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By: Roseanna Leaton
Category: Spirituality

The Hawaiians use the word "aloha" in many different circumstances. It means far more than just "hello" or "good-bye". It conveys a deeper and more spiritual intent.

By: Roseanna Leaton
Category: Spirituality

Do you believe in your spiritual nature? Do you want proof that your live on earth is just one dimension of something which is a whole lot bigger?

By: Roseanna Leaton
Category: Spirituality

Do you feel lonely or that you cannot cope? Do you fear being left alone? What can you do to feel more involved with the world around you and enjoy a sense of togetherness?

By: Roseanna Leaton Category: Spirituality In the Western world we have moved further and further away from the examination of mental processes and how they impact upon the way in which our lives unfold. This can be seen in many areas of our lives; we abrogate responsibility for how we feel to

By: Roseanna Leaton
Category: Spirituality

Is there just one perfect person for everyone or is it possible to have more than one soul mate? And, more importantly, how does one go about finding their soul mate?

By: Roseanna Leaton
Category: Spirituality

What are the essential ingredients which together create a state of mutual respect?

Are you a done with yourself or are you continuing to discover more about yourself, seek personal growth and development? You see it all around how science keeps going, discovering more and more about the world and universe we exist in. As technology improves, which is change, science is able to understand more about our universe plus obtain more ways to describe it all. For example, this picture of a supernova remnant was not possible just a few years ago even though the object was there. This is how life is, ever expanding in its awareness of itself. Plus, the increasing awareness of humans to what is already there. Much of the change seems to not exist or that the change is very slow, but it is there. Everything in the universe grows and changes we are certainly not excluded. We have the ability to continue to change and grow throughout our entire life, including our final change here, death. But at the same time there are so many people who are ‘checking out’ so early. Getting tired, feeling aches and pain, feeling beat down - telling themselves they are wearing out -that it’s too late. I’m not trying to tell you that pains should be ignored, but how you look at them can have a huge affect on the power they play in your life. The biggest factor to your growth is your thinking. What you think about your life and your growth determines what you see, feel and do. If you see possibilities - you will see them, and if you see the ‘end’ in your mind, you will see it in your life. If you think you are too tired, sick or whatever - you are. Time to check yourself: · How are you the same today as you were 10 years ago? · How are you different? · What are you doing that you thought were not possible for you a few years ago? · Do you look at things in the same way you did several years ago? · Do you see possibilities for your life or feel hopeless? · Do you feel that your life continues to move on or do you feel stuck? · Are you open to new ideas and concepts or do you want to keep things the way they are? · Do you feel your problems hold you back, sap your energy and nix your motivation? · Are your dreams alive or have you given up on what you want in your life? Can you change any of this? Well yes you can - much of it. Many times we let one thing affect all of our life. We allow our attitude and outlook to be clouded when one thing has happened when we don’t need to. Certainly there are situations where something may temporarily set you back but it does not need to be for all time. Only you can determine if you are temporarily off or if it has been too long. You will need to ask yourself honest straight questions about it. The easy answer is of course, “I will just suffer a little longer” but maybe not the best! The truth is that a broken foot does not come with a bad attitude, that’s our choice. A marital separation does not come with resentment that carries through all of your life, that’s our choice. Because something did not work out for us does not mean nothing ever will, that’s our choice to think so. The thing to be careful for is that when something that appears negative happens don’t allow it to affect all of your life any more than is necessary. Ask yourself some key questions that help enhance your self awareness so you discover how you think and feel about everything. There is always more out there for you if you allow it and if you are open to recognize it. When you are clouded by negative reactions it may not seem so, but you can always change and grow. Your outlook on life is a choice - yours. You are never done, unless you choose. John Halderman - More on daily life actions to support a better life, http://www.effectivepersonaldevelopmentblog.com

QANTAS 747 Emergency Landing at Manila I’m sure you have heard about the Qantas Airways Flight 30 jet that had to make an emergency landing at the Manila International Airport shortly after leaving Hong Kong while in route to Melbourne, Australia. It was discovered that there was a large hole in the fuselage and a this point no explanation has been given as to how it happened, although it’s not likely caused by a terrorism act. All the passengers are fine and were very calm during the unknown course of actions needed to get the plane down safely in Manila.

