8
Steps
to Heaven
A
Simple Guide into Self-Awareness and Spiritual Development
A
Journey for Everyone
Glyn Parry
Contact
Publishing
First published in the United Kingdom by Contact
Publishing Ltd.
June 2004
Content Copyright © Glyn Parry
All
rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in
a retrievalsystem or transmitted, at any time or by any means,
mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording nor be otherwise
circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which
is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
The right of Glyn Parry to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library
Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record of this
book is available from the British Library.
ISBN
978-1-907688-02-7
Cover Design by Doverweb UK
Contact
Publishing
London - United
Lingdom
www.contact-publishing.com
Smashwords Edition
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the higher self, our guide.
Contents
Step 1 The journey begins: addressing the fundamental issues of a greater existence
1
How positivity affects your life
2
Taking control of your life
3
Facing your demons
4
Standing alone, but standing strong
5
Building the bridges to a free mind
6
The place of freedom (the magician)
7
Stepping out on your own
8
Creating the strength
Step 2 The foundation: overcoming your soul fears
1
Acorns to oak trees
2
Having faith
3
Forgiveness
4
The leopard and the spots
5
Karma
6
Giving to get
7
Betrayal
8
The green-eyed monster
Step 3 Negative to positive: moving onwards and upwards from pain and loss
1
The beginning
2
Reversing your wants and needs
3
The consistency
4
The inner child
5
Learning to live with change
6
Coping with loss
7
Removing the negativity
8
The walls of silence
Step 4 Realisation: making your mind work for you
1
The here and now
2 Working
with the subconscious
3
Living without doubt
4
Living for proof
5
Knowing a good thing
6
Turning knowledge into wisdom
7
Confronting control
8
The awakening of truth
Step 5 The preparation for your spiritual transition: the vision begins
1
Moving with the times
2
Learning to fight the vampires of spirituality
3
The essential reasons for protection
4
Trusting in your senses
5
Seeing your power
6
Mediation – Part I
7
The dreams and nightmares
8
Staying grounded
Step 6 The Unknown: exploring the mystical world
1
Psychics
2a
Mediums/Spiritualists
2b
The trans-medium
3
Clairvoyants/clairaudients
4
Tarot (the tarot cards)
5
The eighth chakra
6
Spiritual healing
7
Past lives
8
Deja vu
Step 7 Speaking to God: taking your journey a step further
1
The art of channelling – Meditation Part II
2
Receiving a message
3
Working with your guides
4a
Embracing their wisdom
4b
Helping others
5a
Discovering your purpose (relating to others)
5b
The seven-day hell
6a
Walking through to the other side
6b
The journey
6c
The real talent
7
Controlling your new-found wisdom
8
The eleventh hour
Step 8: Your step
The
Truly Blessed
A short poem
My dear friend you’re
heavenly beautiful
For your presence is the beauty
From one’s
heart
As like the sweet smells drifting
From the banks of God’s
most
Favourite and sacred rivers
You channel your
thoughts
Through the light of the Lord
To which you are
blessed
From the god of tranquility.
For time s
When you are
around
So let the flavour of
Life pass through you
And all
around
For to line the human mind
With compassion
Is to give
the face purity.
Glyn Parry
Author’s note
As you take yourself on this quest for higher spiritual knowledge, there are many key factors that have to be looked at and understood. Within this book your journey begins. This book offers you a step-by-step account of the main elements of awareness in a simple form. To be a spiritually aware human being you have to grow to appreciate so much more than you may already do. It is not possible to get there without dedication. I hope the simple passages can bring you that little bit closer to gaining the knowledge you need on your journey because, without first understanding the basic human life, you cannot understand your purpose or journey. Take only what you need from the text, as it is just a guide to help you along the way.
Somewhere in this book there will be a reflection, a reflection of you. It is up to you to recognise that it is you, and to be honest with yourself on your way to spiritual success: honest, honest, honest.
Good luck and God bless
Glyn Parry
Acknowledgements
I would like to say thank you to my mother for standing by me on my spiritual journey, the rest of my family and friends for believing in me, and of course my beautiful wife Ella for sharing the workload. Thanks to Anne at Contact Publishing for instigating what you will read; without her there would be no book to speak of. Last, but definitely not least, the world of spirit and all that have played a part in helping me to write this book.
