Season's Greetings

"The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace."—Psalm 29:11

May the Lord bless you with peace during this holiday season. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Conscience

"Our conscience is a gift from God, it is a guiding light. And when aligned with God's true word, it shows us what is right."—Sper

If we don't follow our conscience, we are headed straight for trouble. So we can try to be safe by listening to that inner voice. You can read related passages from the Bible in Acts 5:1-11 and in I Thessalonians 5:19.

Quotations

"All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness."—Tennessee Williams

"Friends who validate your pain and nurture you in dark times are healing to your soul."—Author Unknown

How to Turn Negative Thoughts into Positive Resonance

There are so many people who have negative thoughts and are plagued by negative thinking. These negative thoughts create fear, anger, and agitation and there is seemingly no apparent reason for these thoughts to occur. Everyone who has this habit must try to learn how to stop it and must try to bring on a more positive way of thinking.

When a fearful thought comes, the first step should be to reason it out. Is it a meaningful thought or not? If it is, without panicking take care of it in a rational way. If you know it is a useless thought, don’t try to analyze it. Stop thinking about it. Sometimes people can be angry with you, because you didn’t meet their expectations. In such a circumstance remember that we don’t have to do everything for everyone. Don’t feel guilty or angry, instead be fair and honest. Remember you know so much more than others. Be patient with them. They don’t have the knowledge that you have.

In our life time, each one of us as humans, experience fear, anger, envy, sadness, insecurity and many other negative emotions and thoughts. These thoughts turn us into fearful people with doubts and insecurity. All these emotions and thoughts cover our real, beautiful inner nature.

We all created in the image of God as Adam in the Bible. And God is within all of us. God’s nature is loving and kind. We are all souls. We have to make a habit of letting the fearful negative thoughts go out from our system. It is important for good health, as well as spiritual living.

All these negative thoughts can lead to chronic anxiety and depression. Our bodies are connected to our minds. Depression and anxiety leads to stress on your heart. It’s important to remember that love can heal and stress can kill. The choice is ours. But it’s not easy to stop at once. Try everyday slowly to condition yourself into a more positive and constructive way of thinking.

How to Be Happy In this Life
Remember that we are physical and that it is not easy to be perfect. But remember that we are also souls and hence we are immortal. We always have God’s great energy (Holy Spirit) within us. It is the path to our happiness.

How does happiness come? Happiness can come from within. It’s not what others think and talk about you. Jealousy is indeed a poison to the soul. Prayer also helps. It deepens the faith. The result of the faith is love. Love one another as God loves each one of us.

Remember also to live in the present but not the past or future. The past is over. The future is not yet here. Plan for the future but don’t worry. Worry again brings anxiety and other problems. If you cannot forget the past and its related worries, it means that you will bring health problems to yourself. Don’t worry about past memories. They come and go. Don’t give too much attention to them. Try to come out quickly from such worrisome thoughts. Below is an explanation of how you can release yourself from such worries.

Reaching for God’s Help and How
Through meditation and visualization you can reach God. Healing will occur. Through meditation and prayers you will get happiness and peace.

Again take time to realize that you are not a physical body alone. You are a soul and divinity is within you. It’s God’s gift for all humans. So your true nature is spiritual. Meditation can heal you. Meditation really can result in miracles. It will calm you down and bring peace to your soul. In the quiet of the silent mind, the meditator begins to become an observer. Success at meditation will not come right away. It needs practice and concentration. It gives you enlightenment. You can use the meditation listed below as an example.

Meditation
Close your eyes gently.
Take a few deep breaths.
Imagine that you can breath in God’s energy and breath out the tension and stress from your body.
Let each breath make you feel more relaxed as you go deeper.
Give 15 seconds to relax the body. Now relax all your muscles.

Now relax all your muscles from face to toes, step by step.
Let go of all the tightness and tension from each muscle of your body.
When you relax your entire body from your face to your toes, your entire body goes into a state of deep peace.

Visualize in your mind’s eye or feel a beautiful light above your head, or an image of Jesus Christ. This light will deepen your level of peace within you and heal your body. Now let the light flow into your body from top of your head through to the toes of your legs.

Let the light (Holy Spirit) light up your brain and heal you from head to toe. This beautiful light flows in your body like a wave of light touching every cell of your body with peace, love and healing.

