religion
How To Live A More Spiritually Aware Life
To lead a more spiritual, and therefore a happier and more fulfilled life, you do not need to develop a passion for incense, or hire a guru to assist you in going through some form of spiritual awakening. Instead, you may be comfortable with more down to earth approach.
Firstly, it is important to recognize that religion and spirituality are not necessarily the same things. Religion is just one form of spiritual practice. Spirituality itself is something that comes from within the individual.
Spiritual awareness is a sustained belief that there is much more to life than meets the eye, something greater than yourself, even though you have no evidence for it. Hold onto this belief or feeling, as it is very, very real!
One of the best ways to get in touch with your spirituality is to spend time in nature. It does not matter whether you live, in a town, city, or rural area, connecting with nature is imperative, as it will help to bring a sense of peace to your overworked mind, and it will uplift your spirit with its rejuvenating power. By doing so, it will assist with your spiritual development.
To become more spiritually aware it is also important to learn to control your inner dialogue. Becoming a more spiritual person involves monitoring your inner voice and making sure that your self-talk is healthy. Meditation can be particularly helpful in this respect, as well as recognizing any negative thought patterns or false beliefs that you may have.
Choosing A Spiritual Path With Heart
There are many blind choices we make when we are too young or inexperienced to make the best decisions for ourselves. We are born into a family, or raised in a culture, for example, with its unique traditions and beliefs, or lack thereof, and we are usually quite susceptible in our youth to these influences.
In the process of becoming an adult, the questioning of such beliefs and traditions leads us towards who we will become, to discovering what truly resonates with us, and what does not. But this is something we may have taken lightly in our youth, and therefore needs to be looked over several times in our life to find out with real sincerity what is truly calling us.
It is possible that being born in a traditional Christian home, for example, we felt constrained and limited, even small and powerless, ultimately causing us to reject all dogmatic religion. For someone else, brought up maybe in an atheist home, the search for God or faith may bring a profound sense of empowerment and life purpose that nurtures their life. It all depends on us as individuals, and how we process our own reality.
Carlos Castaneda writes in The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, “Before you embark on any path ask the question: does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him.”
Be Mindful Of Your Words And Thoughts
It is important to consider one’s ‘vibes’ and intentions, because is an essential aspect of understanding intuition, manifesting, destiny and predicting the future. The momentum of any person’s life is consistent with the vibrations they are putting out into the Universe. So, when an intuitive or psychic is looking at your situation, it is often based not only on your existing vibration, but often Spirit will also reveal a potential that could shift the vibe within a situation or change the future outcome.
Psychics, intuitives and diviners do not create your future, but they can explore and reveal the potential and energy within a situation, in order to predict the likelihood and probability of potential outcomes. Although it does not happen very frequently, I sometimes have clients approach predictions during a reading with a cynical mentality of ‘it will never happen.’ And, I have also heard Spirit respond very bluntly to such skeptical clients: “Then it won’t.”
The mind matters when it comes to our lives and situations. I don’t believe that Spirit deals in false hope, but I do know from experience that the mind is the catalyst for our experiences. Therefore, vibes are important. Our vibes show us what we are actively engaging in and what we can expect for the future. At times it can even be best to stop, or satiate the more challenging vibes we have to a situation, by disconnecting from the story of the situation entirely.
What You Might Not Know About Reincarnation
Reincarnation, or the rebirth of our spiritual form into different bodies over time, is a broadly accepted concept across many spiritual traditions and cultures. It is a natural extension of the Law of Karma, which tells us that there is no cause without effect, nor effect without a cause. But beyond the basic concept, many of us don’t know very much about this eternal cycle.
Nature is full of these ongoing cycles: the planets in their orbits, the seasons here on Earth. We, in both our physical and spiritual states, are no different. At the moment of conception, our cells begin to multiply at exponential, and highly patterned rates, until the time comes for our physical birth. It is widely believed that each soul, or reincarnated spirit, enters the body when we first draw breath.
It is the agents of karma, among them the angels, who decide, for specific reasons, which souls will occupy each new body. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned or obstacles to overcome. The point is, it is believed that we ourselves do not choose.
In many spiritual traditions, such as Buddhism, the purpose of reincarnation is such that each soul may learn the requisite number of lessons in physical form to ultimately achieve enlightenment, or nirvana. One truth not commonly known is that many more souls exist in the Universe than there are physical people on Earth. A soul may not be reborn immediately following one death; it may wait for hundreds or thousands of years.
Working With Elemental Spirit Guides
There are several different classifications of spirit guides and energies that we as humans can work with to help us on our journey. Most spiritual traditions teach about the elemental energy within the four classical elements. This is found in ancient Buddhist texts, Native American spirituality, shamanic traditions, within the Judeo-Christian and other monotheistic traditions.
Working with elemental spirit guides can give us insights and strategies to promote positive changes in our lives, reveal our unconscious self-destructive patterns, and transform our subconscious mind and create a harmonious and balanced internal story. Elemental guides can also assist us when we are walking through a difficulty or life challenge, as well as intensify our ability to manifest the lives we want.
It is not difficult to connect with the elemental forces. There are many strategies that can assist in bringing these elemental forces into our everyday lives.
The Spirit Of Water
The spirit of water is associated with emotions and love. It can be used to help in assisting with emotional challenges, grief, and a better understanding and greater experience of love in our lives.
In many ancient traditions there is a parallel between water and being humble. It is said to be the humblest of all the elements, always seeking the lowest point. However, in its humble position it is also one of the strongest elements. In seeking the lowest position, it can evaporate into the air, satiate the flames of fire, and carve through the mountains of the earth.
When Spiritual Leaders Let Us Down
It is a hard lesson for some of us to learn that people are just people. We are all capable of good and evil. The difference is the choices that are made on how to handle our emotions and feelings.
When you put faith and trust in an individual and are let down, you start to second guess your decisions and lose some faith in yourself to make wise decisions. It can leave a big hole in your heart and create trust issues in the future.
It seems impossible for a person who has done remarkable good deeds to also choose to do bad things. We must realize that all people have temptations in life. Some people can avoid the albatross on their back, while others simply cannot. It takes a very strong person to walk their talk.
The same applies to ‘highly spiritual’ people, because some healers, gurus and spiritual leaders certainly have had their own cross to bear.
Spiritual Power And Spiritual Practice
We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. This is important to remember when considering the nature of spiritual things. The root word for spirit is ‘breath.’ This means that every person that is breathing is equally spiritual.
Too often people think that there is a hierarchical system within spirituality; that some people are ‘more spiritual’ than others. This is simply not true. There may be individuals that have a more intentional spiritual practice, with more understanding, knowledge, or wisdom. However, this does not make them ‘more spiritual.’
The nature and purpose of spiritual practice is also something that can be misunderstood. Whether it be prayer, meditation, invocations, or other sacraments, these practices are not just to get what we want. It can be a byproduct of authentic spiritual seeking and practice, but in nearly every tradition, true spiritual power is often summed up with three principles: Love, Joy, and Peace.
All spiritual practices are intended to lead us to tap into these three qualities. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Love, Joy, and Peace are the first of many “fruits of the spirit.” Authentic spiritual practice is meant to lead us to the experience of these three things.