trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction.” It is this state of mind, he says, that produces tranquility.

if we can see the path ahead laid out for us, there is a good chance it is not our path; it is probably someone else’s we have substituted for our own. Our own path must be deciphered every step of the way.

we need to avoid an endless search mode, even on this side of Wilber’s map. Just as we won’t find our life purpose in the physical world—in the perfect job, place to live, mate, or role in life—we don’t want to use the search mode in the Land of Purposeful Paradoxes, either. That part of the universe is just as large and infinite as the physical re

Without guiding ideas, there is no passion, no overarching sense of direction or purpose. People ask, “Why are we doing this?”

When we do this, we’re beginning to scratch the surface of the essence of life. Mary Oliver, in her poem “The Summer Day,” asks “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”19 It’s a rich question, full of simplicity and complexity. Those that read it fall into two camps. The first camp is inspired. Oliver assumes that

“How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.”