My Spiritual Path...

Currently there are many people in this world that are searching for more. They have reached that point where they genuinely ask themselves the age old question, "Is this really all there is to life?"

The fact is that this world is such a wonderful place to learn these lessons, by that I mean that it shows one very effectively that material things cannot bring happiness. In this world of ours, one can see it so very clearly if one wishes. The following is a brief description of my path so far...



When we look around it is easy to see people that earn the kind of money that one can only ever dream of. Our television screens are littered with them. In this world one can have more money than it is possible spend in a lifetime. The thing is, when I look at these people, I mean really look, they are clearly not happy. One only has to look at Britney Spears at the moment to see this very plainly. This is because the thirst inside for something more always remains.

I thought, a long time ago, that it was just a case of earning more money. I thought this would quench this thirst and so I went after it and got it. I had so much money, that I literally did not know what to do with it, but I was still not fulfilled. Then I began thinking that perhaps it was freedom that I thirsted for; to be the master of my own destiny. So I pursued that. I dropped out of the ‘rat-race’ and attained that freedom. Still, the thirst was stronger than ever...

I thought that it was love and family so that was my next target. This did provide temporary relief. Children are apt to do that. They are so wonderful and take an inordinate amount of work that can distract you for a while. Yet soon the thirst was there again. Next I began to think that perhaps I choose the wrong career in the first place and so tried to live out childhood fantasies in the hope that they would satisfy the constant craving. They did not. I found myself left with little more than my ambitions. I tried fulfilling those. It did not work. Nothing worked.

One by one all the things that this world offered were left by the wayside as I began to realize that nothing would fill the hole inside. That is when I began to despair. I had tried everything I could think of and found that none of it worked. I had been to all the wild parties, taken numerous drugs, slept with more people than should be legal, earned more money than I could ever need, achieved goals I never thought possible, and so on and so on until I finally accepted that what I needed cannot be found in this world.

This was when depression set in. Thoughts of suicide plagued me. This stage lasted a long time. What I came to understand was that this too was an illusion. All I was really doing was trying to convince myself that I had not made wise choices in this life and if I had then everything would be alright and I would not feel this way. So, I thought, let's end this life and just try harder in the next, (I believe in reincarnation, by the way). Fortunately though, I am strong and know deep down that this is not the way. Having said that, this did not stop me fantasizing about it.

Then, suddenly, and without my even realizing it for a while, a wonderful thing happens. God came to me. It was not a ‘road to Damascus’ type of experience; it was so much smaller and so much quieter than that. There is light but it is not the light that is visible to human eyes. It is light on the inside. It is the light of God that fills you. You suddenly know what you must do and where you must go. Life takes on new meaning.

And yet … yet, I had absolutely no idea how to get there; no idea even where ‘there’ was. I had read much about it. Indeed, in reaching this place, that had been an inevitable necessity. None of it really helped at this time, though. There is so much confusion in this world that I came to a point where none of the information out there added anything other than more confusion. I had reached the stage where it all said the same thing, in the end. The problem, though I did not know it yet, was that my cup was simply full, as the saying goes. How can the spirit pour anything new into you when your cup is already overflowing with the ideas of this world? Soon I came to realize this.

This is where I understood that it was time to stop. By beginning the process of emptying my mind of all the thoughts that had got me this far I slowly began to be receive the spirit. The paradox is that I needed all that information to get me to this point but, now that I was there, I needed to completely empty myself of it.

I discovered, as did Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”, that I already possessed everything I would ever need to take me home. This is where the real work began; only it is not work at all. It is the absence of work, the absence of anything at all.

I began to go inside myself, and now everything is becoming clearer. This has not happened overnight and the path from here is still a very long one. What I did not realize for a long time is that the process changes you anyway. Truly, it is not a destination but a journey. It is how we travel that is the most important thing. When we travel in the right way, the destination will come to us and we will realize that we were there already. Again, just like Dorothy, we will realize that it was all just a dream.

