HOW TO KNOW ----- NOW The simple, direct, immediate guide to meditation and spiritual guidance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Purpose....................... Prologue...................... Introduction.................. Meditation.................... How to Meditate...................... When to Meditate...................... Your Mind.......................... Your Space......................... Pitfalls and Trials in Meditation.................... Do I Need a Teacher?...................... The Bliss of Mediation..................... For Most of Us - The Simpler the Better........... Sacred Space......................... Inspiration................... Teaching...................... Control....................... Be Still and Know That I Am God...................... How Can I Approach Such a Drastic Change in My Way of Operating?........... The Gentle Art of Spiritual Guidance............. Conscience.................... How to Ask for Guidance...................... To Whom to You Direct Your Questions of Guidance?..................... What Questions Should I Ask?.......................... Write It Down.......................... Follow Your Guidance...................... Decisions..................... Asking........................ You Will Know When You Hear It....................... How Can I Tell if My Guidance Is True?............ What Happens If I Hear Incorrectly?................ When You Don't Think You Have Heard An Answer........................ Guidance For Others........................ People You Know Who Have Followed Guidance...................... Often the Answers Are Right Under Our Noses......................... Trouble....................... Praying For Others........................ Start a Group......................... Form a New Group......................... Spiritual Laws.......................... "Got You".......................... Self Esteem........................ Stress........................ Will Power......................... Forgiveness................... Give Thanks in All Things........................ Love.......................... End........................... PURPOSE PRAYER, MEDITATION, DIRECT APPROACH, LOVE The ultimate goal of this work is to be in the continuous presence of loving Spirit, so that every breath you breathe, every thought you think, every word you utter, every deed you do is permeated by LOVE. I am giving you some stepping-stones to make your work easier. PROLOGUE We have arrived in a time when none of the old ways of thinking or acting or planning will any longer work. Take an example from any item in the news about families, schools, the environment, crime, drugs, politics, health care. All are in desperate need of new ways of thinking. Simultaneously, I feel a tremendous surge of support for success on earth from the Spiritual Worlds. But to access this support we have to do our part, which is asking for guidance, listening, and acting on what we are given. Our education is supposedly about thinking for ourselves. I contend that any amount of thinking, in the old way, is not solving and will not solve our problems. Thinking, clouded by desire for our own outcomes is not working to resolve the social, political, economic crises we find in the world. Now we must find our way to work with Divine Thinking, Illumined Feeling, and Inspired Action. This can be done by all of us. If we make the change, we will pass through the threshold of the millennium to a brighter future. This little book is not meant to make you work hard at yet another panacea or make you give up anything you cherish, but rather to be a simple guide to get you on your way to what is already yours. I am no great teacher or lofty guru; I am just another stumbler on life's path. But I have stumbled into a few wonderfully freeing, profoundly simple ways to find help in these troubling times. I have not written about anything that I have not experienced. Therefore, this is sort of personal. But my working with others has tested these practices and they have rung true. God Bless, Jules INTRODUCTION There are so many "How To" books around. Why should there be another one? My impulse to write this came from nudging and urging during meditation. As I look back, the first indication I had that I was being led to write this guide was in my journal, written just after leaving a project in El Salvador at Easter of 1995. The pain, confusion, and hopelessness of the situation I had left was devastating to all involved. I was angry and frustrated. Having gone to Salvador hoping to use what little skills I have to support the people in their recovery from the war, I was thwarted from all sides, as were the people. The people in the villages were in such impossible circumstances that it is nearly incomprehensible to a privileged North American. I have made a personal choice for non-violence. But even those people on both sides who had been driven to take up arms and had fought in a twelve-year war knew that war was not a solution to their problems. Things were worse than ever. I wrote in my notes after fleeing El Salvador: “What this trip has taught me so far is that scenes - life situations - are