Now stay still for 15 seconds and imagine or feel the Holy Spirit (light) completely surrounding your in and outside your body. Feel it even if you feel sleepy. But don’t sleep.

When you are in this relaxed and quiet state of mind, imagine yourself walking in a beautiful garden you have never seen before. Imagine you are walking with Jesus or angels, holding their hands and under their protection. Then feel your body filled with Holy Spirit and continue to heal your mind and body, giving peace to your soul. While you are in your relaxed state, if you see or experience anything you will remember everything. You can experience all levels of your multi-dimensional self, which is your body mind and soul. So remember you’re greater than your body and mind. One thing I’d like to say is that in a spiritual way the imaginary world is the real world.

The important thing to remember since we are in our physical body is to take care of our physical being. Take your medication and do your exercises regularly. But most importantly, remember that your soul needs help too. When you can’t control your negative thoughts, relaxation and meditation and prayer are very important to finding peace and healing. The best meditation is one, which brings you out from negative thoughts to happiness.

God bless you.

A Living Soul

A spark of my eternal spirit becomes in this world a living soul. And this draws around its center the five senses and the mind resting in nature.—Krishna

Into the Supreme

Those who with the eye of inner vision see the distinction between the field and the knower of the field, and see the liberation of spirit from matter; they go into the supreme.—Krishna

The Higher Path

"And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all, that is he hurts not himself by hurting others; then he goes indeed to the higher path."—Krishna

Who Has Seen The Wind?

“Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I. But when the trees bow their heads, the wind is passing by.” —Christina Rosetti

The Mind

The mind is a beautiful gift from God. It is the most important guide for all humans in their lives. Without the mind, we are nowhere. The mind reveals to us what to do or what not to do. It’s our choice to decide. The mind reveals many things: such as how to reach God, how to love one another and how to survive in this life. Actually every step of the way it provides us with guidance in the form of thoughts. So the life we live is based on our minds. Thoughts are very important, so pay attention to your thoughts. Remember that the life you are living is based on your thinking.

What is the mind? The human brain is a significant organ, which leads our lives. As the brain belongs to the physical, the mind similarly belongs to the soul. It is spiritual. You can see the brain with your physical eyes but you can’t see the mind. But it can travel anywhere in the world. The brain works as a machine, it receives thoughts (messages) from the mind and it will deliver the messages to the physical body through physical nervous system.

Sometimes the mind is cluttered with too many thoughts. Sometimes the thoughts are scary and sometimes they are confused. That means you are away from the present and unable to receive the natural quality of the mind’s messages. At times like that, don’t panic or get confused, when your mind wanders, reconnect again with the feeling of love and care for everyone.

One thing we have to keep it in mind is whatever country you are from, whatever religion you are and whatever your skin colour may be, it doesn’t matter. We are all God’s children. The soul has no colour we must remember that. We all came to this earth from one place to learn and fulfill our duties. After that we go back to the place where we come from. God created all of us. Messages from God come to everyone. But some pay attention and some don’t. The more you pay attention and recognize them, the more you will receive them.

The spiritual communication ability is within you and it’s a part of you. It doesn’t come right away. It takes time to develop. Start with meditation. When you meditate, relax your physical body, when you do that your spiritual soul will be active and receive messages. It’s important to practice mindfulness. When you are interested in that, naturally your heart will open up. If you have this joy in your heart, no matter what happens, you maintain peace within you.

Remember our inner selves are wiser than our material brains.

Quotation by Blake

"The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after the death of the vegetative body."—William Blake

Words by Apuleius

“Everyone should know that you cannot live in any other way than by cultivating the soul.”—Apuleius

Words from Paracelsus

“For what is outside is also inside; and what is not outside man is not inside. The outer and the inner are one thing, one constellation, one influence, one concordance, one duration, one fruit.”—Paracelsus

The Soul

I'd like to share some of my views and thoughts about the “soul” based on my understanding from my life's experiences.

What Is The Soul?
Many times I wonder where I came from and what the reason is for my being here on earth. But the answer seems to be with in me, it’s in that element in all of us, which is invisible and unexplainable: the soul. I believe that I am a soul and have a body and that I also have God's spirit within me. When God created humans (Adam in the Biblical sense) God formed them in His own figure (which is holy and transparent). When God gave Adam the breath of life, He gave His spirit to everyone on the earth. I strongly believe that the physical body is lower to the soul because when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's word, they were given physical garments. So how the physical body is a cover to the soul, similarly the soul is a cover to the spirit. So I do believe that humans are three fold beings. The soul is the core of the divine spirit, which God gave to each one of us. That means a speck of God and his divinity is within all of us. Hence, we are God's children.

