Higher Learning
Lesson 8: Spirituality
1. Deepness
2. Life's Illusions
3. Programming
4. Real Life in the "Real World"
5. Darkness and Light
6. Living in the Light
Exercise One
7. Walking a Spiritual Path
8. A Simple Way
Exercise Two
9. The Shadow Self
10. Perseverance
11. Your Relationship with God
12. Beginning Meditation
Exercise Three
13. Openness
1. Deepness
Our exploration of spirituality begins with who we know ourselves to be, on a deeper level of being. To know who we truly are, we have to free ourselves from many erroneous ideas about who we are and what life is all about. Who are we — individually and collectively — and what are we doing with our lives?
In our modern, increasingly superficial society, "That's deep" is a put-down intended to ridicule anything with depth, including people. It seems that each day people become more superficial, more hurried, more stressed, more in pain, more unhappy, more conflicted, and yet they do not seem to want to know why. They do not know what it means to be different, do not care, or do not know how. Relationships are so superficial these days, that "hooking up" to have totally meaningless sex with someone is seen as being a good thing.
People today have little awareness of the spiritual dimension of human life, little sense of higher purpose, and, often, no idea at all what they are doing on this planet. And so all the choices they make in their lives are just as superficial and seemingly meaningless. But they are not meaningless: they have consequences. The fact that you may have no idea what you are doing, does not mean that what you do has no consequences. It does. For you and others, too.
Society sells you superficiality, fashion, a beer that tells you "it doesn't get any better than this." And, with the increasing abandonment of truth, meaning, and purpose by your society, by your family, by your educators, by your peers, by you, life loses meaning. The deeper spiritual truth of life is replaced with science, which declares you are a physical body and there is no such thing as a spirit or soul. The Great Lie.
Education steals your spiritual birthright from you. Then society provides you with endless sources of entertainment, sports, pornography, and hell worlds in video games where people get to kill each other endlessly, night after night — to act out or compensate for this loss of self. People imagine their fantasies, self-delusions, and self-degradation are good for them. They haven't got a clue what life truly is, spiritually.
There are endless forces working against your ever waking up, your ever seeing your life for what it is, or your ever having the power to choose differently. Society has multi-billion dollar industries working night and day to keep you asleep, dreaming that you are awake.
This is why most people go through their entire lives without ever once coming closer to who they truly are; they live on the surface of life, on the superficial waves of desire, emotion, ego, and illusion.
The more you identify with thoughts, feelings, or desires, the larger they loom in your consciousness. They take on a "depth" of their own, no matter how unreal that might be. In other words, the more you get into them, the more they get into you. You lose your self in them. All you need do is look at someone who spend ten hours every night in video games, to get an idea what we mean. They are deep into something, but it is not real, good, true, purposeful, meaningful, or integrating. Rather, it is exactly the opposite. Yet, people take their illusions for real life.
When we speak of deepness, the deep self, we are not talking about something dark or murky, something you get lost in. We are talking about finding your self, your true self — beyond the morass of ego, emotion, darkness and delusion. We are talking about an ocean of being, an ocean of light, the true source of who we are.
If you do not know who you are, or learn to find that place within you, everything you do falls in the category of "living a lie" rather than "being true to your self." Every choice or decision you make. All your life. When you are lost in illusion, you think, and you think you are your thoughts; you feel, and you feel you are your emotions; you desire, and you think you are your desires. You are not. You are so much more than that.
You need to step out of all the ways in which you act as who you are not. You need to get past your ego and your emotions. You will know you are moving in the right direction when you feel a deeper sense of self, deeper awareness, a deeper sense of meaning or purpose, and deeper access to your creative, intuitive self.
This is not about becoming who you think you should be, or who we think you should be. It is about being who you truly are, already, and living that way. Either you see the value in that or you don't. Either you are willing to move to something more, better, higher, or you are not. Either you will honor your self in your choices and actions or not. It is entirely your choice. And you do choose, at every moment.
Choose well.
2. Life's Illusions
If we are spiritual beings, why don't we truly know it, experience it, or live that way? Why are our lives filled with such nonsense, triviality, busy-ness, conflict, compulsive desires, and suffering? Why do so many people live in the illusion that they will find their happiness in money, material possessions, the approval of others, drugs and alcohol, worldly ambitions, or a retirement that promises them the rewards they deserve for living a life that did not once touch who they truly are, as a spiritual being?
Illusions are falsehoods that we believe before we experience them, while we experience them, and after we experience them. If something false wasn't an illusion, we would see through it right away, and let go of it. Often, we lie to ourselves, especially about people and situations in our own lives, and hold an illusion about them, rather than face the truth.
One of the biggest illusions is: "If it feels good, it is good." Most people are conditioned to move towards sensory and emotional gratification, short-term gains, whatever feeds their ego, pride, ambition, and illusions. They feel "good" when they feed their fantasies, and are supported by friends, family, peers, associates, and society, for doing so. The truth is often unwelcome. And superficial appearances matter most.
What illusions do you have about life, about yourself, about others, about this world? It can be hard to see your own illusions; they are like wearing tinted glasses — all you see is the world in that shade of color, and it is hard to tell that everything is tinted that way. Very often we go through life painting the same illusions on people and situations, without ever realizing we are the ones who have become accustomed to our illusions, and will not trade them in for a Greater Reality.
