Tag: spirituality

I Learned to Find My True self

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I Learned to Find Myself

Blessed Solar Eclipse Day(April 8th 2024)…after the darkness,comes the Light,follow the Path,all will be revealed!

In the beginning of my spiritual journey since 1999 for truth,quiet,reflective and soul-searching, meditative retreats,I accessed the simple places of nature close and around to where I lived.

I would use the breath to come into focus and this helps with calming the mind.My heart allowed the freedom of being nourished in joyful beauty and wonder of the vastness and expansiveness of the Universe.I would feel the loving guidance of ‘God'(Presence)encompassing me while I surrender and be open to goodness and enter the path inwards becoming aware of my inner states.I open to witness all the psychological and emotional happenings within my being without judging or criticizing anything that I observe.I allowed all things to be and revealed! In this practice, I learned to come alive, be awake and conscious and aware of all that is taking place within my self and around me.

While all along my life up to the time I chose to courageously change and evolve spiritually, I realized, I was asleep,ignorant and so unaware of my own daily life movements,wrongdoings and unhealthy habitual patterns.In that unawakened state I used escapism(addictions) and irresponsibility,fault-finding and blaming as a way of struggling to survive in this illusory world.So it can be noted that I wasn’t being ‘true to myself’,then!

It was through this honest,brave endeavour of solitary, self-discovery time with myself that it was becoming a reality and a fact of witnessing my True Self,the truth of who I really am,of who we all are.Yes,all of us the same within,if we dare take this noble/sublime adventure!.The journey might be different for each one,but the unfolding will slowly reveal the mysteries of life and who we are truly becoming as we remain faithful, sincere and devoted!

It was a time of journeying on the narrow,long and winding road inwards into the self,a time of breaking down barriers so I could find that innate treasures of Love,Joy and Wisdom Within.While clearing the path,I was uncovering and discovering the Truth of myself(oneself).It is an ineffable experience and wonder in itself,the piercing through the mysteries of Life!

And there are no hard and fast rules to follow,all we need is the courage to make an effort to start! When we sincerely make a small effort to start,we find that we will be guided and doors will open.

Generally,we tend to think that the mysteries and importance of living life are about whats happening ‘out-there’,in the world,with our relationships/friendships,in our environment and societal commitments.We then get entangled in a self-created web of battling various degrees and forms of confusions and unhappiness.

In truth, we need only to uncover,discover and know who we truly are within and witness the mystery of life unfold!

Author of ‘To Resurrect the True Self’

Being Self-Vigilant

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Practicing Self-Observation

As humans, we like watching and looking outwardly at others to either follow blindly(politically, religiously, socially, materialistically,in the media,etc.) or to find faults(judging,being critical,etc.).

Have we ever pondered what could be the possible outcomes of both following and finding faults?Where will we be lead to?What do we truly want in our lives,increased pain and suffering or peace,comfort and relief…freedom from afflictions?In truth,both fanatical following and fault-finding is about falling into the trap of distractions,of practicing self-doubt and running away from the truth of who we truly are! We thus give away and deplete strength,valor,fortitude and wisdom of our inner power.

Could we pull away for a while to seek healing resources to regain insights of our Divine intelligence?

If we make an effort and allow courage for self-observation,introspection and reflection,what would we discover and learn truly of ourselves?

If we give the chance to sincere times of quietude,to be with and listen to the spiritual wisdom(our innate Divine nature) coming from Within,we might learn self-responsible adopting experiences.We can then perhaps accept,surrender and flower with all circumstances of life(ugly or beautiful,good or bad,happy and sad).Even when an obnoxiously negative person or situation arise,we will see it as an opportunity to learn,understand,blossom and change positively to propagate peace-giving attributes for ourselves and others.

We as humans are so habituated to react with resentment,anger,retaliation,defense,denial,hatred,holding on to grudges and bitterness whenever we are faced with adversity from another or going through a disturbing life situation.We tend to bring out the negative traits in us as defense mechanism to try to prove our ‘strength’ and ‘power’ of being in control,of not wanting to look like a loser.Yes, in truth we can and will feel bitterly hurt,irate and provoked.What do we do?Do we give in to our unhealthy instincts and go against our True nature of Loving-goodness?

Or we can practice the mindfulness of stopping to listen,to become aware in the moment of who we are,why we are,where we are and let the hurt and pains ground us into our feelings of the moment.We then can get the chance to watch,pay attention and discern what we are truly going though,feeling,thinking, and how we might act/say/express.We can start to practice the gifts of understanding,self-respect and tender embrace of ourselves and others and situations.

Have we not also caused pain to others that we might look Within ourselves to learn the meaning of ‘what goes around,comes around’?