Thank you and God bless.
Introduction Part 1
CONFUSED BY EVERYDAY LIFE, searching, wishing for a solution to just jump up and tap you on the back?
Everybody needs, everybody wants, everybody desires. There are just a few things that get in the way and that make us nervous, stressed generally, in pain. Some people call this ambition. Others say, “Be happy; content with what you have.” The question is, how? How do we maintain a happy, healthy, content life without fear, and on top of that be consistent with it?
Well, this is what you will learn and hopefully will have achieved by the time you have finished this book.
We are constantly searching for happiness, whether it be through love, work, play or perhaps even within a world of negative actions. Let’s face it, this book is not for everyone. It is for people of all ages who wish to be true to themselves.
As each day passes in all of our lives we miss so much, we have too much on our minds, too little time for our friends, our family or loved ones. It might sound mushy but here lies many of the answers to all of our questions of happiness within our selves.
I cannot tell you what you must do. I can only guide you as we walk this path together.
I can think of so many reasons why I could have chosen other paths in life. For example, it’s easier to just fit into society. It’s more enjoyable to go out clubbing, get drunk and roll into your house in the early hours of the morning, always putting yourself before others. But thankfully, I chose to listen very carefully to myself, my intuition, as people would call it.
Life can be emotionally draining at the best of times. It can pull us from left to right, up and down, and turn us inside out. This is how I felt my life was treating me before I looked for ways in which to change, to find my intuition.
As a child I went through many similar situations to a lot of other people: Heartbreak Hotel when my parents split up. Flunking school because of the desire to be angry with everyone. I then found myself on a pathway to self-destruction and sadness as I entered my early teens. There are many reasons why any one person wishes to find peace within. For me, it was my childhood. I chose to search out my true higher self to make sure I could learn how to forgive, to be strong, brave and most of all humble.
There are many different situations that are creating sadness in people right now. Whatever your situation, embrace it and fight for what you want. This is how I got to where I am now. But when I say fight, I don’t mean with your fists or anger. I mean with love and wisdom.
I’m sometimes lost for words at how genuinely thankful I am to all the great people I have met on my journey, the people who gave me the internal power to find my higher self, my intuition. It’s the pain that others have given me that opened the doorway to discovery. Without experiencing the hurt I felt in my early years could I have ever possibly achieved what I have right now. I’m not looking for sympathy. I would like you to understand that something great, something glorious nearly always comes from a tale of sadness.
For many years I have seen torn souls turn to pure grace. It is never easy but the bliss that awaits the one who finds true love and wisdom is magical.
My journey of self-discovery began when I was seventeen. That was when I decided to hang up my angry coat. It took me to different parts of the world and helped me to meet many wonderful people. I guess it was the need to search for peace of the heart that drew me to so many spiritual people. I found that the more I grew to understand the nature of spirituality the closer I came to my own awakening. I had great spiritual teachers who were, obvious to me now, destined to be part of my life. They embraced my fears and guided me through the pain I felt as a child. In doing so they gave me a whole new vibration. It enhanced my ability to stay positive, to separate the good from the bad.
I worked with different people for a couple of years before I felt I had achieved the goals set out in the book. I then found myself on the receiving end of other people’s problems, and found that I was always able to help. When I was on my spiritual journey, finding my higher self and my intuition, didn’t come easy. But I’m so glad I took the time to listen and understand the benefits of spiritual practices, for if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be writing this book. I hope that the wisdom that was passed on to me through the wonders of life can be passed on to you. I hope with all my heart that you enjoy unfolding your soul on this journey you are about to take. It only gets better.
Imagine, as you walk your path of life, you are a small bird flying from tree to tree, watching everyone and everything around you, knowing that if you take your eye off the moment for one second it could be all over. Imagine yourself as that small bird. You could be so free, able to glide through life with the greatest of ease without a care in the world. The bird is free because it has to be constantly aware. Its path in life is to feed its young and to care for its loved ones.
The bird is the part of us that sees all; the all-seeing, loving part of our personalities. My point is, without first achieving the understanding of the feeling of love, how can we truly connect with others? If we fear love, we will forever be questioning our purpose of life, because love is the true source of life, the reason for being here. As long as you remember that, you will see how the true intuition will always be readily available.