People habitually seek to grow more comfortable in their illusions. They make decisions out of not wanting to know and not wanting to be responsible; this is called "denial." No matter how well we deal with what we prefer to look at, we will suffer the effects of ignoring what we prefer not to look at. As we grow in "appreciation" of whatever distracts us from looking at our problems, problems grow. Some people are so "successful" in distracting themselves from having to face reality, that they will not wake up to their ever-diminishing capacity to deal with reality until perhaps they develop a drug or alcohol dependency, have a failing marriage, and can no longer manage at work.
Most people live in a world of illusions, a rather fragile bubble which may be pierced by reality or the truth at any moment. This world of illusions is structured out of conditioning, programming, the expectation that things will continue to be the same, and denial — any truth which is upsetting can just be denied. These influences separate you from truth within your self and give you illusions instead, illusions which you may cherish, believe, live and die for.
What anchors illusions is the ego — which reflects your investment in every illusion and erroneous impression you have ever experienced in life, especially about your self. It is like mistaking your shadow for your self. Many people live their entire lives with no true sense of self, no inner awareness, no sense of true purpose, no true love, no true creativity, no inner-derived truth. It is like that old bad joke about being lost but making excellent time; people are living as fast as they can, and really going nowhere, in a world of illusions.
Illusions are pervasive distortions or blocks to true awareness, understanding, perception, and choice. The more willing you are to give up your illusions about what matters, the more time, energy, and engagement you will have in terms of what does really matter: real love, inner peace, inner wisdom, understanding, purpose, value, and meaning in life.
No matter how "creatively" you construct your illusions, how invested you become in them, or how "rewarding" they seem to you, they simply cannot last, in reality. True creative change is not necessarily reassuring to the ego, emotions, or other self-delusions. It does not reinforce illusions. Choices and changes which do, only increase separation from reality, self-destructively.
It is a very great illusion that we can do whatever we wish in life. One illusion is that the consequences of our behavior don't really matter. Another illusion is that we are actually free to do whatever we wish. Neither is true. Our lives may be more governed by unseen or unacknowledged forces than we may wish to admit: genetics, biology, culture, conditioning, social values, family and peer pressures, emotion, chemical or hormonal imbalances, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, addictions, disease-causing organisms (including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and prions), toxins, entities, institutions, political and social agendas, indoctrination, cosmic forces (including things such as astrology and karma), and every kind of self-destructive programming, especially in the media, with its focus on sex and violence, hedonism and materialism.
Or, have you found a higher Way to live? There is the way of the world and the Way of spirit, and they have nothing in common. They are opposite to each other. One is living in a world of illusions, the other is living in accordance with a Greater Reality, and the Highest Good.
3. Programming
The less sense you have of your own true spiritual self, the more readily you are controlled by forces outside yourself, especially the dominant thinking of your society — no matter how erroneous or self-destructive it may be.
Programming is any form of conditioning of the mind, such that you automatically act out the behavior associated with those thoughts, ideas, feelings, or will. It is a way of being acted through by others, or accepting their influence mindlessly. Programming works by displacing you from your true self, or by creating a false sense of self, such that what you do — your choices, your behavior — is in accordance with that external programming influence.
By their very nature, programming and conditioning are self-destructive; they reduce awareness within the self, and they destroy a true sense of self. The majority of people, especially the more highly "educated" ones, have been so thoroughly programmed by external authority that they have almost no ability to truly know anything within themselves. This includes most experts and authorities. They simply do not know what is true; they honestly know very little from within themselves.
Programming replaces understanding. Most people, even though they are unaware of it or would deny it, have been totally programmed in what they "understand" by others — by their family, by their education, by their peers, by their society, by their culture, and by the media. In the process of being programmed — being conformed to the thinking, feelings, desires, and will of others — they have lost any true self they might have once had. They have lost so much awareness that they only rely upon external authorities, and know little from within.
Instead of truly knowing anything within their self, by a true process of self-referral, people generally refer everything in their experience to their programming, to "see" if it is true. They have little self to refer anything to; they have only conditioned behavior, programmed mind, and a false ego identity that does what is has been programmed to do (whatever rewards it with pride and approval). Realize, such ego-based, conscienceless, unaware people are not necessarily "losers" in society. On the contrary, they are often found in very high positions of authority, where they are in a position to program and control others — including those who do have true inner awareness and conscience.
Most people are so unaware that they allow themselves to be programmed, or never question their programmed reactions. As a result, they are unable to discriminate, to discern what is and is not so. Most people do not know what truth is, within them. Instead, their perceptions and understanding, and their very thoughts, match their programming. They believe their programming and programmers, unquestioningly — the higher the "authority" the more mindless they are in accepting it. There is a cycle in which programming feeds the ego-emotional nature, produces greater pride, and then a greater receptivity to further programming. Even good-intentioned people are caught in ego-emotional programming. Ego, by its very nature, deludes or misdirects the self, allows greater self-destructive programming, and diminishes awareness of reality.
When you are programmed (just as when you have been conditioned or indoctrinated), you develop a loyalty to your programming — you are not aware enough to realize you even have a choice; you are locked into a mindset, thinking you really know something, imagining you are "aware." No matter how acceptable your programming might become to you, you lose the ability to know what is right, good, and true within your self, and become conditioned to following your programming. Rather, become more aware of any and every choice you make to accept the desires, will, or agendas of others. Look within your self for the real truth of things.
