Personal growth and the Spiritual Path

It's all to easy for most of us to get caught up and ensnared by the illusorily world of space, time, name and form. This is especially true when you spend too much time with those who are caught up in this illusion or maya. 

Imagine...

• feeling the sacred magic of each fresh and new moment and living fully in the "Now."

• feeling deeply connected to everyone and thereby experiencing all life as an aspect of yourself.

• honoring each person's individuality without experiencing any separation between you and them.

These are just a few of the wonderful benefits of a spirit-filled life.

When I write about being "caught up" I am referring to being identified as a personality living out a life script (your story) and taking it all so very seriously. Most people think they are their ego and forget their spiritual essence (unborn self) that existed before their ego or even this body came into existence. If this describes you, then what I am writing here may not make much sense to you because you have little or no personal experiences to relate it to.

There are also many "spiritual minded folks" who are stung by the bee of spiritual materialism and go out seeking Saints or holy men with a beard or  women with a flowing shawl, big smile and a bindi (third eye decoration) to get their blessings and cling to. The point is that some people get so caught up looking outside themselves that they miss seeing the jewel of enlightenment that is already present within their own hearts. 

True enlightened masters have instructed their students to stop their search and realize that they are what they are seeking. Ego driven pseudo masters keep their followers enslaved in their personal service. It's wonderful to receive blessings and get inspiration from holy people but don't get caught up in trying to imitate them or become attached to their form. There are many seekers but so few finders.

To begin your journey, it is helpful to take a "time out" from your normal activities and look deeply at what is really going on within yourself. This may help you see that there is more to life then what meets the eye or our mundane senses. There is real freedom, a deep joy and appreciation of life as a game when you see the "bigger picture". When you are truly available to be fully present in this moment, an expansion in reality naturally occurs. The awakening of love and pure, radiant awareness will naturally occur at exactly the right time. At that point, life becomes a celebration and you graduate to a more inclusive-expansive level of awareness and realize a greater one-ness with it all.

The wisdom of the heart is profound and inspired by the Divine which already exists within your heart. When this potential is activated or awakened, it encourages a more expansive perspective and integrated wholeness through divine inspiration and revelation. Then everything becomes fresh and new.

As your trust in your true essence (unborn self) deepens, eventually you give all of yourself to this and let it have you. At that point you directly experience that we are all ONE big family and everyone is learning what they need to awaken to their next stage of development.

Spiritual practices serve to relax and quiet the mind and turn the focus in the right direction to receive. Just being quiet and watching (without judgment) the stream of thoughts that arise is a great starting off place. Praying is also invaluable in that it enhances our receptivity to the truth. In a short time, you will develop a "higher taste" and be less attracted to the mundane, materialistic world.

I've been on the spiritual path for many years and have experienced much through life's lessons and sadhana (spiritual practices). The more I learned, the more I became aware of how little my intellect actually knew of the big picture. Many of us need to "lighten up" and relax more and see the "game or movie" aspect of life. My most profound awakenings happened quite unexpectedly through trusting and surrendering to divine mercy and grace. 

I was given to freely and likewise I am directed by the living spirit to also share what cannot be fully grasped by our minds. These matters will not be attractive or of interest to anyone too attached to the mundane world of maya and sense gratification. 

Take a minute, relax and look within yourself and see what you discover. If you feel or can sense a spark of goodness or warmth within your being then I suggest you check out the "Spirit" link below and look a little deeper. If you investigate what is truly going on moment to moment then you naturally begin the timeless journey of self realization. A journey that eventually brings you back to that  "timeless, transcendental reality" that you only imagined you left.

However, if you have strong agendas, identification with the little "I" or clinging attachments, then your progress on the path may be delayed.  Also being immersed in unexamined negative childhood programming, or government misinformation, pseudo gurus or phony religious leaders can create mental obstacles to overcome and release. 

Real understanding reveals that learning to love ourselves and others unconditionally is what we are here for. In that same process we also uncover and develop an ongoing and unique, personal relationship with our Creator. 

A good step towards this is to develop compassion towards ourselves and everyone we meet. There is a boundless joy that arises through selfless giving and conversely self-absorption and selfishness leads to a closed heart and general unhappiness. 

As you awake you will become aware of the elaborate "matrix of deception" being propagated on many levels. Darkness can not exist in the light of truth and certain people in power will not appreciate anyone rocking their money, power and greed boat. However, it's important NOT to get too involved in worldly/political matters because it can lead you astray from the real inner work.

