Spirituality – what is the spiritual path?

Spirituality is about realizing and pursuing the Divine purpose of our existence. The spiritual path is a journey of discovery within ourselves. This means realizing our own Divine nature, leaning to becoming still that our Highest Self and the still small voice within us may guide and lead us forward along our path. It means understanding that spirituality and religion are not the same thing. Coming into a greater and greater understanding about who and what we are, and our purpose for being. It means realizing that God and Life are one and the same.

What is the spiritual path?

The spiritual path is the journey of turning within. Of seeking the Truth that lies within us rather than seeking it in the external world. Spirituality is the continuous realization that there is no separation between us and God. That God is everywhere present, never in absence. Therein lies the major difference between spirituality and religion.

It is about coming into a forever greater and deeper awareness that God is not some anthropomorphic man in the sky. Capricious or in need of anger management. Having a God view such as that belongs to religion.

In other words, moving along the spiritual path is the gradual realization that God is a Loving presence. Always fully present, never in absence.

The spiritual path is about continuously coming into deeper awareness that God and we are one. That all of Life is a unique and perfect emanation, a singular manifestation of the Divine Whole.

This, along with the gradual realization that God is forever for us, never against us. That Life, which is just another word for God, is friendly and can be trusted

The difference between spirituality and religion

The spiritual path is for the awakening being – as is The Love & Light Store. Although you will sometimes find references to religious texts spirituality has nothing to do with religion. Spirituality transcends all religions. It is not bound by any religion although, at the core, all religions rest upon the same spiritual principles and Truth.

Within the realm of spirituality, you will never be asked to worship or acquiesce to a God outside of yourself. The spiritual path is about coming into greater awareness of your purpose. That means that the foundation is that there is no separation between God and who we all are.

There is only One and that every single form of Life is an extension or manifestation of that One.

Therein lies difference between the religious and spiritual path.

Religion says: God is out there

In religion, God is out there. Somewhere outside of us. God has created us and we need to live a worthy life if we are to live up to God’s standards.

In other words, according to religion, God is always seeking to test us and our worthiness.

And so God is judging and condemning us for the choices that we make. Nor for the choices we don’t make. According to religion, we need to prove our worthiness to God. And we have to live our lives to appease God.

And if we do it all right – then we will be allowed into heaven.

Spirituality says: God is all there is.

God is a Loving presence, never in absence. There is no separation between us and God, between God and us. There is only one Divine Whole and we are it. Unique and perfect emanations of the Whole. Singular manifestations of the Divine, of God.

Eternally seeking to give us all of the good of God. Always seeking to come into greater and grander expression in and through us and our lives.

And the more we realize that we and God are one and that we truly have only come here to wake up to this Truth and then to consciously allow for God to forever come into greater and grander and more expanded expression in and through us – the deeper into Heaven we will move.

In other words, Heaven or Hell, are not mere places. They are states of consciousness. Heaven is trusting in God while hell is trusting in the ego.

You are not meant to believe anything

.Here at the Love & Light Store, we do not practice religion. You are not to believe anything. Believing is for those who yet not know the truth. Once you have realized the truth, there is nothing for you to believe. You know it

Nor is spirituality about learning anything new. As an infinite being of Love & Light, you cannot ever add anything onto that which you already are. Because you already are all that you will ever be.

However, you have come here to remember that which your soul has never forgotten. You have come here to remember to turn your attention within and seek the truth that dwells in the depths of your being.

This is not about the intellect. It is about going beyond the intellect. The spiritual path is all about realizing that the Truth has been within us along. It is about realizing our Divine purpose and walk in the direction of it.

All of spirituality is about letting go

However, to be able to see the Truth that lies within us, we first need to release and let go of all that which keeps us from seeing. Those small and limited perspectives, beliefs, and opinions we hold. The stories we have been told and are still telling ourselves about how small, insignificant and unworthy we are. Stories that keep us from knowing our Highest Self.

We need to release and let go of all of that which no longer serves us, which no longer works for us. Continuously and eternally.

The beauty of unfolding (which is not merely improving upon oneself, but being open and available for ourselves to continuously move toward our Highest Self) is that everything that we need to release – will come to the surface. When the timing is right.

Life, which is another word for God, is always for all us. Never ever against any of us. And our Highest Self is forever seeking to guide us along the path of our purpose.

