Eight basic values determine our spiritual lives: Compassion, Unity, Truthfulness, Fairness, Tolerance, Responsibility, Respect, and Service. These are the common principles taught by most religions and spiritual paths. These same principles define trust. The concepts are not new. Many of us just lost track of them as we find ourselves in a complex and confusing world.
WHAT IS YOUR PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL TRUST FACTOR?
1. Compassion
Do you care about and like yourself?
Do you care about the people you interact with on a daily basis?
2. Unity
Do you believe that in working more closely with others, something better
can be accomplished?
Are you willing to make a commitment to work more closely with others?
3. Truthfulness
Are you willing to be honest in your dealings with others?
Are you willing to be honest to yourself about your needs, wants and desires?
Are you willing to be honest with yourself about the integrity or lack of it your life?
4. Fairness
Are you willing to treat people around you fairly?
Are you willing to insist on fair treatment for yourself?
5. Tolerance
Are you willing to accept the diversity of others?
Are you willing to allow others to have different views and opinions?
6. Responsibility
Are you willing to assume personal responsibility for your life?
Are you willing to assume your share of responsibility for the overall
Advancement and evolution of our society?
7. Respect
Are you willing to learn to respect others, their opinions and their beliefs?
Are you willing to respect yourself and what you do?
Are you willing to have respect for the earth and be conscious of not polluting the environment?
8. Service
Are you willing to help others in your life to advance and succeed?
Are you willing to commit to helping others in your community with time as well as money?
Scoring: Assign one point for each “YES” answer.
Scores will range from 0-18. Acceptable scores range from 10-18.
If your score is in an acceptable range, Congratulations! You are a practical spiritual role model and need to be encouraged to continue your quest.
If your score is not in an acceptable range, reconsider which principles you disagree with. How do these affect your view of trust and how others view you? Are you a trustworthy person? Do your friends and coworkers see you as a trustworthy person? You might want to review the qualities that you want to work on.
These concepts apply to our everyday lives but show a practical spirituality. We don’t need to preach to be effective. Being role models with our actions is the best way to promote our spirituality.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A Review of How To Read The Akashic Records by Linda Howe
I always think of the Akashic Records as the “universal library in the sky” or the record of all of our past, present, and future selves. A new book, How To Read the Akashic Records: Accessing The Archive of the Soul and Its Journey by Linda Howe explains that the Records contain, “everything that every soul has ever thought, said and done over the course of existence, as well as its future possibilities.” I love her analogy of the Records being the “cosmic internet” and we can “google” specific information from them.
The Records are governed and protected by nonphysical Light Beings. Our “Masters, Teachers and Loved ones” are our guides to the information of this universal repository.
These Records are not the exclusive domain of any one organization or religion. They are available to everyone. In the past, mystics and saints had access, and Mystery Schools provided entrance information. Today, we have evolved to a spiritual freedom, which allows anyone to gather data from the Records.
A specific prayer, the Pathway Prayer, is used to gain entry. While answers are provided, there is also an energy exchange that allows us to ask the right questions and “feel” the right responses. We are reminded that we are “perfect selves.” The Records don’t hold anything negative. They contain our potential, which is “eternal beings of Light whose essence is wholeness and wellness and goodness.”
Howe suggests that the Records provide an “energetic tune-up” for everyone, especially for those feeling out of touch or lost in the complexity of the material world. Remembering that we are connected to a Divine Being provides a comfort. “All souls desire to experience their wholeness and Oneness with all of Creation,” although not all of us are aware of this.
Accessing the Akashic Records is aspect of our Practical Spirituality. We are all capable of a spiritual independence, one in which we can help choose and define our spiritual connection. The Records provide another avenue of support, one in which we can connect directly to a Divine or higher Energy.
The Records show us that whatever our soul is seeking, we will find. What a liberating time to be living in, when we can gain this inner spiritual awareness and have access to help whenever we need it. Each of us has a unique light to shine. Our challenge is to accept the gifts we are given to help find and shine that inner light.
The Records are governed and protected by nonphysical Light Beings. Our “Masters, Teachers and Loved ones” are our guides to the information of this universal repository.
These Records are not the exclusive domain of any one organization or religion. They are available to everyone. In the past, mystics and saints had access, and Mystery Schools provided entrance information. Today, we have evolved to a spiritual freedom, which allows anyone to gather data from the Records.
A specific prayer, the Pathway Prayer, is used to gain entry. While answers are provided, there is also an energy exchange that allows us to ask the right questions and “feel” the right responses. We are reminded that we are “perfect selves.” The Records don’t hold anything negative. They contain our potential, which is “eternal beings of Light whose essence is wholeness and wellness and goodness.”
