SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 366

WE ARE EXPLORING THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF FREEDOM

+ We are called to create and enjoy a realm of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance for all.

+ To this day I believe we are here on Earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

-- Rosa Parks

This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on January 15, 2016

This is it, the final post:  Spiritual Exploration 366.  I did not know whether I could do it or not but I am writing this on December 14, 2016 with the satisfying realization that I accomplished my goal of posting 366 Spiritual Exploration posts in the leap year of 2016.  All 366 will be posted as of this day, December 14, 2016.  Thank you fellow explorers for sharing this adventure with me.

The daily posts on Facebook and Twitter and at abundancetrek.com will  come to an end as of December 31.  I am anticipating finding new ways to explore the 9 Attributes of Heaven and 12 Spiritual Practices. Suggestions welcome.

Let us renew our belief in the promise of freedom as Rosa Parks put it so clearly:

To this day I believe we are here on Earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

We can do this because:

We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

We can remember who we are and what we can do because we are gloriously free to put our attention on creating and enjoying a realm of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance for all with every breath.

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!

This is bliss.

+ The meme is in the Spirituality & Practice 12s Gallery on Attention.

+ I have work to do on the Abundancetrek Freedom page. Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Freedom” or “Heavenly Attributes” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 194

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DELIGHT

+ You have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.

-- The Buddha

+ We are on an amazing journey here on earth and even more in the miraculous, mysterious and marvelous heavenly realms our heavenly self always inhabits.  Wise teachers teach this truth.  We can delight in this wisdom.  We can live joyfully in the abundance of love and beauty surrounding and enfolding us.  Let us immerse ourselves in these heavenly realms which we can feel so intimately, intricately and infinitely as we continue to practice, practice, practice in the Journey of the Mind, the Journey of the Heart, the Journey of the Body and the Journey of the Soul.  

Namaste.

+ Delight is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Delight in their Search Engine and you come up with 85 items including 67 quotes, 16 books, 1 practice, and 1 film as of 6/14/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Delight.  However, it is clear that Mary Ann & Frederic Brussat are big fans of Joy. Therefore, put Joy in their Search Engine and you come up with 2057 items including 867 quotes, 835 books, 160 practices, 11 teachers, 24 arts links, 29 e-courses, 98 films, 26 blogs and 4 traditions as of 6/14/16. Oh, and Joy IS one of the 37 spiritual practices. You can also be inspired by their Twelves Gallery on Joy. 

+ Joy will come up again very soon in these explorations since it is the second of 9 heavenly attributes we will be exploring.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Delight page.  Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Delight” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 174

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

What gets in the way of simplicity is not sophistication but self-importance, with all the complications it creates. The more lightly we take ourselves, the more we leave the narrow confines of our little egos behind and enter the wide-open spaces of our true selves. Men and women who expand themselves in this way find common ground and great inner freedom. Rid of pretense, they seem to breathe more easily. They radiate a sense of being at home in the universe and everybody feels at home with them. They speak a universal language; anyone can understand them. A Swiss proverb even claims, "If you have common sense, you can talk to cattle."

— David Steindl-Rast in Words of Common Sense for Mind, Body, and Soul  

< http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotations/view/16641/spiritual-quotation

+ Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  David Steindl-Rast focuses on gratitude as the way which brings us to this wonderful state of simplicity.  He offers one of my favorite websites > http://www.gratefulness.org/.

I recently discovered and retweeted a quote by #Confucius which corresponds to the one above: "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." This was tweeted by Jane Bernard who tweets at ‏@intuitivescribe, a good one to follow if you are on Twitter.

+ David Steindl-Rast is an S&P Living Spiritual Teacher.

+ Simplicity is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Simplicity in their Search Engine and you come up with 314 items including 117 quotes, 156 books, 11 practices, 9 teachers, 1 arts link, 11 e-courses, 7 films and 1 blog as of 6/4/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Simplicity

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Simplicity Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Simplicity” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com. 