We all share a common Divine purpose…

Now, what is our Divine purpose? Because we all have one. None of us came here to this planet as an accident but we came with a purpose and we are all right on purpose. But what is that purpose?

Our Divine purpose is to know God, and to reveal the face of God.

This is the purpose that we all share. To know God is to come into an ever expanding awareness of who and what God is. That God is a loving presence, everywhere present – never in absence.

To reveal the face of God means to allow the Divine qualities; Love, Joy, Peace, Beauty, Abundance, Harmony, Health, Well-being, and so on.

Those are the qualities of God and we have come here to give them permission to flow through us and our lives. Ever increasingly, always with ease, grace, and dignity.

In other words, we have all come here to give and to share of that which we have been given. To give and to share the qualities of God, ever increasingly. Ever more expanded. That more and more of our Highest Self may come to expression in this incarnation.

…with individual missions

Even though all of us share a common Divine purpose, the way we go about fulfilling that purpose is uniquely different for each of us. All of us have a unique set of gifts, talents, and abilities to give and share with the world.

As we come here to this planet our mission is to discover and cultivate these. Always to the best of ability, that we may release more and more Life energy into the world.

In other words, as we move along the path toward our Highest Self, we need to be aware that our path is uniquely designed for just us. It will not be the same path as any one other have walked. It will not be the same as any other ever will walk.

In all of the cosmos, there are no two things that are exactly alike. The more we dive into that which is True and Real, the more we realize our own Divine uniqueness. With that awareness comparing and competing begins to dissolve and freedom begins to emerge from within us.

The will of God

Another way of describing the common purpose that we share is that we are here to surrender to the will of God. What is the will of God?

The will of God is for all of life to come into forever greater and grander expression of itself

Another way of saying it is that God wants all of Life to forever come into greater and grander expression of itself.

God desires this because that is why all of Life was created. All of creation exists so that God may experience itself – in ever greater and more expanded ways.

And so, the will of God is for all of life, to eternally release the old, the small, and the limited – that the new and the expanded may emerge. Always moving toward our Highest Self and our Divine purpose.

Every single challenge is a Divine blessing

In other words, we have come here to grow, to unfold, and to expand. We have come here to allow the small and limited to dissolve, that the new and expanded may come forth.

It is from this awareness that challenges come into the right light. Considering this, we come to realize that each and every challenge is Divine gift and a blessing. They are nothing but steppingstones inviting us to venture into ever higher levels of awareness.

It is by means of our challenges that we leave the small and limited behind and allow for expansion of our consciousness. Thus, challenges, although called problems and obstacles by some, are really stepping stones to higher levels of awareness.

If it weren’t for our challenges, we would not grow or unfold but we would stay the same for all of eternity.

As we are faced with a challenge – we are called to make ourselves open and available for the solution and the answer to reveal itself to us. In other words, where there used to be a mind closed off to opportunities, that mind now has to expand and open up. That we may see beyond the present circumstances and situations – allowing us to go beyond and above them. Into new territories.

Realizing this allows us to continuously realize and fulfill our Divine purpose – which is not an end result but the continuous journey along the path of unfolding and expansion.

The Spiritual path is not about being happy all the time

A common misperception about walking the spiritual path is that it is about being forever happy. This is not true.

Awakening is a continuous process where you continuously gain new insights into that which is True and Real. However, as stated above, for that to occur we need to remove that which hinders and obstructs us from seeing the Truth.

These periods of sweet release are sometimes dark and murky. At times we just don’t feel good. Sometimes we feel bad for no apparent reason. Coming to an understanding that we are no just going through stuff but that we are actually growing through stuff, makes it easier to embrace and allow that which is to be as it is.

In another article; The dark night of the soul, we are describing this process further, as it may appear scary in the beginning.

Know that you will experience moments and periods of not feeling good along the path. Also, know that it is all good and worthy of your gratitude.

Spiritual practices are the key

Spirituality is not about the intellect, but an inner knowing. An inner realization. It is not what we believe that makes a difference but that we practice and act from what we believe. Until that belief becomes an inner knowing.

Our Divine purpose is to know God and to reveal the face of God – in all of eternity.

Which is why it vital that we have a spiritual practice. What is important to realize is that it is not only the setting aside time to formally pray, or meditate, or vision, that makes a difference. But the real progress, the real strengthening, and building of our spiritual muscles take place in between the formal practice – in the moments in between.

