Spiritual centers can be everywhere. Spiritual centers can be made of concrete and glass, carved into the landscape by nature, or in your mind. The bottom line is that spirituality, wellness, self improvement and other inspirational modalities can be found and nurtured anywhere you find them or decide that they work for you.
I remember going to Sedona and visiting the energy vortex’s. We were told that some vortexes were male energy centers and others were female ones. And sure enough, when our tour pulled up at a male energy vortex, our driver immediately got into a hassle with another driver, at which time she asked us whether we had pulled up to a male or female energy vortex area. The entire bus in unison shouted that it was a male one.
So yes, there can be certain places in the world that exude different forms of energy. But I believe that we also create our own energy and spiritual centers. It’s mostly about what we tell ourselves. Just as the placebo effect is very powerful, so is everything else we tell ourselves.
If I believe that a particular rock is a spiritual center for me, and choose to focus on that, then that’s what will be. If I make a part of my backyard, home, office, park or any other place a spiritual center, then that’s my spiritual center.
Internally, we have the same thing going on. I remember freaking my parents out in 1968 when I was meditating, burning candles and jasmine incense, listening to sitar music, with my black light on. Believe me, until they interrupted my rather peaceful moment, I was experiencing a definite spiritual center. And it was fantastic.
I can still recreate that sense of peace, serenity, and oneness. These days my wife and I go to the Bahia Temple to walk in their gardens, or walk on the beach, or even kick back in our backyard to reach my spiritual center. I can also lie down in bed and meditate to find my spiritual center. I’m able to do it anywhere because of what’s going on inside.
External influences such as people, finances, job, mood, relationships, innate maladies, bad decisions I feel I have made, persistent memories, faults and other influences encourage me to stray from my spiritual center.
However, if I can remember that I can find my spiritual center any time, any place and under any circumstance, then I’ll be fine. ‘Fine’ is defined as remembering who I am, what I believe, not being unduly influenced by the moment, connected to nature, G-d, and humanity.