Programming is an enormously effective trap which gives an illusion of freedom (freedom from having to think for your self), an illusion of a real self (the ego), and an illusion of truly knowing (pride). This, in reality, traps, programs, and destroys the true self in all beings. Inner awareness diminishes in accordance with external programming. Most people are unaware that programming to pursue a path of ego gratification, pride, ambition, power, and delusions of grandeur, destroys the self. They are unable to discriminate between the life of the self and the life of the ego. This is literally a life choice, a choice which determines the entire direction of your life — and the substance of your life, work, and relationships. Realize that programming causes you to habitually choose form over substance, illusion over reality — the comforting lie over the harsh truth.
4. Real Life in the "Real World"
Real life is not found on reality TV shows. It may be the way life is being modeled for members of society of all ages, with limitless ego, self-absorption, emotion, deception, and promiscuity, but that isn't Reality. Reality — Real Life — is about living for a Higher Good, which is the opposite of what you may find either on television or in the behavior of society at large. Life isn't all fun and games.
Do you live for the greater good? Or are you living for what you can get? Is it possible to live a real life in a world of the unreal? Can you be true to yourself in a world of lies and untruths? How do you get past the illusions of life, the traps and limitations, and get free? What does it mean to get real?
Why do you think you are here on this Earth?
We are not supposed to hold everything in life — including ourselves — to the lowest standard of ego, emotion, and desire, but to the highest standard of Goodness, Truth, and Light. Unless you do so, every step, every thought and action, every desire you may have in this life, will be measured against a false standard. Your every step will be going in the wrong direction, spiritually. But, because the world rewards such behavior with ego pride, aggrandizement, approval, money, pleasure, and recognition, you might imagine you are going in the right direction. As long as you keep getting that reinforcement for your behavior, you might never look back. And, you might never look more deeply within yourself. You can live your entire life like that, never taking a single step in the direction of True spiritual Peace, Truth, Love, and Light. All you have are false, empty, substitutes for what remains missing within you.
The Greater Reality is so much larger than anything you experience in this world, or in this one life — far greater than you can imagine.
In our society, people may make lots of money, have lots of sex, seek lots of power, and seemingly know how to exploit everything and everyone to their own personal advantage. But, they have given up any real spiritual basis for their lives. They have given up the basic inner spiritual guideline for thinking, choosing, and acting: what is right, good, and true to the Highest Good. We see them every day in politics, government, business, the entertainment industry, and so on. Though they may rise in society, spiritually they are descending faster and faster.
In reality, we are spiritual beings or souls. How do we lose sight of that in our lives?
Having seen countless tortured lives of suffering, disease, loss, and death, human beings are brainwashed into merely hoping for a "good" life. We habitually spend our lives seeking life's little pleasures, which are absolutely meaningless: money, position in life, popularity, material possessions, sex, foods, drinks, and so on. None of these things can possibly bring us happiness because they are means by which we forget who we truly are, what Life really is, who God is, and what we really doing here. Our True Life is of God, our Father-Mother.
Life is not this dream we are in, this absurd role we are playing, or the "successes" we find in our little world of illusions. If a person suffers from nightmares, he or she might simply hope to have a pleasant dream — this is precisely what we have been taught, programmed, indoctrinated, brainwashed, or forced into. Another dream. Another illusion. Another dream "life" which has nothing to do with who we truly are, and Real Life.
You cannot fill yourself up with the world, and be full. You have to empty yourself of the world — all its illusions — to have your self, to know Spirit, to find a Greater Reality. There are people who weigh five hundred to a thousand pounds, having literally filled themselves up with the world, who are incapable of experiencing any quality of life at all. They have incessantly fed their physical body, their emotions, their illusions, their desires, and their ego. And none of that is who they really are.
How many of us spend our lives feeding our illusions about ourselves? The ego is a false role, shaped by the world, that we play in the world; and it wants what it wants, not what is best for you. Life is not a matter of catering to the ego, yours or anyone else's. Realize, if you get everything you could ever want for your ego, emotions, or desires — and you can't because ego is never satisfied — you would have nothing for your self, your true self.
The same is true of relationships. You cannot fill yourself up with any other person. Of course, the real you doesn't really need very much from outside you; it mainly needs to find what it needs within you. If you keep looking outside you, or try to get what you want from others or the world at large, the real you will remain self-doubting, unfulfilled, and somehow empty, inside. You can only build your ego, fantasies, or illusions that way, mistakenly. Once you realize that you cannot "get" anything you need within you, from someone or something outside you, you can begin to look for and find it in you.
5. Darkness and Light
In our society there is a war between true perception and delusion, understanding and erroneous programming, truth and mass deception — reality and illusion. Do we live in an enlightened world, so that we can simply end our quest for the truth by adopting the social norm, imagining that the majority must be right in everything? Not really.
In fact, the majority is most often wrong, deluded, and spiritually unaware. Individuals live in denial; families are dysfunctional; communities have great inequity, and nations feel entitled to the worst exploitative and destructive behavior. Where do we find sanity in a world of exploitation, distorted perceptions, injustice, ignorance, untruth, and deception? Lies, untruths, falsehoods, and wrongs destroy people's lives. And, who will say otherwise?
How does one choose Light over darkness? How does one choose Reality over illusion and delusion? How does one choose to be sane, or more sane? How does one choose Good over Evil? How does one escape the insanity that society accepts as normal?