Howe suggests that the Records provide an “energetic tune-up” for everyone, especially for those feeling out of touch or lost in the complexity of the material world. Remembering that we are connected to a Divine Being provides a comfort. “All souls desire to experience their wholeness and Oneness with all of Creation,” although not all of us are aware of this.
Accessing the Akashic Records is aspect of our Practical Spirituality. We are all capable of a spiritual independence, one in which we can help choose and define our spiritual connection. The Records provide another avenue of support, one in which we can connect directly to a Divine or higher Energy.
The Records show us that whatever our soul is seeking, we will find. What a liberating time to be living in, when we can gain this inner spiritual awareness and have access to help whenever we need it. Each of us has a unique light to shine. Our challenge is to accept the gifts we are given to help find and shine that inner light.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A New Look at an Old Favorite Book: Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
My Mom, who recently died, loved this book and this author. But I had never read this gift until after her death. What a treat!
Lindbergh has a quiet determination in her writing. Perhaps this helps explain how she survived being the wife of the world’s famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and the kidnapping and death of her son.
She focuses on creativity and women, solitude, and relationships. Her words remind me of the wisdom of my Mom’s generation. We can learn much from our elderly if we are only willing to listen.
“While man, in his realm, has less chance for personal relations than woman, he may have more opportunity for giving himself creatively in work. Woman, on the other hand, has more chance for personal relations, but these do not give her a sense of her creative identity, the individual who has something of her own to say or to give. I believe that true identity is…found in creative activity springing from within…Woman can best refind herself by losing herself in some kind of creative activity of her own.”
This reflects Step Seven in the Do It Yourself Guide to Spirituality: Seven Simple Steps, which shows that one of the spiritual rules is to create and develop our unique ability. Lindbergh’s writing has a practical spiritual component.
“All relationships are in process of change, of expansion, and must perpetually be building themselves new forms. But there is no single fixed form to express such a changing relationship. There are perhaps different forms for each successive stage.” Lindbergh reminds us of the Step Three of Change, which affects all relationships.
"Perhaps one can at last in middle age, if not earlier, be completely oneself. And what a liberation that would be.”
Ah, if only we could all be completely ourselves. I find that 50 years after those words, the idea is becoming significant again. That internal liberation, however, still escapes most of us. Lindbergh understands the importance of the inner life. That inner life is necessary now. That inner life is part of our spiritual evolution.
Searching for our creativity, allowing relationships to change, and finding peace within – what words of wisdom.
Lindbergh has a quiet determination in her writing. Perhaps this helps explain how she survived being the wife of the world’s famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, and the kidnapping and death of her son.
She focuses on creativity and women, solitude, and relationships. Her words remind me of the wisdom of my Mom’s generation. We can learn much from our elderly if we are only willing to listen.
“While man, in his realm, has less chance for personal relations than woman, he may have more opportunity for giving himself creatively in work. Woman, on the other hand, has more chance for personal relations, but these do not give her a sense of her creative identity, the individual who has something of her own to say or to give. I believe that true identity is…found in creative activity springing from within…Woman can best refind herself by losing herself in some kind of creative activity of her own.”
This reflects Step Seven in the Do It Yourself Guide to Spirituality: Seven Simple Steps, which shows that one of the spiritual rules is to create and develop our unique ability. Lindbergh’s writing has a practical spiritual component.
“All relationships are in process of change, of expansion, and must perpetually be building themselves new forms. But there is no single fixed form to express such a changing relationship. There are perhaps different forms for each successive stage.” Lindbergh reminds us of the Step Three of Change, which affects all relationships.
"Perhaps one can at last in middle age, if not earlier, be completely oneself. And what a liberation that would be.”
Ah, if only we could all be completely ourselves. I find that 50 years after those words, the idea is becoming significant again. That internal liberation, however, still escapes most of us. Lindbergh understands the importance of the inner life. That inner life is necessary now. That inner life is part of our spiritual evolution.
Searching for our creativity, allowing relationships to change, and finding peace within – what words of wisdom.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Review of an Important Book
Mouches Volantes by Floco Tausin is powerful novel in which the narrator, under the illusion of restoring an antique desk, meets and is taught by a seer, Nestor. He gradually realizes that his growth is tied to the piece of furniture, which “is like a mirror: it reflects the energy of your ideas and concepts directly back to you” (27).
Initially one might be annoyed at the storyteller who seems so arrogant and reluctant to accept anything told to him by Nestor. Frustration with this slow-learning narrator, however, turns to understanding as we begin to see him as the embodiment of all of us who spend too much time denying the existence of, or our connection, to another world.
The story reminds me of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in which a young man’s portrait progressively gets uglier and uglier as his evil ways in the world increase. Dorian Gray’s beauty, however, does not diminish as his picture, hidden in his attic, shows the immorality of his actions. In Tausin’s story, the antique becomes more and more beautiful during the slow restoration process, as the narrator comes closer and closer to understanding the other consciousness represented by his eye floaters.
