Wednesday, November 4, 2015

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 1

+ I invite you to join me on a journey that will take us to both familiar and unfamiliar realms of our greater heavenly existence.  In other words, let's explore heaven.  Jesus said: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Some of my posts will be very short and others perhaps a little longer but rarely or never as long as this one.   I plan to offer at least 366 of these posts so they can be a daily blessing.  Each post will include a quote by a wise spiritual teacher and a brief reflection. 

I have a plan!  There will be four major areas of exploration. We will begin with the spiritual practice of stillness which leads to the related practices of detachment and humility.  I believe these are essential practices of the journey of the Mind.  I don’t know how long this portion of the journey will take.  The next portion of the journey will be an exploration of practices of the Heart: silence, discernment and healing.  I believe these practices come naturally once we have developed some proficiency in mindfulness.  The third portion will focus on Body explorations: solitude, devotion and holiness.  The fourth portion will focus on Soul explorations: simplicity, delight and heavenliness.  Later, there will be posts on the 9 heavenly attributes of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom.  

On the Abundancetrek.com home page you will find a table with links to pages on each of these 12 spiritual practices and each of the 9 heavenly attributes. I intend to add more reflections and resources to these pages during 2016 and beyond.  UPDATE 6/ 14/19: This is nolonger true but You can get to that table here

After that, there will be posts on the seven steps of InterSpiritual Meditation and the related 12 styles and 12 questions which Dr. Edward Bastian offers.  I invite you to visit www.SpiritualPaths.net for more information about this.  

I believe we are heavenly beings having a temporary human being experience.  But our awareness of our heavenly existence is limited.  Let’s explore heaven!  We can definitely move beyond these human limits through spiritual practices. 

 “Be still and know that I am God.” 
-- Psalm 46:10

“To the mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.” 
-- Lao Tzu

 “To meet everything and everyone through stillness 
instead of mental noise
 is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe.”
 -- Eckhart Tolle in Stillness Speaks

It is simple to be still but it is not easy. 

I am convinced that the practice of stillness is essential if we are to become more and more aware of our heavenly existence.  

And I am not the only one. This exploration of the practice of stillness will offer the insights and inspiring wisdom of some very wise guides including The Buddha, Jesus, Joseph Naft, Herman Hesse, Franz Kafka,  Eckhart Tolle, Howard Thurman, Dag Hammarskjold, Edward Bastian, Joan Noeldechen, Erich Schiffmann, Omkarananda, Richard Mahler,  Barbara Kingsolver, T.S. Eliot, Henri Nouwen, Ravi Ravindra, G.K. Chesterton, Stonehouse, Lao-Tzu, Deepak Chopra, Bede Griffiths, Rosen Takashina, Paul Brunton, Henry David Thoreau, Hui-Neng, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Meister Eckhart, Tara Brach, Ji Aoi Isshi and more.  These guides offer powerful guidance and inspiration for people choosing to receive and share the abundant  gifts which come to us as we become still, as we practice stillness.

I will offer their wisdom and regularly offer reflections of my own.  I would love to hear from you and offer your reflections from time to time.

So, I invite you to join me.

I believe:

We are
intimately, intricately and infinitely connected
by a matrix of
unconditional, unlimited and uniting love
which is
miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.
  
In order to experience this greater reality we need to:

Breathe deeply. Breathe fully.
Be still. Be silent.
Be centered. Be grounded.
Lighten up. Loosen up.
Let go. Let God.
Celebrate. Enjoy.
Be glad all over!

Let’s go.



+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html

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