In continuous practice of watching ourselves,we learn to not go against,fight back, resist and become combative so as not to produce more unnecessary suffering.We will learn to observe our own power of resilience,goodness, kindness and humility surfacing,we thus allow the nurturing of compassion and deep understanding to be cultivated.We will slowly start seeing our true inner treasures!

Through empowering ourselves with acts of kindness/goodness,we can stand in awe of the True Power to learn self-respect,confidance and ultimately to Love without conditions and limitations!

When we silence the noise of the mind, we listen to Silence,we listen to Divine Intelligence,to God!

What could We do Today

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What will we do today?

What is our spiritual agenda for the day apart from having a little fun, and carrying out duties,work,chores and other mundane activities.

Could it be the practice of being kind in the face of un-kindness?

Could it be making an assertive effort in spending a few minutes time alone to self-reflect,to listen to the heart,to touch the heart,to rest the body and mind?

Could it be allowing the self to be Present/Aware of intentions,thoughts,actions,reactions,speech/words.

Could it be feeling of gratitude to someone to a stranger,an enemy, to life itself, for a celebrated joyous occasion?Perhaps offering a good deed in thankfulness not only to whomever that made you feel good but reaching out to be of help to others to witness that True Self of charity coming from within.

Could it be that the creative heart wants to be opened up to,not only in giving,but in being not afraid to receive goodness/kindness from others?

Worldly distractions provide a platform to forget the True Self.

Spiritual endeavours,open remembrance of our True self to the Universal connectedness with all of Creation through what we know as Unconditional Love!

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

Making Ourselves a Channel of Peace

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Make me a Channel of Peace!

Where there is hatred let me bring your love

Where there is injury, your pardon Lord

And where there is doubt true faith in You

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there is despair in life let me bring hope

Where there is darkness only light

And where there’s sadness ever joy

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

It is in giving to all men that we receive

And in dying that we are born to eternal life

In a time of tremendous violence,suffering,confusion,greed,depravity,self- centred pursuits and strife,serious questioning of the meaning of Life can be found in these profound words of the beautiful man Saint Francis of Assisi in his peace prayer above.

This man whom I intensely revere.This man who taught me the meaning of peacefulness, compassion,humility and forgiveness.This man who left every riches of the world to find his True Self!Each time I read this peace prayer, tears flow as it touches the depth of my being.

What do we truly need in life, what do we need to declutter from our lives and what do we hold valueble in order to be that Light unto ourselves and others?

THE SELF IS HUNGRY FOR LOVE AND HAPPINESS. THE WORLD HUNGERS FOR LOVE AND PEACE!

What are we doing,what can we do,what will we do,where do we begin?Surely,with ourselves first!

How to begin?

By dying to what is false and untrue,to what is damaging for spiritual prosperity.By watching ourselves,observing the mind and its intentions and not be caught in the stories it creates!By not identifying with conceptions it conjures,being mindful of the speech and how we affect people with rude,crude and disrespectful, argumentative words/conversations.We can start to notice our actions and reactions and how people react/interact with us.In everything we do, we apply the wisdom of being aware.When we are aware, we can change what we deem unfavourable for peaceful and kindly living conditions.

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

Finding Peace in Life

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Finding Peace in Life

Do we truly want inner peace?How do we find inner peace?

We are plagued by incessant restlessness,worries of the mind,agitations,unconscious anger(kept silent or expressed),frustrations,fears,addiction of all sorts(being tired of its wasteful fanaticism) and unsettled resentful feelings,etc.This is the time of true testing when we can do something to help ourselves make an effort to learn from all adversities.This is the time we can learn to melt into the courage and strength of humility.We can then be our own true best friend,to say I need help and guidance to seek peace within myself.

But we say there are so much disturbances within myself and troublesome situations and people around who are aggravating my life!!

It all begins with the awareness of our own true sincere acknowledgements and recognition of all annoyances within the self and external circumstances.We can start to potentiate peace right NOW and it doesn’t matter who,how or what are disturbing us.We stand up tall to focus on PEACE itself.Where we are,where we sit,who we are mingling with,whatever we are doing,we can be aware of our thoughts and feelings and actions and speech.Then we can slowly observe ourselves and apply an effort to make a quiet change when we see the anger rising,the hatred seething,being gripped in uncontrollable tiresome habits, the restlessness looming,the resentments flaring up and the harsh,cynical/critical speech/voice surfacing.When we can allow sincere humble courage and not to be discouraged or be harsh to check ourselves in that moment,we can trigger a mild change.We can keep in constant practice of this simple exercise anywhere with anyone till it gets deeply rooted,till we witness our self-respect,understanding and confidence and heart warming up…compassion commences for ourselves and for others.We can continue to work with those around us by sincere understanding dialogue and actions.It is not easy but not impossible,we have all the gifts and sacred tools within us to warrant peace.