God gave each of us the gift of eternal life; we were born with spirit, soul and a physical body. The physical body is perishable. My body is not the real me. The soul within my body is. It survives death.

What is the purpose of the soul on earth?
When you get a chance of helping others please don't neglect or ignore it. After helping others in anyway you can, you feel good in your heart. You feel the sweetest satisfaction of your life and also you feel your worth. That means you are doing what you were meant to do on the earth.

Sometimes some people suffer in so many different ways but the pain you suffer, the loneliness you feel, and each trouble you face will give you a chance to see and feel the satisfaction of helping others. That makes your soul understand the purpose of coming to the earth to be good and helpful. I’ve learned that we should just try to be what we truly are and leave the rest to God. God and His grace will take care of you.

So look at yourself as a spiritual being, whose true home is beyond this world. Remember that the soul within in us survives death and goes back in to the spirit world where it came from.

Remember everything that is painful happens for a reason: to teach a lesson. That will help one to grow spiritually.

Song Offerings

Gitanjali (Song Offerings) By Rabindranath Tagore (1861--1941):

"This is my prayer to thee, my lord—strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love."—Verse 36

More Thoughts to Ponder

“I know I have had the experience of being gripped by something that is stronger than myself, something that people call God. —Carl Jung

“My darkest moments bring my most illuminating encounters with God.”

Thought for the Day

Everything that is painful happens for a reason. This teaches us a lesson that will help us grow more spiritually. When we come to realize this, then we shall find inner peace and richness. No one can take that away from you.

"Suffering always precedes a flowering life."

Miracle at Birth

It was a beautiful summer morning, according to the couple that was about to have their fourth baby. To add to their joy (for they had been blessed three times before), a baby girl was born early that morning at about 5:30 am. The newborn baby was healthy and in her parents’ eyes, very beautiful. The midwife, who attended the delivery, also happened to be the baby’s grandmother. Everyone was quite happy that the delivery went well and busily resumed performing their chores, however they neglected to notice a very serious occurrence that was evolving in that delivery room.

Mercifully, there was someone who did notice. Over in the next room, the baby’s eldest sister, Karuna was very anxious to see her new baby sister, even though she already had another younger sister. She quietly tiptoed to the window and peered through to get a glimpse of the baby. To her surprise and horror, she noticed that blood was gushing out from the newborn’s umbilical cord much like how water spews out from a fountain. Horrified, Karuna immediately brought this matter to the attention of everyone who was there.

The midwife immediately took action and the bleeding stopped. It turned out that the baby’s umbilical cord was not clamped properly; somehow it had loosened, prompting the bleeding. The midwife, a senior who was well loved and respected, and quite loving to others, performed many successful deliveries before. The baby’s start in life on this earth could have had disastrous consequences. Almost all of the nutrients and blood was lost but for some reason the baby survived and the parents were truly grateful for this blessing.

Actually the newborn baby was me and that midwife was in fact my grandmother. I was the 4th child in my family. Many times I wonder why that happened to me at that age? In the first few moments of my life. It has prompted me to ask: “What is the purpose of my life on the earth?” After many years of going through life’s ups and downs, I got some understanding that my purpose on this earth is to learn and be closer to God.

Since the time I knew any snippet of knowledge of this world and of the God, I have been keen to learn all I can about God and his miracles. I still wonder after all that happened at my birth (instead of dying), God’s protection was there for me. God sent my sister to see me and tell everyone to come and help me. It just strengthens my belief that, God must have a purpose for everyone on the earth. Everyone should understand according to their experiences and try to live closer to God.

Fear

In this entry, I shall be exploring the topic of fear. What is fear? Why does it come? How do you control it? As always this entry is based on my personal musings, experiences and research on the topic.

When a person is angry, sad, worrisome, or emotionally upset, it causes fear in their hearts. Fear creates destroying chemicals in our bodies, which affect our physical systems (such as the stomach, heart, blood pressure and circulation etc.). It can become a serious health situation. Just as love creates peace and happiness within you, fear in contrast creates health problems and more worries. If we let fear enter our system (through our mind) it will serve to put off the light of the soul.

