As a wise teacher, with deep inner connections to the spiritual reality once said, “Ask and you shall receive … seek and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will open to you because everyone who asks receives and those who seek shall find.”
Through the spiritual quest you ultimately discover that you live in the world you create for yourself. The peace you desire is already inside of you; you simply need to connect to it. The spiritual answer to every question is that as you change on the inside, the world outside around you will change too. Your world will always reflect who you are. You create your own world by the internal connections you make; your spiritual healing begins and ends with you. This is the spiritual quest.
THE CHANGES REQUIRED FOR HEALING
This chapter will provide you with a recipe or road map for genuine healing and amazing spiritual growth. To accomplish this requires your full-commitment to the process. A simple six steps, but it is not easy.
To help ease you into the right spiritual mind-set the following are some previous excerpts you should have already read and hopefully contemplated within.
Before proceeding with the exercise we suggest that you review carefully the following excerpts. Read these slowly and deeply contemplate their meaning before proceeding with the exercise that follows.
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 1 ~~~~~~~~~
“The thing that hurts us and causes conflict and suffering are the divides we put up by ourselves.”
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“Questions asked internally in conversations you have with yourself … Your willingness to analyze honestly and emotionally from within … this is the spiritual quest.”
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“Exploring where the topic feels most uncomfortable in your inner spiritual sensations will lead you to the greatest advancement in discovery.”
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“Most people hear only what they want to hear. They line up and only search for information that validates their current point of view.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 5 ~~~~~~~~~
“To discover the truth, above and beyond the bias, the ignorance, the frustration, or the irritation, we must challenge our strongest held beliefs in our spiritual space. Can we tear down our current perspective to fully embrace and build an entirely new one? We must be willing to build the new one up, and then be prepared to tear it down too. When you can embrace and explore these inner spiritual discernments, you can enter your own path of light in spiritual awareness. This is your spiritual quest.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 6 ~~~~~~~~~
“The essential aim of the spiritual quest is to free your personal internal dialog from fear of being wrong or being misled. Our first commitment is to be incredibly honest with ourselves with truth and integrity to our own explorations. We must never draw final conclusions and always be willing to fully embrace the negative spiritual sensations as the fastest way forward to greater enlightenment.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 7 ~~~~~~~~~
“Acknowledge that there’s nothing else defining your spiritual world but you. Look deep inside to discover the truth. Are you being God, or are you a being with God? Discover your personal reality that is uniquely your spiritual fingerprint.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 8 ~~~~~~~~~
“What about the validity of our own point of view? Can you change that? This is the call of the spiritual quest.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 9 ~~~~~~~~~
“Changes in our lives and in our opinions are rungs on the spiritual ladder. The higher we climb on the spiritual ladder, the more change we experience. The higher we climb; the greater control we seem to gain in understanding our own life and our own connection to the rest of the world.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 10 ~~~~~~~~~
“To maximize our growth in the spiritual space, we must embrace others who have opposing or different views from your own. Other people and their opinions are a treasure chest of spiritual discovery for those on the spiritual quest.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 11 ~~~~~~~~~
“Embrace those ideas that contradict your understanding; these are the pearls of wisdom that most people reject. Please don’t be that foolish; grab these ideas with wonderment and acceptance as you climb the mountain of spiritual discovery.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 12 ~~~~~~~~~
“The very limited control we have at all in the universe is control over ourselves. Here is where the spiritual discovery can explode for you. As you interact with others, you get to explore and learn from their experience. You get to connect with another person and get to discover their unique point of view. If you’re curious and open, you can listen and learn something totally new.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 13 ~~~~~~~~~
“Accept everything you hear with a hug of appreciation, no matter how unreal or unbelievable it may seem to you. Once you believe your own conclusions are the only answers, you shut yourself off from further spiritual growth.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 14 ~~~~~~~~~
“You can only find that place of expansion within your own perceptions. You cannot change or control anything other than you, so be willing to expand and enrich your own comprehension by accepting what is offered to you by others.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 15 ~~~~~~~~~
“It requires a deliberate willingness to explore and discover beyond your own limited point of view. Take this opportunity to analyze your own limiting beliefs. It requires deep inner scrutiny to discover your true self.”
~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 16 ~~~~~~~~~
“Be willing to adapt and embrace a contrasting narrative to your own. Try one on and see how it feels. Try on another one too, and you will discover the amazing growth potential you harness in your own spiritual quest.”
THE CHANGES ARE MADE INSIDE OF YOU
Healing is all around you if you’re just open to it. There was a hit song written by Michael Jackson that accurately revealed the spiritual quest with these words, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways, and no message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make that change.”
Let’s be courageous and start by exploring some basic information that will help reveal your spiritual acuity. When you look into the eyes of fellow human being without any words to communicate there is a spiritual connection. The physical look into the soul is through the eyes. Every human connection is pure at that level.
