A Stone In My Shoe

After a considerable time of contemplative reflection, I have come to the conclusion that heaven and hell is here on earth, here right now, not in some mythical destination at the end of our time. Study and experience of life, convince me that we create our own heaven and hell by the thoughts created in our own minds. The journey from ignorance of our divine potential to full realisation, can be a long and tempestuous one.
Education may leave us fit for a life of compliance, but ignorant to our true purpose.
Seeking a life of spiritual refinement requires courage, commitment, and no small amount of faith, I find on a personal level, it is a path I have to take. Increasingly so as I get older.
Recently, I have felt  disillusioned by some self proclaimed spiritual Gurus, Teachers etc. Retreats in Hawaii, Bali, etc., seem to become the norm, a required reverence for the teacher rather than the message.
The questions I have to ask of myself are.. would the teachings be any less valid if taught from an exotic location rather than a cave in a mountain? Should the outward trappings of success of the teacher be a barrier to learning something of value?
Would I embrace the trappings of success if in the same position? Most likely yes.
Would I change under constant reverence from followers? Most likely yes.
Why? Because I, like everyone else am human, with all the faults and frailties that entails.

It may appear at first glance, that my intention is to in some way take a dig at anyone who raises their head above the parapet, in terms of commercialisation of the spirit, that is not entirely the case.
The real reason is to highlight my own frustrations in the pursuit of who I am and indeed where I am going.
Let me try to explain where I am coming from, perhaps it may help both you and I in some simple way. The truth may be in my own inadequacies, my own failings.
Due to the fact my own searches have led me to study more and more teachings over the past thirty odd years, I seem to notice more teachers springing up after having life changing awakenings, becoming suddenly enlightened, and able to guide others on their journeys. I hear and read from some, that the only way to become enlightened is to have an enlightened master to follow, someone to guide one through the various stages when the time is right.

If one person on the planet can be enlightened, can we all potentially not do the same? Are we all not part of the same? Can we make it through our own endeavors?
Surely we all face the same issues, enlightened or not. I find it difficult to believe that any human being can totally negate all negative thoughts and feelings. If a person does not like a line of questioning from someone less enlightened, do they not react within, the same as everyone else; or if you become awakened are those thoughts, emotions totally submerged?
Here is the answer that springs to mind.
If you are in a realisation of what your ultimate purpose in life is, it is up to you, through the power of your own will, strengthened by spiritual knowledge, to be able to suppress the negative and enhance the positive.
Easy to say, but for a person in the midst of a modern lifestyle, how achievable I wonder?
We live in an ever changing world, we need to understand that the old institutions, faiths, philosophies, no longer fulfil the needs as in the past.
My feelings are we need to rely more on our own intuitions to guide us, to ask the questions and reflect on the answers, to assimilate that which resonates with our being.
It is good to listen and learn from others, though not to believe that enlightenment is only for the chosen few. Above all, we..I..need to understand we cannot hold people up as being perfect or faultless, that would be a mistake. That could be a get out clause for us not to do the difficult part, which is to take control of our own lives, to find our way through good intentions and faith to a positive outcome.

I hope if you read this, you will in someway understand where I am coming from. By asking awkward questions of myself (and others), I seek the answers that will satisfy my spirit. I understand as I write, that my frustrations come because of my fear of there being time limits on what I seek. Can it be that awakening and ultimately enlightenment can be had for all, at any moment, without retreating to the mountains or the seclusion of a monastery? That has to be a possibility that I favour.
I have to say from my own point of view,  to try to walk a path less travelled, is sometimes not easy, but it feels right for me at this time.. so on I go, stone in shoe.

The Thinker

The Thinker

Back of the beating hammer,

By which the steel is wrought,

Back of the workshop’s clamor,

The seeker may find the Thought;

The thought that is ever master

Of iron and steam and steel,

That rises above disaster

And tramples it under heel!

~Berton Braley~

Thought is a spiritual power, the greatest power that we have access to. Whatever is manifested in the world today is a result of the collective thoughts of mankind. Prosperity, poverty, peace or war, have all been brought into reality to form life on the planet as we know and experience it.
Each individual shapes and spawns their personal life like a spider creating its web.
Many live an illusion, believing that life is just a series of random occurrences devoid of any influences from ourselves.

What a person thinks is what they become. The thoughts of low vibration attracts misery and gloom, thoughts that are of a positive nature have a corresponding effect. By the quality of thought, we either build or demolish the character by that which we hold in place by will.
There is no limit to the power of thought. It comes from the absolute, the ether. Ours to orchestrate and mould into that which we would call reality.

The universe has no need of altering, it is ourselves that need to come into alignment with the natural laws of the universe, to be in harmonic vibration with the divine mind.
Many on the planet live a double life, entertaining bad thoughts and trying to portray goodness and light to the world, falsely believing that it will in someway not be apparent...or will not have a negative effect on their lives in the long run.