Note: Please do not skip any sections within the book if you desire positive results.
8
Steps
to Heaven
1
The
journey begins: addressing the fundamental issues of a greater
existence
1 How positivity affects your life
WE ARE TOLD over and over again – by friends down the pub, people at church, and teachers at school – how we should run our lives. How do they know how we should run our lives?
We never seem to get told how to learn to be us, to grow inside ourselves. We are constantly being pushed down rather than being embraced. We are force-fed media garbage, scientific reasoning, philosophies and so on – you get the point.
This, sadly, is the state of the world as we know it. If a little bit more time was spent on each and every one of us throughout life, we would find it so much easier to see and feel what we really needed to, how to feel the love and support from others, how to understand the need for internal peace to gain external happiness. We would be able to see people around us striving to achieve their goals to create a brighter world.
Tip
Every Sunday, do a good deed. It doesn’t really matter what – any type of good deed will do. Give something to charity. Help someone across the street. Say thank you. Just try it and see how you feel within yourself afterwards. You can give yourself a pat on the back for that.
I would like to stress a point that it’s important for all of us to try to maintain happiness for others as well as ourselves. Be happy for other people. Whatever path they choose in life, be happy for them. The reason I felt I had to say that is that we could become a little bit caught up in ourselves. I do believe giving a positive thought to others strengthens our souls.
It is amazing how a word such as ‘positive’ is so often used by all of us: “Stay positive; be positive.” The ironic thing is that most of us don’t realise we are being negative rather than positive on a day-to-day basis.
Throughout my own life I’ve tried and tested the art of staying positive. It is important to know that every time you think a thought about someone, the energy passed from your subconscious to theirs is amazing. This is one of the ways in which I grew to understand how powerful positivity and negativity are.
I would sit down quietly and think about two different people. There was Jane, the one who I didn’t really want to see, and Sam, the other one I did want to see. I would then send really positive thoughts to Jane and negative (not nasty, just negative) thoughts to Sam. I found that every time I did this it was always the same.
The person who I didn’t wish to see ( Jane), would call me or cross paths with me, where as the person I did wish to see (Sam), would not call or cross paths with me in any way.
When I would finally call my friend Sam, after two to three days or a week, I could tell by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. I would ask her if I’d done anything wrong or if she had any ill feeling towards me that she couldn’t explain. It was always the same answer; she felt something was wrong but she couldn’t put her finger on it. I would then explain what I had been doing – my little test – and she would always be amazed. How, just with pure concentration and focus, I could project enough positive or negative energy onto her to make her change the way she felt towards me? So I guess now you can see how important it is to try to focus on positive thoughts towards people in your everyday life. You’ll find it helps a lot in making your life run smoother in all areas: love, work and play. Try it out. It may or may not work for you.
Positive Focus Tip
There are many ways to maintain a consistent positive focus. One of the simplest ways is to keep something on you at all times like a small present or a picture; something that you treasure or something that makes you feel good.
Some people might dismiss the exercise as pure rubbish. It’s likely the people who say that, say it in a negative manner. There are many people who want to believe in something they do not understand but are too afraid. Positive thought process – turning your fears into triumphs by searching inside yourself – has always been available to us.
The greatest teachers are spread out over different areas of the world: Tibetans, Buddhists, and of course the North American Indians. These teachers are our spiritual guides.
The American Indians take being positive very seriously. They would chant and pray before they killed a wild animal so the spirit of the animal would be saved, not banished with fright and negativity. Doesn’t it make you wonder, though, why a race of people, so positive and spiritual, would be slaughtered and nearly completely removed from the planet?
As wildly bizarre as it may sound, fear through ignorance is still occurring in different ways for every human being right now. As you read these words, more and more people are becoming afraid to be positive within their lives. It takes strength to be positive, to not talk behind someone’s back with a group of friends, to not laugh at the underprivileged. If you do, just remember that is weakness, not strength in being positive.
Often people laugh or make fun of you if you are kind to other people. How bizarre is that? Just think to yourself how truly strange it is that the world can be in so much emotional ruin that people feel they have to act in such a way. If you want to be truly loved by others, don’t stand with the weak to feel comfortable.