First, realize, it is a choice.
If there is one spiritual responsibility we each have, it is to step out of darkness into the Light. No matter how brightly the sun shines, there is a spiritual darkness that dwells in this world, which breeds all wrong. And, only the Light can dispel that darkness. This ubiquitous darkness is Evil, and it manifests every form of suffering, illusion, and self-destruction imaginable. None who live in this world are immune from evil.
The Light of God is like a saving Grace, reaching out to us. No matter how dark it may seem, the Light is always there. We are the ones who are responsible for reaching out for the Light. And no one else can do that for us.
Do you want to find your way? Look within you. Listen to your conscience. Many things that you once imagined were "good" will be seen as the illusions they are: negative, oppressive, and destructive attachments. If you have a commitment to the Truth, then give up all pretenses, lies, and falsehood. Many preconceived ideas you may have had will no longer hold any truth for you; behavior that once brought ego gratification or excitement will no longer be attractive to you. What is not right, good, and true will die out as a motivating force or influence in your life. In this way, you may come to feel a true detachment, an evenness, within you — not based upon denial, delusion, or apathy, but acceptance of the Truth.
Look for and unfold your true self, and the non-self (ego) will begin to fade in its imagined glory. You will learn how to respond to difficult situations in the right way, to do what you know to be right, good, and true for you.
If you could make choices that led to greater good in your life, in the highest sense, wouldnt you make those choices at each moment? You can learn to do that. The process is one of questioning, discerning, and aligning with the Highest. It does not require intellectual reasoning as much as a simple openness of the heart to what is ultimately right, good, and true.
Learn to discern the darkness from the Light. Everything "spiritual" is not good. There are countless false "solutions" to all of our problems, which say how wonderful life is, that we are all "learning" and "growing," all our problems are being worked out — that there is nothing bad, evil, wrong, or of spiritual darkness in our lives. That is simply not true. In fact, it is a message of darkness, not Light. The Light seeks to free us, not to trap us in even greater illusions.
6. Living in the Light
Living in the Light is a choice you make. Living in the Light is not a mood or a final state of enlightenment (there is no such thing). It is not a matter of projecting illusions upon everything and everyone so that you convince yourself everything is goodness and Light. It is not.
Living in the Light is a process of discerning what brings you closer to the love, truth, and simplicity of your own Being — your true spiritual essence — and realizing what does not. There is an upward current or flow, and there is a downward one. The upward flow is that of Light, and more Light, until you realize the True Source of that love, nurturing, consciousness, peace, and joy. That is the direction in which you need to "move."
There is a Light or higher consciousness which shines on everything we do, but what we choose to do in relation to that is up to us. Not everyone "lives in the Light." Some people live as if there were no higher consciousness, responsibility, wisdom, peace, goodness, or truth available to them. Others seek those qualities in their lives. The choices made by a person who does not admit of any higher consciousness, higher power, or God in their life can be rather self-serving or self-destructive. They tend to not serve the highest good of all.
We can choose to live in accordance with our Higher Self, or Spirit. Consider the effects of choices and actions not only for yourself but in relation to everyone and everything else. Choices made with regard to a Greater Reality, in which we realize everything we do affects everyone else, truly serve us and others as well.
Contrast this with the choice to only serve ourselves, which comes out of ego, selfish ambition, ignorance, or unawareness. We may be relentless in our pursuit of what we want, from an egotistical point of view, and even get it, but that is not alignment with Divine will, goodness, or Grace. The choice to serve our own wants and desires even though others may be disadvantaged in some way is basically opposed to Divine will, and cuts us off from Grace. No Divine power would ever support us in the exploitation of others, just so we could get what we want. It does not work that way.
Grace is that which, once you accept it and align yourself with it — and live from there — is like a light shining on your path. You are led by that Light, by Spirit. And, if you stumble, fall, misstep, or take a wrong turn, that Light once again shines on you and your path to show you the Way. Some people stumble around in the dark their entire lives; some people refuse any Light; others only want the ego satisfaction of having things be the way they want. Even if they are lost in the dark, they prefer to believe they are in control and can see clearly, just because they can see what they want. That is not the Light.
Those who live from Grace choose something better; all they wish is to have the Light be brighter and clearer on their path, so that they can see and do what is for the Highest Good. They accept responsibility for making a better choice, one that is more true to Spirit, conscience, goodness, and Light.
Exercise One: We tend to want to reach for Light when we feel oppressed by problems, suffering, darkness or despair. But, it is good to practice connecting with Light when you feel well able to do so, rather than only when you have difficulty in doing so. Whether you feel well connected now or not does not matter, for the sake of the exercise. Simply, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, relax, and settle comfortably in your seat. If anything is drawing your attention away from your inner experience, just be aware of it. Don't try to force your attention. Just quietly center.
When you feel a bit of quietness, begin to visualize a bright light above your head, like a spot light. Picture yourself walking on a path, your path in life. And the light is shining on your path. If you can see clearly ahead, be thankful; if you see obstacles in your path, be thankful that the light is shining down revealing them to you. If you are aware of little more than your own thoughts, remind yourself that whether you "see" the light or not, the Light is always with you.
See, picture, feel or imagine that bright light all around you, and within you. Affirm, "The Light shines on my way, and Spirit leads the way." If you wish, you can repeat that, as much as you feel the need to, until you feel aligned with that higher Truth. When you are done, you may open your eyes.