It is not possible to harbour bad thoughts and expect to experience a good life, for one thing repressed thoughts create ill health.
To dwell on negative thoughts requires no effort, which is why the majority succumb. To think positively requires effort on an ongoing basis. The person who overcomes the visits of negativity, strengthens the character and develops staying power and courage in times of need.

Positive thoughts over a period of time, will reinforce themselves on the sub-conscious and allow a more peaceful and joyous experience of life.
No one can make lasting changes in someone else's life, the final decision to accept change must ultimately come from the individual. There must be a modification of thought, a realisation of a better existence, a promise of something better and more sustaining.
Becoming master of the mind means becoming master of ourselves.....if we believe it, it is so.

Fear..The Enemy That Holds

Fear plays a bigger part in our lives than many would admit to themselves. Fear is the creeping black shadow that is a blight in all our lives coming at the most unexpected and inopportune times.
It matters not the gender, size or age, we all succumb in some shape or form, it is part of our very being, a means used by the egoic mind to control and cajole in the enactment of life.
To live a life beset by the problems of fearful expectation, can and does play havoc with health and mental well being.

Fears of lack, loneliness, violence and misery become self realised, creating a never ending vortex of depression and misery that becomes very difficult to break free from.
The saviours become courage and faith. For many, hitting rock bottom with a jolt becomes the catalyst for a major turn around in their lives. Bereft of hope, and in some cases help, a paradigm shift in conscious awareness is often the result.

With nowhere to turn in a materialistic world, the spirit reaches out in a heartfelt plea for release. The fact that the desire is so great, so deep, pushes the finite consciousness to the very boundaries, and beyond into the realm of super consciousness, the realm of the divine within and without.

The courage to step out of the lower realms and into the light of realisation requires effort and belief. Fear will not slip away easily, perhaps coming back with renewed vigour, but for every time it is successfully resisted the spirit becomes stronger.
When the lowest realms of life have been experienced, appreciation of the true beauty and joy of life, our true purpose, becomes more apparent with every passing day.

We cannot be all things to all people, we have to be true to ourselves first and foremost.When there is peace within, the same will manifest outwardly.
It has never been about the scramble for possessions, status, one up-manship, we all tend to get carried along in the frenzy. When it is all gone, we realise it was never what we thought it was, never needed for the most part, but it became an addiction, fuelled by a fear of lack.

Peace And Solitude

Silence Poem Poster

In the volatile and unpredictable world of today,  more than ever there is a need to be able to retire to the meditative state of peace and solitude.


The materialistic world we experience through the mind places ever more demands of our time and energy.


We are born into a sense conscious world, that places no store by inner reflection on the spiritual plane.


Humanity, over a period of time, has been sinking into a pit of its own making...
Lost in its own small world , oblivious to the wonderment and beauty of creation.

Greed, selfishness, and ignorance is strangling any emergence of 'peace before profit'.


Those people coming into the realisation of the power of thought, reap the benefit of living in the flow of spiritual energy.
Achieving in the higher realms of life all that could be wished for.
This is the application of the law of demand and supply.

To improve the conditions in and around us, we have to improve ourselves...
Cultivate our thoughts to create a nobler creed to live by...
Learn to recognise destructive thought patterns that some are unconsciously releasing into the world of form.

The law of attraction is a law of the universe...
We cannot ignore a force that creates through thought, the world as we know it 'good' or 'bad'.

To be oblivious of that fact is like trying to walk a swinging tightrope, blindfolded, on a windy day...
Balance is impossible.

All that could be wished for is obtainable.
The requirement is the development of a spiritually cleansed mind...
A mind aware through refinement of the infinite possibilities afforded to it by the Divine intelligence.

Spiritual practice strengthens spiritual power.
There is no reason to struggle...
To be at one with creation is the noble truth...
Born of spirit to return to spirit.

The first steps to spiritual awakening can be beset with fear.
Letting go can seem frightening and unnatural to the finite mind.
Some live and die unaware of that which is their inheritance...
Their gift...
A sad waste of the chance of realising all that is and can be.

Within the greatest of humanity lie great achievements, that can only be revealed when the spirit of creation acting through mind brings them into form.
Thus satisfying its need for creating...
Without forceful intention they remain just dreams.

The Pearl

Zen Poster

What better place to harbour the truth of the ages than within the consciousness of the individual?


Like a pearl shimmering within the shell of the oyster, growing from a grain to a manifestation of exquisite beauty.


A gift so precious, so powerful, so limitless, it is beyond the comprehension of the finite mind...
Until such time as the spirit awakens to its true destiny, and begins its absorption into the stream of consciousness that is the infinite mind.

The power that moves and holds the stars is the same power that is within...
The same power that works through mind to create the story of our lives.

Separateness is an illusion, whilst union is the greatest expression of reality...
The will of the divine mind.