Stand alone for as long as need be, until the people destined to stand with you arrive.
2 Taking control of your life
TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE is something that needs to be planned, thought about and focused on. It is not something that will just happen.
A lot of people use the phrase, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Hmm! How typical. The only problem is that quite often tomorrow never comes. This is where a lot of people go wrong. They find themselves on this emotional wheel going round and round and round, like a hamster in a cage. Everything needs to be done in stages. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day!’ There is definitely truth in that.
Imagine your life split up into eight different areas: love, your partner, friends, family, work, the past, the present and the future. Each area has to be looked at very carefully.
Firstly look at the area that seems to be dragging behind the others. This is the one you need to focus on first.
Let’s say it’s work; maybe, more specifically, your work colleagues make you feel as though you’re not part of the team. You feel especially left out when they’re having a laugh. Or the bottom line is you just don’t fit in. Maybe it hasn’t always been like that. Maybe it has.
Let’s say it hasn’t. Lets say it’s just now, in this job. You’re probably saying to yourself,“Why don’t they like me? What have I done wrong?” The fact is you probably haven’t done anything wrong at all. You’re just changing. As we grow, our emotions change day to day, through experiences that are thrown at us. For example, relationships breaking apart, the death of a friend or loved one, or just the pressures of daily life.
Whatever is happening in your life, wherever you feel the problem is within the eight different areas, the answer is always waiting to be found within yourself.
The answer lies in your memory of the past. People say,“Don’t live in the past, live in the present.” That is only true for the people who have found and already worked out the answer for themselves. Live within the here and now, but look to the past for your answers.
If you feel your life isn’t in order, taking the work area as the example, then it needs to be addressed. The answer lies in the past. The past is your greatest weapon. It’s your own bible to yourself. It’s where all the good times, all the bad times and all the day-to-day growing lives and breathes. If you made a mistake in the way you talked to someone at work yesterday, don’t do the same today. If you didn’t kiss your partner when you got home yesterday and they were moody all night, kiss them twice today. Learn from the past. Be your own man or woman. Don’t ignore the problems of the past. Face them. It will be then – and only then – that you will start to see your life becoming much more easy to deal with in all of the eight areas.
The past has the answers to your present, and in turn will build the foundation to your future!
3 Facing your demons
FACING OUR DEMONS is probably one of the most difficult things any one person has to do at some point in their life. It is such a valuable process, which grants so much more freedom to express emotion on many different levels.
It’s so difficult because the demons are the fears, the place of no reason. Facing the demons only quickens the process to staying positive within you. So, as you can see, it’s so incredibly important to at least try to find a way to work with them, negotiating with them.
Once again it’s a day-to-day process of slowly unfolding your insecurities that need to be addressed, to be broken down. Do not try to understand and conquer all your fears – meaning demons – at once. For some people, it will take years to finally free themselves from their demons.
The big question here is: Why? Why are we so afraid to look at parts of ourselves, which do nothing for us but cause us pain and suffering?
A lot of people seem to think that there is no need to address their fears. That is obviously so untrue, as nobody is perfect. Each moment we ignore our anger, envies, jealousy, etc., we build a mountain of problems that just take that much longer to climb.
The answer lies in moderation. A step-by-step procedure, which is not only beneficial to us, but also to others around us.
Emotions Exercise
It involves a pen and notepad, and preferably a secret place to hide what you write. All you need is about ten minutes a day. Jot down anything in the day that made you feel uncomfortable, angry, jealous, sad, alone... or anything that you feel you wish to write. Just write it. Check the clock and don’t stop writing for ten minutes.
This step-by-step process allows your subconscious an escape route to the outer world. You will be shocked at what you write. Sometimes you will be upset by it, but this is very positive. This is the beginning of a much brighter existence for you. It will give you a sense of freedom.
This could be a lengthy process. Don’t expect miracles overnight. The more you write about your emotions the closer you will get to really knowing yourself. You will see how releasing your negativity improves your well-being. The most satisfying thing is when you start to appreciate yourself. Starting to like yourself is a major breakthrough to facing your demons. In liking who you are, both good and bad, you will see how you are able to start liking and appreciating people around you. It’s simple but it works, and it definitely helps.
