Embers In Consciousness

Living at raised levels of consciousness our harshest critic is always ourselves. As our awareness increases, we naturally hold ourselves to higher and higher levels of conduct, not only in demonstration but also in the very thoughts that surface in our mind! No one who steps, by choice, on the path of Living on the Spiritual Basis has control over the thoughts that float up into their awareness. No one. What we do have is a tool kit, a spiritual tool kit, so that when negative or destructive thoughts materialize in our minds eye we address them in the light of raised consciousness.

The mistake routinely made is one of comparison. Somehow, the thought is born that we should be further along the path, these negative thoughts are an indication of lack of progress on our part. Nonsense. A cloudy day is just a cloudy day unless we chose to believe the clouds are an indicator of impending doom. 

A thought only has power if we choose to empower it. 

Self-condemnation empowers the negative, invites into our consciousness needless suffering and restricts, stifles growth. Do not let impatience drive you to despair, to needless wear and tear in your psyche. Our life isn’t a race. When a “curious” thought surfaces do not waste time trying to figure out where it came from or why it appeared, for to do so opens the door to reflecting morbidly, which should be avoided like the IRS. Upon becoming aware of the discordant thought, gently give it over to God in directed prayer. Later in meditation we ask God if there is anything additional He would have us see.

Remember the lesson of the campfire ember: when a burning ember from the fire lands on our shirtsleeve if we brush it off immediately no harm will be done. If however we stop to contemplate on it the sleeve will have a hole in it and probably a welt left on our arm to mark our hesitation. The only embers we remember, the ones that caused damage, are the ones we “thought” about. With God’s help brush off those curious negative embers reflexively; remembering the sun is always shining behind the clouds.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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A Thrilling Experiment

A Thrilling Experiment

Belief without demonstration is merely theory, so this experiment is a concrete exercise in raising our consciousness. For the next 24 hours make this a singular focus, begin by demonstrating patience, tolerance, kindness and love towards all, with special emphasis on those whom we cross paths with who are impatient, intolerant, unkind and unloving. Silently praying for them, avoiding confrontation

Next stay cognizant of the words you employ. Speaking only in accordance with your belief in God. No negativity, gossip, sarcasm or cute cutting little remarks (regardless of how funny or clever they may be) when asked a question, whether it be from a loved one, friend, child, employer/employee or stranger frame the answer as if God were speaking through you.

Finally, and perhaps the most difficult aspect of all, is to guard our thoughts. Stay ever vigilant of your thinking, measure each thought against the absolute truth of living life in His presence, at higher levels of consciousness. Simple but not easy and possibly the hardest thing you have ever attempted, but the rewards are immense.

No one will not do this perfectly, far from it actually, but that does not mean we should attempt this with anything less than full commitment for half measures avail us nothing. It is easy to see why the experiment is only for 24 hours.

Finally, if you can, carry a small note pad and write down your thoughts through out the day but don’t get caught doing it or tell anyone what you’re about. If there is a chance someone will see you writing, then don’t. As you move through your life, these notes provide a wonderful snapshot of who we were and how far you have come. Guard this experiment as if it was your most valuable asset, for in the end it will pay dividends that will last a lifetime, for once our consciousness is raised, we are changed forever.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Ready Or Not?

Ready Or Not?

So many times in life we have thought we were ready only to find that a little, or a lot, more seasoning was needed. Typically this discovery happened after we were up to our necks. No? How about that position you thought you were ready for, so many want the title “Boss” until they get it. Or that home improvement project that looked so easy on TV. Not to mention, but I suppose I am, all those times as teenagers we were convinced we were ready to be grown up, “responsible.” When our children go through those years all we can do is suggest they slow down and enjoy the time, since once you become “responsible” that horse has left the barn and will never return. They will probably listen as well as we did at that age.