Selfish, destructive individuals like the Bush cabal of neocons will eventually have to answer for their deeds. So many injured, killed and tortured needlessly due to unbridled greed and ignorance.

Many ignorant, foolish and self absorbed individuals create senseless suffering and chaos by their behavior.  Because our Creator knows we need help here, there are many empowered individuals with real devotion, divine love and spiritual potency that powerfully help those in his or her association to awaken from the egoic illusion.

This process does involve much purification and letting go. Love, Honesty, Surrender, Trust, Forgiveness, Service, Compassion and Gratitude are key operatives in this most exciting mission.

Do you wish for a better world with more love and less fear? Do you think it's possible for man to start treating his fellow man with love and kindness in place of hatred, killing, bombs and terror? The choices we make now, affect the future of mankind and the quality of life on this planet. Each one us can and does make a difference.

Yes, the movie "Matrix" does symbolize what awakening from the illusion is about. It contains several profound "spiritual gems". Check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

Have you also noticed that things are changing more quickly lately? 

Our world is going through a powerful vibrational acceleration. The World Trade Center incident was deeply shocking to say the least. Now we  must find the most skillful way to bring those responsible to justice without hurting innocent people.

Declaring a war and bombing innocent civilians and labeling it as acceptable "collateral damage" is not a skillful or humane way to bring any criminal to justice. I've read reports that we already have killed more innocent civilians in Afghanistan then have been killed in the WTC attack. I hope these statistics are not correct. Also since when does someone become a criminal before they are tried and found guilty? 

I love this country and the freedom it stands for however it appears that President Bush and his gang of lying, arrogant cronies are not acting in the best interests of the vast majority of the population . 

It deepens saddens and also angers me that someone with so much political power who took an oath to uphold the constitution can abuse the public trust so outrageously for selfish, materialistic reasons.  

I have even read documented evidence that the WTC event may have been planned by our government to get us to give up our constitutional rights and move us towards a 'One World Government'.  I hope these theories are not correct but with all the lies and spins being released one only can surmise that a gang of lying, irresponsible politicians have taken over the White House and it's time for a regime change come the next election.

What happened to the America - the home of the free and the brave that many of us grew up to love, respect and admire?

As we all evolve to a higher degree of awareness it's crucial that we learn to tell ourselves and each other the truth. Those that cheat and don't act with integrity will, like Enron and World.Com, soon come to a rude awakening and a swift retribution. This also applies to our political leaders who have been dishonest with us. The amount of dis-information put out by this administration is truly unfortunate because as more and more people awake, they will be outraged by the blatant arrogance and self serving lies. This eventually will result in a total loss of government credibility by a growing number of people. It's natural to feel outraged when someone who swears an oath, spits on the very Constitution they swore to uphold.

Since when did stealing Iraq's oil justify going to war and putting American lives at risk? Every day I read about more and more American solders being killed so that some politician or Bush associate can steal a few more million. Just how many lies and distortions regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and nuclear bombs constitute grounds for impeachment?
Our economy is presently is serious trouble and having to spend about $90 billion/yr. in Iraq is not helping things at home.

I have read that the oil companies have already divided up the "spoils of war" and decided which oil company gets what oil fields! There also appears to have been a large scale import of illegal drugs and using the drug monies to prop up our economy and also make billions for selected people/groups in government. I know it may sound crazy to some but consider for a moment that there may be some truth to this. To find out more amazing details about this check out Mike Ruppert excellent informational site: www.copvcia.com .

If even a small percentage of what is written there is true we need to remove the real "evil doer's" as soon as possible. I pray this happens soon before any more innocent people are hurt by these misguided individuals.

I do have faith in our check and balance system however we must be very diligent to make sure that the perceived threat of terrorism is not used to destroy this process. Bush and his cronies appear to be only interested in the very rich at the expense of the middle class and poor folks. If his faulty, immoral, greed based, reasoning is not checked by our Congress, our constitutional rights will soon be flushed down the drain in the name of "terrorism prevention".  The process has already started and it's up to each of us to insist that our representative start doing their jobs. 

Environmentally we are also not doing so well with this current administration. Too many economically motivated decisions will further damage our fragile eco-systems and we will have less and less clean air to breath or water to drink. But why should we care when .1% of our population is making millions off Bush's relaxed pollution standards! 

Greed and power are powerful motivators for any unenlightened, ego driven personality. Generally these individuals are self-absorbed and feel isolated and therefore they are largely insensitive to the suffering they create by their behavior. They have a new label for sick people with this type of behavior: dissociative disorder.