How does one control the fear and how can one come out of it? Whenever a fearful thought comes to your mind, think about what you are doing to yourself and to your health. Health is very important. Realistically, tell yourself that the negative thoughts are detrimental to your well-being. And most importantly, try to realize that they are not real. Give yourself a moment and ask whether or not this thought is reasonable in any way. If not, ignore it. So replace negative thoughts with positive ones. If you believe that thoughts are just thoughts and have no real power over you, you feel self-assurance and trust instead of fear and worry. Most of all, believe in God and in his power, for He is always within you. Five sensory humans always keep fear in their hearts because they are alone in the physical world. They can’t see God within them. But the 6th sensory or multi-sensory people believe there is guidance within us.

According to Freud, there are three types of psychic natures:
1. The super ego (higher self)
2. Id: basic self
3. Ego: this is as you are in the normal and reasonable way our mind works.

The ego works constantly with the mind, to change our inner feelings about the world around us. We try to protect our inner feelings, with our own perceptions. These perceptions and thoughts depend on your fears, either they are real or imaginary ones.

There are imaginary or real fears and doubts can exist early in ones life. Such thoughts, make you put yourself down and for some people can haunt them throughout their life. All those fears, doubts, anger and negative thoughts can leave a person mired in anxiety. Some people need to get professional help to come out of this problem.

The realization that a problem of anxiety exists can be the starting point to a better-lived life. How do you know yourself? To know yourself well you must feel and understand your emotions with out overreacting. If you have made up your mind, and have the intention to make yourself comfortable and healthy, then you can certainly do it. When I make decisions, I try to make sure that my intentions are loving and best for me.

When you are aware of and know yourself: when you know how good and important you are then you feel stronger. If you know that you can and are over powering negative thoughts then there will be an absence of fear. The fear slowly disappears.

If you keep your mind and power with you, there is no compulsion and no struggle for external unnecessary power or even for unnecessary negative thoughts. The struggle for external power is due to the ego. The ego is your self-image but its not really you. This ego is playing with you. It wants to control you. Your true self is your soul and spirit. Your soul or your true nature is completely far from the nature of the ego.

How to make yourself peaceful from fears.

1. Take time to pray everyday.
2. Take time to relax and meditate everyday.
3. Practice non-judgmental way of living everyday.

Just as love creates friendship and peace within you, in contrast fear creates nervousness, palpitations, or sickness and enmity. When fear enters into one’s life that is really a starting point of self-destroying. It closes the light of the soul. When fearful thoughts and doubts come to your mind, think about how important your health is and positively talk to yourself. Realize that fearful thoughts are not always true. Is there any connection and concern for that fear? No, so negative thoughts are always destroyers. They are not real and not meaningful. Remember that and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. It takes time to practice but you slowly will begin to feel comfortable and slowly fear will disappear. Believe in God and remember that His power is always within you. If you want to live a good and happy life, you have to be loving and kind in your daily life’s situations. Stop worrying if something is going to happen, instead do the right thing and hope for the best.

Sometimes, your own friends or family members create something bad about you and tell others simply due to jealousy. What would you do? If your family members or friends reject you turn to your spiritual family. They will never neglect you instead they will take care of you. They will give you peace in your heart. The saying that blood is thicker than water may be true in a literal sense but remember that the Holy Spirit is not visible with your physical eyes but it is thicker and stronger than blood. We can always depend on our spiritual family. God’s guidance is always there for everyone who has faith in Him.

When you have fear in your heart, you naturally experience anxiety, when you have anxiety you cannot calm down and no peace exists within you. Such times call for meditation, which is a really good healer. It calms you down. It is a release of fears and pains and worries. Meditation quiets the mind, and opens your spiritual sight and gives you strength. Emotional healing comes through self-realization:

1. Deal with fears.
2. Reduce the anger.
3. Try to combat doubts with positive/constructive truths.

Prayer

Prayer is a gift to every human being from God; a gift given, so that we can all talk to him anywhere and at anytime.

Some people pray without paying much attention. They say a few words and then finish. As a prayer that’s okay but I don’t think you can feel anything profound from it.

