Karen Garcia-Burt
Tue,29 Mar 2011
Karen Garcia-Burt
440
View Related
Spiritual Principles
In this article I would like to look at two seemingly contradictive spiritual concepts that can be simplified in the Serenity Prayer, but which go much deeper in their conflicting ideals.
The start of the Serenity Prayer goes something like: ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ This is a perfect goal for anyone to strive towards, yet for those seeking a higher level of spiritual enlightenment, those beautiful words only conjure up further enquiry.
One spiritual principle of the highest order is that your inner peace and joy should not be dependent on any thing, place, person or set of conditions, but shine from within you unconditionally. The idea is that as the physical world around us is inherently impermanent and therefore impossible to control, attachment to any aspects of it – which means dependency and therefore the desire and need to control specific outcomes – for your happiness or other mood states is utterly futile and only leads to suffering. This is not only because of its impossibility, but also because attachment is fear-based, and fear blocks the flow of Spirit and your own Soul’s guidance from reaching you. So the desire for particular conditions and outcomes cannot lead to unconditional and permanent states of inner peace and joy.
The somewhat contradictory theorem commended by spiritual teachers is of consciously creating around you an environment and lifestyle that is of the highest vibration to give you the best possible chance for experiencing the higher spiritual states of peace, joy, bliss. For instance, in the Tibetan Book of Dying, readers are advised to promote states of meditation by setting a certain ambience in the environment. Diana Cooper also advocates things like spending lots of time in nature, keeping your home clutter-free and full of beautiful and spiritual objects like crystals and spiritual books, spending more time with positive inspirational people, and so on. I have also been guided by my friends in the higher realms to recycle any clothes or household accessories that are dull or dark, and keep only items that are light or brightly coloured!
The obvious and widely given solution and explanation to reconcile both principles is to consciously create such an environment-lifestyle through an appreciation of it’s spiritually enhancing effects, but to remain detached, so that when things are unexpectedly changed or lost, there is no deeply emotional reaction, just the acceptance that it is what it is.
Soul Purpose
But this balanced solution isn’t so straightforward when it comes to the issue of finding and following your soul purpose in life. It’s much harder to remain detached when you’re fully aware that you’re currently not in alignment with your soul purpose or who you really are. This is especially so in the case of someone who has already reached burnout and has no choice but to wait for some time before the situation can be changed. Under these circumstances remembering your true Divine nature and feeling it’s revitalising life force ‘no matter what’ can seem a far off reality, regardless of attempts at having faith.
Surely the journey towards Soul Purpose often relies on you being discontent in the environment or situation you’ve found yourself in, to recognise the circumstances that ‘aren’t right’ in your life and listen and be true to your heart. Feeling unhappy may therefore be a valuable part – or at least an acceptable transitory part – in this recognition and motivation to search for your true calling, which may then lead to changes in places of residence, relationships and jobs.
Is it unspiritual to allow yourself to be unhappy because of life circumstances, even if that unhappiness is the cue for positive change and developing a stronger connection to who you really are and to Spirit?
I believe that as always it again comes down to balance and Divine Guidance. If Spirit/your own intuition is telling you that your soul purpose is actually none other than simply to become a master of non-desire, to wish for nothing accept total liberation from the 3rd dimension, to feel deep joy independent of any outer circumstance, then you are on the course for total enlightenment and the path is clear. But for most of us, this goal runs parallel to the achievement of other certain things within our soul purpose. To speak for myself, Spirit has been prompting me along the course of a soul purpose that definitely does not amount to such a simple direction – I am constantly being fed ideas and instruction about what I’m meant to be doing – whilst simultaneously being reminded to ‘stay conscious’ and ‘don’t take everything so seriously’.
It has certainly seemed to me that my often desire for ‘certain conditions’ has not been so much ‘my’ desire, as the will of Spirit to have me merge with my soul purpose. Yet I’m also fully and sometimes pain-fully aware that when I feel myself slipping into dis-ease with any aspect of my current reality, I am also slipping into the lower vibratory consciousness of attachment and dependency, further away from liberation from the physical illusion. My goals therefore are to remain identified with Spirit – unaffected by circumstance – and to listen to my feelings to continually consciously create that which is an expression of who I am.
Divine Dichotomy
So this is the juggling act: to strive always to listen to and respond to the Soul’s callings by first desiring and then creating the appropriate changes in your life that constitute your inner truth, yet to do so in a way that carries no attachment to any particular outcome and feel at peace with any less than ideal conditions until they can be changed.
Until you are fully enlightened, you must place yourself in as much of an enlightening environment as possible, to assist your journey to enlightenment. Do this whilst still practising unattachment, and eventually you will no longer require a specific environment – like using the training wheels on your first bike. But even enlightened masters still consciously choose to spend most time in natural, harmonious, high-frequency environments providing it is for the highest good – that’s why the Himalayas were home to so many yogis and swamis from India. How many ascended masters have emerged from the concrete chaotic rubble of an urban sprawl?
So again, the only way to achieve such a feat is like Spirit advises: consciousness. Once it’s lost it’s hard to regain in the midst of a stressful or draining time, so enter each day meditatively with total clear and focused consciousness of all you are thinking and feeling, and of your identity as Spirit only having a physical adventure. Only then such balance becomes effortless.
Spirituality : Soul purpose : Acceptance : Attachment : Spiritual guidance :
Spirituality : Soul purpose : Acceptance : Attachment : Spiritual guidance :
What are Tags?. View articles or events that contain the above words.
Post Article:
Submit Your Own Article