We tend to see earth as a small picture and we are often content with this limited view, afraid of losing what we know. The struggle is not easy. Years pass in the novel as the narrator learns. This is an allegory to our lives, reminding us that connecting with another possibility is not a one-step, easy ride. It forces a personal commitment from the reader. I recommend the journey. But be sure to keep an open mind and allow yourself to see beyond this image we call our world.
Initially one might be annoyed at the storyteller who seems so arrogant and reluctant to accept anything told to him by Nestor. Frustration with this slow-learning narrator, however, turns to understanding as we begin to see him as the embodiment of all of us who spend too much time denying the existence of, or our connection, to another world.
The story reminds me of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in which a young man’s portrait progressively gets uglier and uglier as his evil ways in the world increase. Dorian Gray’s beauty, however, does not diminish as his picture, hidden in his attic, shows the immorality of his actions. In Tausin’s story, the antique becomes more and more beautiful during the slow restoration process, as the narrator comes closer and closer to understanding the other consciousness represented by his eye floaters.
We tend to see earth as a small picture and we are often content with this limited view, afraid of losing what we know. The struggle is not easy. Years pass in the novel as the narrator learns. This is an allegory to our lives, reminding us that connecting with another possibility is not a one-step, easy ride. It forces a personal commitment from the reader. I recommend the journey. But be sure to keep an open mind and allow yourself to see beyond this image we call our world.
Monday, August 24, 2009
My Mom died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s; she died peacefully under the care of Hospice.
She provided a strength, both physical and mental, to her family and community. She was a dedicated mother, an inspiring grandmother and a loving great-grandmother.
In her last years, even when she couldn’t talk, she could let us know what she wanted and would not put up with anything less than her demands. She continued to be strong and aware until the end.
She had an integrity. We always knew her opinions, which she was not afraid to share with family and friends. We knew what was right or wrong. We knew the right thing to do in most any occasion because she taught us, and she showed us in her own life. We knew how to act, and she would remind us, even in our adult years, if we didn’t remember. While we may not always have agreed with her, there was never a question what she thought. She made that clear.
I read a quote recently, “He won the bigger race; he stayed true to himself.” My Mom won, too, despite all that has happened to her throughout her 91 years. She won because she remained true to herself. That is the legacy she leaves her family; that is her final testament to life – that strength and integrity. That “voice in our head” to do what is right and to be true to ourselves.
While she may be gone, that “voice” will be with me always.
She provided a strength, both physical and mental, to her family and community. She was a dedicated mother, an inspiring grandmother and a loving great-grandmother.
In her last years, even when she couldn’t talk, she could let us know what she wanted and would not put up with anything less than her demands. She continued to be strong and aware until the end.
She had an integrity. We always knew her opinions, which she was not afraid to share with family and friends. We knew what was right or wrong. We knew the right thing to do in most any occasion because she taught us, and she showed us in her own life. We knew how to act, and she would remind us, even in our adult years, if we didn’t remember. While we may not always have agreed with her, there was never a question what she thought. She made that clear.
I read a quote recently, “He won the bigger race; he stayed true to himself.” My Mom won, too, despite all that has happened to her throughout her 91 years. She won because she remained true to herself. That is the legacy she leaves her family; that is her final testament to life – that strength and integrity. That “voice in our head” to do what is right and to be true to ourselves.
While she may be gone, that “voice” will be with me always.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Living Alone
A short article “ A World Living Alone,” in the March-April issue of Spirituality & Health, reported that the number of people living on their own could double in the next 25 years. The problem with that is that humans are “designed to feel secure when they are with others and to feel threatened when they are alone.”
Since women tend to live longer than men, living alone is more of a reality for us. Rather than finding these predictions scary, I find it a challenge for us to create a community of family and friends. Even if we’re not living alone now, close ties with others is important. We tend to forget that in our busy world. Taking time to work on relationships with family and friends is crucial; in fact, it may be one of the most important activities for today and our future. A feeling of security makes our life better. We have some control creating that security.
Since women tend to live longer than men, living alone is more of a reality for us. Rather than finding these predictions scary, I find it a challenge for us to create a community of family and friends. Even if we’re not living alone now, close ties with others is important. We tend to forget that in our busy world. Taking time to work on relationships with family and friends is crucial; in fact, it may be one of the most important activities for today and our future. A feeling of security makes our life better. We have some control creating that security.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Something To Think About As Memorial Day Approaches
As Memorial Day draws near, rather than just enjoying the day off, which I hope you will do, let's also remember its purpose. Here is an article I wrote: http://tinyurl.com/p8bnvm. Just something to think about.
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