When you want to pray, set your mind on God. From my experience, if you focus on God and then pray you will certainly feel calm and spiritual. You sense that God is indeed hearing your prayer. I start by thanking him first and then praising him for all the benefits we are receiving from him. Even before you start praying, try and notice if you have any hurtful or negative feelings towards anyone. If so, then try to initiate the process of forgiveness, so that the Lord almighty can forgive you also. This is standard Christian philosophy and I adhere to it in my day-to-day life. Furthermore, if we ask God for anything then we must firmly believe in it. If you have faith, to paraphrase the Bible: you can move mountains, if in your heart you believe that it can be done. Don’t forget that we are God’s temple. God’s spirit lives within us all the time.

You need clarity while you pray, so set up your mind and focus on God. This will help you open up your spiritual eyes. Clarity means seeing without fog. With physical eyes you may not see spiritual things. Here’s a metaphor for example: macular degeneration (a degenerative eye condition) means a journey into the fog because your central vision is completely gone. So when you focus and pray and communicate with God, you are opening up your spiritual vision; he will certainly give you answers. The more you pray, the more you feel closer to God. Why? Because your spiritual energy is rising within you. More prayer gives more strength. Prayers are wonderful and can cause wonderful miracles.

Even if you have lived a good life, one that is close to God and honorable, it does not exempt you from troubles. We all have to learn lessons during our journey so that we can be closer to God. Sometimes hardships and the consequent understanding/enlightenment can produce a sense of peace. No one can take that away from you. People who get hurt in this life are often kind and good people, they know what it is to suffer and they don’t want anyone else to suffer.

I had a very bad experience a few years ago. Through prayers I learned that in the darkest hours there is hope. I’d like to share this story with you, as it was life changing for me.

About seven years ago, my son was ill with a life-threatening respiratory ailment. I still cry when I remember those days. In our deepest darkness, God stretched forth his mighty hand and healed my son who was almost doomed to a hopeless condition. Actually he was on his deathbed and even had an out of body experience for a few minutes. But God was there, watching over him and working through the staff to help him get better. God gave my son a new life to live. During those days we survived through the power of constant (tear-filled) prayer. It was a most beautiful blessing that God heard our prayers and answered them.

The doctors basically stated that he wouldn’t live; and that the only hope of survival would be the advantage his young age (24 years) would provide and also through the strength of our faith. My son was so lifeless, bone thin and weak. The doctors even said he couldn’t walk again, but we always had faith that he would. As we believed would happen, God did heal him and also enabled him to walk again. I knew God would never leave my son in a wheelchair. He started walking after three months. He was hospitalized for a total of four months. God gave us strength to take care of him through physiotherapy and massages, lots of hard work and through encouragement. God the father through our lord and Savior Jesus Christ saved him from death. All these experiences make me so thankful all the time. I don’t know how God miraculously brought us out of that terrible stress filled experience. It was a miracle. So when you pray please don’t doubt it. Believe in God’s power even more. I hope my experience can give you some hope, if anything. God’s power is there within you and it surrounds you.

Love

What is Love? Anyone can provide an answer to this question.

If you refer to the bible, I Corinthians 4:8,13 has a few things to say about love. To paraphrase: “Love is kind and patient. It’s never jealous, boastful, proud or rude. Love is not selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Instead love rejoices in the truth but not in evil; love always is supportive, loyal, hopeful and trusting. Love never fails. There are faith, hope and love but of these three the greatest is love.” Love can indeed go far beyond our limits.

From a Christian perspective, Jesus Christ died on the cross to save all sinners. True love never cares for the self more than the welfare of others. In order to help and do good deeds for others, one should have an intention to do so; an intention with authentic power that is. What is authentic power? It means that the Holy Spirit is with the soul and personality. When the Holy Spirit is within you, this makes you live in love. Love is the intention of the soul.

At one time or another in your life, you may have felt that God is within you. The same God is within everyone. When God is in you, you don’t or try not to hurt others by actions or words, instead you love others. So God is Love. When God is with in you, you love all.

How can you share (keep) love during times of trials? Look at the following example: suppose your best friend or even one of your own family members turns out to be your enemy and turns out to be quite jealous of you? Perhaps they create some story or something you never said and they gossip about you to others and as a result create more enemies for you. What will you do and how can you keep love for them always?