I have been on the spiritual path almost all of my adult life now. I have left behind much that once mattered in this world of form. This is good. This is necessary and the process will continue. I see now that everything up until the point where I started to look inside was just preparation, though very necessary preparation at that. It was then that the true journey began...

We are all beginners in this thing called life. Experience and knowledge do not make wisdom. Wisdom comes only from the God within. It is not of this world.

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Two inspirational stories

I had the urge to relate a couple of very short stories that I once heard. I must stress that these are not mine and I do not know the origin of them so I cannot reference them. All I can say is that I have found both to be a source of inspiration...



The first is a little silly, to be honest, but ... well, here goes anyway. I like it!

Two ants were admiring the Taj Mahal. After a while, one turns to the other and remarks, "Aren't the creations of Man wondrous to behold?". To which the other replies, "What?! Don't tell me you believe in Man, do you?".

The second is a little less frivolous.

Upon dying, a man goes to heaven where he meets God. After a while he plucks up the courage to ask God a question. "When I was dying", he says, "true to the stories, I saw my whole life pass me by. My question relates to this. I was wondering why I saw it represented as footprints in the sand - two sets of footprint to be precise, side by side?"
"Ahh", replied God, "That is because throughout your life I have walked by your side".
"In that case", the man retorted, "why were there sometimes only one set of footprints?"
To this God said that they were the times when the man had had trouble in his life.
"What?!" cried the man, "You mean you deserted me whenever I had any trouble in my life. What sort of a God are you?"
God simply replied "You do not understand. When there was only one set of footprints, it was because I was carrying you".

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Who Wants to Live Forever?

As I look around me, everywhere I see people giving up. I overheard a conversation this morning where one man asked an old acquaintance that he had clearly not seen in a while, what he was doing with himself these days. To this the other replied that he was not doing much at all other than playing a little golf occasionally. This struck me of a man that sees no future for himself. Of course this is a judgement on my part and one should always be wary of such a tendency, yet I feel as though I hit the mark in this case.

I see example of this type of thing all the time. It is as though people are programmed by this world to accept the inevitability of old age and death, which of course we are. Think, for example, of the old saying that there are only two certainties in life, namely, death and taxes.



The difference between this ‘worldly’ thinking and the thoughts that arise when one dwells in God are that, in God, one assumes life. Indeed, that is the entire premise of religion, is it not? That one will surely die without God, yet with God one can have everlasting life. In was not without a certain smile that I once read of one man’s response to this which went along the lines of “Why on earth would I want everlasting life? Don’t you think this one is hard enough?”

The Christian Church plays on this everlasting life aspect. It is essentially their sales pitch. I see this now. Yet, the problem is that the bible does not promise this to all believers. In fact it goes so far as to declare that most will actually not be chosen.

“Many are called, but few are chosen”
Matthew 22:14

The Church does not teach this. It implies that one is guaranteed salvation and eternal life if one simply believes in Jesus, attends church and leads a good life. This is totally incorrect. One of the core messages that Jesus tried to teach was that belief and leading a good life are just not enough. He held up the scribes and the Pharisees as an example:

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:20

The Pharisees were considered, (or considered themselves, at least), to be among the most righteous of all. They were well versed in scripture and held perfectly to the letter of the law. And yet they would not see the kingdom of heaven. How, then do we imagine that things have changed today?

We are taught that Jesus’ death on the cross has fully atoned us for all our sins, and that this has guaranteed our salvation, if we believe, that is. If this was indeed the case, do you not think that Jesus’ message would have been more along the lines of “Hey, don’t worry about a thing guys, I’m going to die for all of you so all you need to do is go to church and believe in me and we’ll be sorted!”

Clearly this is not the case, so what more must we do? While it may well be true that Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins, we cannot expect that this automatically ensures our salvation. We must come to know the Christ in each of us. In John 17:3 we are told:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

How do we come to know God? This passage is interpreted by far greater scholars than I as meaning to be at one with God. Therefore we must achieve what is known as Christ Consciousness. This is known by varying names around the world. Some call it enlightenment or nirvana. Jesus quoted Psalms 82:6 when, in John 10:34 he said:

“…Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?”