so unbearably polarized that there can not any more in our time be a middle ground. There cannot be resolution by compromise or agreement or by giving and taking. No middle ground - ONLY A HIGHER GROUND, where LOVE of each other, even of our enemies, even control freaks, even ANYONE, results in a coming together. This is the stuff of true community, of averting war, of stepping out of situations. The higher beings are ready and waiting. All we have to do is to connect, even if only by loving God, it is a place to start. Then we see the higher in each other. All the FEAR encountered on this trip and certainly in my work back home, all that fear is on both sides of every dispute. It is not just the ultimate fear of death, but fear of not being in control (I guess that is the fear of death) and no one has any control of anything ... except where to put their faith and love.” If we choose the low road we become part of fear and hate and greed. If we decide to choose the high road, how is it done? Coming home from Central America much sooner than I had planned thrust me into pretty insecure circumstances. My plans were shot. I had really put aside my life to do this work, having sold my house and left my job. Doing that had taken a lot of energy, and I really wasn't ready to settle. I asked for guidance about what I should do. My guidance was unwavering. Write a book on the Direct Approach. Use simple examples from your life. Don't worry about it. Do it. Of course there were practical questions such as, "Where should I live? Where should I get the money?" And I really just wanted to go back to Central America or a least go and work in Chiapas, Mexico. It doesn't much matter. Live someplace that feeds the soul. All this will work out. Do any work, anywhere. The meditation book is the important thing. Write now! There was another situation going on inside me, coming back meant culture shock. I came home to Marblehead, Massachusetts, a sailing town on the coast. It was the middle of summer. I was horrified at the waste, the ignorance, the insane consumption around me. No matter how welcoming and eager to hear my stories people were, I was completely out of it. How can you tell a friend serving you a welcome home lobster dinner about holding babies as they starved to death with your own stomach so empty that you were thinking as much about your own next meal as about the dying child? How can you admire someone's new boat when you still have the screams of a mother saying that her fifteen year old daughter who was brutally murdered is better off dead than living any more years of horror? I had to stop my shock. I also had to get to the west coast to see my youngest daughter. I couldn't deal with the idea of getting on another plane and arriving in another alien place. I got a good feeling about taking the bus. I needed to see my country and feel where I was going. It was a healing experience because of the wonderful people I met on the bus. What a variety! I met kids leaving the disastrous Grateful Dead Tour, cowboys trying to find work, men just out of jail, a grandmother taking her 18th trip across the country with yet another grandchild. There were people on the bus because they feared flying, there was a bride joining her army husband, a runaway girl. All those I met were real and open and pretty much searching for answers in life, on a deeper level, not much different from the peasant of El Salvador or me for that matter. On the outside my life was chaos, chaos of my own making. On the inside things were different. "Should I be worried about getting a job?" No, you should not be worried about anything. "Should I be thinking about getting a job?" No, let me do the thinking. Think about ME.
Do your tasks.
Get some air. I knew that the voice that had told me to write about the ‘Direct Approach’ was coming from the right place. I also knew exactly what the urging was about. It had taken the level of sorrow and frustration and forgiveness that I met in Salvador to bring home to me the need in the world for help from the spiritual world. I have had the fortune to meet and enjoy and learn from a number of great spiritual teachers. I have always had mystical experiences that have given me insights into other realities. I expect that all of us have had similar experiences. While my life has been blessed with these experiences, simultaneously it has been very earthy. I have taught school, raised my three children, had thirty one foster kids, many of whom were refugees, practiced lay midwifery, run teen projects for marginalized youth, worked in Peace and Justice projects in the USA and Central America, been a weaver, a gardener, a land surveyor and much more. By the time one is my age there is a lot of history. I am an avid reader. I read everything. Something I have noticed in my experience of life, in my reading and observation, is that the moments of greatness, the glittering, shining moments, come when we put ourselves aside and let something wonderful come through us. How to make these moments intentional and consistent is what I am called to teach. MEDITATION There are as many ways to meditate as there are people who meditate. But