This is just the event that can trigger your personal growth and development. Have you ever been in a situation where your life is quite possibly in imminent jeopardy? If you have, you will know first hand how you quickly go through an awakening, which commonly includes ’seeing your life flash before your eyes’. You all of a sudden see yourself and your life from a different perspective. It is much like the perspective many people come to when they are at the place of imminent death from old age or illness. They are able to see in a new light many of their long held feelings, thoughts, and perspectives from a more ‘outside looking in’ point of view.

When you are living ‘in’ your life you have a harder time taking an outside view of what you are doing. What you think is important or necessary may not actually be so. Your perspectives and your interpretations of the people, situations and events in your life may not be the most desirable to have to support the life you really want. When your life has evolved as it has, you accept much of it as ‘how it is’ and don’t really look at it as something that can be different.

When an event wakes you up so to speak, you are sort of knocked off kilter a bit and suddenly you are able to see things differently. At this point many people do a lot of reassessment of what is important to them and of their priorities, making changes that are more aligned with their true feelings. As undesirable as the trigger event may be, it can be a wake up call for you to take a look at how you are using your life.

Like at old age when people look back and say, “I should have done this or that, or not have acted that way” and regret what they did for so many years. Why wait the facing of death to reassess your life? You can do it any time you choose. Just because your life has evolved mostly in an automatic way, you don’t have to let it stay that way. You can shift gears and change direction any time you want. The first point is to realize that you can, and you can. You don’t have to be shocked into it, although that can make it quick!

There are many helpful methods and tools available for you to use helping yourself see your life in a new view and then with making any alterations you may choose to make. The second requirement is you must want to change, as your mind will most easily keep doing what it has been doing up to this point so you will need personal motivation to override this. You are intended to continuously change and evolve throughout your life, but many get stuck and don’t realize why they feel unfulfilled and frustrated.

You have your thinking, reasoning and the ability to choose which are your basic tools to navigate your personal evolution through life. Your connections with your inner self and your intuition serve as guidance as you go but can only respond to what you seek. A life unquestioned is a life unchanged except by outside influences. Allowing outside influences to be your only guide, you will be much like the ball in an old style pinball machine bouncing from peg to peg with little to no choice.

Choice is part of your basic equipment, learn how to use it and do so. Don’t wait for some outside event or near death to wake you up, assess your life and how your feel now. What is working and what is no? Everything in the universe is in constant change, what makes you think you can remain the same and feel good about it? You can’t - dissatisfaction, unrest and unhappiness are the result. Rather, learn to navigate the change to best suit the life you are guided from within to live and you will see your happiness and satisfaction increase dramatically.

As you navigate your natural change, as guided from within, you will actually feel more calm and secure than when you were seeking comfort by trying to keep everything the same. Let this latest in air emergency be the catalyst for you to asses your life, don’t wait for something to happen to you. If we can learn from what happens to others, we may not need to experience it ourselves. Your first choice is to take a look at yourself - or not.

John Halderman

John Halderman writes and trains in personal growth and development focusing on what can be done daily to enhance your happiness and satisfaction with life through the understanding of how life works, managing your thoughts and purposeful actions. Find out what you can do daily to improve your life. And see the Effective Personal Development Blog for insight, methods and tools for life growth.

When We Want and Want, But Just Don't Receive

«Want is a growing giant whom the coat of have was never large enough to cover...»
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, I have been thinking and talking a lot about gratitude.

It seems that so many of us want more than what we have. It's not that we aren't happy with what we already have in our lives, we just want more. We want a better relationship, we want more money, we want a bigger house, we want, we want, we want.

But what about being thankful for what we already have?

A few months ago, I received a Gratitude Journal as a gift from The Secret. The journal is encased in a beautiful heavy leather, tri-fold binder. I really liked it because it had a private, secret feel to it. Like what I wrote would be just between me and God. The journal itself is divided into two sections; 'Gratitude Now' and «Gratitude Intentions'. Each page of the journal has quotes that relate to gratitude.

Receiving the Gratitude Journal seemed like God offering me the «next step» on my journey. But I found it really hard to get started. It wasn't that I wasn't thankful...it was just finding a way to state the gratitude. And the idea of being thankful in advance for things that I wanted but didn't have was almost not conceivable to me. So the journal sat on my shelf.