Clearly, in our present state, we are not Gods, or at least we do not think we are. We must realise our God nature and become God before we can escape this cycle of life and death. Zen Buddhism teaches that you are Buddha. It is exactly the same as saying “Ye are Gods”.

How do we achieve this feat, then? By first realising that we can do nothing of our selves. The self is the anti-Christ, the very antithesis of our true God nature. We have often heard it called the ego. Society has diminished the meaning of this to a large extent. We often think of it in terms of merely just being big-headed. This is erroneous and dangerous. To underestimate the ego, the anti-Christ, is the route of our ailment. It wants nothing less than to continue to rule our earthly lives as it does already.

In its effort to accomplish this, it will stop at nothing – even killing us. It knows we do not need it and that we are perfectly capable of existing without it, (though not in the sense you now think of existence). The result is that it hides from us. Remember, that the devils greatest feat was convincing mankind that he does not exist. The vast majority of people are not even aware of its existence and almost all are unaware that the entity, with which they identify themselves, is actually the very thing that would deceive them.

We live under mass hypnosis. Spiritual disciplines speak of the awakening process. This is what is meant by this. It is an awakening from the sleep that is our everyday consciousness. It is an awakening to the fact that “Ye are Gods”. It is the death of the ego, the anti-Christ within each of us that has taken possession of our lives.

Once we come to realise this, we can approach an understanding of the doctrine that we, of our own efforts, can do nothing; for the very reason that ‘our’ efforts constitute the efforts of the great deceiver. The Churches have this, at least, right. Yet, by attempting thus, we send out a message or a distress call if you will, to the Higher Self that we are ready to begin the process of return.

The process can and almost invariable will take many, many lifetimes to achieve and during each we must face many more trials and tests of our commitment along the way. Do not be discouraged, though. For, by the mere fact that you are reading this, the chances are that you are already well advanced in this respect anyway. Those that are will understand of what I speak. They will know already that this is so by the unmistakable leap of your soul in recognition of these words. This will be so even if you have not consciously contemplated these concepts before.

We will be guided by our Higher Selves to read the right words, to seek out the right things for our development. Our inner direction shall act as a compass and as we progress along the path, we will gradually learn to heed this more and more. It is our intuition. The truth is that this is the inner guide alerting us to the things that will take us home. This is how we shall achieve unity with the Christ Consciousness. Not by our own efforts, but by the grace of God and by following our inner guide. Jesus came to show us the way. The Church and the State have conspired to pervert this message. When Jesus said:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"
John 14:6

He did not mean that Christianity is the only religion. He meant that we should become God, achieve unity with our Higher Self. None come to the Father except through unity.

In this, do not be further deceived, though. The Church and the State have indeed deceived us, yet their motives were pure, (by and larger, anyway). They truly believed that the things that have been done have been so as to benefit the world. In this they acted nobly, but the problem is they have been guided not by God but by the anti-Christ. Anyone that looks at the history of the Church can plainly see this.

It is this that is the challenge we face today. While we must realise our own error and the error of our ways, we must not condemn those that would guide us for their folly, for, had we been in their position, the chances are that we would have made the same mistakes and probably many more also.

Around us we may observe the masses turning from the religion of their birth, whatever that may be. In tandem with this, we see people giving up hope of another way. People turn instead to illusory sensory pleasures and carnal vices to numb the pain of everyday existence. There is so much more than this. The journey is not an easy one, but it is the path we must tread to ultimately escape this trap, this earthly life.

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Car Alarm Invention

I have an idea for a car alarm that combines a cell phone with the alarm itself...



The alarm would have an inbuilt cell phone of some sort. The way it would operate is, when someone tries to break into your car, the alarm triggers a switch that automatically sends a text message from the inbuilt cell phone to a predesignated number or rings that number with a special ring tone to alert you that your car is being stolen.