7. Walking a Spiritual Path
We are all walking a path, whether we know it or not. You are moving through your life by making choices that seem right for you. And, in our modern society, you are most likely to evaluate the success of the choices you make in terms of the outer material world.
You are certainly walking through the world. Do you feel that you are walking a spiritual "path"? Once again, in our society, we tend to evaluate the success of our spiritual walk in terms of outer things: going to services, following doctrine, learning chapter and verse.
There is a more personal "path" in life that is available to all of us. It is a "path" with heart. This means a way to walk through the world — and to walk spiritually — not with the mind, but the heart. We are not saying to abandon reason or understanding, but to give the deeper understanding and experience of the heart a chance to develop.
We are too "mental" in our society, in our work, our relationships, our recreations, our healing approaches, and our spirituality. This isolates us and tends to build up ego, illusion, and worldly desire. There is a great need for more heart: deeper truth, appreciation, acknowledgment, compassion, and love.
It is part of various spiritual traditions that as we deepen our experience of our inner self, our heart begins to open — both in us and towards others. This is the basis of the compassion and caring that we develop for others. The illusions of separation, our selfish desires, and the willingness to ignore the suffering of others, are no longer tolerable to us. Our heart opens, and the suffering of others touches us deeply. They are not so separate or distant from us after all.
We may begin to be aware of how the suffering of others is similar, and part of our own suffering. We are somehow interconnected in a very fundamental way. It is not so trivial or superficial as being a matter of race, religion, nationality, sex, culture, or common beliefs. There is something in people on a deeper level, which we can feel in our hearts, that speaks to what we have in common on the deepest levels.
Clearly, openness of the heart is necessary for true spirituality. That doesnt mean you need to go around loving everyone, or imagining that everyone loves you. You need to be more discerning than that. There are people who have the worst intentions, and who do the worst things in relation to others — it would not be good to fail to discern the true nature and intentions of others in relation to you, or to project your illusions about how loving and good and perfect everyone is. That is simply not the case. Too often, those who follow a path defined as "heart" are really on a path devoid of mind; they mistakenly give up any ability to discern for themselves.
We can have an open heart, and be willing to love, and experience the deeper sense of understanding, compassion, and caring that dwell within our own hearts. That does not depend upon anyone else, but you. And it does not mean you become more emotional, less discerning, or all touchy-feely. The heart is a place of balance, and it gives you balance as you walk through life.
8. A Simple Way
There is the Way of the spirit, and the way of the world, and they have nothing in common. Being shaped and tossed about by the world, is unfulfilling. The way of the world is like a mirage oasis from which you cannot quench your thirst or ever be satisfied. That lower path comes from and leads to greater illusion, falsehood, wrong, and darkness. The higher path comes from and returns to Source, truth, goodness, and Light. It is a better choice to take your direction from the inner spirit, not the outer world. Following the guidance of spirit within, helps you to find your way and live more fully as you.
There is a place to stand, within you — your true self — where you can deal with everything in the world around you, from a place of inner strength, wisdom, peace, love, and power. You can find a place of balance, the courage to question things, know what is right for you, and act from there.
Here is a simple Way.
It is simply acknowledging and connecting with the Highest within you.
Exercise Two: This is an exercise in feeling, so please use words you feel comfortable with. Phrases such as "the Divine," "God," "Higher Power," "Spirit" or "My Higher Self" allow you to accept that there is something more to you than what you may see. Feel the deepness within you.
Simply close your eyes. Take a few slow, deep breaths.
Place your right hand over your heart, and mentally say, "God is no further from me than my hand on my chest."
Take a breath. Mentally say, "God is closer to me than my own breath."
Take a breath, and relax on the exhale. Mentally say, and get the feeling of, "God is with me now." Breathe.
Sit there with that feeling, that presence, that sense of the inner being in a place of grace. Take a minute or two.
When you are ready, gently open your eyes.
This is a simple and powerful technique, and you can do it any time to have a clearer connection with the Highest in you — the Source of wisdom, peace, love, and Light. It is right there.
It is simply your awareness of Being.
What you are truly looking for is within you, now. Honor it. Practice listening to truth, more deeply within you. Learn what it feels like, to resonate with truth in your own heart. And that experience will grow and grow. That is the extent of it. You don't have to follow any dogma, only the God of your heart. And, if you are not religious, that is not a problem. Just don't let your beliefs get between you and the simple goodness, truth, love, and peace in your heart. We call that "the God of your heart," but use whatever words you prefer, such as, perhaps, "goodness" or "conscience" or "inner-directedness," to honor that inner experience. You must not let anyone or anything get between you and the God of your heart, whether they are a president, a pope, or anyone else. For all those people who may wonder, "Where in the world is God?" we say: God is right there in your heart. For all of those who wonder, "Where is the Truth?" we say: the truth is not "out there," but in your own heart. Knowing that isn't enough; you have to live that Way. It takes practice.
9. The Shadow Self
It is popular nowadays to confuse what serves us and what does not, what leads upwards and what leads downwards, what brings us peace with what pacifies the wrong in us. Most prevalent is the philosophy promoted by Jung and others of accepting "the shadow self," or the dark side.
