If all is one and one is all why do people invest so much time and energy in proving that it isn’t? Is it so difficult to accept that all is one, one is all and at the same time different?

I love people and I have a recently discovered a problem I have with feeling that I am not worthy/ lovable if not doing and saying everything I can to make people respond positively and feel good. I am worried about not being lovable to others (classic ‘people pleaser’) but fundamentally about not good enough to God and being judged for not doing absolutely everything I could. The words said in church growing up regarding asking for forgiveness of sins “in what I have done and in what I have failed to do” have always haunted me.

Have a perfectionist attitude to myself in most facets of life, spiritual, physical, psychological. I believe in the need to be as good and selfless as possible to be worthy and good enough for God. I guess I also believe we are loved regardless but how do you act in your own self interest and not in someone else’s best interest without having consciously sinned (for want of a better term). Fundamentally it seems to me to be selfish. I have only just realised this is how I think and act and I am very gentle with others, I only apply this logic to myself. I am worn down physically and emotionally and having quite a few problems due to living to serve others (which I kind of feel is everyone’s vocation). I realise that pushing myself to the limit of what is possible is not working so well but don’t know how it would be acceptable to do anything less. If it can be done or squeezed into my day how can I not do it? If I am only a bit tired, sick and stressed as a result then that does not feel like to great a sacrifice to make.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how to balance doing things for others and looking after yourself in the framework of this belief system of service to others and selflessness. I hear advice about it, but without taking into account spiritual and religious foundations I stay stuck in the above thoughts. It seems to require me changing my views on God which feels impossible as I will always fear the repercussions of acting differently.

I’ve been on a type of spiritual path since I turned about of 20. I say ‘type’ because it’s not particular to any traditional path and unique to who I am. I’m not ‘religious’ as I don’t believe in the structured form of religion. I believe in the divine in all. I do not believe in evil vs. good as these are human constructs. However, I am struggling with the ‘being’ is enough. This is very hard for me to fathom as I believe we all have a ‘divine path’ a need to share our spirit with the world, in the work we do. Why I am struggling with this is someone once gave me some advice that it’s not the ‘doing on earth’ that I should focus on – but the ‘being.’ I do this all the time through meditation but still have this intense need to ‘do.’ I have to move – in order to feel ‘right’ with myself. Then I started to think – maybe I have it wrong? Maybe I need to really just take more than the 30 minutes a day I use for meditation, quit my job and spend my time as a spiritual seeker through meditation all the time…

Anyway, I’m somewhat confused by the ‘be’ requirement of spiritual mastery. Maybe you can shed some enlightenment.

BTW: I’m also contemplating the whole ‘teacher’ idea – meaning do I need a ‘teacher’ at all in the physical sense? Is it possible to continue to read spiritual books on your own without the guidance of a physical person to give you guidance through meditation etc.