the suggestion offered here is that you quickly set out to discover what is your natural path. This is true not only for meditation but for finding guidance. In meditation you can find your way to a quiet mind through a mantra (a repeated sound), a breathing exercise, a visualization, a tone, a concentrating on a candle, a crystal, many ways. In my experience, many of these work. I get very distracted when there is someone giving a guided meditation, "Picture yourself in a quiet place by a stream, and so on”, but for some people this is the only way. If you are starting on your own with only this little book to direct you, please take a minute for self-examination. What is it that pleases you? Is it seeing something beautiful? Is it hearing something beautiful? Is it feeling something beautiful? You might find some hints right from the start. Everyone can work with following the breath. Breathe in and out. Slow down your breath slightly, but not uncomfortably. On the in-breath say 'in' and on the out-breath say 'out.' Try to make the in-breath and the out-breath even. Notice where the in and the out meet. Feel the breath infusing your body. You are meditating! You can add quite a lot to this simple practice or you can keep it the same. You can substitute the words I AM for 'in' and 'out'. Experience that. The I AM will connect you to the God within you and the God without you. You might picture yourself breathing in light and out love. What does it look like? What does it feel like? Practice and experiment with different ways. Keep it simple and know that you are doing very well. This is the beginning! HOW TO MEDITATE THE ONLY PAGES YOU REALLY NEED SIMPLE, PLAIN, EASY, SATISFYING DIRECTIONS FOR BEGINNING MEDITATION Find a place to sit and a half hour of time. (It is okay if you are tired, upset, hurried.) Bring something inspiring to say or read. Wear comfortable, loose clothing or loosen what you are wearing. Sit with your back straight in a lotus position or in a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Light you candle and/or incense. Relax you body. Keep your back straight. Say your prayer or read something inspiring. Breathe in and out forcefully a few times. Then breathe slowly and evenly Close your eyes and let your attention drift to the center of your forehead. Quiet your mind. * Stay there for about twenty minutes. Come back, opening your eyes. Shake out your body. Offer a work of gratitude. With a grateful heart (non-critical) make a date with yourself for tomorrow. * Achieving a quiet mind is the central point of it all. Use different techniques such a breathing or focusing on a candle until you find something with which you are comfortable. Or just empty you mind of all thoughts and impressions. If something does intrude, don't be fazed by it. See it and let it go. Do not pursue the next idea which follows or you will be thinking or fretting, not meditating. WHEN TO MEDITATE It is, of course, not required that you set aside a particular time and place in order to become a successful meditator. But it does help, especially at first. Most people find early morning to be the easiest time because the concerns and clutter and demands of the day haven't yet come to consciousness. If you haven't yet become engaged with your worldly affairs, you don't have to spend as much energy disengaging. The first years that I meditated, I found very early in the morning to be my best time. I would awaken at five AM and when I finished, I went back to sleep, awakening again whenever the first child hit the deck. Having done this work before the day began helped me to avoid that nagging feeling that there was something I needed to do. I don't enjoy feeling that I am neglecting something or that the little demands of the day are keeping me from something. Having that feeling leads to resentment that is not the most loving attitude toward the children or the inner work. I dislike that ‘should’ feeling. In later years when I was working outside the home, early morning was the only time I could guarantee time alone and it set me up with an inner confidence and peace of mind no matter how frantic the day became. Now, I can usually ‘tune in' in the midst of anything. I've been in situations of accidents, war, dissension and have felt the need to be in the presence of a higher power and immediately felt the light and protection around me. My best days are still those days when I give my best time and my highest priority to my real work. YOUR MIND Your mind will try to cause you a lot of trouble. Have some sympathy. Meditation is a real threat to your mind. If you have an active, analytical, critical mind, it will be rebellious when you let it go. There will have to be some retraining to get that mind to accept its displacement. The younger the student is, the easier it will be for that student to adapt. There are, however, some qualities of a developed mind that will enhance meditation. If you are able to concentrate well and focus on whatever is at hand, it will be easier for you to do inner work. There are executives, for instance, who have never prayed or meditated who throw their attention into inner work with a clarity