That is something that is simply erroneous, illusory, and self-destructive — it is not our salvation, it is not healing, it is not helpful, and it is not right, good, or true. The acceptance of wrong does not make it right; believing evil is just as good as good, does not make it so; and taking darkness for light, or a necessary part of spiritual selfhood, does not heal us or make us whole, but perpetuates what is wrong in us, and in the world.
If you do not challenge what is wrong, and see it as wrong, you are essentially in agreement with it. You are choosing to make it "right" in your mind, your thinking, your actions, your choices, your life, and your world. That does not solve anyone's problems, not yours individually, not all of our problems, collectively.
It is one thing to acknowledge the existence of something, such as the dark, destructive, negative, or violent aspect of life — or to acknowledge the presence of that to whatever extent within us. But it is another thing entirely to praise it, to try to uphold it, to elevate it to the same status or level as goodness and light. That is a very great mistake.
No matter what anyone else may say, to try to justify, rationalize, excuse, or accept the dark side — that is not the path you really want to take. Darkness is not the path of light. Evil is not the path of good. Wrong is not the path of right. Suffering is not the path of happiness. It may happen in this world, but that doesn't make it right. If you would prefer to live in darkness, spiritually, mentally, or any other way, that is, of course, your choice. You may so identify yourself with all that is dark that you find it uncomfortable to come into the light. But you should know that the light is still there; it doesn't go away, no matter how you push it away from you. The greater reality doesn't disappear just because you hold illusions. And you cannot be more "whole" by "integrating" what is wrong, or by claiming it is all right. The shadow self is by nature a force of dis-integration and self-destruction, not true wholeness of the self.
The "shadow" is not a wonderful, glorious, productive, healing, loving, inspiring part of humanity. It is all that is not. If you want to unfold these positive qualities, you need to reject or let go of the negative. That is an act of will, and what it ultimately means to be true to your self.
The argument is often made that we should "accept everything," and not reject or challenge or oppose anything. That is a popular philosophy in New Age teachings and pop psychology. And it is wrong. If you have two spoons in front of you, one of which contains oatmeal and the other poison, wouldn't it be wise to discern the difference? Wouldn't it be better to choose what nourishes and sustains you rather than what ultimately destroys you? So, why should it be any different with regard to the light and dark forces in our lives? Do you imagine that choosing abuse, violence, evil, untruth, or wrong somehow serves life — and is a better choice than choosing peace, goodness, right, and truth? The fact is, no matter how sophisticated you might think you are in terms of your ability to choose, or how enlightened you are in your capacity to accept everything as it is, it would be foolish to take poison instead of nourishment — or to teach others to do that. The shadow does not make you more whole or more, it makes you less; it does not give you a more integral self or wholeness, it dis-integrates you and dis-unites you from source.
The bottom line is: what doesn't work for you ultimately, doesn't really work for you here or now, either. Don't try to make believe that it does. And don't try to convince yourself that wrong is right, untruths are true, evil is as good as good, illusions are as workable as reality, or what brings you down actually takes you higher. You have to be more discerning than that in your choices.
10. Perseverance
Everything changes. As much as would might like some things to remain as they are, all things must change, all things must pass. This is not a bad thing.
We have to believe that nothing good is ever lost.
And we need to know what to hold on to and what to let go of.
The more limited our view of life, the more likely we are to rely upon habit: making things constant that would ordinarily be different or change. The less sense we have of the whole of our life, and who we are, the more likely we are to cater to addictions. Those are attempts to keep something from changing in our life, to try to hold on to some state of mind, sensation, or hope. But, the things we hope for are actually rejected by the very process of addiction.
We cannot depend upon anything or anyone outside us, or try to make something outside of us unchanging, to try to maintain a state of happiness. That doesn't really work.
Good things happen. Bad things happen. What matters isn't how we try to control everything so as to make everything be the way we want it to be — that isn't realistic. Rather, what matters is how we deal with change.
What are we telling ourselves about the changes we experience? Are we trying to hold onto something that leaves? Are we grasping for a state of consciousness, an unchanging state of "enlightenment"?
There is a saying: "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." The idea is, you may be more aware and more spiritually self-realized, but you may still do the things you did before. The basic needs of life tend to not change much at all. Hopefully, you may experience leaving negative circumstances behind you, and opening to more progressive ones. Sometimes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
We may spend all our time, all our life, trying to change everything so that it meets with our satisfaction. We do this with people, places, things, situations, problems, our homes, ... our selves. And, when we arrive at the place we want to be, we find that we have been there the whole time. We didn't need to try to arrange everything for our "arrival." We simply needed to realize where we were, all the time.
We don't get to control everything in our lives in some magical state of enlightenment. All we can do is live our life as best we can. Some things may change a lot, others may not seem to change at all. Spiritual maturity is a process of rising above the suffering, attachments, and ego-emotional nature of our lives. It doesn't make everything perfect. It doesn't heal everything.
We don't need to keep looking back, to see what we could have done better, to see what has brought us suffering. We don't need to keep re-experiencing that. We simply need to move on.
Life is movement. Change is happening all around us. There is a flow that we can go with, but it is not the flow of the outer world; it is the flow of our inner self, our inner-directedness, our return to wholeness, our return to Source.
The return to Source is a lot like the journey of a fish back to where it was born, relentless in its path, swimming upstream against the current, occasionally leaping up over the rapids. When we have a sense of Home, and Source, we seek it with at least as much perseverance. It doesn't have to be hard. We can find the path of least resistance, as we swim against the current. The world is rushing in one direction, we are moving in the other.