About a month ago, the journal called to me. So I took it off the shelf and opened it up, staring at the blank pages. It was hard, so I just started with the obvious. 'Thank you, God, for giving me loving and interesting children. Thank you for the beautiful children that I work with and the joy they give me each day.' Then, I thanked God for putting people in my life that made me want to be a better person. And that was it. I couldn't make it past that.

I read and meditated on what I had written every day. I said the words of gratitude in the quietness of my mind and aloud. I remembered that, if God were indeed everything, then I was also a part of God, however miniscule. I reminded myself that my thoughts could become things.

And just about a week later, things started to happen. My life began to change. I began to find people in my life who were suddenly making me really look closely at myself; to question the strength of my own beliefs; to evaluate my purpose/ to find my true relationship with God, the Universal Mind.

I found that the gratitude started flowing so much more easily. When I was sad or frustrated, I found things to be thankful for instead. It wasn't easy, but I saw it manifesting huge changes in my life. Just a little gratitude for what I already had.

I have this friend who is fabulous in many ways. He's young, he has a great job, he's handsome, and he owns his own home. He has what I believe to be a good relationship with God and seems to try to be very faithful. Looking in from the outside, he seems to have a pretty perfect life. But what he doesn't have that he really wants more than anything is a wife and a family. In the relatively short time I've known him, it's been an ongoing conversation. He is so concerned with what he doesn't have, what he wants, and the reasons that he doesn't have it, that he overlooks how wonderful his life already is, even without that.

Last week, I told him a story from a parent's point of view. As a mom, I give my children everything that they need and a lot of things that they want. They don't usually have to ask me for things...I sort of just supply them. On occasion, though, they want something else. When they are so focused on that one thing that they forget what a great life they actually already have, I don't give them what they want. After all, they don't even recognize how blessed they already are! On the other hand, if I know that there is something that they want, but they not just focused on getting it, but instead are enjoying all they have in their lives, then I give it to them, if I can. I think that God, as a parent, must be much the same way. He just wants us to appreciate all that he's already given us without always wanting something else.

I, for one, am extremely blessed. I have great friends who are always there for me; an awesome family; my children are bright, intelligent and interesting. I have a home, I have a car, and I have food on my table. I have talents. I am blessed. Yet still, I too find myself wanting more. But what could I possibly need that God hasn't already given me?

Want is indeed a growing giant. When we get what we want, we just want more. So many times, we forget to stop and just be thankful for what we already have. Gratitude is such an amazingly powerful gift. Use your gratitude as often as you can and you'll soon find that you are given more than you could even ask for.

Peace.

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The Goddess Mari is a belly dance instructor, performer and choreographer from the Chicago area. She has been working online for almost 8 years and manages multiple websites. She owns and operates ArticleFocusBlog.com, which is a pay-to-post, high quality article blog.. In this series, she chronicles her own search for a greater existence.
Visit her at GoddessMari.com

Categories: Spirituality.
Tags: goddess mari, gratitude, the secret.

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By Jarett Sabirsh

A quick word of caution before we begin. This article is for serious students of spiritual truth only. The traditional orthodox Christian reading this, or the atheists out there, or those with strong unrelenting opinions and perceptions, or those with strong likes and dislikes, or those who automatically think society is based on truth, or those who think their current thought processes are already the highest level of truth, may not be ready for this article.

If you're not ready, or not interested, that 's solely your choice, and there 's nothing wrong with that. Just a friendly warning.

Nobody can be faulted if their level of consciousness hasn't yet evolved to the point where they see Enlightenment as being important, attractive, and meaningful. But eventually, Enlightenment is the goal that replaces all other goals.

As you read this article you'll notice that certain words are capitalized when «normally» they wouldn't be. The reason they are capitalized is because of the context in which those words are used. We capitalize the words «God», «Divinity», «Buddha», «Silence», «Awareness», «Reality», «Truth», «Love», and so on, because of what they represent. If however, your mind has a hangup about which word is used in describing that which is unseen, formless, and beyond words, this article is perhaps not for you at this time.

Ignorance is everywhere, and it 's nothing new. The average person doesn't have a clue as to what Enlightenment is, many spiritual seekers have misguided ideas about what it is, and many spiritual teachers also don't have the correct understanding of what it is.

But because «I» personally have stood on the brink of Enlightenment (but feared to follow through) «I» have a much greater understanding of what it is, and how to get there, than most others. So no, I'm not Enlightened, and even if I was, I couldn't say that I was because there would no longer be an individual ego/mind, and if there is no ego/mind, there is no individual «I» to claim anything.

