If you want to
be happy and healthy, it is wise to have all your spiritual ducks in a
row. Surprisingly, the spiritual side of life is very often overlooked
when it comes to healing. Yet at the core of all disease, including
depression, is a spiritual transformation waiting to happen.
What is
Spirituality?
By our very nature we are already spiritual; we have a Spirit that
operates out of a Soul. This is our identity in non-physical reality.
Spirituality is not about ‘finding’ ourselves. It is about
spiritual awareness: the awareness of our self in relationship to life
and Higher Purpose. It is the awareness of that non-physical reality
from which all form comes. Your spirit is already complete as it is,
with tremendous potential for growth and constant evolution—when you
get everything else out of the way.
Many people
confuse religion with spirituality.
Religion is man's attempt to explain spirituality and to create
a framework in which it can function freely. Unfortunately, it can
also trap us in dogma and guilt and shame if misinterpreted. Religion
can give spirituality a bad rap, especially when different religions
fight each other over who’s right.
There have
always been people who are more spiritually aware than others. Even of
those practicing a religion, you will find some are aware and others
just talking the talk. But everyone is spiritual. Spiritual awareness
shows us there is more going on than just physical reality happening.
Worldwide
Spiritual Purification
We live in an era that is producing chaos everywhere. Technology is
speeding up time and evolution. Many have coined this the Age of
Enlightenment or the Great Awakening. Mankind is compelled to become
aware of the spiritual side of life. We are all prompted from within
to grow as individuals, to search for greater, deeper meaning in our
lives. Everyone is feeling an attraction to figure out what it is all
about, to look deeper. Whether
we act on that, or consciously develop it, is our choice. But if we
keep ignoring the spiritual side of life, Chaos will come to wake us
up—even if we have to hit bottom.
Our world is
at war. Governments are shifting. Family and financial systems are
breaking down. This Chaos is hard at work eliminating old systems that
aren’t effective anymore, and bringing in new systems and solutions
can work. This is happening on the personal level as well as on the
global stage. Whenever great Chaos appears you will see great
spiritual growth and renaissance happen in its wake. In a sense, we
have been given license to create what we want and explore what is
already created. Choice and change are the constants in life. What
this looks like is a world run amok. But what is really going on is
mass spiritual purification.
Stuff Just
Has to Go
When big events turn our world upside down, it is always a form of
spiritual purification. It is releasing and eliminating that which
doesn’t support the growing awareness of our spiritual self and
truth of our being. Chaos eliminates anything that blocks evolution,
spiritual understanding or spiritual growth. Which means all the lies,
illusions and attachments have to go (or blow up in our faces).
Sometimes that means leaving relationships or jobs or families that
hold us back. If we don’t take the steps to do that, life will do it
for us.
While some
people make a deliberate effort to purify, there are many more for
whom this process is taking place without conscious intention. As
those aspects of consciousness that are not aligned with Higher
Purpose are uprooted from body, mind, and emotions, they bring new
understandings and experiences on all levels of being. Some of these
experiences are uplifting, some difficult to sustain. Some of us will
have to come kicking and screaming to the altar, but we will all come
eventually; evolution guarantees it.
Spiritual
Detox
When we consciously choose spiritual purification, we may be able to
avoid Chaos. There are no guarantees, but choosing to live a spiritual
life always puts us ahead of the game. Purification can happen on
mental, physical and emotional levels.
Mental
Examination
You can purify mentally by
eliminating negative thoughts and belief systems. Because positive
thinking is very popular, there are thousands of books to help.
Positive thought has to do with weeding out toxic thinking and
choosing to think about what is good and true. It requires that we
frame our experiences in a positive manner. You can also get rid of
lies in your belief systems by asking yourself
“Is that true?” when your mind or the minds of others
present you with so-called “factual information”. We all make many
presumptions. We try so hard to be right, so we can feel secure. We
jump to conclusions and believe them. Everyone has an opinion, but we
need to remember: it is just an opinion. Opinions are not truth. If
you are operating on false information, your spirit is not free and
your life will be a mess.
Daily prayer
and meditation are forms of spiritual purification. If you are a true
spiritual seeker, you have already developed your prayer and
meditation practice. There is nothing more powerful.
Emotional
Clearing
Many of our beliefs and past memories are held by old emotional
charge. If something is full of emotion, it becomes a hot button,
stuck on automatic, and zaps our power. Cleaning up your past
(including emotional garbage and distorted mental filters) is a good
idea. Forgiveness is powerful. Emotional clearing is spiritual
purification because it frees the spirit.
Physical
Purification
Spirit expresses itself through our body. Body, mind and spirit are
really all the same. When you effect one, you effect all three. When
you eat pure foods, consume pure water, and respect everything, your
spiritual awareness has to increase and your body has to heal. Fasting
is one of the oldest practices of spiritual purification. Maybe we can
hear Spirit best on an empty stomach.
Spiritual
Power
Outside authority always seeks to keep its own power; in the process,
it must disempower us to some degree. To be able to hear and follow
that Still Small Voice, we must stop running our lives by outside
authority. If we are making people or things God, or listening to
everyone and everything else, we cannot hear our own Soul speak to us.
Likewise, if we feel superior to others and try to take their power in
an effort to empower ourselves, we are way off track and headed for
chaos. Only the Higher Purpose knows what is good for us. Divine
Guidance will always empower us and not disempower others in the
process.
What
you have left after spiritual purification is spiritual power, or the
ability to live as your own inner authority. This means that you take
full responsibility for the life you are creating. There is no one to
blame and the quality of your life is in your own hands. As we purify,
develop, and come into our spiritual power, we gain more control over
our own lives and have many wonderful spiritual experiences in the
process. Nirvana is waiting. It is definitely worth pursuing.
Jackie
Kosednar
is a hypnotherapist, energy medicine practitioner, human design
consultant, spiritual counselor, and the publisher of Alaska Wellness
Magazine. Contact: 272-2469, wellness@gci.net
or www.jackiekosednar.com