The journey home has many twists and turns, many contrary currents, but it is worth it in the end. You have to know that. Otherwise, you may find yourself just giving in to the dominant currents and trends of the time, being carried along by the downward current, rather than rising upwards, higher, always higher.
Have you ever felt like a fish swimming upstream, against the current?
Keep going. You are almost home.
11. Your Relationship with God
We are already in relationship with everyone and everything. It is just a matter of what we put our attention on, what we are aware of, and what we find value in. That defines the relationships we choose in our lives. Your relationship with God also exists already; it is just a matter of how much attention or consciousness you give it.
You do not need to merit a relationship with God. You do not need to do something to deserve it. And you do not need to believe a long list of doctrines and dogmas.
Your relationship with God is entirely between you and God. No one else needs to know about that. No one is to judge you or your worthiness or what is in your heart. And no one is to take the place of God, or serve as some self-declared intermediary, regardless of their self-appointed authority or scriptural or spiritual beliefs.
No one and nothing should be allowed to get in the way between you and the God of your heart. It doesn't matter what title or authority they may claim to have. No one truly knows your heart — or should be in your heart — other than God and you.
Our education, including our religious indoctrination, often separates us from God; God comes under the dominion of religious authorities, who give us dogma, ritual, beliefs, preconceptions, intolerance, judgments, and endless chapters and verses to memorize — as if that creates our relationship with God. In reality, on the most fundamental level, there are no boundaries to consciousness — and the consciousness of all that is is a part of us. Consciousness is like an underlying energy field, extending everywhere. Our relationship to "all that is" is sometimes referred to as our relationship with "god."
Yet, God is more than all that is, all that has been created, all that we experience. There is something that guides us to the source of all that is good, loving, kind, peaceful, nurturing, wise, and supportive. We recognize that as the ultimate quality of Being. And so we recognize or seek the highest qualities of Being, in us.
If your relationship with God is not right, then your relationship with everyone and everything else in your life isn't right either. Some people just ignore the whole idea of having a relationship with God. It seems beyond them, unreal, or impossible. Others imagine that relationship to be the way their tradition may have taught or told them, but fail to find that or experience that for themselves.
We each have a chance to be more true to who we are, to come closer to the spiritual qualities we share, and relate that way with others — and with God. Why would anyone who truly loved us want us to be something other than who we truly are?
There are countless spiritual teachings and traditions which do little more than socialize you. They seek your conformity and adaptation to your society. In the worst case, they seek your mindless, unquestioning, agreement. In various societies, including those out of which your present society has arisen, people were put to death for questioning things, for having a mind of their own, for daring to unfold their own spiritual abilities, for having greater awareness or perceptions into the nature of people and things around them.
You need to step out of all of that, all of the enforced, oppressive, dogmatic, absolutism, submission, and misrepresentations, to simply have a relationship with God in your own heart. That may be the last thing that self-appointed religious authorities may want; they prefer to keep you in a totally passive and dependent role, asking for their intercession and forgiveness, having you memorize chapter and verse of scripture, reciting verbatim prayers, with all the appearance of spirituality and godliness on their faces and lips, without knowing God in their own heart.
The only relationship that won't go away, that will never leave you, is the one you have with the Divine in you. And it is, literally, not anyone else's business. It is completely between God and you. The more you develop your personal relationship with God, the more truth, love, peace, and goodness you will bring into relationship with everyone else.
12. Beginning Meditation
Meditation is about being, being who you truly are, in the highest sense.
Being is something we take for granted in life; we seldom experience being or knowing who we truly are. Instead, we are always doing, doing. Doing takes the place of, and overshadows, simply being. If we are so-called human beings, when do we find the time to simply be, or to be human? Very rarely, especially as the pace of modern life keeps accelerating, worldly ambition and striving replace self-actualization, materialism replaces spiritual awareness, and programming, conditioning, and indoctrination take the place of self-awareness, self-direction, and self-realization.
The qualities of true beingness include love, power, honesty, wisdom, peace, perseverance, and glory (of the divine source). And these are the exact qualities that are enlivened, appreciated, and expressed more fully when one gives oneself the chance to simply be — without doing.
One of the best ways to do this is to practice getting centered in yourself, or by doing a simple meditation exercise. Meditation is simply turning within, taking some time away from doing, to appreciate simply being. It allows a reconnection with the inner being, and a fuller expression of the inner spiritual qualities. You will find that you can think more clearly, act more rightly, and perceive more clearly when you take time to be. Remember who you are, be who you truly are, within, and act that way, always. Let go of any undue attachment to the world. It is not your true lifeline; it only sustains the wrong in you, and the false you (the ego). Welcome the inner presence of truth, love, simplicity, goodness, light, and higher being.
While it may be possible to just begin meditation at any time, it is often easier if you prepare for meditation, and get yourself in the proper frame of mind. If your intention is to take a little time to withdraw from the stresses, pressure, and problems of the outer world, and turn within, then you may wish to do a couple of things to help you along in that direction. For example, it may be helpful to do any of the following (see what works for you): go somewhere that you won't be interrupted for 10-20 minutes; turn off the phone; loosen your clothing (especially your belt or tie) or wear something comfortable; put on a little soft, relaxing music; possibly burn a little incense (find a scent that you find soothing, not overpowering); sit comfortably, perhaps in a favorite chair or recliner; stretch a little bit; if you notice tension in your body, gently rub those spots; read a little of something that you find inspirational, something that brings you closer to the truth, love, and light within; say a prayer to acknowledge the higher power of good that you wish to unfold within you. Again, find what works for you, remembering that these are only suggestions to get in the right frame of mind; this not the meditation itself. That follows.