and force that is astonishing. One would have thought that it might be easier for people who were already a little spacey. Not necessarily. Other qualities of mind that will contribute to your well-being and success are positiveness, equanimity and will power. You can practice your development all through the day. YOUR SPACE You need warmth. If it is drafty or chilly put a blanket around yourself. Later when you are an adept you can will yourself to be warm while sitting on ice or cool while walking on fire. For now put on a sweater or blanket. Your clothing. Of course you want all natural 100% cotton, hand-woven, light colored androgynous meditation robes. But lacking that you mainly want comfort. Many women undo their bras. Most people unbuckle their belt. You don't want to be distracted by clothing that is too tight or too hot or too cold. Quiet is good. I find that there is noise and there is NOISE. Some sounds are jarring and distracting, others tend to fade into the background. If your child is crying it might be an impossible situation for you. A cat purring might be helpful. Some people use earplugs or a Walkman with ocean sounds or Tibetan bells to control the sound. I find earplugs distracting. Many people use tapes as a replacement sound for noises they can’t eliminate. A zabutan, a hard round Japanese meditation pillow, is wonderful to sit on. A chair, a bed, a pillow on the floor - whatever you can find to make yourself comfortable will serve. Get comfortable. Some people need to stretch out their legs. Some lie down. It is okay. Do what you need to feel comfortable and find a situation where there is no physical resistance. Nothing hard, nothing cold, loud, jarring, penetrating, pinching. It is easy. Your body will let you know. On the other hand I've meditated in the car with the radio on because it was the only way at that time that I could be alone. I've also sought out churches and gardens to sit in. PITFALLS AND TRIALS IN MEDITATION This section is fun for me because I have so much experience to draw upon, especially from the days when I thought I could attain perfection and that anything short of perfection was failure. When, during meditation, thoughts or fears or even lists of things that you should be doing intrude your perfect stillness, don't follow them. See them or hear them or feel them and then let them go. You might say to yourself, "There is a thought", or "I see you", or if it is really intrusive, mentally wrap it up and throw it away. But you will cease meditating if you follow it and become engaged with it. Each conquest over such an interruption strengthens you. In old Christian terms, the devil will tempt you (and you can count on this), and use anything in his bag of tricks to distract you. This is most definitely the case. As your meditation advances so will the temptations (challenges) to your peace of mind. As in all of life, you will only be given those challenges that you have the strength to handle. One winter I had been having a lovely peaceful time meditating and was grateful for it because my children were young and daily life was full of bustle. Suddenly one day in the midst of peace I started to see a series of ugly, horrid, twisted distorted faces expressing the pain and suffering of the world. I was terrified. How could I choose to close my eyes it that was what I saw? I remembered stories of the Buddha experiencing all the suffering of the world in his meditation. I remembered Christ sweating blood in the garden. I chose to sit quietly and use all my will to hold steady and not get thrown off balance. I don't recall how many sittings or how much time this took. What I do recall as clearly as if it were now is the sudden and seemingly for no reason ending of that trial by a burst love and joy and presence of goodness which would have previously been unimaginable to me. At another time and another place I met a challenge almost the complete opposite of the demons. I started to experience bliss while meditating. This certainly doesn't sound like a bad thing. But the challenge was that it was so fine, so ineffably wonderful that I didn't really want to stop. I preferred it to living my life. It was like the perfect drug. It took away everything and took me to heaven. I sacrificed my presence in that place because of my commitment to my life on earth. I had children and work to do here. I stopped letting myself go that far out. I kept a grounding by prayer. I have not experienced that bliss since. This does not mean that I don't find great joy in meditating. What I think it means is that I was given a choice of becoming a total mystic and I didn't think that was my path in this life. Meditation is almost never a static experience. However, my experience is that the progress and regress come according to some higher plan. I cannot say, "Today I will meet an angelic being", or "Today I will sit for an hour and have a profound experience." But what I can do is say I will make the space and time and take what comes. The biggest pitfall of all is probably self-criticism or not valuing your life enough to create the space you need for your spiritual work. If you allow this to happen