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What a Guy Who Interviewed 500+ Spiritual Seekers Discovered

What a Guy Who Interviewed 500+ Spiritual Seekers Discovered

Last updated on: March 19, 2025 at 3:20 pm by Guest Contributor

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What a Guy Who Interviewed 500+ Spiritual Seekers Discovered 2025-03-19T15:20:14-06:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Podcast host Trey Downes talked to hundreds of spiritual seekers and began to wonder: How do you define spiritual success?

Welcome to the first-ever Wake Up Call guest column! The following blog post was written by one of my favorite spirituality podcast hosts, Trey Downes. He’s the force behind Your Superior Self, but to simply call it a spirituality podcast comes up short. Like me, Trey is looking under every rock to uncover the roots of consciousness and our spiritual nature. His podcasts include interviews with modern-day mystics, energy healers, alien contactees, and more. Take it away, Trey.

Trey Downes

What is spiritual success? I find myself asking this question more and more as I interview spiritual teachers. Running my podcast, Your Superior Self, has given me the opportunity to speak with over 500 individuals about their interpretations of life and spirituality. And guess what? There’s a commonality between them all—they all say different things. Of course, certain themes repeat:

We’re all one
We each have a higher self
Our world is a hologram, simulation or dream
Consciousness is fundamental to this reality

These ideas come up often, and while I don’t doubt that reality is not what we think it is, I have to ask—what’s the point of knowing these things? How does this information help us live here? It cracks me up how well the Google algorithm knows me now. Because of my search history, I constantly get flooded with new conferences, courses, and retreats. There are so many spiritual entrepreneurs out there selling programs and guiding people on their path. And for the record, I’m not knocking it—I plan to host a consciousness summit one day, maybe even a men’s retreat.

But I can’t help but ask: Is this spirituality? Is this what it means to be spiritually successful? Do I need certifications, followers, ticket sales, and online courses to be recognized as a spiritual teacher? It seems like everyone is following this formula right now, and I wonder—am I the only one questioning it? If you think so, shoot me an email. I’d love to discuss it.

Today, I was listening to Geoff Thompson, one of my teachers from afar, and he brought up an interesting analogy about martial arts. He talked about the difference between training in a studio and fighting in a bar. In a studio, everything is controlled—the environment is safe, the techniques are precise, and the risks are minimal. But in a bar fight? Anything can happen. No rules, no controlled conditions, just pure unpredictability. And that got me thinking: Spirituality is the same way.

It’s easy to be “spiritual” in the perfect conditions: at a retreat, in a seminar, or during a meditation class. But what about real life? Can you remain spiritual when your kids are acting up, your spouse is pushing your buttons, or you’ve just lost your job? That’s where the real practice begins.

So how do you define spiritual success?

To me, it’s the ability to recognize the universe—Source, God, whatever you call it—in everything. I find myself asking these questions, that you might ask yourself as well:

Can you stand amid chaos and remain centered, knowing you are the creator of your reality?
Can you love your wife and children unconditionally, without needing that love reciprocated?
Can you see the flaws in others as reflections of yourself?
Can you look at a heroin addict swaying on a street corner and recognize them as another aspect of you?
Can you look at your enemies and still hold compassion for them?

That, to me, is spiritual success. And I’m still working on it. So, does that mean I’m not spiritually successful? Maybe there’s no such thing. Maybe we’ve projected the idea of “success” onto spirituality when, in reality, spirituality has nothing to do with success at all. Maybe it’s the opposite—letting go of all preconceptions of success and simply experiencing life as a human being.

What if the goal of spirituality isn’t to achieve something, but to fully experience each moment, no matter where we are in our journey? I think I like that idea better. Be where you are, regardless of where you are. And if I were to add anything to that—it would be to do it with love. To summarize:

Be where you are. Regardless of where you are. And be there in love. It’s as simple as that.

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The flesh is weak, but the Spirit is strong The flesh seeks itself, but the Spirit seeks God The flesh leads to sin, but the Spirit leads to righteousness The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace

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