Spiritually it is impossible to demonstrate beyond ones understanding. Many have tried and great has been the fall. Conversely as you grow in spiritual understanding new horizons and opportunities naturally unfold. God, “Our Father” waits in readiness for our advancement. Truly the keys to the kingdom are in our hands, the timing ours. As we grow day by day in understanding by Practicing the Presence of God, raising our consciousness one day at a time, we embrace the Truth of Being; that we are timeless children of the Great Creative Life-Force; connected to all, God immanent. So, just for today, pray gently and meditate on God’s love and guidance, and if your teenager asks for the keys to the car, try not to dwell on what you did in your parent’s car once you were out of sight.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Our True Duty

Our True Duty

“If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble.” Pretty much sums it up. Our duty, now that we have placed our feet on the path of Living on the Spiritual Basis, is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us. We do this by wholeheartedly out picturing our belief in God’s perfect love and guidance in every area of our existence, holding to the bedrock truth that God will not, cannot, ask us to do anything beyond our present reach, to sacrifice our integrity, our spiritual growth or cause us pain and suffering of any kind. “We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it.”  We hold to God‘s love, and though trembling, stand; demonstrating the truth of being, fulfilling our duty, a day at a time.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Mercy Realized

Mercy Realized

Being merciful toward others is of course laudable, but what of the mercy we fail to show ourselves? Do you mentally (or worse, out loud) chastise yourself when a mistake is made or when some negative or objectionable thought floats through your mind? We all make mistakes and curious thoughts float up in everyone’s consciousness, so we must put away the mental cat of nine tails and always demonstrate mercy in our own house, our consciousness. God, Our Father, wants all His children to be: happy, joyous and free. So we stop berating ourselves and thank God for knowing Him better. We can then learn from mistakes and address those curious negative thoughts that seem to appear from nowhere by turning to Him in prayer, asking if there is anything to be learned (sometimes there is, but not always, often a cloudy day is just a cloudy day) and move on. Under no pretense do we engage in a mental hunt for the cause of the discordant thought, attempting to root out the whys of it in our psyche. To do so only opens us to the deadly trap of reflecting morbidly and in the lexicon of the ancient mapmakers: there be dragons. If there is something to be known or learned, God will make it abundantly clear, so ask Him; but don’t go looking for dragons, they bite.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Mercy Demonstrated

Mercy Demonstrated

To show mercy to those in pain, whether physical or emotional, is of course a quality to be cultivated. But how merciful are our thoughts? It is the secret place the The Carpenter is really speaking too with the lesson: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 7:1-5). To help someone but hold contempt in our heart for them for any reason, demonstrates having missed the point entirely. Having embraced Living on the Spiritual Basis does not mean we ignore the contemptible acts of others, but we must not confuse the act with the actor. So we act by praying for their raised consciousness and in focused meditation seek to improve conditions.

Remember all transgressions will ultimately be addressed in the proper manner, for we are all responsible for our own demonstration, reaping the crop our actions have sown. A more seductive form of contempt is when we decide that someone is beyond the pale, incapable of growth or spiritual understanding for any reason. The most spiritually handicapped individual’s life will improve when we shine the sunlight of the spirit, to the best of our current ability on them. Sometimes the change in condition will be instantaneous and obvious, often however it will be more subtle and that is none of our business anyway. What matters is our demonstration, for by our action we have raised not only our consciousness and the consciousness of those around us, but the entire world, for it is an ultimate truth, that everything and everyone are connected.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Outlining And Being "Convinced"

Outlining And Being "Convinced"

The meek shall inherit the earth. To be meek, spiritually, is to be so raised in consciousness that we are open to God, demonstrating faith without reservation, convinced that His will for us is always joyous and positive, having ceased “outlining” how we think God should act in our lives. We have, in truth, completely placed our will and our lives in His hands, withholding nothing. Unfortunately there really isn’t a word that accurately reflects this. Meek comes close, but I can’t help seeing a mouse in my minds eye as a representation of meek or Mr Bean as a human analog. Perhaps if meek became convinced it would read easier. Blessed are the convinced: for they shall inherit the earth. 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Praying Scientifically

Praying Scientifically

Praying on or “treating” a problem or difficulty is simple, but not easy. First, get quiet, do not try to control your thoughts, anyone who says they control the random thoughts that float up into their consciousness is selling a book or seminar. We do not control thoughts, what we do control is our response/action when a thought surfaces in our consciousness.

We do this by turning our attention to God, contemplating on what we know about His Love, His Guidance, and our connection to Him as Father to child. We do not under any pretext think about the issue we are treating, praying about at this time.