you will become discouraged and everything else is a moot point. In terms of time, the spiritual is entirely different from the temporal. Taking time to ‘check in' above often creates more time in the day. You will be thinking and acting more clearly and you will be given grace. DO I NEED A TEACHER? Do I need a teacher, a class, a priest, a guide? NO. It would be nice and sometimes the right person does seem to come along at the right time. Often your teacher is right next to you without your even knowing it. It could be that child who teaches you patience, the boss who teaches you to stand up for what you know is right, that person you saw on the news who warmed your heart. Or it could be someone grander, the woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize who overcame bitterness, anger and despair and now writes brilliant poetry about love. But, apart from the fortuitous teachers whom you encounter on life's path, you do not need anyone else to talk with God. In fact, often the so-called teacher becomes yet another hindrance to your real work. You do not have to wait to have a direct line to the spirit until you have one more lesson or until your teacher gives you permission. You don't need an intermediary person. You are equal in the eyes of God to any other person. THE BLISS OF MEDITATION One doesn't have to be a guru or spend a life on the mountaintop to experience the bliss from a meditative life. One of the true joys I have found is that an epiphany, a resurrection, a moment of expanded consciousness is completely outside of time. Once experienced, it is always accessible, anywhere. You can always enter a state of knowing once you have experienced it. Some people have higher experiences much of the time. I have been given some that are as vivid today as when they occurred. The first two that I will share came in moments of desperation. The third was the opposite. God works in mysterious ways. I wrote of this experience in an article in Reader's Digest. I was taking my turn, as a volunteer, sitting with a neighbor who was dying of cancer. Suddenly she was in trouble. She was desperately hungry and overwhelmingly nauseated. She asked for a popsicle but couldn't touch it when I brought it to her. She couldn't get quiet and looked like she was trying to jump out of her skin. My little efforts to help were futile, or even worse. I sat by her bed and found that I was angry. I was angry that she was suffering such discomfort. I was really cross that I couldn't help. I said words that were a mixture of praying and scolding God. "Oh God, help us here, this is a bad scene." Just after I said those words, I took hold of Kristen's hand and looked at her with tears of frustration in my eyes. As we caught each other's eyes, both of us were filled with light, mostly between our eyes. She disappeared and so did I. There was another being in the room, filling both of us. I can only use one word to describe this being. We were visited by Unconditional Love. Normal time stopped. I have no clue how long we were filled with this presence. Then the phone rang and the doctor sent over some new nausea medicine. And life went on. But it was never quite the same for me or for her. Even now when I hear someone speak of unconditional love as some warm fuzzy just be nice kind of attitude, I smile to myself knowing that the real thing is a powerful, life-changing being of light. Years later I had another moment of total frustration. I was at a meeting and I was the subject of conversation. I was leaving a job and some people were very resentful. I felt clear that I was following my stars and that I shouldn't stay on when my guidance told me to move on. Finally, I had a strong feeling that they could sort things out better if I excused myself from the group. I went out the back door and found a little piece of sunshine on the gravel walkway. I lay down and my glance fell on a little chamomile plant with one twisted stalk and one little flower. I felt a lot like that little flower, alone and trying to be cheerful in a gravely environment. I spoke to the flower, "You're a brave one growing all alone here." As soon as the words left my mouth, the plant revealed herself to me. Her aura, her energy patterns, her cosmic nature and her individuality all came into view. There are books about this kind of thing, and theories that talking to plants helps them grow and whatever. But this was a sister-to-sister kind of gift. To this day I can see that little chamomile in my mind in all her glory. The most recent gift came to me in a moment of relaxation. I had spent a weekend with good friends. Monday afternoon I had a massage. Monday night I meditated with a small group. Tuesday morning I didn't want to let go of the good feelings. I took a whirlpool bath with some relaxing bath salts. I felt great. I went into the bedroom thinking I would read before I started to work. I sat on the bed and decided to pray my gratitude for a minute. As I went to close my eyes, the room filled with color, indescribable color, which moved and changed very subtly and ended up a luminescent blue-green. I still had my eyes open! When I remember this color I still get