4 Standing alone, but standing strong
THERE AREN’T THAT MANY PEOPLE who would admit to being content with spending a lot of time on their own. That’s understandable, as some people would see that as kind of eccentric, like a hermit. In this section, you will achieve the knowledge that you do not have to be surrounded by people to be happy.
Standing alone basically means spending time on your own to contemplate your thoughts. Standing alone gives your conscious and subconscious mind a chance to breathe. For some, it may not be the easiest thing to do, but it will teach you a lot about yourself.
When you sit quietly do you find messages, answers or visions come to you? Maybe you don’t notice them, yet they do come from your subconscious. We’ll be talking a lot more about that later on.
It’s worrying that the “fear” factors in our lives pull us in so many different directions that only harm us and teach us nothing. Standing alone is not wrong. Monks practice transcendental meditation for up to six months at a time. It’s a form of meditation whereby they leave their conscious mind to meditate within their higher-selves. It’s all about growth. You don’t have to have twenty good friends. Two or three are fine. If you have the energy and dedication to give to twenty friends and to give to work and play and love, equally, then I want to meet you.
Give yourself time for yourself. Let yourself recharge your batteries. Then, you will have much more energy to give to your three friends. Aim for quality rather than quantity. Stick by that and you’ll never go wrong.
Standing alone gives you much more strength of character. You don’t have to spend days and days on end alone, like a hermit. The odd day here and there will help you to start to understand yourself. Remember, what people can give to you is nothing compared to what you can give back when standing alone.
Personal Time Exercise
Plan to have one day to yourself, for yourself. Read, write, watch a few films, whatever you choose just be sure you are only with yourself.
5 Building the bridges to a free mind
THE BRIDGES ARE THE PATHWAYS between the conscious and subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is the place of true understanding. Many people believe that the subconscious part of our mind holds all the answers to the deepest questions, something you will in time have to discover for yourself. This book can only guide you on our journey together, not tell you what to do.
We are all destined to understand the paths we are given when the time is right. You may start to understand more about your inner soul, your intuition, by the end of the book. The only way to work the magic we have been given is to listen, truly listen, to our inner soul, our intuition. The bridges grant us this opportunity. How can you listen to your soul if you’re partying 24/7 or working all hours? That is why it is so important to spend time by yourself.
Understand that not only do we have an ability to see, hear, touch, smell and taste, we also have an open 24-hour gateway to a world of truth. It has been said that time creates wisdom and understanding. That may be true for your everyday conscious mind, but there is so much more we can achieve and doors we can open, to further our own spiritual development in our daily lives.
As each day passes in your everyday life you’ll always be given tests; tests to give you strength as you go on your journey. The bridges and the subconscious may sound daunting. It is very important for you to find a place in your conscious mind where you feel comfortable with yourself.
The more in tune you are with your feelings, yourself, the easier it will become to deal with the tests thrown at you each and every day. For example, finding out that your partner’s cheating on you, or losing your mind through drugs.
A wise man can only begin his journey, when his journey has begun!
6 The place of freedom (the magician)
HOW MANY TIMES do you see people bicker, argue or upset others? Don’t you ever ask yourself why? Why do they find it so necessary to fight amongst themselves? There is a simple explanation for this. They are not listening.
When you do listen, you will find the place of freedom. It separates you from the crowd, allowing you to understand not only yourself, but also others around you. We are all put here for a reason. Individually, we each have our own paths to take and our own mistakes to make. Sadly, the majority of people never find their true vocation in life. Knowing who you are enables you to see what you are and what your job or duty is on the earth. It might be that you are destined to be a window cleaner or a refuse collector. You may be destined to be a president or a movie star. Either way you will be what you will be.
It is a gift to be able to take every day as it comes, to release all wants and needs. To truly just be.
Magician Exercise
When you’re trying to just be, and to listen to yourself, just stop. Stop what you’re doing and sit down, wherever you are, just relax. Imagine yourself as a magician. Focus on the place in your mind where nothing matters, where there are no worries or cares. Do it for as long as it takes until you feel the magic inside you. At this point you will probably start smiling. When you feel the sense of happiness flowing all over your body and mind, try to hold it. Hold it for as long as possible. Then, like a magician, imagine that you are throwing it into the world for others to feel.
