AWAKENING

Awakening, sometimes called Awareness, Transformation, Enlightenment, Realization or Born-Again, can transpire suddenly through a crises, or by prayer and meditation - or slowly through a series of smaller, daily insights and revelations in Truth.  God-Realization, surrendering to God or a Higher Power results in Spiritual Happiness.    

See also,  What Is Spiritual Happiness?

AWAKENING

My life has been a journey

and the roads have been unknown

in my search for all the answers

I have often felt alone

so I travelled far away from home

to see what I might find

with fearless strength and fortitude

I left myself behind

I walked along a blurry path

and tripped along the way

the stars above abandoned me

the nights became my days

but just before abandoned hope

had almost taken toll

I found a love inside of me

and met my weary soul

I fastened on to solace

and changed my point of view

where I used to feel so empty

is now filled with gratitude

a miracle has happened

I never knew it could

the feeling I was searching for

is finally understood 

See also,  What Is Spiritual Happiness?



CARING FOR SOUL

Spirituality is an inside job.  In order to love others, you must first honor your soul.  Take time for meditation and prayer on a daily basis.  

When caring for soul, the first thing to realize is that the soul is not an invisible entity you have no control over. The soul is actually a reflection of whom and what you really are. Although we possess physical bodies and mental attitudes, our deepest connection is to our spiritual source.

The actions you choose affect your face and physical body. When you are kind and honest with people, your face softens. Any lines or wrinkles you see when you look in the mirror, are not what others see. Facial expressions are subconsciously expressed. A sincere smile, and being able to look into someone’s eyes when speaking to them, is noticed when relating to others. Compassionate souls have a youthful appearance and have nothing to hide. Others are drawn to this type of spirit and enjoy being in their comfortable company.

Thomas Moore is a psychotherapist and an American writer of spiritual books. His writings are influenced by Carl Jung and James Hillman. When he was young, he joined a Roman Catholic lay order known as Servites, where he studied philosophy and music. In 1992 he wrote the New York Times best seller entitled, Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life. In it he states, "Soul is not a thing but a quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart and personal substance." He goes on to say, "With lives devoid of meaning and purpose, people yearn for something to nourish their souls."

In his book he states that all human ailments come from neglecting symptoms of soul which causes the body to manifest its illnesses. He uses examples of Greek mythology and Etymology, which is the history of words, their origins and how their form and meaning have changed over time.

Negative Relationships

Angry, bitter people usually frown and their face reveals harsh and tense facial expressions. When a person is obsessed with self, and is experiencing resentful thoughts, healthy people will find them unapproachable.

The angry person is not aware of this and is often left standing alone wondering why others do not seek them out. They usually do not have many friends and will prey upon those weaker than themselves by possessing and controlling them with their influence. The unknowing subject usually has low self esteem and fulfills the angry person’s needs by being incapable of making their own decisions. After a while they start to feel powerless to the angry energy and succumb to a life of misery. Trying to please is futile and becomes an exhausting, never-ending full time job.

As the angry person gains power through forcing others to submit, it strengthens the abuser’s hold on them. The unfortunate victim does not realize the angry person always needs someone to lash out on. They constantly seek an audience to sustain their anger and often thrive on the attention. Without the acknowledgment they need, their life will feel small and meaningless.

Abusive relationships are an example of this. The abuser tries to front their angry personalities with deceitful, selfish self-confidence. In order to gain attention, and to fulfill their needs, they will boast of their accomplishments and intelligence, without any consideration to others. So long as they have someone to listen to their rants, the stronger the angry person becomes. They must find someone to exploit in order to build their esteem and false pride. If the attention is withdrawn, the harder and more forceful they must present themselves. In some cases, the only thing they can do is resort to violence.

Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, has been called the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and was the most documented psychic of the 20th century. He was also devoted churchgoer and Sunday school teacher. The majority of Edgar Cayce's readings deal with holistic health and the treatment of illness. Today, people from all walks of life believe and receive physical relief from illnesses or ailments through information given in the readings. The Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) exist worldwide and Edgar Cayce Centers are found in more than 35 countries. There are thousands of Cayce students and more than 300 books written about him.

In one of Edgar Cayce’s readings he states, "The impact of our choices will eventually find expression in the physical, affecting ourselves and our relationships with one another. Spirit is the Life, Mind is the Builder, and the Physical is the Result. The mind focuses that energy into creative (positive) or destructive (negative) avenues of expression."

Caring for Your Soul

It is imperative to protect your soul and uphold your positive energy. It is your responsibility to honor yourself and your God-given right to happiness. No one can take this from you. If you find yourself in a situation where you have lost your power and integrity, seek the help you are worthy of. The soul that has been given to you deserves to live with honor and respect. Be kind to yourself and your soul will reward you in turn by feeling at peace and experiencing the love you deserve.

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS?

Spiritual happiness can only occur through transformation. The process of realization lasts an entire lifetime.

Spiritual happiness is achieved when duality of personality comes together as one. Remaining at peace requires daily perseverance of inner work through meditation and contemplation. Only then will it remain constant.

Duality occurs soon after birth when ego is formed. The family you were born into and geographic locations play a huge role in this. The self acquires many aspects of the personality before the age of six in order to survive. This is not the same as mental disorders such as multiple personality, where a person actually divides into many personalities, either at birth or from traumatic experiences, in order to cope. In duality, the ego remains the same, is conscious of its actions, and always has a choice.

East Meets West Philosophy

Progression of American philosophy set the stage for the explosion of the East meets West spiritual movement for nearly three decades, from 1836 to 1866. The movement flourished in Concord, Massachusetts and was heard of but it had no formal organization.

The Transcendental Club or Circle was started by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Unitarian Minister James Freeman Clark, the teacher and philosopher Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, and some clergymen. Their collective achievement in quality of style and in depth of philosophical insight is unsurpassed in American literature. Sanskrit literature was in great demand. Indian thought began to manifest itself in American writing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, "I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavat-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions that exercise us."

On Transcending

"To transcend" means to go beyond or to rise above limits; to triumph over restriction; to be prior to, beyond, and above the universe or material existence.

Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. Before his death he had completed filming the series of interviews with Bill Moyers, known as The Power of Myth, that was aired in the spring of 1988. In this he stated "Follow your bliss".

The decisions you make during your lifetime lead you to the present moment. It is always changing and rearranging itself. The one thing that remains true is the "I" and "me" segment of you. Different persona created by "I" or "me" prevail in situations according to what you believe to be true of the reality at that time. Ego is constantly re-creating itself to defend its life believing it is what it must do to survive. The false belief that you must control circumstances and other people, is what keeps duality from recognizing the fact that there even is a split.

Through consistent meditation and contemplation, a moment of reckoning happens. This is where you finally understand what you are doing and become aware of it. You begin to gather and incorporate the several parts of self and become whole. The process known as awakening continues for an entire lifetime.

Spiritual happiness occurs during the final realization that we are all connected, and the control you once thought you had, releases its grip on the personality. Truth becomes imperative and insightful knowledge once sought, begins to reveal itself on a daily basis. Only then will the nature of your reality lose its duality. When this happens, the world appears different. What you once thought and believed as true, no longer exists for you.

It becomes problematic in the early stages when you see that others are unaware and still sleeping. You want to shout out to the world to wake up. Understand that it is impossible to force your beliefs on them or explain what has transpired for you. Soon another stage emerges and becomes apparent. Transformation of the soul, in sync and integrated with mind and heart, realizes this astonishing fact: there is still much work to be done.

See also:  What Is Divine Justice?