Situations like the ones presented above, should not cause you to panic or feel hurt in your heart. You know yourself very well, so don’t worry; you didn’t do anything wrong even though they created a story about you. Pray for them and God will give you a reward. Think that these things are happening to you, even though you are innocent, it means there is some reason you must learn something out of it. The New Testament tells us that, Jesus Christ prayed for those enemies that put him on the cross. He said, “Father they don’t know what they are doing, forgive them.” So we can also forgive our enemies thorough love. That’s true love.

Again, sometimes you work so hard and you live your life very prayerfully but you never prosper. Sometimes you may hurt physically, as well as mentally. So why do you think this is happening to you?

Try to understand that everything in this world is happening to you is doing so for some reason. All these experiences will make you stronger and a more faithful person, and as a matter of fact, a better person. Remember we all came to this planet on one reason alone. That is to learn and correct our mistakes, so that we can lead ourselves to be closer to God.

Again look at a person who hates you and is so jealous of you for everything you do. When you look at that individual, his/her personality may appear to be very cruel but think about his/her inner being (soul) came to this planet to learn and love everything and everyone, so that the soul could become closer to God. The soul behind the personality has good intentions, but the physical mind is filled with jealousy and hatred. So don’t hate the person. Love the person. It is indeed a good thing to pay attention to your inner voice.

Take a moment and think why you are on this earth? Why did you come here to this planet? What good deeds are you performing to take with you to heaven? Realize that we are not alone; God’s Spirit is always with us and within us, unless we neglect God’s voice (which is also within us). Physically you may be poor, sick or ordinary people, but spiritually you are not. We are all God’s children in human form on an evolutionary path. The most important thing we have to learn is how to love. Through love we can do so many good things. We can help others, ourselves and most of all we can please God almighty. The scriptures of the New Testament state that, God loved the world so much that he gave his only son to die on Calvary, to save all the sinners. We are created with a physical body and mind and also we are created with spiritual body (soul). So we have good and bad nature within us.

But remember that God is within us all the time; I think we should realize that and try to live more like Him, and display true love, as he did for us. After all, His main characteristic is love.

Dreams

Artist: Dale TerBush

Dreams are another source of God’s guidance. What are dreams? I believe that they are events that happen within the realm of our soul. The soul is our spiritual body, which really is an embodiment of God’s Spirit within us. It is this divine Spirit that enables us within dreams to “see” the future, while our physical body sleeps or is at rest. Dreams first occur within the spiritual mind, and then transfer into our physical mind during sleep. Dreams can be warnings or some can even help us solve problems of our own. So a dream is essentially the soul’s journey to another world, in order to receive spiritual guidance.

Pay attention to the spontaneous images that come in the “twilight zone”. The twilight zone, as is often described, is the point between waking and sleeping, where the two lights meet. You may receive strong impressions during this time. The general belief is that dreams are messages or visions from God. They can give us physical as well as spiritual awareness.

Actually this is one of my favorite topics. From my childhood I have had meaningful dreams and have come to rely on the guidance within my own dreams quite seriously. They have not failed me yet. Dreams are beautiful. If you can only pay attention to them, then you can understand the meaning behind each dream. They usually bring meaningful messages. This is really one way of connecting with your inner self. I now know the meaning of my dreams right away and they provide truthful insights into the near future. If anything, I’m more aware.

Through dreams, I slowly became attracted towards a greater sense of spirituality. This is because my dreams foster a greater connection to and love for God and the guidance he is providing me. More and more my conscience has more respect for these messages obtained through my dreams. Through these experiences, I realized that I am not alone at anytime, day or night. I have the higher power within me to help me and guide me.

A dream can be related to the past, present or future. They can be spiritual, physical or subjective dreams:

1. Subjective dreams: usually they give warnings (soul world); tell us what is going to happen.
2. Physical dreams: happen when your body is very tired or stressed, anxious or if one use’s drugs.
3. Spiritual dreams: our soul visiting the spiritual world. The spiritual mind (soul) is always trying to enter into the spiritual world.

In sleep we have chances of interconnecting with our soul, so that we can get valuable messages and insights. Most people don’t take dreams seriously, I encourage everyone to pay a little attention, and then you will know how much dreams can help you in your life.

In the bible, it says there were many prophets who received messages from God through dreams and visions. Moses, Job, Abimelach, Isaiah, Paul, John etc are examples of individuals who relied on their dreams.

Dreams interconnect messages between two worlds, the spiritual and physical worlds.