A little magic will come back to you in many different ways. Each day you will start to feel more empowered within yourself by being the magician.
Once you have achieved this sense of freedom you will begin to understand things that didn’t seem relative to you before. You will start to see people differently.
The people you know will become the people you knew.
7 Stepping out on your own
STEPPING OUT ON YOUR OWN is one of the most rewarding but difficult parts of your own self-development. It is very different to standing alone, in that this is the point where you keep your life the same. The difference is that you change the way your life works for you. Nothing in life ever comes easy, and if you’re searching for a happier existence then you need to be strong and ready for the changes that will occur within you. Hopefully, many of you desire to better your emotional being and spiritual sanctuary. If you truly wish to be the ruler of you own destiny, your spiritual and emotional destiny that is, you must understand that creating a better, more stable emotional world for yourself does in turn separate you from the world you once knew and, in turn, the way you see others. Do you wish to take the challenge? If so, step out to find your true path and read on.
The people you know will become the people you knew.
8 Creating the strength
A MAN ONCE ADVISED ME to not let slip when I am sad or vulnerable. He said that, when others have not yet started their journey of self-discovery, they are still battling with their fears and often their fears and insecurities can stop them being honest in their actions. He said if that were the case, they may take advantage of my vulnerability. He said that witnessing the pain in me could possibly be a reflection in themselves. Therefore, they will often do anything else before letting me see them in a more naked form of emotion, because then they do not have to admit there is a problem. That type of fear could come out all twisted, and may be derogatory in the way they express themselves to me, due to the fear. The only positive benefit that comes from that kind of fear is that we have the ability to reverse the fear and instead, create strength. “Sticks and stones may break my bones.” You will have heard that saying before. It sums up why the world needs more spiritually able people walking it than ever before.
So far we have talked about positivity, taking control of your life, standing alone, facing your demons, building your bridges to a free mind, the place of freedom and stepping out on your own. These are all parts of the circle of strength, the strength that will surround you if you take note and remember to be aware of the changes in yourself and your life around you.
2
The
foundation: overcoming your soul fears
1 Acorns to oak trees
FOR SOME PEOPLE the thought of love can be a truly terrifying thing. We love to run from love. It’s the fear of someone else taking advantage of our vulnerability. At the time in our lives when we are tender and young we have no reason to fear. We are warm and confident in our domain; free from the stresses and experiences we get to claim through our lives as adults.
We know why we run from love, we know how to keep love at arm’s length. But do we know the benefits of love? Everybody at some stage in their adult life will experience some form of love, whether from a parent, a friend, a partner or even an animal. The reason for talking about love right here at the beginning of your journey is this: you have bought this book to hope to find the solutions to your state of mind and answers to how you feel about yourself and your life. You are hoping to read something magical in the text that will transform your life into some supreme vision of peace and tranquility. Remember, this book can only guide you.
So, let’s go back to the beginning to the most important issue of all: love. Love is where the spiritual development starts. Love is the foundation. This is the acorn stage. Let love guide you to follow through with your wish to achieve peace within and become an oak tree – the largest, most elegant oak tree in your life.
Finding solutions to problems is always challenging. Simply knowing whether you are making the right decisions is hard enough. Knowing when to stop and listen, have faith in your choice, and follow through, no matter what…well, that’s another story. What you need to ask yourself is, how badly do you want this new life you’re wishing for? How much are you willing to give up? How many changes are you realistically going to make to better your existence? Once you have made your decision, then read on. If you have decided to follow through and leave nothing to chance, then you are without doubt walking the road to happiness.
On the earth plane we have a fairly short lifespan, compared to other creatures such as the giant tortoise that can live for 200 years, so our chances of success, spiritual success, are that much slimmer, purely because of our day-to-day living. The first and hardest task in spiritual awareness is making the commitment. If you have chosen to dedicate time in your life to spiritual development then you are well on your way, because the first and hardest task in spiritual awareness is making the commitment.
Earlier, you read briefly about elements of strength and ways in which we can all become more positive in our outlook. Do not overlook that section, as being positive is the key. Without it, there is no spiritual development.