From this pure starting point we seek to understand the discoveries made by this individual through their journey as a fellow soul. With pure honesty and love we can connect with all people who genuinely reciprocate this spiritual openness. When we begin to discover contrasting perceptions these quickly become unique personality markers we have already identified and categorized internally.
From this point forward the only disconnects that arise will surface through personal judgments. You have heard the spiritual admonition, “Judge not that you may not be judged.” Before a word is spoken with another human, from this soul to soul contact, we make instinctive judgments. We categorize and predetermine conclusions, starting with physical characteristics and patterns that we have already identified.
For example, a red hat with four letters “maga” can trigger an avalanche of predetermined judgments. Also a black hat with three letters of “blm” will likely do the same. These are polarized tribal defaults that can immediately break spiritual connections.
With your spiritual discernment you may above the fray; not be devoted to either side. However, if you are honest with yourself it is likely you lean one way or another on this or on some other difficult or divisive issue.
This is the perfect place to start to discover your own personal judgments that cause division. How can you leverage intense energies of disconnection to improve your spiritual growth? The work required begins now.
PERSONAL SPIRITUAL WORK ASSIGNMENT
Step One: Write a sentence on a topic you feel absolutely certain about. There is nothing like politics or religion to identify blockages and strong judgments we hold in our own comprehension. The best topic is one you feel very strongly about. Write it out with a simple question and then write the answer. Do this with the greatest most obvious details you can present to strongly validate your position.
Step Two: As you are writing this out, take note of your inner most feelings as you engage in this assignment. After you write out the question and provide your exact answer, again making sure it sharply identifies your position in a clear concise manner.
Now read this declarative sentence slowly out loud. How does it feel as you read this sentence that supports your inner reality? Hopefully it feels good and positive, or perhaps there is little to no inner sensations as you confirm your own view. Take an awareness note of what you’re experiencing inside in your spiritual space.
Step Three: This is not likely to be as easy for you to complete. As you take this next action step you will enter a space of negative internal sensations. Pay close attention to what’s happening inside of you as you perform this task. You need to rewrite your answer to the question to read the exact opposite of what you wrote. This is a powerful work assignment to see just how deep within you the negative spiritual biases go.
Notice how you are feeling in your own spiritual space as you directly challenge your current perspective. As you rewrite this contradictory answer to your own inner reality what are you sensing inside? This provides an immediate and deep insight into your own spiritual make-up. It takes a strong spiritual willingness and personal courage to explore where you are uncomfortable. If you are suffering at the thought of taking such a step you can see just how powerful this work assignment is, perhaps you need someone else to rewrite the answer for you? What you’re feeling inside right now is the spiritual quest in action on you.
THE CHALLENGE CONTINUES
Step Four: Here is the next step in this important spiritual work. Take the rewrite, that contradicts your own views, and try and read it out-loud with conviction. Focus on your feelings and inner sensations as you force yourself to read out-loud words that challenge your own inner reality on the subject. What is it you are learning about yourself as you explore and embrace your internal spiritual sensations while doing this?
Step Five: Here you get to measure your own mastery at gaining greater spiritual awareness as you do this work. Here are some questions to help you explore deeper within your own spiritual space. Ask yourself, does any other person on this planet have this opposite point of view? Would they be willing do this same assignment? What does that answer tell you about the other person’s openness? What does that answer tell you about your own willingness to be spiritually open? Is this opposite point of view valid in any way to someone else? How would that someone else defend their position?
Step Six: Here is your final step to validate your spiritual mastery if you are capable of completing it. This will provide you with a break-through that will put you head and shoulders above your current spiritual attainment. It will help you to connect and share with others in a way you have yet to experience. This is the hardest step but it is the most enlightening.
Write an article that defends the opposite point of view from you own. Can you do that effectively? Explain why such a position, opposite to your own personal views, is valid to someone else? Can you explore and organize within yourself to find and articulate such an answer? Will you force yourself to explore these opposite feelings and conclusions; ones that contradict your own comprehension?
This is the biggest and hardest step that needs to be taken to prove to yourself your own spiritual mastery. Are you spiritually big enough to do this work? Are you able to challenge your biggest limitation to your own growth; you? Are you willing to take on your own ego attachments that you hold so dear? Will you be able to free yourself from your own limitations and push yourself through to greater enlightenment in understanding?
THE CHALLENGE CONCLUSIONS
If you take on this work sincerely and repeat it often you will experience the biggest most profound expansion in your own spiritual consciousness. If you challenge yourself to do this work you are sure to grow immensely in your spiritual comprehension. As you repeatedly progress though this work assignment you will discover your own inner healing.
In time it will become easy for you to engage in this spiritual work without any internal spiritual disruptions. From this high spiritual degree you obtain mastery of your own inner spiritual space.
You are now ready and fully able to help others discover healing. As a master you will be much better equipped to help others who seek answers. No matter where their personal spiritual roots stem from you can resonate accordingly. Are you a spiritual master yet?
The path is here for you and for all those who choose to grow. This is the spiritual quest to healing.