The power that created all, once realised through self communion, will create through the finite anything that can be intentioned into being through faith in the creative outcome.

By using positive affirmations in the silence of meditation, we can train the mind to abandon the destructive thoughts that hold it in the bondage of negativity.

The channels through which the creative energy takes form are...

Words.

How we interact with one another through the use of words, weaves the web of destiny.
To hurt and injure through the use of words, creates vibrations of a low base nature.
What hurts another hurts the speaker.

For example, to constantly speak positively about oneself and others, raises vibration.
This attracts similar vibrations, causing chemical actions in the body, resulting in feel-good thoughts... Strengthening the mind and the body.

Harmony in life comes from compliance with natural law...
Which in turn places the finite being in harmony with the Creator of all.

It takes courage and faith to stand firm against destructive urges...
To turn towards the light and maintain progress in that direction.

Fear will attempt to undermine progress, but every time this is resisted the power of the spirit grows...
Faith grows stronger as a more wholesome life is intentioned into being.

Every thought that mankind has created exists in the ether...
Part of the supreme intelligence which gladly imparts the wisdom of those who came before.

Ask of this intelligence in the silence and the answers will be drawn to mind like metal to a magnet.
Yours for the asking.

To believe it is so makes it so...
It is the will of mankind and the Divine...
Co-creators of life.

The Salvation Of Mankind

Divine Truth Poster

The secret to mankind's salvation and evolution lies within our own mind.

This has long been known and taught by seers and prophets through the ages.

The mind is the greatest mystery of all mysteries.
A vortex of thought and imagery played out at the behest of the ego.

Like a musician playing a great church organ, the ego plays the emotions out into the world of form, continually reproducing thought after thought, charged with the energy to shape and manipulate.

Life becomes slave to the finite senses of self worth, from the interaction and reaction with other finite minds.


The ego is always on the lookout for bench marks, coming to conclusions drawn from the past.

We need no ruler, no master, no ranting tyrant.
We have our own...
It is our finite self.

We are ruled by fear and lack.
Wanting more, bigger and better.
Told constantly by other finite minds in the form of advertising, that we somehow lack what it takes, don't measure up unless we have the latest of everything.

We have lost the 'human' touch, the compassion and empathy toward each other.

Kidded and cajoled by those whose interest it is to perpetrate this lie, we are in danger of losing our humanity. It is being watered down, diluted with each new generation.

What is the answer?

We have to take back our lives...our gift from the Supreme Being.
We have to realise our purpose on this planet...
To love and help each other and pursue our spiritual destiny.

It will not matter how many cars we had, or how many houses we owned.
The most important things are the lightness our hearts and the brightness of our spirit.

To live life following a path with the wrong road map is not only foolish...
It is extremely sad.

The salvation of mankind lies in the minds of the people of this planet.
Not in the past, not in the future...but now.

Why waste life when each moment is special?
Each moment in the now holds the potentiality of the Absolute.

Create a new life in any moment...
Change now...
Reset the mind...
And create a better world for all.

We have to find a new bench mark that is not dictated by materialistic ideals.
Peace can only come from within.

Letting others do our thinking keeps us in a constant state of turmoil.
It has never worked in the past and yet we continue to allow it to happen.

The answer is within...
We just have to reach out and the Divine will reach back.

There Are No Limitations

To live a life at the lower reaches of human capacities is both sad and wasteful of the infinitesimal creative potential.

Walk The Path Poster

There has never been or ever will be, known limitations of human potentiality.

It is our own limiting hopes and aspirations that govern who we are or who we shall be.

Due to suppressive thoughts we stifle our opportunities for perpetual development, living life beneath a cloud of ignorance and indifference.

People try to will a better, bigger, brighter future into existence without taking the time or effort to understand how to best proceed.

To solve the secrets of the universe through the faculties of the finite mind would be impossible.

Any of history's great scholars, be they inventors or scientists, have sought, whether intentionally or unintentionally, a far higher intelligence in their quest, reaping reward from the probing of the infinite mind.

To believe that we are capable of great things far and beyond what is experienced has been the mantra throughout the ages.

To limit one's thoughts is to limit one's life.

The person that thinks they can, are able to develop the power to turn dreams into reality.

The more feeling that is applied, the greater the power...and the power is limitless, because it comes from the Divine source.

Failure is experienced when the finite mind produces thoughts of lack and tries to accomplish the creation into form using the finite faculties, believing will alone will succeed.

To achieve success one must place the development of the spirit into the stream of the absolute power... Surrender the dream and reap the rewards.

It is within all to succeed to a higher plane of life, nothing is withheld.
Life from minute to minute is undergoing change in one form or another.

To step up from the drudgery of life, is to step into the potentiality of life.
As one strives, the power increases proportionately.
Rewards are realised in the faith and acceptance of the Divine will.