Positivity Exercise
Cast your mind back to a moment when you felt very positive. It can be the smallest of images. Focus on the thought. Try to hold the thought until it becomes a feeling. If you are feeling it, you have connected an element of love to the memory or vision.
The reason for this exercise was purely to let you see that if you are able to maintain a positive thought and feeling at the same time, then you are able to experience love. Love and positivity run in the same pool of emotions.
Now focus on the reasons you wish to change your outlook, and what has been stopping you. Hopefully you’ve understood the importance of love and positivity combined with thought, and you are ready to face with open arms the truths about yourself.
Honesty Exercise
This is where you look at yourself and say, “Why is it that I wish to change?” Is it that you’re just fed up with life, or is it that you’re fed up with you? Maybe you just want to create a point of clarity in your life. Be honest with yourself.
Honesty is the only way to clear away the old to make way for the new. If you find it difficult, don’t worry. Right here and now, only you and I exist so it’s okay. Being honest with yourself also ties in to what has been stopping you from moving forward spiritually. The answer is you. Nobody else. Some of you will probably say, “No, it’s not. It’s not me. It’s my wife.” Or, “It’s my family. They don’t give me enough space.” Or, “My job’s too demanding. I don’t have time because the kids are always begging for my attention.” I would say it’s best to not blame anyone else but yourself for not getting to a point in life that you wish to.
A new beginning will only transpire if someone is present to live in it.
Once you’ve practised being honest with yourself, ask yourself if any of the situations or fears that you think were holding you back need love and positivity to develop. It’s back to the same question again,“Is it me, or is it them? I’m sure I was giving enough and not taking.” If you want a more peaceful and spiritual life, then you need to create that around yourself by projecting that emotion onto everyone around you. Give love; receive love. Receive love; give love. As long as that flow of energy is being passed between you and anyone around, you are left with so much more space to develop your spiritual side. Everyone will be happy. Sometimes it can seem as though you’re on a treadmill just going round and round. It is always more difficult to get started when life is like that.
Relaxation Suggestion
Just give yourself more time. A great way of relaxing your mind after a stressful day is to sit somewhere quiet and burn a couple of red candles and lavender if you have them. Let your mind wander and think of nothing. It’s not easy at first, but practice makes perfect.
I always find candles help to create an atmosphere of relaxation. They also give a sense of spiritual peace. A relaxed atmosphere sets me up for a day of positivity.
Another point needs to be addressed before we move on. When making your decision for a better spiritual life, make sure you are making it for the right reasons. Some people have been known to brag about how being more spiritually aware has given them greater financial gain. This is untrue. Creating a brighter, more spiritual outlook in your life is purely about bettering the way you feel and how you see the world.
To walk the path of spiritual development for financial gain is to burn the bridge that still remains.Let’s move on.
2 Having faith
FAITH. WHAT A WORD. It gets thrown around by so many different types of people that it seems to have been lost somewhere.
Right now in the world many religions are dictating, using the word faith. Much harm has been thrust upon people by using fear in faith. Why is it that so many hundreds of thousands of people have started doubting faith in their religions on a global scale? Why is it that the average teenager on the street would rather fight amongst his or her friends, without a thought for others, rather than have faith in themselves?
The word faith sounds ugly to a lot of people because of religion. Well, self-belief doesn’t, and that’s what we are here to achieve. Spiritual development is based on faith and self-belief. It’s about time we changed the way we see faith and start seeing it for its purity, here and now.
Having faith does not have to be an archaic affair. We don’t have to wear robes and sing hymns to have faith. If you wish to do that, however, that is your choice. My point here is that faith needs to be shared. Shared with the people. Everyone needs faith: faith in themselves and faith in life. As we move on through the book, you will see how faith becomes an incredibly significant part of spiritual clarity.
I would like to point out that I do not wish to slander any religions or beliefs, as I believe in unconditional love. However, I do believe it’s time we opened our eyes to the desperate need for a global faith before the world turns on its head.
The point of this book is to help people to understand what is right and what is wrong, to have self-belief and to understand the sense of responsibility they have to others. That is what spiritual development is all about. Learning to have faith in a faithless world.