Below is a brief description of some (not all) of the most fundamental spiritual practices.

Affirmative Prayer

Affirmative Prayer is praying without begging or beseeching God to give us anything. It is praying, fully knowing that what we are praying for, has already been given us.

That it already exists in the mind of God and that it, in this moment, is in active transition from the invisible to the visible dimension.

Through Affirmative Prayer, we describe that which we desire with the feeling tone and vibration that we have already received it.

In all of cosmos, there is nothing but Divine order. Nothing ever happens out of chance, or luck, or coincidence. The sacred laws decree that nothing ever comes into our experience uninvited. Everything we experience, we do so because we are in vibrational alignment with it.

In other words, it is our feeling tone or our inner reality that determines what we call forth into our experience. Our inner reality is that which we think, feel and talk the most about.

Through the practice of Affirmative Prayer, we vibrationally align ourselves with our Divine purpose and with that which our hearts desire.

Affirmative Prayer, which is sometimes called scientific prayer, may differ from some of the ways prayer is taught by various religions.

Meditation

Meditation is the practice of coming back to the nowness of this moment. Fully and completely.

There is formal meditation and there is non-formal meditation. Formal meditation is when we set aside time to sit in stillness, turning our attention to perhaps our breath or a mantra.

Then there is non-formal meditation which is whenever we consciously seek to anchor ourselves in the Holy Now. It may be that we stop to look at a beautiful flower. Looking without attaching labels or attributes to it. Or we turn our attention to our body breathing, releasing all thoughts about everything else.

We may be said to be meditating whenever we pay undistractable attention to the nowness of this moment – with all it contains.

Through meditation, and the stilling of our minds that it evokes, we both make ourselves open and available to catch insights and guidance connecting us with our Divine purpose. But we also build those beautiful presence muscles we need to be able to respond rather than react to whatever is going on around us.

Visioning

Visioning is the process through which we see the invisible and hear the inaudible that we may call forth, into our experience, that which is our Highest Potential. This is closely tied to our Divine purpose to reveal the face of God in ever expanding ways.

And so, Visioning has nothing to do with imagining, but with having a direct encounter with the infinite mind of God.

Our imagination is limited to our previous experiences whereas the process of visioning goes beyond that which we can imagine.

Visioning means to see with the eye behind the eye and to hear with the ear behind the ear, that we may glimpse into infinity. Beyond whatever circumstances we may feel bogged down into.

The art of Gratitude

Making Gratitude as a way of life truly is an art. Gratitude may be described as realizing and acknowledging the good of God everywhere. Even in the midst of seeming calamity and chaos.

One of the most profound spiritual insights we may have is that God (Life) is always for us, never ever against us. That we have come here to fulfill our Divine purpose which is to know God and to reveal and reflect the face of God.

From realizing this we also come to the realization that everything is working for our good. That every experience is a lesson to bring us forever closer to God.

The enlightened give thanks for that which most people take for granted

This points to the fact that in each and every moment there is an infinite number of good present in our lives – if only we choose to see it. As decreed by the sacred laws governing our universe, the more we are grateful the more will we be given to be grateful for.

Surrender to the will of God – come what may

A vital part of Spirituality is surrendering to the will of God. The traditional and sometimes religious meaning of the word surrender is to acquiesce or submit to a God outside of ourselves (as most religions define God).

The deeper we venture into that which is True and Real, the more open, available and receptive we become for the will of God to flow through us. For growth, unfolding, and expansion to take place in our lives. With ease, grace, and dignity.

We get out of the way and let God have full sway over us. We get down on our proverbial knees and give our lives over to the loving hands of God – that we may be lovingly guided and led along our unique and Divine path.

Embracing and allowing all that is to be what it is – that we may be of service to the Loving presence, for the benefit of all of humanity.

This is surrendering from a spiritual perspective.

Go forth and multiply the good of God

Spirituality is not a religion, although most religions when you go deep enough rest upon the same spiritual Truths and principles.

The spiritual path is the continuous realization of that which is True and Real, that we may make ourselves increasingly open, available and receptive for the Love & Light of God to flow through us. Into the world.

This is our Divine purpose. To know God and to allow God to increasingly come through us in our lives. That we may bring Heaven to earth and multiply the good of God everywhere that we go.