No matter how much we pray for peace or turn to ‘God’ and ask for healing and want an end to any type of misery, suffering and pain,we have to take action for it,to strive positively for it.No one can hand peace, joy, happiness and healing to us on a golden platter as each of us are looking for the same…it must come from within.Naturally,when we say we want peace and don’t do anything for it and remain ‘at war’ within ourselves and unconsciously to others,will we find or be an instrument of peace at all?

Yes,we can pray or chant or meditate or reflect but it has to be together with practical actions,self-assertive awareness and undertaking responsibilities,life can always change for the better no matter what situation we are in or whoever seem to be troubling us.

Just as when we want the freedom to drive a car,we need to find a competent driving instructor to go through a bit of difficulty to be trained to learn to drive first or we might be a danger to our selves and others while being incompetent on the road…or in this case on life’s journey!

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

Seeking for a Spiritual Change

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How can our human afflictions influence the maturity for spiritual growth that benefits oneself and others(humanity).

Unhappiness…propels us to seek Joy

Pain and suffering…make us strive for the comfort of Peace

Ignorance and darkness,…drive us to look for the light of Clarity

Delusion and Disillusionment,…challenge us to find the Truth of Life

Anger and Hatred,…open the path into the power of forgiveness and Eternal Love

Selfish desires…bring us opportunities for kind acts of Charity

Chaos and Confusion,…humble us to implore the wisdom of spiritual Awareness

When we ask with clenched fist,how are we to receive?

When we ask with an open,sincere Heart,we are able to receive as well as Give!———CSH

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

A Lenten Meditation

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Lent

In the Christian tradition,today,which is also known as Ash Wednesday starts the beginning of Lent.Ash denotes the truth that the physical body will turn to ashes when it decays in death.So it can be termed that we are reminded of the truth of dying to all that is not permanent.In other words to our’old habituated -suffering -egoistic self’.

It is a time of withdrawal(moving inward into the self),a time of spiritual retreat.A time to utilize the test of faith,perseverence and courage in wanting to find the True Self following in the footsteps of the historical Jesus the Christ.

As we are told in the Gospels of the New Testament,Jesus left for the wilderness/desert for 40 days/nights to meditate,look within himself, to be allowed to be tempted,tested and tried.It was a time he had to harness all his energies inward into himself withdrawing from the sensory deluded world,letting go,surrendering and renouncing all forms of desires, attachments,ego-centric motivations in order to find his True Self.He needed time to spend in aloneness and solitude to fast his senses and commence the purification process from all afflictions.By going through this endeavour,Jesus had witnessed his Divinity,experienced, announced and attested that the ‘Kingdom of Heaven is Within,’which he mentions many times in the scriptures.

As we journey on this humanly life, it is necessary to find time for quietude to examine our conscience as we develop going deeper into our self to know and experience the truth for ourselves.This is the lesson and teaching that Jesus and all enlightened teachers/masters of spiritual truth would have wanted for us to learn from.They direct the way of seeking out silence to rest the mind,body and spirit and find our True Self.

Therefore lent could be likened to an addict who wisely seeks healing from unnecessary suffering and torments through rehabilitation to courageously and completely detoxify in the term of ‘cold-turkey’ away from the source of addictive temptations.

Most religious traditions delegate a time for ritualistic fasting/penances and altruistic practices to bring us back into our conscience to observe our living states.And it does not only stop when the ritualistic time period is over…it is truly a continuation to keep evolving, delving deeper into ourselves till we find and purify and free ourselves from unnecessary suffering and selfish bondages.

Lent is a time for everyone,believers and non-believers of any particular religious tradition or non at all.Lent is an opportune chance to begin the healing process of cleansing the self of all unhealthy afflictions that disturb our lives and the lives of others.It is a time to bring peace of mind and heart for the welfare of each and every single human being.And we begin with ourselves!

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

Celebrating Love

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When we sit in solitude(meditation),in the Presence of Divine Countenance,we Celebrate Love.

When we are in the company of another/others,that celebrated Love is animated and shared in Joyful and peaceful celebration.

Love radiates as we smile,as we give a hug,as we hold a hand,as we speak a word of kindness and share laughter,as we help to serve to whomever,however,whatever either in a big or small way.

We are all,each and every one is a Lover of Truth,Beauty and Goodness”

Every Moment is a time to celebrate Love,a time to witness tenderness that we can cherish and offer to each other…

When we look through the ‘eyes’ of Love,we go beyond age,gender,race,culture, religion,physical appearances,emotional and mental propensities.

Everyone and everything is Beautiful and Unique!

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

From Head into the Heart

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From Head to the Heart

Saint Augustine of Hippo said….”my soul will not rest till it rests in you Lord”

Most of my life I tried to decipher what these words actually meant and what truth it wanted to speak of.