If this is completely beyond your current level of understanding, keep reading and it should become clear what is meant.

First, we need to understand exactly what Enlightenment is. So to clear matters up, we're just going to spell it out in a very simple, clear, and lucid manner.

Enlightenment is.. the permanent dissolvement/cessation of all thoughts, thinking, concepts, and emotions of the ego/mind. The key words there are «permanent» and «all». Enlightenment is the ceasing of all concepts, all notions, all ideas, all symbols, all words, all intellectualizing, all emotions, all thoughts, and all thinking.

In order to let all of them go, one must be fully aware of them, and one must be watching them silently rather than being identified with them. When you watch them non-judgmentally and without words or emotions, they dissipate into nothingness. When you watch them, you are Awareness, not the mind, and when you are wholly and completely Awareness, the very energy behind thinking is let go of.

Second, we need to understand exactly what Enlightenment is not. Enlightenment is not the development of psychic abilities, is not astral traveling, is not channeling entities, is not a temporary trance state, is not an artificially induced altered state of consciousness, it has nothing to do with «new age» anything, it doesn't involve the past or the future, it doesn't belong to any one specific religion, it doesn't involve conspiracy theories, it has nothing to do with UFO's or aliens, it doesn't involve so-called «ascended masters», it doesn't involve playing with the law of attraction (karma), it doesn't involve visualization, it has nothing to do with vibrations or energy, it has nothing to do with science, it doesn't involve sex (tantra), it has nothing to do with crystals, colors, or vortexes, and it certainly doesn't involve codes, mysteries, or «secrets» of any kind.

The surreal is not real. There 's a reason that Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Plotinus, Lao Tzu, Muhammad, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargardatta Maharaj, Meister Eckhart, and many Zen Masters never taught any of these things. Some of these things are outright false and harmful, others are just simply irrelevant to personal growth, and some of these are quite beneficial to the average person, but when it comes down to Enlightenment, every last bit of everything needs to be unlearned and let go of.

Reality (Awareness) with a capital «R» has no shape or form whatsoever, and is beyond all intellectual concepts. The real Truth is eternal and changeless. It has always been relevant, and it always will be.

Real spirituality involves bettering oneself by ways of selflessness/love and higher levels of awareness/truth that help us let go of concepts and thoughts because it 's concepts and thoughts that obstruct peace (of mind). Spirituality is not the introduction of even more concepts, unless those concepts help us let go of concepts. Peace of mind is silence of mind. Which means that thoughts, thinking, perceptions, views, attitudes, emotions, concepts, opinions, beliefs, and attachments are the true underlying source of all suffering in our lives.

Many people say «I wouldn't want to live life without my emotions or thinking» (and that 's okay if it 's okay with them), but they don't realize that's the ego/mind talking, and if one were even for a brief moment to personally experience exquisite, ineffable, and profound Peace/Silence, one would certainly no longer hold that point of view.

Awareness is the only Reality. Essentially, you are not the mind and body of change (relative truth). You are the still, silent, unchanging Absolute; the Awareness that is aware of the mind and its comings and goings, when a deliberate point of being aware of it is made.

Watch the mind. That Awareness is changeless, timeless, shapeless, formless, and infinitely eternal. It has no beginning or end. It always has been, and it always will be.

If you're able to watch the mind, then you are not the mind. How many minds do you have? Are you the mind, or are you the observer watching the mind? Only one of them is real.

Just like the heart or lungs, the thinkingness of the ego/mind/brain is going and going all by itself. It has nothing to do with a «you» doing it. In other words, you are not the thinker of thoughts. Take 5 minutes to watch the mind and see for yourself. You can't control it because it 's on complete autopilot. You can't stop it by controlling it, but you can stop it by watching it and losing interest in it.

So, you are not the body and its senses, and you are not the mind and its thoughts. You are the infinitely silent Awareness that is aware of them.

One is not subject to the countless faulty workings of the ego/mind when one stops identifying the automatic random repetitive thoughts of the mind as being «me». The very nature of the ego/mind can be summed up in one word... drama. And what is drama? It 's the absence of peace (of mind).

