing Yoga, I had to omit the meditation part, as animal spirits surrounded me with all their noises and I instinctively put myself into an imaginary protective bubble.
That really spooked me, too. I was not sure what to make of this and did ask the teacher. He told me, that I am like his wife - we have an antenna, but not to worry.
I have had difficulty overcoming this meditation obstacle maybe even lasting to date.

Now, many years later, I am a little more informed, witnessed and experienced quite extraordinary things along the way, not by choice, but I have no formal training in any of this.

As for your science background - I come from a family of academics. With me, my path was always trying to research and figure out what I knew to be true, experiences and phenomena, ever so elusive in it's explanations. Many years, I in fact, had made a deliberate effort not to experience any phenomena, and only in the past 10 years or so, I stopped denying.

Maybe "Infinite Mind" by Valerie Hunt, PhD - will give some scientific validity. I had many "ah" moments reading her book. Also you may find the book the "The Quantum and the Lotus" by Matthieu Ricard & Trinh Xuan Thuan interesting. But it is through the collective wealth of wisdom in various books, including biographies of native peoples, Buddhists and many discussions here at DU that I think I am starting to get the grasp or an overall picture perhaps.

[seabeyond]

11. some charcters may need a guide, others may oppose the guide.

always know though, it is within yourself. and any guide that tells yout o listen to them, and not self,.... be wary

the first person that connected with me, when i was experiencing the beginning of other dimensions was always there for me to talk to, real knowledgable and always concluded i knew. trust in me

[leanin_green]

12. Self-taught and reremembering.

In my journey for understanding I have essentially gone it alone. There have been teachers along the path, but only to lead me to the doors of my own understanding and knowledge. This is what is known as reremembering. Bring forth knowledge from prior lifetimes. Digging for the wealth that is buried deep within all of us. It is what the pictographs dipict when you see the spirial. That is the symbol for the journey within. Oftentimes, right next to the spiral pictograph, there is seen the symbol of the maze. Square shaped and spiraling outward. This is the symbol of the journey back out after the adept has touch the face of his/her god-self. Because, how many of us find it difficult to manuver in this world once we have found our essential truth? It is like a maze and difficult to decipher.

In truth, we are all alone in this conquest for knowledge. There are helpers along the way and the spirit of Creation underpins all of our journeys. It is essentially the human endeavor to go it alone. To not be part of a group or planetary consciousness. It is reflected in the very make-up of our planet. Rich diversity and wonderous individual systems contained within one great planetary system. This is the human experience and it is unique to all others in the universe. It is through this aloneness that we must come to the understanding that we are not alone and that we do not struggle in vain. When we open to this knowledge then the miracle that is creation can lead us into an ever richer expression of existence.