Because of my own quiet perseverance in search for truth and love,I have come to understand its true meaning after going through long struggles with depression, unhappiness and misery most of my adult life.Like St. Augustine, I was yearning for peace of mind and for my heart to experience love in its deepest/fullest capacity.

Meditation,as I have come to practice and experience firsthand is that ‘spiritual transport’ by which all beings inherently can reach the core of the heart and find true purpose of our lives.The purpose of which is to know who we truly are,to be liberated from wasteful,unnecessary suffering and to be a lamp to help others find their way to peace and truth.

Meditation is a sacred passage by which we travel into ourselves watching our minds while we descend into the heart to find Divine Love there already waiting.By this process we come to know who we truly are empirically(direct experience).No one can bring us into ourselves but ourselves! In other words no one or any entity can save us!All true teachers are there to help point and guide,direct us on the path into the self and not away from truth and our own true nature.

We move esoterically(inwardly) from head to heart in the quietude of meditation.It is a love affair with oneself,in self-inquiry…”who am I truly?’”what do I truly want?”

By devoted sitting/walking meditation practice, we gradually become aware and conscious of our humanness,the mind is being observed and tamed.We mature in slow progression of peacefulness(contentment),understanding the true nature of things,preparing to accept all arising of uncertainties.It is not easy to sit in meditation but it becomes possible and effortless once we understand and are willing to endure it for the sake of wisdom,compassionate and joyful attainments to offer and share for ourselves and with others.

Most of my adult life,I thought living was just one big arena for foolish/selfish fun and play,reveling in reckless/restless activities.In the midst of all those reveries,there was always a deep ache and longing for something more,something fulfilling and meaningful that I hungered for.It was something I could not put a finger on but I knew that all these fun and worldly pursuits were not truly what life should be all about totally and aimlessly. I am not against fun,enjoyment and rest/recreation…but only that no one is hurt or harmed or abused and taken advantage of leading to further suffering.Another pitfall of wanting perpetual fun and happiness is that our senses become deeply attached/addicted to its pleasurable tendencies.Happiness hence becomes a suffering trapped in a tiresome,energy draining cycle,repeated over and over unable to be freed from chasing one desire after another(the mind/psyche sustains no peace).If desires are not met,we become agitated and restless which could lead to subtle or vicious aggression and maliciousness.

The world is out there acting as an assistance usually by the subtle and harsh realities of difficulties,chaos,hardships,challenging people/situations,false/empty offering of happiness/glory/beauty and riches which creates opportunities for us to change directions into one of spiritual conversion/transformation thus leading us to introspect and look within ourselves.

A quote from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7,verse 13-14 illustrating what Jesus had to say about walking through the narrow road which means inwardly into the self and not blindly following ideologies, hearsays,opinions/beliefs of others(world) through the wide gate and broad road with the many distractions that destroy inner peace and truth.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

~~~~~ Jesus ~~~~~

If inclined to,practice spending a few minutes at a time being in quiet presence to rest the body,mind and soul.To have the right intention of understanding why we need to practice.In order to be opened to peace and loving intentions which bring relief,comfort, to nurture and cultivate wisdom and spiritual maturity.

I write not intending for anyone with any particular religious belief but for everyone as we are all human,yearning to know the truth of ourselves but still not ready or prepared to do so.

Author of To Resurrect the True Self

Courageous Humility

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Courageous Humility

In the true act of courageous humility,the being becomes aware of the log(guilt, fears,faults and negative affictions)) in one’s own eye first thus we can begin to understand the speck(pain and sufferings) seen in another’s eye.

In this process,the devotee chooses to make a courageous effort to pull out that ‘infected’ affected log from its own eye while resonating in compassion for the speck seen in another’s eye.

We all as human beings do suffer.When we see and feel and acknowledge our own suffering,we humbly stop to contain it in the wisdom of not wanting to pour it outwards to inflict pain and annoyances upon others.And this includes the discernment to not be influential in encouraging others to engage in unwholesome activities which does not empower and enhance spiritual healing,growth and humane betterment.For to help bring peace and joy to ourselves, our homes, our environment,to the world,we can mindfully discern to not indulge in meaningless,childish(selfish) and fearful behaviours which only stuns healthy development for ourselves and people we say we care for.

What can we learn from the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus on that fateful historical day some two thousand years ago?

The first criminal(the arrogant one),while hanging and dying on the cross mocked Jesus by saying “if you are the son of God,why don’t you come down from the cross and save yourself!”

The second criminal(the humbled one),also in the throes of suffering in pain and close to death on the cross chose the courage to be humble.He chose to defend Jesus,to defend truth and goodness.He spoke quietly to the arrogant man and said……”this man(Jesus) is not a criminal and does not deserve to die like us!”

And Jesus responded to the humble man…..”on this day,you shall be with me in paradise!”

What would suffering allow us to learn from? Humility or Arrogance?