«Every phenomena that exists is a creation of thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void.» - Huang Po, Zen Master

Just how does Enlightenment happen? To begin with, you (the mind) doesn't ever make it happen. It happens by ITSELF when all concepts of the mind are let go of, when the very energy behind thinking is let go of, when the physical chemical reaction of all emotionalism is let go of, when all wantingness and neediness is let go of, and when not even Enlightenment is sought after.

1. This can be done by the completely unconditional and radical forgiveness and acceptance of absolutely everything, as it is right now in this very moment, always. This is the path of non-judgmentalism acceptance, forgiveness, love, compassion, and selflessness.

If there 's full blown acceptance of absolutely everything as it is, then there 's nothing to judge, nothing to describe, nothing to define, nothing to talk about, nothing to express an opinion about, no thing to make into something, nothing to express a belief about, nothing to search for, nothing to manipulate, nothing to change, nothing to force, and there 's nothing to think about at all.

Everything just is, nothing more, and one sees the absolute perfection and beauty in everything because everything and everyone is currently operating at its own level of awareness and/or evolution. Everyone and everything is what it is right now because that 's exactly what it needs to learn, or unlearn. People really don't know otherwise, or they don't want to know otherwise. If they really knew otherwise, they would already be otherwise.

2. Enlightenment can also happen by way of wisdom/truth/mindfulness/awareness, which involves non-effort, loss of interest in all thinking and thoughts, and letting go constantly and continuously. Watching the mind does not mean forceful concentration because concentrating is something that the ego/mind does. Nothing can be forced to happen, as force is the nature of the ego/mind. As soon as you watch thoughts, they disappear. If you try to fight thoughts, you give them more strength because focus and energy is being put into fighting and conflict, which is again, a thing of the mind.

You must be fully aware that nobody becomes Enlightened, and that there is no conflict. You are already that Awareness, you always have been, and you always will be, even when you're falsely identified with thoughts and thinking. Just like the sun is always there even when clouds are covering it.

If you are already formless unmanifested all-encompassing all-knowing Awareness beyond words and concepts, then there is absolutely nothing to get, grasp, gain, or obtain. You are already utterly whole, complete, and perfect, and there is nothing to search for, not even Enlightenment. You are already That. There is only Self-Awareness, the awareness of oneself as Infinitely Everything beyond physicality.

But don't try to imagine this with the mind because it can't be done. Just get out of the way and lose «yourself». Get out of the way. Let go. Give up. Surrender.

In fact, this whole writing is the consequence of selflessness, silence, surrendering, allowing, waiting, listening, «receiving», intuition, epiphanies, being, and knowing. It has nothing to do with the intellect/ego/mind, and if on occasion it does, then something has gone wrong.

When the moment arrives, the end is not an end. At the moment of Enlightenment the individual «you» (ego/mind) disappears completely and literally dies. The me, myself, and I ceases to be. At that final moment there is a feeling of «I'm going to die», and this doesn't mean bodily death. It means the very essence of what you individually think you are (thoughts and thinking).

The ego/mind fears it 's own death, but all fear is an illusion because fear is an emotion, and all emotions (physical chemical reactions) are the result of being identified with the ego/mind and brain/body (physicality).

When the mind goes silent it 's replaced by void, by nothingness, but that «nothingness» is only «nothing» because it 's formless, non-physical, and unmanifested. In actuality, that «nothingness» is an all-encompassing Infinitely Everything, which is a profound ineffable Peace/Love/Wholeness/Completion way beyond description, which just simply Is. It 's No-Thing, yet Infinitely Everything, yet beyond both because both are mere concepts (thought forms). All words and concepts are meaningless because they are born from the ego/mind.

«The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are Illusions.» - Bodhidharma, founder of Zen

So you see, it 's all really quite simple once it 's spelled out. But if you still don't get it (and you want to), «my» website is dedicated solely to the topic of Enlightenment, and it goes into far greater detail. This was just a brief summarization. The Truths of Life website, as a whole, is much more complete.

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About the Author:

Jarett Sabirsh is a very serious student of truth in all of its relative forms. While being dedicated to helping others, he uses his gift of being able to simplify complicated subject matter to get right to the root of problems. He is the author of The Truths of Life.

Categories: Spirituality.
Tags: awareness, buddhism, consciousness, divinity, enlightenment, god, love, Spirituality, truth, zen.

Permanent link: The Truth About Spiritual Enlightenment (Write a comment).
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