Living In Spirit

Sunday, January 1, 2017

A Seven Day Diet For The New Year

Most diets focus merely on the waistline, yet how many of us have lost weight only to put it back on? The seven day mental diet addresses the excess baggage and destructive thoughts we lug around that are at the heart of all failure and perceived lack in our lives. In the garden of our thoughts we must learn to carefully choose the crops (thoughts) we plant and nurture in our consciousness. One of the fundamental truths of being is the thoughts we entertain will outsource in our lives. Consider: What are you reading? Watching on television or that pocket computer with a phone app? What topics do you consistently chat with friends and family about? What thoughts do you dwell on in private? These thoughts comprise the garden of our lives, the "food of thought" we partake of daily. Remember this fundamental truth: thought is causative and once our mental diet is in order, everything else in our lives will fall into place.

Day One: Be aware of the thoughts you entertain and the “food” you feed your mind. Be conscious in the moment. Observe the types and frequency of the random thoughts that float up into your consciousness. Observe passively and do not judge or try to discern the origin of a particular thought at this time for this leads to reflecting morbidly which in turn leads to failure. Keep notes if it helps, no extra points for spelling or correct punctuation. DO NOT tell anyone that you are on this or any other diet for that matter, to do so all but guarantees failure. If the idea of doing this makes you cringe, then don’t. You are not ready. Just file it away and when ready, this wonderful tool of freedom will be available.

The Secret, Wayne Dyer, Serenity, Enlightenment, Zen, Emmet Fox, How To Be Happy, Golden Key, Pope Francis, Chopra, Jesus, Einstein, AA, McRaven, Healing Path

Saturday, December 31, 2016

A New Year, A New Way Of Thinking

We live with a continuous barrage of negativity. Read any newspaper, watch any news channel or surf the internet and the hammers of negativity begin doing their work on our psyche. Living on the Spiritual Basis is a choice, it is the road less traveled. History is an invaluable tool that few truly employ. There is nothing in today’s headlines that has not happened before, nothing.

        “The world is not going to the dogs. The human race is not doomed. Civilization is not going to crash. The captain is on the bridge. Humanity is going through a difficult time, but humanity has gone through difficulties many times before in its long history, and has always come through, strengthened and purified.
           Do not worry yourself about the universe collapsing. It is not going to collapse, and anyway that question is none of your business. The captain is on the bridge. If the survival of humanity depended upon you or me, it would be a poor lookout for the Great Enterprise, would it not?
            The captain is on the bridge. God is still in business. All that you have to do is to realize the Presence of God where trouble seems to be, to do your nearest duty to the very best of your ability; and to keep an even mind until the storm is over.”

When Emmet Fox wrote this in the 1930’s the depression was in full swing, prohibition the law of the land, the heart of America gripped in a man made “black blizzard” of dust that bankrupted and displaced millions, the storm clouds of war gathering in Europe as Hitler rose to power. Economic hardship, unemployment, war on drugs, environmental disasters, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, bickering politicians, same stories only the names and dates have changed. Politicians and leaders, both religious and secular, have been applying the same answers and solutions to mankind’s struggles for thousands of years, with the same results transcending generations. Unfortunately each succeeding generation fails to profit from the lessons learned by their predecessors and proceeds to travel down the same failed paths, leading inevitably to more war, suffering and the search for scapegoats to explain what amounts to basically taking the same actions again and again expecting different results.

Nothing changes if nothing changes, but when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. Living on the Spiritual Basis we trust infinite God rather than our finite self or the world for salvation, for if we are ever to truly walk a different path as a people, the change must begin within each of us. Let there be peace, and let it begin with me.

The Secret, Wayne Dyer, Serenity, Enlightenment, Zen, Emmet Fox, How To Be Happy, Golden Key, Pope Francis, Chopra, Jesus, Einstein, AA, McRaven, Healing Path

Friday, December 30, 2016

The Fourth Horse

The fourth horse is the White Horse, the conquering horse. “Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity….” Words have power. Too heal, to harm, to start a war or stop one, to spread love or condemn. Our words mark us and lay the foundation for the future, a future of either freedom or bondage. Are we willing to let others suffer, under any justification? Do we look down upon anyone for any reason? Do we believe in freedom for all? Do we trust God, Really? Are we willing to stand for truth, possibly at great personal risk or do we soft pedal it to save hurt feelings or ourselves?

Living on the Spiritual Basis we no longer hide behind generalities. When we marginalize anyone, for any reason, we marginalize everyone. To ride the White Horse to freedom requires more courage than we are capable of on our own, but with God all things are possible. So we abandon ourselves to God, asking Him to remove any lingering prejudices or sacred cows still holding us back, grabbing the mane of the conquering horse as it speeds by, holding on with all our might. We do not try to rein him in or guide him for he will toss us off if we do for His vision is clear, His sights set, His destination the heart of God, for it is none other than God himself who sent him to us and He will provide the abiding strength necessary to hold on and ride to freedom, if we are but willing.