Ways to Advance Along the Spiritual Path
Spiritual Direction
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To navigate this reality as a stable, centered, and content being, we require guidance and direction that are not often provided in childhood when this process should begin. Fortunately, it is never too late to initiate the journey toward wholeness. The ancient sacred traditions possess teachings, practices, technologies, and exercises that can help guide you along a path that - with learned faith, devotion, and determination - inevitably leads to peace. However, finding and then staying on this elusive path can be challenging, disorienting, discouraging, and even lonely without guidance and companionship. As seekers, we benefit greatly from communion, and affirmation that we are progressing along the right path. As a spiritual counselor, my role is to guide you on a journey towards your center, where your heart and mind meet; inspiring, challenging, encouraging, and helping you explore and reflect on matters of the world, the nature of the soul, and the necessity of letting go, and the significance of faith, forgiveness, charity, patience, compassion, and love.
The Art of Reading, Meditation, Prayer & Contemplation
There are reasons that every sacred tradition teaches and encourages these four practices. They hold keys to quieting the mind and heart, while simultaneously helping to clear unwanted programmed thinking. As the noise in our head quiets and our perspective shifts, we learn to live in the present moment and let go of false ideas. We discover the truth about our world, about others, and about ourselves. We recognize that both positive and negative events, when properly approached and understood, become motivators that facilitate the development of the Will which then empowers the Spirit. In exploring the many layers of consciousness, we begin to inhabit the deeper layers of our inner self where our true identity and strength often lie dormant. Learning to pray, meditate, and contemplate are key to a rich interior life filled with clarity, peace, passion, and purpose.
The Development of The Will
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We have a deep need for peace. We sense that if we could find it, everything would fall into place and all would be well. But we have to be willing, active participants in its development. Receiving direction, and engaging in spiritual practices, can provide the structure and support to train the Will, steady the Mind, and calm the Heart. Once centered and stable, we are no longer swayed by every little impulse or "tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching." Instead, a strong Will sustains the mind's focus which allows for authentic learning, and peace, passion, and the discovery of our purpose. Calm guidance provides the foundation to be able to safely look at patterns and behaviors so that we can gain a truthful perspective of our life, and a more compassionate understanding of others.
Putting It All Into Everyday Practice
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The spiritual approach to healing teaches us to recognize the difference between our exterior and interior world. It guides us to prioritize the two and to restructure them into a harmonious whole where we can cultivate a healthy and confident awareness, and a calmer and more fulfilling life. The goal is to simplify the “exterior life” while developing the “interior life.” We then learn to differentiate between wants and needs, and in turn, reduce the physical and mental disorder in our surroundings and in our mind. We can then make room in our everyday life and our relationships for clarity and peace. The necessity and the benefits of this "decluttering" can be obvious but taking the required steps can be overwhelming and even paralyzing. Everything learned from your spiritual practice can be applied to the physical realm and will result in a life freed up from both physical and mental burdens.
