There is no inner and outer in Reality; it is merely a product of dualistic thinking. You see day and night, male and female, so there must be inner and outer. The mind will divide even an atom... with devastating results, as we know... why not inner and outer; there must be... but inner and outer of what? What really is inner and what really outer? Where's the middle, the divide, the separation? Yes, you guessed it, it's our old friend the ego-"I" again and since there is no ego-self... you guessed it, again, no inner or outer.

Being outside is an escape from your inner world; being inside is an escape from your outer world. Whichever one you lean toward and practice, something is being missed obviously. True spiritual practice is not closing your eyes and attempting to withdraw from outer reality. True spiritual practice is not being beguiled and fascinated by the outer world and distracted from the inner world. True spiritual practice is being one with Reality itself and Reality is not divisible and not two.

Once the motivation, the reaction, the withdrawal and escape from Reality have been understood, along with the fundamental truth itself of this divine self-sourcing Reality in which nothing arises, nothing is divisible or separate or withdrawn or intimate in any way other than the indivisible, un-separate unity of Consciousness, you may approach Truth itself as Truth, Truth sees Truth, you see yourself, you and Truth are One.

Here in the twenty-first century we need to undergo a massive re-think. We must think past our habits, our assumptions, and our expectations. We must ask radical questions: is it really spiritual practice? Is it really spiritual at all? What is required? What is necessary for my psycho-spiritual unfolding to take place? What is Love? What is true wisdom? And what is Truth?

Amid the untruths, the manipulations, the indoctrinations, and the dogmas and lies we need to shed sentiment, confusion, and habitual thinking and directly apprehend, discern and discriminate. We are a long way past settling for half-truths, misconceptions, and downright lies. People not thinking for themselves and the masses allowing themselves to be blindly led is how the world has wound up in the present state of irresponsibility and ignorance. It  is wonderfully in our power to put an end to conflict, poverty,  and suffering of all kinds if we start within and work as responsible human beings to dispel the darkness and the ignorance within ourselves! This is paramount; this is vital. You and I are the world, the world of manifestation as you see it, witness it, and interact with it. Inside you I defy you, I challenge you, to witness all the glories and all the ills of the world about you.

This is not withdrawal from the world or a division of inner from outer. On the contrary, it is understanding and practicing the two perceived arenas of inner and outer as one and directly apprehending the truth that there is no separation, not two. As you kill and maim and create orphans and disenfranchised beings in your inner world, so the outside world does the same, because it is the same.

Richard Harvey is a psycho-spiritual psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and author. He is the founder of The Center for Human Awakening and has developed a form of depth-psychotherapy called Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) that proposes a 3-stage model of human awakening. Richard can be reached at [email protected].

Blog entry #183