A friend told me once that we don't need to re-invent the wheel. We take the known and we add; we advance. We don't need to start at ground zero every time someone wants to tweak the basic design of the cart.
Following a spiritual path isn't precisely the same as scientific invention, but a thousand thousand great thinkers have gone before me and given their lifetimes over to contemplating the nature of reality and the path to enlightenment.
I am not starting at ground zero, and yet, the path I am following feels new and untrodden. I've realized that my life, the time we live in, is different in so many ways to that which has gone before.
I delved into Buddhism and love the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the time given over to meditation, but the further I went down that path, the more rules seemed to be building up; rules that felt wrong and restrictive.
I moved on to Carl Jung. I loved the concept of synchronicity. I explored the Collective Unconscious and have committed fully to the practice of dreamwork and shamanism.
I learned about the shadow self and have begun the process of trying to open and accept the dark, rejected parts of me. I want to open myself to that inner darkness and expose it to the light. I don't need to live in shame or fear. I want to accept myself fully as the flawed being that I am.
That's where my love affair with Carl Jung ended. His concepts of gender roles and gender constructs felt dated and oppressive.
I took what I needed from Jung and can leave the rest.
I've come to realize that we all walk our own path. We need to carve out our own truths, but we don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Find what resonates with you; a little here; a lot from this tradition; a smidge from this philosophy. Leave the rest.
We're all on our own path of discovery; I hope you enjoy yours as much as I am learning to enjoy mine.