an amazing feeling of well-being. Almost everyone I talk to has been given spiritual gifts. Children especially live in a rich environment where extraordinary experiences are not so unusual. FOR MOST OF US - THE SIMPLER THE BETTER It often helps to establish some rituals around your prayer work and to create a sacred space. You may already have some religious traditions from your religious heritage or you may have tried something that felt ‘right' to you. Perhaps you make the Sign of the Cross. Maybe you light incense and a candle and turn off the lights. You may want to face east or turn on a tape of ocean waves. You may always start with the same prayer. You might want to do some Yoga or breathing exercises. Many years ago, I had an electric typewriter. I became conditioned to quieting my mind and forgetting my daily concerns when I heard its click and hum. If you are chanting, or praying, or gazing at something beautiful, you are setting the scene and tone for your work. If you establish a ritual that is comfortable and safe and beautiful it makes you business of letting go that much easier. But, while having a ritual is wonderful and perhaps necessary for some people, it is not required. If you are out of candles, it doesn't mean you can't meditate. If your ritual gets very complicated you may have to examine it and see if it is helping or hindering your work. And there is really no limit to how complicated it can get or how meaningful, for that matter. Perhaps you have had the honor of seeing some of the Tibetan Buddhist practices. These practices have been building for centuries and include sacred robes, instruments, tones, texts, calendars, priests, monks, paintings, temples, horns, bells. They are exquisite. Whatever makes you comfortable is fine. I mostly prefer simple. I have a little book, The Quiet Mind by White Eagle. I open a page and read. I say a few prayers and take a deep breath. That's it. SACRED SPACE Creating a sacred space is a lost art. Indigenous peoples did it by extraordinary means like building great temples on highly charged sites or by blindingly simple means like shoving a stick in the ground. A stick in the ground can be a powerful means of creating the center of the universe. From that center you can orient the whole world, find the Cardinal Points, map the stars, etc. For us it is more a matter, inside or outside, of setting something meaningful and beautiful (a stone, a shell, a candle, a flower (all of the above) in an intentional placement to create beauty, timelessness, an offering, an altar. You most likely know when you have seen or entered a sacred space. The keynote for me is intentionality. You do not need to have a special place for your inner work, but it helps, especially when you are beginning. If you have a prayer rug, or a pillow, a cloth or a candle and you can make yourself comfortable, you have a good start. If you have a crystal or a Celtic Cross or a statue of Buddha, you can begin to create. It is quite beautiful to watch another person enter your space and see the change that overcomes them. Even if you have a picture of an ancestor with a seasonal greenery next to it, you will see reverence come to the face of another, especially children. Especially irreverent children. Just as when you meditate you take time out from time, when you make a holy place, you take space out of space. Your own taste and comfort will dictate what you do. Do it! INSPIRATION Find some favorite inspirational sayings and images. Ask people in the group to bring some. Here are a few favorite words to contemplate. PSALM 100 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. A prayer that has had profound meaning for many people is the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a miserable sinner. From The Quiet Mind, White Eagle: THE VICTOR Man is spirit---that is all man needs to know; and spirit is triumphant over matter. FEET ON EARTH, HEAD IN HEAVEN Keep your feet on the earth but lift your face towards the heavens, for the Light which floods into you on high will steady your feet and guide them on the right path. Have confidence in this divine Light. Surrender with a tranquil mind and a heart full of love to this infinite Wisdom. From Good Eagle, Dakota Sioux holy man: O ye people, be ye healed; life anew I bring unto ye. O ye people, be ye healed; Life anew I bring unto ye. Through the Father over all Do I thus. Life anew I bring unto ye. From Lone Man, Teton Sioux: “ ..I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself." TEACHING My teaching style is to demystify, to make easy, to open the curtains and let my students discover that true knowledge is available to everyone. There is no subject that I have taught that is easier than how to pray, meditate and find a direct relationship with Godliness. Yet there is probably no discipline that has been more shrouded in mystery, esotericism, myth and even falsehood. For thousands of years teachers have kept knowledge and practices to themselves and small groups of initiates who had to pay dearly for the secrets either by rejecting the world, learning whole complicated systems of language, culture, and practice or by suffering