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 172

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+ What we are really talking about here is the act of getting current and staying current with ourselves. We are talking about the act of checking in, honoring ourselves, our intentions, perceptions, and intuitions. We are talking about something very simple that is often difficult to do amid hurly-burly. We are talking about paying attention to what we love.

— Julia Cameron in The Vein of Gold

+ I think that an attitude of gratitude is a good description of a life lived simply wonderfully.  We all know these wonderful people.  You are one of these wonderful people displaying kindness, gentleness, joy, compassion, hope, freedom and you are simply amazing.  Yes, you. 

+ Julia Cameron is one of the S&P Living Spiritual Teachers.

+ Simplicity is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Simplicity in their Search Engine and you come up with 314 items including 117 quotes, 156 books, 11 practices, 9 teachers, 1 arts link, 11 e-courses, 7 films and 1 blog as of 6/4/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Simplicity

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Simplicity Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Simplicity” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 164

   WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+ To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

 -- John Burroughs  (This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on March 5, 2016.)

+ Our lives are too complicated. We need to realize that our true joy is found as we reduce the clutter of our lives, reduce the expectations, the demands, the stuff, the desires, the earthly pleasures, the ego-centered grabs for power and prestige. Abandon these as quickly as you can. Now is the time. “The old life is gone. A new life has begun.” That’s what scripture says and that’s what all of the sages of the ages proclaim boldly. Be born anew. Become who you really are. Ultimately, your possessions don’t matter. Your titles don’t matter. Your careers don’t matter. You may have to keep these things for a while but you don’t have to put all of your time and energy into this pursuit of earthly happiness. It’s a dead end.

So, let go. Let God. If you are engaging in all of these practices faithfully, then God will slowly but surely replace your dead end pursuit of earthly happiness with more and more and more permanent, everlasting, eternal heavenly joy. What can you do right now to “simplify, simplify, simplify?”

+ Simplicity is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Simplicity in their Search Engine and you come up with 314 items including 117 quotes, 156 books, 11 practices, 9 teachers, 1 arts link, 11 e-courses, 7 films and 1 blog as of 6/4/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Simplicity

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Simplicity Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Simplicity” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 102

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEALING

+ Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experience the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.

-- Gabrielle Roth (This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on December 23, 2015)

+ Well, I got one right!

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the practice of Healing.

+ I have work to do on my Healing Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Healing” to John@abundancetrek.com. 

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 53

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

+ Be humble for you are made of Earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.

+ This Serbian Proverb was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on 9/14/15.

+ Being humble does not mean that you are diminished in any way.  Indeed you are fantastic and your humility reveals just how fantastic, wonderful and fascinating you are.  In this state, we can see clearly. 

There’s a song for this one. I invite you to enjoy ”I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash. 

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wonderful 12s gallery of images and quotes on Humility.

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

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 46

+ updated at 2:54pm EST on Tuesday, March 5, 2013

+ Gratefulness.org offers a mini-course in grateful living by Patricia Campbell Carlson. Excerpt: "For most of us, awakenings come as glimpses.  A moment of supreme aliveness on a mountaintop can inform our experience for months or years, even though we wish we could recapture its initial vividness.  To hold on to that vividness requires practice." | Go to mini-course

+ "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Rejoicing today, I celebrate my participation in 2 current internet courses I am taking, both challenging, informative, inspiring: "InterSpiritual Meditation" taught by Ed Bastian of Spiritual Paths and "Becoming a Wise Elder" taught by Angeles Arrien along with Mary Ann and Fred Brussat of Spirituality and Practice.
  
+ Another one of my favorite lists which did not get included in my recent post is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People of Stephen Covey. Here is a summary I just found in Wikipedia:

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):

 

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life. Create a mission statement.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Prioritize, plan, and execute your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.

The next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e., working with others):

 

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Use empathic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.

Habit 6: Synergize

Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone.

Change of attitude  When one works on attitude, nothing can be a hindrance to one's effectiveness in life.

 

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.