In addition to this, the phone could also act as a tracking device so that your car could be tracked if the thieves managed to get into your car and drive it away.

The cell phone would be powered buy the car in the same way as other electrical devices. It could even offer a subscription service that allows the phone to notify the police with an automated message when your car is in danger from thieves.

This invention idea is not something that I shall ever do anything with, therefore feel free to use it with my blessings.

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The Law of Attraction

So what's my problem with the law of attraction? Well, nothing in and of itself. It is one of God's spiritual laws and it works - just like it says on the can! My problem is that we are not being shown the full can.

This means that there are issues in the application of this law and the limited perspective with which it is portrayed. It is touted that one merely need focus on something and repeatedly visualize it and, low and behold, it will come to you. In short, it is being held up as a magic formula.

This is not the truth and people are being misled over one of the most basic laws of the universe...





Many people try to work with the law of attraction and only end up pushing the things they desire away from them. The wannabe millionaire frantically visualizing success yet not having enough money to pay the rent is an all too familiar tale. There can be many causes for this. It could be, for example that you simply want it too much. There is a delicate balance between desiring something so that it burns like a fire in your chest and becoming too attached to the desired result.

Buddha taught of the need for non-attachment. In this he tried to teach us a great spiritual truth. Remember also what Christ taught when he said:

"...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him."
Matthew 6:8

The problem with using the law of attraction for specific things is that we do not know what we need. We may think we do, but in reality we do not. How many times have you looked back on what seemed like the worst time of your life to realise that, had things gone any other way, you would have ended up in a much worse predicament. We do not have the phrase "a blessing in disguise" for nothing.

The way to use the law of attraction is to realise that it is all tied up with vibration. We are nothing but energy in motion. Science has effectively demonstrated this. Another word for 'energy in motion' is 'vibration'. The law of attraction is based on the hermetic axiom that like attracts like. If you play a single piano note in a room with another piano, the same note on that other piano will start to sound as well.

Therefore to have health, happiness and abundance in our lives, we must use the law of attraction to gain those things. Yet, to actually have them, we cannot start specifying the form in which they will manifest. It may be that we want a particular house but, if we could see things as God does, we might realise that there is a better house for us. What we must do is to attune our rate of vibration so that the things we desire are attracted to us but at the same time realise that "...your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him."

The question now becomes, how do we raise our rate of vibration? There are many ways, just as there are many ways of lowering it too. In fact, every action, every thought and every feeling we have or do is constantly raising or lowering our rate of vibration. This is what is known as karma.

It is no accident, for instance that spiritual teachers advise against things such as alcohol, drugs, smoking, swearing, pornography and the like. All these things serve to lower our vibrations. Just as watching or reading certain things, if not done so in the correct way, can also lower our rate. Similarly, reading or watching positive material, thinking thoughts of gratitude and love, praying, meditating and so forth can all help to raise our vibrational rate.

What it all comes down to is this, if you want good things to happen in your life then you would do better to have good positive thoughts, feelings and actions. If you have bad, negative and depressive thoughts, feelings and actions, then the things that correspond to that will be drawn to you like a magnet.

Guard your thoughts and your guard you life. Of course, maintaining this is not easy. However, this is what is required of each and every one of us.

The next thing to look at is why things do not come to us even when we get all these things right. That, however, is another post!

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Prayer

I have just found an awesome article on prayer. It is a catholic site but the principles taught hold good for all prayer. There is only one God, whether you call it Christ, Buddha, Tao or whatever.

http://holytransfiguration.org/Prayer.htm

Please enjoy.

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Inspiration

It is true to say that help is always available to us but, to gain access to that help, we must first make the effort to reach out for it.

After my post earlier today about hope I happened upon the following blog post. It concerns a man with no arms and no legs that has gone on to become an inspiration to millions. It is well worth a visit. Watch the YouTube videos. Outstanding!

http://growing-self.blogspot.com/2007/11/no-armsno-legsno-limits.html

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