long and often painful apprenticeships and sometimes by paying huge amounts of money. I personally specialize in things that don't separate me from others and especially that don't cause pain and suffering. There is enough of that already. The old ways had their place in other times, but the mood of the spiritual world in the present time is to offer loving and supportive help to any of us who chose to turn seeking honestly for a connection and to listen when contacted. CONTROL Contrary to most of our education and conditioning, the higher moments in life happen when we let go. Happiness, satisfaction, connection come in those moments when we give up control and let go of our agendas and get in harmony with something bigger than ourselves. There are many names for this something: The Cosmic Christ, Buddha, God, Allah, The Higher Self. Meeting this experience is becoming one with Truth. Once you have had an experience of this, you will want more because it feels right. You ‘know' instead of think. You ‘listen’ instead of speak. BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD Do not fear that you will lose your contact with daily life, or that you will become otherworldly and not be able to cope with daily life. (There are certain disciplines that create this situation, but people chose them knowing that). If you develop a healthy life of prayer, meditation, and the Direct Approach, the result will be that you are more effective, more connected, more aware. “Ask from your heart Great is my joy when you ask from your heart. Bring me all your questions, no matter how trivial they sound to you. Learning is but half the relationship, Asking is the other half. Know how I hunger for this dialogue with you! Can you imagine what it is like to see into hearts and not be invited to speak with them?”
HOW CAN I APPROACH SUCH A DRASTIC CHANGE IN MY WAY OF OPERATING?
There are several good motivators. One is sheer desperation. Nothing else works. My life is a mess. The world is a mess. Education is in shambles. The environment. Time is running out. The old ways don't work. I've tried every kind of therapy, program, training, meditation, and still . . . Another approach comes from the other direction. Notice that when you follow your conscience, your intuition, your highest standards, then things in your life seem to fall into place. Therefore determine to do this in every aspect of your life, every step you take, every decision you make. THE GENTLE ART OF SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE Everywhere I travel in the United States of America I talk with people. When I listen to their conversations and their stories two words come to mind: ‘hunger' and ‘fear'. It is galling to think that we live in a country of hungry people. I've been in many third world countries and I have experienced physical hunger; that is not what I'm talking about. The hunger I feel in this country is hard to define. I would feel accurate calling it ‘soul hunger'. Also correct would be ‘spiritual hunger'. And in this land of plenty and this land of therapy for every situation, I would also mention ‘psychological' and ‘material hunger'. In my experience with physical hunger there is a switch that occurs and the hunger turns to fear. Will there be any food tomorrow? What if there is no rain and the corn doesn't grow? And then, after they are hungry for a while, many people become apathetic. Some become selfish and antisocial. When I travel I find that almost everyone uses the word ‘fear' or ‘afraid' in every conversation. I am afraid about losing my job. I am afraid of the destruction of the ozone layer or global warming. I am worried about how my kids will get through the temptations of their teenage years. I haven't any savings. What if I get sick? There is no question that the TV, the politicians. the health promoters, the environmentalists, the salesmen, the advertising industry use fear to get people to do their bidding. So what is wrong with this? Especially, what is wrong when it is a good cause? I feel that it is anti-social, anti-spiritual, and in the long run makes us less whole, healthy and fully alive. I experience love and truth and beauty as better motivators than fear. I can use condoms to avoid STDs if I love myself. I can recycle if I love the earth. I can work a garden if I love vegetables. You get my point. But where I got my point was from the meditative experience of being loved by higher beings. CONSCIENCE All of us are intuitive. We ‘know' things. The practices in this book serve to bring intuition into the full light of day and to turn intuition into a conscious act. The first step towards this is to become aware of your intuition in action. Check out those feelings of danger, or those moments when you think of someone and that person calls, or when you say or do something and your conscience pricks you or you get a spring in your step or an ache in your back. It is very possible that your intuition is giving you signals. You are getting messages. If you have been accustomed to listening, then you are already following guidance. If you have let you intuition
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