Introduction

The purpose of this site is to provide a means of sharing some experience strength and hope with anyone interested in making some spiritual progress.

Tools and Skills

Most people learned how to ride a bicycle in childhood. Most people did not learn in one day. It took a few days or weeks of training wheels, help from parents, falls, scrapes and bruises to develop the basic ability to use this basic transportation tool. What once took all of our concentration - and often seemed like an impossible task - became second nature. The development of a skill to the point where conscious thought about the process is not necessary might be called "mastery".

We probably also remember some other tools that we attempted to use - an artist's paint and brushes, or musical instrument - and gave up on before developing even a basic level of skill. We may have thrown the tool down in frustration saying "this thing's no good!" or "this will never work" or "I can't do this", despite evidence that other people could use it and get the results they wanted.

This site can only provide descriptions of the tools and stories from people who have used them. You will need to pick up the tools and use them, sometimes through a period of frustration, to develop your own skill and hopefully, mastery.

Terms and Definitions

What is "Spiritual"? The term has several meanings in any good dictionary. For our purpose, we will think about two of them: the motivating force as in "a spirited horse", and the transcendent power or "spirit of the universe". An individual who brings these two together, connecting personal motivation with the ultimate power is undergoing "spiritual development".

"Religion" is an organized system that - ideally - should help individuals in their spiritual development.

See Wikipedia on Religious Experience.

Other "Toolkit" sites

This isn't the only place you can find "tools" for spiritual development:

http://www.naropa.edu/

http://www.esalen.org/

Here's another great site with a list of spiritual practices:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/