If you seek the real Jesus,

look inside your heart.

He is nowhere else to be found.

By Kim Michaels

All spiritual teachers have been telling us that we don’t have to live our entire lives the way we were brought up, or programmed, to live. We don’t have to live a superficial life in an endless pursuit of material possessions, fame, career goals or other outer goals. We don’t have to confine our minds to what we were taught in school and Sunday school.

There is more to do with your life.
There is more to understand about life.
There is more to experience, and it isn’t reserved for the few.
It is something that all of us can have, if we are willing to learn how to get it. Experiencing a life that is more, that is spiritually abundant, is not a matter of magic, luck or fate. It is a matter of adopting the right approach to life, of learning a systematic procedure for expanding your awareness and of directing your attention inside yourself instead of always chasing some outer mirage.

How do you get started on this spiritual life? You must become a seeker of truth instead of a follower of doctrine. What does it take to become a seeker of truth? Consider the following question,

“If your present religious beliefs were incomplete or incorrect—would you want to know?”

If the answer is a clear “Yes,” you are already a seeker. If the answer is tentative, you might want to consider that you might be a seeker without realizing it.

Why have people always been dreaming about improving their personal lives and finding happiness and peace of mind? Why are we constantly trying to improve society? Isn’t it because somewhere deep within us we know there is more to life than what we experience right now?

Because we sense that there must be more to life, we are on a quest. We are engaged in an ongoing process of learning, a process of growth. What starts this process of growth, both on a personal level and in society as a whole? It all starts with a question, an unanswered question, and the burning desire to find an answer.

To grow or not to grow

We have two options in life: to grow or not to grow. Growth starts at a point of humility, namely the recognition that we don’t know everything, that there might be something we have not yet understood, that there might be more to life than what we have presently discovered. This recognition leads to the desire to understand more about life, a desire to discover the unknown, a longing to connect to something greater than ourselves. This longing, this willingness to learn and grow, is the hallmark of all spiritual seekers and all spiritual teachers.

The essence of growth is a willingness to look outside our present knowledge and beliefs, a readiness to think outside the box. In opposition to growth is an unwillingness to look at ideas that do not fit inside the mental box of our present knowledge and beliefs.

This reluctance to ask questions and seek answers can spring from pride or arrogance. We feel that we already know everything there is to know, everything that it is important to know or everything we are allowed to know. We feel that our present belief system can give us all the answers we need.

Opposition to growth can also spring from fear. The fear that if we look outside the box, we might discover ideas that make it necessary for us to reconsider, revise or even abandon our present beliefs. We fear losing our foundation, our sense of comfortability and security, even our sense of identity. We somehow fear that expanding our understanding and finding answers to our questions can be a threat to our present sense of who we are. And even if we are presently unhappy, we think a familiar unhappiness is better than the uncertainty associated with new ideas. We simply don’t dare to take the chance that if we go beyond our present beliefs, we might end up with nothing. We see new ideas as a threat rather than as an opportunity. We fear change and growth.

The seekers

Many people grow up learning only what allows them to fit into their social environment and adopt the lifestyle they were brought up to accept as their only option. After reaching adulthood, such people rarely think about new ideas or seek answers to deeper questions. Instead, they focus of the outer aspects of life and ignore or suppress all spiritual questions. They simply stop growing, both physically and spiritually.

Yet in every generation, a certain percentage of people cannot be satisfied with this form of life. They cannot stop thinking about the deeper, spiritual questions of life. They cannot stop thinking, and they cannot stop seeking answers. These people cannot stop growing spiritually, even when their bodies stop growing in size. They cannot be satisfied with the outer aspects of life. They want more, because deep within they know there must be more.

Such people become seekers. For them life becomes a process of continued growth towards a deeper and deeper understanding of the spiritual side of life. Sometimes the growth can seem slow, and it can even feel like you are getting nowhere. Yet suddenly a breakthrough can occur and you find a wealth of new ideas that instantly open up new horizons and make you feel alive and growing.

What does it take to become a seeker? Some have been seekers since childhood. Some are awakened by the realization that there are certain questions they simply have to have answered. Some are awakened by a personal crisis. Others are awakened by the maturity that comes with advancing years and changing priorities. Yet what is the single ingredient that propels a person from merely existing into the vibrant life of a spiritual seeker?

The motor of growth is love

When we grow, we are constantly changing, moving and transcending ourselves. We are willing to let go of our present state of consciousness, our present level of understanding, in the hope of finding something better.

When we are not growing, we stand still, stagnate or perhaps even shrink. We hold on to what we have and what we know. We see no opportunity in growth, but only a threat of losing what makes us feel comfortable.

Growth and anti-growth correspond to two emotions, namely love and fear. Fear is what makes us afraid to change, reluctant to let go of what is familiar and comfortable. Love is what makes us non-attached to what we have and willing to take a risk in order to attain something better.

Only love can propel you from a fear-based approach to life into the realm of the spiritual seeker. You must love something so much that you are willing to leave the certainty and comfort of what you have in order to find what you love.

For many seekers this love comes spontaneously, and they have little understanding of how it happens. Yet it is possible to consciously cultivate this love. This can often be done by examining your inner desires to find out which aspects of life give you the greatest joy. Discover your innermost love, your strongest curiosity and you will discover the key to your awakening as a spiritual seeker.

Do you love to learn new things, to feel that you suddenly understand something that was hazy before? Do you love beauty and sense that there must be an underlying beauty to the universe? Do you love knowledge and feel that life somehow must make sense? Do you love truth and feel that there must be a reality beyond the many man-made theories and belief systems? Do you love a spiritual being, such as Jesus or God, and feel a desire to be closer to them? Do you love something deep within yourself and feel that there must be more to your own being than the limited, mortal person you were brought up to be?

Discover your innermost love and curiosity, and then nourish it by giving it your attention. Study the topic from all angles, including outer spiritual or religious teachings. Contemplate spiritual ideas and allow a deeper part of your mind to give you answers as your conscious mind is ready.

So many people look at life through a filter of existing beliefs based on an outer belief system. As you allow your love and curiosity to help you look beyond such mental boxes, you will discover that you have the ability to find answers that make sense from a source inside yourself. You begin to realize that life is a journey of discovery and that all discovery is self-discovery.

Discover the real Jesus

So many people have been brought up with a rigid view of Jesus, and their relationship to him is boxed in by doctrines and rituals. Yet even the best doctrines and ritual are boxes that exist in this world. Today, Jesus is a spiritual being who resides in a higher realm. Therefore, no box in this world can contain and confine the real Jesus. He is more, much more, than any of the boxes, no matter how complete or infallible they claim to be.

So if you love Jesus, decide that you want to know the real Jesus and then have the courage to look beyond all of the doctrines and mental boxes. If you are willing, this website can show you many glimpses of the real Jesus and his true, spiritual teachings. Yet no outer teaching can ever give you the fullness of who Jesus is.

So please do not confine your search for the real Jesus to this website. Instead, use the tools on this site to go deeply within your heart and develop a personal, inner, intuitive relationship to Jesus. Allow Jesus to reveal his Presence to you, and let him do so the only place it could possibly happen, namely in your heart!

This website cannot show you the real Jesus. It can show you the way to discover the real Jesus, but you must walk that path on your own.

I am the open door, but you must walk through it.
Jesus