Where to Now?

Dear Anonymous #3:

Thanks for your comments about how you live your life on a daily basis. As you probably know there is an expression, "You get back from the universe what you put out." I have found this statement to be true 99% of the time.

The important thing I've learned is that living a fulfilling life always begins with me. And that means defining what's important to me; from my inner self. I sometimes refer to "what's important to me" as spiritual values because they originate spontaneously from a place that transcends my mental functioning; or even worse, those defined by society, such as money, possessions, power, control, and the like.

Living a spiritual is not some crusade to save the world. More often than not, those self-assigned to save the world too often resort to manipulation in order to move the world in their desired direction. It ususally never works because human consciousness has a collective mind of its own.

I think the first step to living a spiritual life is attempting to learn to live without fear. For example, the more security we require, the greater we are in state of fear. As we all know, fear drives defensive and offensive behaviors. Again, we are back to the opening statement, we get back what we put out.

If we can set fear aside most of the time, we are free to explore possibility. This freedom is not available when fear is dominant. Exploring possibility opens us to our inner or soul selves. You might try making contact with this aspect of yourself as a daily occurrence. Simply stop for five minutes what you are "doing," mentally. Then listen, beyond the outside noise, for that "small inner voice."

Ask questions that are important to you. Listen quietly for the answers. Ask several time to make sure you have the complete answer. Then evaluate the answer and possible consequences. Are the consequences acceptable or necesary? If so, devise a plan that fits you best. Then decide when and where you want to start; if at all. Remember, being spiritual does not require anything of you.

As you master listening to that inner voice, you also begin clarifying your most important spiritual values. There are as many ways of living a spiritual life as there are people on this planet. However, they appear to all have in common, "acts of kindness;" empathy, compassion, humility, and love. If we put these out into the world, these are what we most often get back in return.

There is a most important catch here. If you do things for others with the expectation of getting something in return, then this is a subtle form of manipulation. Acts of kindness are more about intent than about behavior; which is so easy to fake, even to one's self!

Here's a simple exercise to try this coming week. Think of three to five people you love. Then think of one inexpensive act of kindness you could provide that individual, without them ever knowing! Then "Just Do It!" Do it because it is an act of love and your significant contribution to transforming human consciousness to compatibility and love.

Anonymous #3 said he/she (why do I intuit #3 is a woman) simply smiles to others or let them get ahead in traffic. You can come up with your own. Let us hear from some other visitors to this site. Let us know one or two spiritual practices you have adopted. And spread the word to others who would like to make a contribution to this site from around the world. Let's get a "global conversation" going!