Too many unawake people are deceived by politicians who make wonderful speeches and then do the opposite of what they promise. Please don't mistake political image based posturing as true compassion or thoughtfulness.  Due to their greed for power, blindness and ignorance, many politicians misuse the power entrusted to them and create needless suffering for millions that will continue long after they are out of office. 

On a personal level, we can also see that taking responsibility for our creations and not demonizing others empowers us to create a more positive and proactive mindset. More and more people are being inspired to begin the rewarding adventure of personal empowerment, self-discovery and liberation. 

As we become more evolved we see that the "us and them" model is only a superficial view of reality. On a deeper level it's all "US" and whatever we do to "THEM" we are actually doing to ourselves. In a living systems approach this interconnection is logically demonstrated however the transcendental truth goes even beyond our mind's ability to fully articulate.

You may have received a glimpse of the magical, sacred one-ness that exists in each moment and want to enjoy staying fully awake. Or, perhaps the things that used to provide fulfillment are no longer satisfying and you want more out of life. Perhaps you have been in the victim or martyr role and now want to start living with more joy, love and passion.

Acknowledging your present reality is the first step to liberation. Observe what thoughts or beliefs cause you to feel judgmental, distant or separate from others. Watching how you react or respond to situations is very helpful in recognizing and understanding your conditioning. 

Identification with our past conditioning creates a "box" that can trap us in limited thinking. Learning how to live outside the box opens the door to limitless possibilities. 

I have found that waking up from the illusion often takes some sort of jolting reality check experience. Most people continue in their habitual reliance on their conditioning and belief systems until a deeply profound or shocking event intervenes and wakes them up.

Who we think we are may not be accurate because our normal senses can only experience a very small percentage of what is going on. Also we are creatures of habit and therefore we are programmed or at least influenced by out past experiences. In many ways this serves us since we can drive a car without having to take driving lessons each time. What doesn't serve us is the tendency to live in past concepts and not be fully alive and present NOW. The difference between the awakened few and the those fast asleep is connected to an expanded awareness which includes both past, present and even future experiences. 

Those who are awake live in the eternal now and realize that the identification with past conditioning is what supports the false ego. They recognize their uniqueness or individuality without feeling separate from others. In fact, feelings of separation arise from the conglomeration of thoughts which is the false ego. Who we really are can be directly experienced when this identification with the false ego is fully released. Until that occurs all techniques, practices and such are just labeled and stored as another belief system in the false ego's arsenal for self preservation.

Letting go of the false ego begins the process of being "born again". Gradually, the light of our radiant inner-awareness shines and we see how our rational intellect is no longer our master. It can, however, be a wonderful servant when used in limited, appropriate ways.

To examine our conditioning, it's helpful to pay special attention to the situations where you contract your awareness and feel uncomfortable. When you feel fearful and throw someone out of your heart it is really a part of yourself that is being externalized and rejected.

This shift in awareness starts the process of releasing your negative conditioning. As you let go and stop resisting life, you become a more open, loving, liberated, empowered and spiritually awake being. 

Life abhors a vacuum so as you release these old programs, it's important to replace them with positive, life affirming ones. I have found it helpful to turn off the TV and develop interests that expand consciousness and creativity. 

Meditation, Drumming, Web Site Designing and Healing/Body Work are just a few of the activities I enjoy. You can read about them by clicking on the link buttons at the bottom. Because we all are unique, you may find other interests or hobbies to explore and enjoy.

I hope what is shared here gives you more than intellectual knowledge. To do that would reduce this sharing to just another concept or belief system. I hope it encourages you to do your own inner work and find the "inner truth" that serves to liberate and illumine you. 

As you awaken, you may notice that many people are asleep or lost in a programmed state of awareness. They live life mechanically and may or may not want to wake up right now. However for those that want to be free, I've shared many ideas to start the ball rolling. As you work on yourself, you may find that your efforts are helping others wake up too. 

Freedom is more than being "at choice".  It is necessary to have a clear understanding of what your desires and motivations are. Otherwise you may continue to run habitual destructive patterns that do not serve you.

True freedom is directly related to waking up from the illusion of separation and seeing ourselves and the world as it truly is. As awakening individuals we are beginning to take some responsibility in reducing the suffering, violence, chaos and pollution in the world. 

We have been entrusted to be guardians of Mother Earth. So far we have not been doing a very good job. However we can make it, if we wake up soon and start honoring our inter-connectiveness. Our present greed based behavior and economic systems are causing massive global destruction to our environment. We need to use our unique God given talents to respect the Earth and help make this a better world.

If what I share here has piqued your interest then please   e-mail me.