Dream life is full of messages. It opens us to the spiritual way of life, so that we can improve ourselves and live closer to God. We only see physical objects with our physical mind. With our spiritual minds we can only see spiritual objects. When the physical and spiritual minds interconnect, they provide the ability to differentiate between what is good and what is bad, so that we can live our lives with peace.

God's Guidance And How To Recognize It

Image: Olivier Follmi

What do you think of, when people say they had a vivid dream or relate an experience where they claim to have heard and felt something but no one was there to cause such sensations? The very first thought we would think might be one of confusion or perhaps that we’re not mentally sound. If your conscious mind is clear, however, than you should think twice about the significance of these experiences.

How To Recognize It (From My Experience):
God’s guidance and protection is there for each one of us, whether we recognize it or not. If we pay attention and are alert, than we can certainly recognize it.

As we rush daily to fulfill our chores: our jobs, walking, eating, talking, housework etc., many times our subconscious will notice what’s going on in and out of our body and it brings that message to conscious attention. In other words, it brings a message from spiritual eyes to physical eyes, or from a spiritual understanding to a physical (human) level of understanding.

Everyone has different “spiritual” talents. Some can “see”, some can “hear”, some can “feel” and some have certain “thoughts”, spiritually speaking that is. When people experience these things, the very first idea they get is that perhaps they are confused or just a bit off in their thinking. But it’s not quite either of those things. From my experience, it’s really God’s guidance trying to bring a measure of insight to your attention. I have found that there are about 5 ways in which we receive God’s guidance:

1. Clear Seeing
2. Clear Hearing
3. Clear Thoughts
4. Clear Feeling; and thought
5. Dreams

There are so many other ways to communicate with God, if we can pay attention to the messages we are already receiving. Open up your mind and be alert, then you will receive the guidance. God’s guidance is always there for those who want to receive it. This is the only way to evolve into a more spiritual person. The more you evolve, the more you feel closer to God and communicate with Him. The more you feel closer to God, the more you read the Bible (or scriptures that you may respectively adhere to) and pray to God. This in turn inspires you to give love to and help others. Then your heart truly will know that you have become an evolved person. The truly evolved person always values others more than oneself and tends to value others more than physical wealth. For example Jesus Christ loves everyone and forgives everyone. Love, faith and forgiveness are the main teachings of Jesus Christ. He died for those He loved. Those who have faith in Him follow Him. Please note that these guidelines can be used for any faith not just for Christians. I believe these same principles can apply to anyone. I am using Christian examples because that is the faith I have been raised with.

How To Become More Alert and What is the 6th Sense?
God created human beings with 5 senses, enabling us to see, hear, eat, breath and feel. But He didn’t leave us alone with just those 5 senses. He also gave us his spirit. Some call it the 6th sense. It enables us to recognize the creator’s voice and to understand the differences between good and evil. The 6th sense is a connection to God, so that we are not left alone in this world. With the 6th sense you can open up the mind’s eyes, you can open up your mind’s ear, nose, mouth; in other words the spiritual awareness. The sixth sense means we are not alone, and that guidance is already there within us, waiting for us to tap into it. The 5 senses, at times serve to keep us in doubt and fear whereas the 6th sense guides us along the proper path.

Communicating With God
As I said before, everyone has many different ways of contacting God. The usual methods are:

1. Clairvoyance: Means clear seeing. It typically happens quite suddenly when you notice visionary images. I am more interested in visionary images because I tend to receive them from time to time. It appears as though you are looking through your physical eye, but that’s not quite the case. In clairvoyance, the images you see, are actually being viewed through your minds eye. Only you can see what is there, the person next to you cannot see what you are seeing. The images appear and disappear very fast, but still have the ability to leave a clear and profound message. On both of my eyes I have macular degeneration, which means partial blindness. I have no center sight. Sometimes right after my prayer or at times rather suddenly those images stop me from doing whatever I was doing. It completely grab my attention. Usually these images bring messages or warnings to me. They appear like visions. That’s the reason why I call them visionary images. Even though there is actually no physical sight, I can quite clearly see these images through my minds eye.

2. Clair Audience: Means clear hearing. It is an experience where it appears as if someone is talking to you. It will seem very firm and clear but it is not actually heard through your physical ears but rather it is heard inside your mind (your spiritual ears).

