The fundamental aim of spiritual study is to get facts and principles into the Heart's fertile ground. Ideas must get through habitual and familiar filters; otherwise, the information is diverted from having its full power. It's not how much you read or hear that counts, but how much you take in and make your own.
How can you receive knowledge deep in your core so the principles work for you in far higher ways? Here are eight proven methods that work wonders:
1. Write your own book of development. Gather pearls of wisdom as you read, listen to audio programs or attend talks. More importantly, when YOU have an insight, get it down! You'll find as years go by that the notebook you've created is filled with wisdom that has special resonance for YOU.
2. Contemplate. Picture yourself flying a glider. The tow plane lifts you. Now it's your time to soar. You pull the connection and you're on your own. The winds lift you higher and higher.
The glider is a perfect parallel to the art of contemplation. Focus on a single word, sentence, illustration or experience that matters to you. Put the spotlight of your attention on it. What's in this idea that isn't presently seen? What does the experience REALLY mean?
Then, let go of the thought. Soar in the silence. It is the silence following the focus that reveals the core. The silence takes you beyond what you already understand. Transcend the word, concept or experience and move from theory to revelation. Soar to a higher level of deep and rich understanding.
3. Read aloud. Read enthusiastically and with conviction. You may even wish to stand and gesture freely. You can imagine that you are addressing a large and attentive audience, like your own thoughts that now wish to change. Reading silently exercises your intellect, while reading aloud combines both your intellect and your power of speech.
4. Read with repetition. Take four or five pages from a good book, and read these same pages every day for a week before going on to the next four or five pages. Read them more than once, if you have the time, but at least once a day. Just before going to sleep at night is an ideal time. Something marvelous happens when you do this. Information seeps through old patterns.
I first learned of this method from Og Mandino in his classic book, "The Greatest Salesman in the World. "The benefits are enormous.
5. Be a metaphor hunter. This is wonderful fun. Simply be alert to daily life experiences, historical examples or encounters with nature that have a resemblance or connection to a spiritual principle. For example, let's say you're on a hike. You observe an old tree that has fallen into a stream. The tree is lodged but the flowing water gradually breaks it away and takes it downstream. You think with delight how the flow of Truth clears away old thinking that no longer serves your Heart.
Again, it all comes down to what you plant in your Heart. The same experience happens to two people. One seizes the experience and plants the lesson deep within, the other let's it just bounce off the old and familiar mental patterns.
6. Express the knowledge you gather. See yourself as a conduit of information, like a lake that stays pure by taking in fresh water on one side and releasing it on the other. Refuse to be a stagnant pond! Find ways in harmony with your talents and interests to live and express what you learn, even though you may sometimes be criticized. Write, speak, paint, dance, start businesses, raise healthy children. These are all ways to express spiritual knowledge in action.
7. Transform your automobile into a rolling cosmic university. So much good information is now available on audio CD. Drive time on the less crowded open roads is a great place to absorb these treasures. It doesn't all have to be spiritually focused material. Helpful ideas can be found in programs on efficiency and vocabulary, for example. In all your listening, however, don't forget the enlightening value of a quiet drive as well.
8. Make the most of group meeting opportunities. A group where sincere men and women meet to delve deeply into life's great questions can be a powerful venue for collecting more knowledge. Just be aware that not all spiritual and wisdom groups are true and healthy, and some take dreadful wrong turns. More than a few foster dependency to support the endless insecurities of the "leaders." For example, unhealthy groups pry into people's affairs. Never forget that your privacy is your sacred right and must never be sacrificed. Just because you participate in a group activity does not mean that you owe them any explanations concerning your private affairs. This prying is a sure sign of a false group.
With self-reliance, what is best and true for you has an amazing way of finding you. Groups are temporary vehicles that can be valuable, but only if there is genuine value in the group.
Use these eight methods and watch your secret garden bloom in your Heart. You'll feel joy and cheerfulness reach you at unexpected moments, and more frequently.
Thomas Russell is the author of Several eBooks, including The Power of Vertical Thinking and Seven Secrets to Light Up Your Essence. He is the host of http://www.superwisdom.com and the editor of the SuperWisdom E-zine, read biweekly by more than 20,000 people in 42 countries. He assists professional salespeople, entrepreneurs and home based business owners live with greater energy, creativity and spiritual insight. He has been interviewed on more than 200 radio and TV talk shows.
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..In Corrogue I feel wonderful.As friends know I love singing.... Read More
Last Saturday, the children were down at their grandparent's house... Read More
You decide! We are often asked to make decisions. Decision... Read More
There is so much going on in the world around... Read More
Tarot card reading delves into an individual's psyche and thus... Read More
If you have a longing to connect with something higher,... Read More
My fiancee' and I frequent a restaurant in L.A. called... Read More
For some of us, spirituality is considered a religion, and... Read More
Some may ask why in a disaster some people are... Read More
Just for a moment think of what is stopping you... Read More
We humans are a funny, funny breed. We spend our... Read More
In life, sooner or later, we come to the midnight... Read More
There is a natural tendency to asociate spirituality with religion,... Read More
If you were Satan and your goal is to destroy... Read More
(Channeled) Spirituality is about everyday life, which includes getting up... Read More
Yesterday, a marketing guru asked me a question that left... Read More
Love...it's a deep emotion. Sometimes we say it in jest... Read More
I'm at that place in life many refer to as... Read More
Walls as a blockade seem to be an integral part... Read More
Recently I was watching a re-run of "Everybody Loves Raymond".... Read More
There is a chronology of events from creation to the... Read More
To a shaman a kachina isn't really a doll or... Read More
As a walked across the gym floor with perspiration coming... Read More
Today I was in rather a whimsical mood, and so... Read More
On Shamans and Shamanism ... Shaman, a Tungus (Siberian) word,... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights ..One of the saddest times in any child's life is... Read More
The possibility of almost 400 Old Testament prophesies coming to... Read More
Peter is a man after my own heart. I feel... Read More
There was this TV commercial a couple of years back... Read More
Irish myth has the power to transform your life into... Read More
The time we spend on earth is very short when... Read More
What really binds us to any negative emotional state in... Read More
Would you like an exciting and wonder-full resolution for the... Read More
The following fragment was found in Qumran along with the... Read More
As I listen with pastors and preachers in the body... Read More
"I learned I was not, as most Africans believed, the... Read More
It will all be clear in a minute, but first... Read More
There is no shortage in the abundance of blessings we... Read More
(Channelled)The greatest gift you can give me, is to acknowledge... Read More
The Bible tells us that we must be led by... Read More
What is the purpose of guilt?Well, let's look at it.Some... Read More
Divining Rods, also known as Dowsing Rods, have been used... Read More
I want to tell you a love story. It's actually... Read More
The bible has many accounts throughout time that He used... Read More
Over the past years, I have undergone a life-altering transition... Read More
If anyone says that his/her religion is the only path... Read More
Worldwide extensive research is being published related to the mind-body... Read More
If you were Satan and your goal is to destroy... Read More
"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I... Read More
You decide! We are often asked to make decisions. Decision... Read More
Spirituality |