Exercise Three: Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and relax. Let your weight settle comfortably in your seat. Take a few deep, slow breaths, and relax on the exhale. Picture, sense, feel, or imagine yourself surrounded by a bright white light, which is both cleansing and protecting you. When you are ready, turn your attention within you. You may find it helpful to focus in the middle of your chest, at your heart center.
Now, see, visualize, feel or imagine a bright clear ball of light in the middle of your chest; it may be bright blue, gold, or white. See what feels right for you. Imagine this light having all of the spiritual qualities you wish to experience within you: love, peace, wisdom, purity, goodness, and so on. It is filling you with these spiritual qualities, more and more.
Quietly sit like this for about 10-20 minutes. And let the world go by. Don't force yourself to ignore the outer world, sense impressions, or thoughts. Just be aware of them if they come, and let them pass by as if you are watching them in a movie. Whatever comes up, just watch it go by. Simply take the time to sit quietly and be with your self. When you are through, bring the white light around you again, come back gently, and take a minute or so before you slowly open your eyes.
Some people find it very hard to just sit quietly for ten minutes, especially when they are used to constant sensory stimulation. If that is the case, you may wish to play some quiet, gentle music in the background as you sit. That is better than trying to occupy your mind with thoughts as you meditate, or being impatient and stopping. Give yourself a chance to become a bit more comfortable and familiar with your own calm, quiet, centered, inner being.
13. Openness
What is the quality which allows us to move towards something better, to accept something new or different, to embrace a sense of purpose or meaning? It is openness. By openness we are referring to a natural quality of being, a receptivity to what is right, good, and true for us. Before you can have or act on what you truly want, you have to be open to receiving it. You have to be open to inspiration, inner-directedness, and creative change.
Is your mind open? Is your heart open? Is your consciousness open, spiritually?
It takes the tiniest shift, from being closed to being open, to bring into your experience all that you need, all that will take you higher. It is such a small shift, that it often goes unnoticed — or else we do not know how to do it. The shift is in our awareness, our consciousness, what we can see, and then what we are able to choose. It is a shift in how we hold things, how we see our selves, our inner stance. It is how we allow movement, change, growth, or a greater unfolding of our true self. All of this comes from the simple quality of openness.
You have limitless opportunities. It is largely your perceptions, expectations, and judgments — especially those you hold towards yourself — which filter out or disregard the opportunities that you have at each and every moment.
You could live your dream, if you truly wanted, if you looked in your heart for it, realized it, and had the courage to go for it. This takes openness. If you do not have this quality, you instead live in a much more closed, unnatural, unprogressive, and unfulfilling state.
What you need to know is: it is never too late. The only place you can choose what is right for you, what you want more than anything, is now, here. The only place you can choose is in the present moment. It doesn't matter where you've been, what may have been your experience in the past, or what expectations you may have already accepted for yourself for your future. You can change. You can choose to open yourself to, and receive, something more, something better, something wonderful.
We had this quality of openness when we were children. And, if we have ignored it or overlooked it, or even chosen not to be open, we can change all that. We can learn to be open, and allow ourselves to move towards our most heartfelt dreams, now. All we have to work with is the now, the present moment. This is where we create our future. Here. Now. There is no other time to do it, other than now. The past may have passed you by, but the present is always here. This is where you get to choose. This is your point of power.
Openness is a quality which takes little effort; it takes effort to remain closed to possibilities.
So, how do we recapture this remarkable quality of being, which allows us to realize, pursue, and fulfill our dreams? The way children do. We bring joy, play, curiosity, and wonder into all that we do. We let go of the seriousness of our existence, the choices we've made in the past, the upsets and disappointments of the past, the expectations we may have had but not reached. Remember, expectations are not a pathway of creative change, or openness to our own sense of purpose and progress. Expectations are given to us by others, outside of us. That is not what we mean by "openness." Never mistake the meeting of others' expectations of you for being "open" or "successful." They are entirely different.
Look at how children play. They are very much "in the moment." They do not have a set, habitual, routine way of doing everything. Structure gets in the way of openness. They are imaginative, lighthearted, curious. They look at everything with fresh eyes. This is not just a matter of "age." It is a matter of attitude. And, it is a choice you make. You look for the possibilities — you investigate, explore, discover — in relation to everything.
You don't know what comes next. The only way you do, is when you control everything in your life, when you limit your options to what you already know, do, and have. That is not openness, but the contrary. Open yourself to the unexpected, the unknown, the unpredictable. Make believe anything is possible. Make believe you could do anything you put your mind to, and believed in your heart. Make believe you can make a difference. You can. All you have to do is believe in yourself enough to go forward. There is no such thing as certainty, but do not let that keep you from doing what you really want to. Your awareness, your attention, makes a difference.
Stop listening to — or obeying — the voice of doubt, fear, worry, self-consciousness, conformity, or expectation. Listen instead to what your heart is saying to you, what moves you, what touches you deeply, what matters to you, what you feel you might have to offer.