I read a story the other day about Ruth Denison and her husband. Ruth was a prominent Vipassana teacher, and her husband was a prominent spiritual seeker.

Ruth’s husband was a prominent seeker. He sought enlightenment all over the world. He traveled from country to country, from temple to temple, from teacher to teacher, from guru to guru, seeking and seeking. In the sixties, seventies, he knew all the spiritual guys, he was friends with everyone, he studied with everyone, he practiced with everyone. He sought his enlightenment in all of them. While he sought and sought and sought and sought, his wife, Ruth, was aware of herself. She rested in awareness of herself.

In whatever country he took her to on one of his seeking journeys, in whatever temple, whatever ashram, in the company of whatever Guru, she was aware of herself. She rested in awareness of herself.

She became a prominent teacher, she founded a Vipassana center. He sought and sought and sought, and then he died. He never found what he was looking for.

There are many paths to enlightenment and by God he tried them all! And at the summit of each path, what did he find? Whatever it was, it wasn’t himself.

There are many paths to enlightenment, and Ruth didn’t walk any of them. She sat with herself, she was aware of herself, she rested in awareness. And she found all she needed to find.