3. Clair Cognizance: Means clear knowing. While you are going about your business, suddenly you receive a message through your thoughts. You know it by your thought; as if you know it for sure it will happen. It generally comes across as a very strong message.

4. Clair Sentience: Means clear feeling. Sensing that Spirit is close to you; it feels at times, as if someone is sitting beside you or walking closer to you or as if someone is touching you. Sometimes you may smell a fragrance or something to remind you of someone you love.

These four above methods are ways of God’s communication with us. They are examples of how God communicates his guidance to all of us, either through his presence or Holy Spirit or his guides or through his angels. We should be thankful to God for his grace and be more mindful of the messages that come across.

Self-Healing Meditation

Image: Eagle Nebula by Arnie Rosner

Meditation in my experience and humble opinion refers to a spiritual journey. Listed below are tips that have helped me in reaching a state of meditation. I think it’s best for each individual to discover what works best for him or her. I’m not an expert but just a regular person seeking some peace and solitude in daily life. I come from a Christian background but believe these tips can be helpful to anyone of any faith. Here are some important points to remember:

(1) People use meditation as a therapy to help cope with stress and anxiety and some kind of problems in their lives.
(2) Some use it as a means of self healing
(3) Some seek for enlightenment.

For whatever reason you seek to do meditation, it provides excellent outcomes, if you do it properly.

The important thing before you start meditation is that in learning how to still the physical wound and raise your inner level of consciousness. The truly wonderful thing that meditation does is that it will put you in touch with your inner self (spirit and soul) and also it will give you the ability to differentiate between that which is spiritual and that which is physical.

Relaxation:
Before you start your meditation you can do a small prayer asking God (the higher power) to send his (holy) spirit to heal you and ask God to forgive you and help you to become a better and more enlightened person (and soul). In order to obtain a state of meditation, it is essential to begin with a relaxed frame of mind and a calm body.

Breathing properly and at a steady pace is essential for meditating effectively. Close your eyes and focus on breathing in and out. When you breathe in, you take in oxygen and when you breathe out, you breathe out tension and stress. Imagine that God is giving you that breath and also that his Spirit goes in and cleans all the sickness and stress in you; and when you breathe out, all the waste and sickness comes out. You breathe in a beautiful energy/light, which is God’s spirit.

Inhale and exhale deeply for 3 or 4 times; and be mindful of each inhalation and exhalation. This will help you calm down with each breath and go deeper into a more meditative state. This practice is very good for the mind and body. It will make you feel relaxed.

Once again remember that when you breathe in, God’s energy is entering into you, and when you breathe out, you are sending all the stress and anxiety out. Make sure you are in a comfortable position either sit or lie down. Let’s go on to the next step and remember to be mindful of each step. That is being aware of every movement and feeling and to let thoughts come and go. Just be.

(1) Relax your facial muscle: let go of all the tightness and stress.
(2) Relax your neck muscles: If you have neck tension you will get headaches.
(3) Relax shoulder muscles: Release the tightness/tension.
(4) Relax muscles in your arms: By the time you come to this point you must be feeling so relaxed and are almost going into a trance like state.
(5) Relax Back Muscles: Release the tightness in the upper and lower muscles of your back; and while you breathe in and out you are going even deeper into a trance. You feel so calm and peaceful.
(6) Relax your stomach/abdominal muscles.
(7) Relax your legs muscles from hip to toes.

Now you start to feel so quiet and calm and relaxed and comfortable. You are now ready to meditate.

Meditation:
You must visualize with your minds eye, a beautiful light above your head. This light means energy, which is God’s spirit. It can heal you and give you peace and make you feel close to God. It is a spiritual light all around you. Now go from the top of your head to the tip of your toes: that spiritual light entering your body will travel from your brain through the spinal cord, until it reaches the toes. Now this spirit or light will fill you with a beautiful warm feeling. It is touching every cell, tissue, fiber and every organ of your body and filling your body with peace, love and healing. You feel that God’s spirit is in you and with you and around you, to heal and protect you.

Then realize that you are finished your meditation, and slowly come out and thank God for everything.

Peace to you.

Namaste

Image: "One" (Allposters)

Welcome to my weblog. This is my first post in my online spiritual journal. I'm not an expert but simply a regular person trying to understand life. I created this journal to explore my thoughts, ideas and observations and to share my experiences. Glad to be here. Bless you for visiting.