Next, we read a short passage from any spiritual tome that appeals to us and then take a few moments in contemplative meditation to consider what was just read. The purpose of this is to center our thoughts in Spirit, to place our attention there, to raise our consciousness.

Now we take two or three cleansing breaths, breathing in deeply through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. We then claim quietly that which we lack or the situation/condition requiring healing. Of paramount importance is to always ask in the affirmative. If we ask in the manner of: “I need” money, health, peace, serenity etc what we will demonstrate is more need. We will be affirming need, not abundance. If money or resources are lacking we ask that our life be a demonstration of abundance. If it is employment, we ask to be of service to God and our fellows, for the perfect position for our unique set of abilities. Health, in general, ask to demonstrate a healed and vital radiance, for a specific ill or condition ask for a healing, visualizing the body free of the condition. If the demonstration is to assist another, we frame our words carefully so that only positive and affirming actions are employed. Remember, words have power.

As we are making our demonstration we see it from the end, as an accomplished fact and thank God for accomplishing it.  Under no condition discuss the treatment with anyone; it is between God and us alone. When you find yourself drifting back into thinking about the difficulty, and we all do, we stop as soon as we become aware and give it back to God with thanks, for prayers of thanksgiving are the most powerful of all.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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The True Adversary: Fear

The True Adversary: Fear

To judge rightly first we must put our house in order. This begins with taking an honest, fearless and thorough inventory of our life. We identify the things that have been blocking us from fully accepting God’s love and guidance. Once we have done this we find these blocks are all fear based in one manner or another, for the adversary, fear, has a thousand faces. We risk our serenity when we pass judgment on someone else while our actions may be just as bad or even worse. So we clean up our side of the street first, sharpening our vision, and then we can speak to our brothers’ difficulties, if asked. Seeing the pitfalls and roadblocks in someone’s path is none of our business unless we are asked, for Living on the Spiritual Basis requires we never answer unasked questions. We practice patience and prayer, standing ready to go to any lengths to be of service when called, remembering that although we have great power in changing ourselves by our reliance on God in all things, we have little power in changing others since their desire, just as ours, must come from within.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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To Judge Rightly

To Judge Rightly

No one but you and God truly know what is in your heart, nor can we ever truly know what is in the heart of another, for only God has this ability. We come to know the issues of someone’s heart by their actions, their demonstrations in living, not their words. One of the most misunderstood teachings in the Christ message is on judgment. It is not that we are to avoid being judgmental, for that is impossible. In fact, we are instructed to employ righteous judgment, to judge based on action, not on words. However, we cannot judge rightly if our own house is not in order.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Sorrowful Possessions

Sorrowful Possessions

Living the examined life requires us to inventory our “great possessions” if we truly wish to be free. We all have them and until we identify them and understand their roots they are invisible anchors, retarding our progress. Does this mean we have to strip away and discard all we own (physically and mentally) to grow spiritually? No, but we must discard our attachments. There is nothing spiritually hindering in possessions as long as we don’t rely upon them for our personal definition. We are not the house we live in or derive any real status (positive or negative) from its physical location. We are not the car we drive, wristwatch we wear or any other material possession for these things are all passing, mere ornaments of living, gifts to enjoy but of little spiritual value becoming destructive if they bait us into a false sense of  perceived entitlement. As hindering as these may be, our mental possessions plant the deepest and heaviest anchors.

Once we close our mind to any fresh thinking or concept, in any area of life, we throw out another anchor, for nothing slows, even stops our spiritual growth quicker than a closed mind. To hold that any group or people are either favored by God or despised, plants another anchor. To place anyone or anything on a pedestal, a sacred cow, another anchor. To strive for secular recognition or refuse to recognize the inherent dignity of anyone, regardless of their station, another anchor, there are many more.

We are spiritual beings, the power that is within us is beyond measure; it is no less than the creative life force that animates the mayfly and powers the stars. As great as this power is, we can set enough anchors to slow our growth to the point of it being imperceptible. We must begin cutting away the anchors slowing our progress, for if we don’t, our fate will be the same as the Rich Young Man, who failed to demonstrate and …went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions (Matthew 19:22).

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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