Tag Archive | triggers

Our Hearts Natural Love Part 1

Oct25

DSCN2146Many of us have been on an inner spiritual journey for quite some time.  For many years I looked for love in the most ridiculous places until I finally looked for it within myself.  I felt that God was Love and being one with God, I too am meant to be love.  If that was true, I wanted to feel and express love at all times, in all relationships and certainly within myself.   After many years of seeking truth and awareness, and working daily spiritual practice of applying the tools of Self Realization, I feel that I growing daily toward the “Hearts Natural Love,” in me.  This is a journey that is a process that keeps on growing.  God is not done with me yet.  This is a term I found in a book by Paramhansa Yogananda’s  (who wrote “The Autobiography of a Yogi”) guru, Swami Shri Yukteswar, who wrote “The Holy Science.”  It is a small priceless treasure of a book that I have close at hand and I keep very close to my heart.

When I first heard the term, the Hearts Natural Love, something inside of me was energized and saying “yes”.  I felt my heart open up to something I was about to explore for many years to come that caused me to seek a deeper and more universal understanding.  Our heart has profound wisdom that can lead us to God, wisdom and eventually Self Realization.  Our ego and our head on the other hand, has many opinions, conditions, distractions, reactions, flaws and obstacles that prevent us from expressing the hearts natural love.

Taking my own spiritual growth to heart I knew there was a lot of work for me to do. Opening my heart helps me learn better ways to serve God with greater energy and ever deepening dedication.  I am always working on the daily “Practicing of the Presence” by consciously knowing that “God is the doer”.  That is when I witness the growth in my own awareness and attune myself to my highest self rather than being caught in any unholy habits of trying to manipulate or have power over anyone else but me.

Shri Yukteswar wrote about eight obstacles to the hearts natural love and he called them “meannesses of the heart.”  The following is his list of traps that prevent our hearts from becoming perfectly purified.  At Ananda we do that with meditation and using the techniques of Kriya Yoga that help us reach the spiritual eye and light within us.  Many old habits block us from going deeper into spiritual substance within us and gaining the deep realization that we seek beyond the intellect.

Hatred: dislike, loathing, animosity, disgust, aversion- all are the opposite of love.

Shame: dishonor, humiliation, embarrassment, disgrace, dishonor, degrade, discredit.

Fear: dread, terror, anxiety, fright, worry, concern, afraid, alarm, panic, horror

Grief: heartache, pain, misery, unhappiness, sorrow, angst

Condemnation:  blame, disapproval, criticism, attack, judgment

Race Prejudice: People of influence who prejudge others set the stage for institutional racism to occur.

Pride of Pedigree: Proud of being in an elite and privileged group.

Smugness: arrogance, self-satisfaction, conceit, self righteousness, self importance, over confidence, condescension, pride, exclusiveness

Most of us will find some thing on this list that we still have some work to do upon.  If not, good for you.

If you would like to join me in exploring how the above thoughts or issues impact your relationships in your life, or in yourself, your family, in the work place, in your security, social actions and attitudes.  Who are you honest with?  This is a wonderful opportunity to get support on your spiritual journey.  I invite you to take advantage of it.

Perhaps you are willing to take a look at the above attitudes and behaviors and see what comes to you.  If you need to shift or change something within you to make the world a better place, now is a great time to do just that.  What I seek to share with you in this series of blogs is an opportunity to go more deeply into reflection over the next few blogs and in my book in development.

Share your thoughts, your struggles, victories and insights.  Lets see who is in this process with me that intends to grow and make a difference.  The world needs all hands on deck now.  “Be a part of the Change.”  We all grow a little faster with the help of our friends along the path.  I hope that you will share some of your process so we can all encourage one another and dissolve any doubts that blocks our peace and understanding with a little help of our spiritual friends.  You are not alone!  If that touched a vulnerable place in you…. put your hand on your heart and breath deeply.  Then write me a post and tell me how I can help, what is up, do you need to share something now?

I ask you to look at this as both a student and for those of us that are also teachers to make sure we are revealing the keys to our inner kingdom of divine consciousness in all of our thoughts, beliefs and actions.  This journey demands self-control and honesty and lots of prayer for assistance from God to help us discover the joy of living in tune with the Infinite.

Know that You are Loved!   Rev. Barb Walley

River of Life

Feb28

I have found great meaning in the River of Life.  The River of our lives flows right through us and it is our Life Current and it is the Universal Life Force and I know in my heart of hearts that it is present in all that is.   I believe that the River of Life is always leading us to our Ocean of Divine Consciousness.  This river is also our Essential Nature and is a unifying Life Force that is present in every aspect of nature, the cosmos, and universes within universes.  It is intelligent and prompts us to embody its principles of Oneness.  It is an amazing expression of the Divine Source of Life and Universal Intelligence.   For the sake of my writing, speaking and teaching, I find this is a magnificent metaphor for our lives, so I will be sharing more about these ideas that are actually pages from a book I’ve been writing.

Who is navigating your river of life?  If you are like most of us, we discover that we have a lot of stuff in the way of our flow.  Every thing that we hold on to, from one end of the spectrum to the other, the stuff we refuse to face or observe about ourselves and our lives, are the very obstacles that we must learn to flow around.  The boulders and rocks in our way are just like thoughts, attachments, and issues that life drudges up from the bottom of the river, or from our subconscious mind that we have not realized are sitting there, ready to be triggered by some storm or quickly moving surge of energy that throws us off balance. John Muir said:” It’s wonderful how nature is a part of us. The sun shines not on us – but in us. The rivers flow not past us – but Through us.”

Are you in the natural flow today? Created in the image and likeness…. we have natural rhythms within us – to live joyfully. This is Divine free energy and it flows forth from the Love of God. Its unconditional love is free and expansive. All spiritual technologies are designed to help us navigate the River of Lives and move closer to the Infinite Sea. We are Love – expressing. If we forget that we are likely to hold on tightly to banks of the river and that is when the flow slows down or even stops or causes stagnation in our lives.

Be Like the River: As spiritual beings … we want to observe how we are doing. Unpolluted rivers don’t get hung up on things. When something is in the way… rivers just flow around it. Boulders- Trees – people – animals – There are no real Obstacles… to the Divine…. when we are in that flow of divine presence. We’re can live consciously in Divine Partnership. When our thoughts appear to be true because we’ve believed they are real, that is when we can create a lot of emotional waves that drain our energy and cause us great stress. We might imagine that people, situations, circumstances are against us and we make up the story that they are blocking our good and standing in our way. This is often called race mind, in New Thought, because it reflects a collective belief that many people have accepted as true. What causes you to Hold on to the Banks? How do you respond to life when challenges seem overwhelming? Do you face them and tackle them or do you freak out?

  •  STAGNANT rivers are just like our lives. Do you have a stuck place in your life?  What is it and are you willing to give it up to the Ocean of Divine Consciousness?
  •  EDDIES…. are places in our lives that keep going in circles… getting no where.  We keep repeating the same old stories that are no longer relevant, except we keep them alive.  We just keep going round and round again reviewing what happened, who did it, why we feel justified in feeling these worn out justification for not moving beyond the issues and forgiving ourselves and others.  Turn it over to Divine Mother, give it over to God and grow now.
  • HABITS clog up the works. Break habits of regrets, anger, sadness, addictions, triggered reactions, avoidance, negative thinking, believing that you are a victim.
  • FEAR makes us hold on; letting go can be so challenging when we cannot trust.

We cling to the banks of the river because we’re still attached to outcomes, unfulfilled desires, fear of loss, fear of the unknown, fear that life may not offer us more than what we’ve already experienced. Maybe you are feeling fear because you are getting older and you might be living alone.  Many people are afraid of getting sick, dying or having something or someone harm them.  Divine Mother is calling us home to transparency and living a more empowered life of joy if we can release the past and move into higher realms of consciousness.  This is one of several articles that will be featured on expanding the River of Life.    

Know that you are Loved, Rev. Barb