We are all under the same sky and yet we have our own choices to make. We all have a choice to learn to understand faith and, with that, the healing powers that come with self-belief. The aim is to give you a real chance to test just how much self-belief you have. It’s all about you. There’s no one here to tell you what, how or when you must do something. There is no one to push you in any direction that you don’t wish to go in. This book should help you see things you already know in a different light. Some things you may know, some you may not.
Remember, you are your own leader. Nothing can stop you fulfilling your goals. You have the ability to love and be loved. No one can thrust any kind of faith onto you as you already have your own.
As we have already discussed, knowledge and wisdom comes from an internal source, as does faith, so it is important to remember that people will try to persuade you to change. In life, that is the nature of the faithless. They are here to bring you down.
The weak are the faithless people who create negativity, but we must always remember to forgive. Forgiving makes us stronger.
Faith has been frowned upon for many years now by our younger generations. It is very important to help the children of the future to see faith, not as some religious mumbo-jumbo, but as something much more relative to their lifestyles and cultures. I feel there’s a great need for an input of faith within society as a whole, but the children of tomorrow should be the main focus. So if you are under sixteen and you are reading this book, understand that you no longer have to go to Sunday school or attend a church to understand faith. Attending church can be a beautiful experience, but if you feel that your belief, your faith in yourself, is disappearing, then it’s up to you to decide where your journey lies. The faith of tomorrow is not within four walls but on the streets, in the eyes of the people, and all around us. The faith of tomorrow can only be born if the children of today learn to walk with the faith of today.
It’s time to spread the word that faith is freedom and faith is love, and faith is being you.
Without first having faith in yourself, can you truly have faith in others? Without faith, there is no future. It’s brutal, but it’s the reality of today. We are seeing more and more murders, rapes and criminal activities in our world than ever before. A large proportion of this crime is coming from our younger generation. Again, whoever reads this book must try to at least pass the idea of faith for today to others as a good thing. That way, the future of our children will be so much brighter, just by having a little bit of faith.
3 Forgiveness
LIFE CAN BE a very complicated place, full of situations that create a handful of sad times. Sometimes the situations created are not created by us. Sometimes they are completely out of our control. Nobody can ever say they are perfect. In a non-perfect world with non-perfect people, non-perfect events transpire. One of the significant reasons for spiritual development is awareness. All that we have talked about so far gives simple guidelines to many different factors, which when all put together, play a part in awareness. The more aware we are, the easier it is to see things on a much clearer level. We cannot only see things clearer but we can also make them more positive.
The world is fueled by hatred in many ways, like war, crime and religion. Because of this, there are millions of people walking the earth feeling bitter, let down, rejected and betrayed. This is why it is so important that a new spiritual revolution is given the chance to manifest itself, through us.
There are hundreds of thousands of people fighting for a more spiritual and positive world and I’m hoping that you are one of them. Before you can be that spiritual leader of awareness in your own right, you have to be able to forgive. It can be incredibly difficult to forgive someone at this early stage of your journey. That is why it is written within the foundation so early in the book.
What you need to ask yourself is, are you somebody who finds it hard to forgive? Why do you find it hard? If your answer is an overwhelming sense of anger or sadness then that’s what you must overcome.
Forgiveness is like a wall.Once you break it down, you are able to see.
Forgiveness is not the answer to your problem, though. To forgive is just the beginning of the new path that will be walked upon from the moment you do forgive. You must not look upon forgiveness as the weakness in you. It is the strength. The person or people you need to forgive are in many cases not wrong for what they have done, but merely because they took a wrong turning on their path of life. It is up to us to help guide them back on the right track. You see, forgiveness may be the beginning of a new journey but it is just a simple stepping-stone to a brighter future. I forgave a friend who betrayed me. We are now better friends than ever. Forgive to move on.
It can be very difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you. Just remember that sometimes, just sometimes, you may be the one to do wrong to them. So, you see, it works both ways. We as a human race must all learn to forgive before the world’s emotional economy becomes completely bankrupt.
It’s important for you to know that I know how difficult it can be to forgive somebody who has really hurt you. Feuds between friends or family members can go on for years. But the brutal truth is, as mentioned in, ‘Acorns to oak trees,’ that everybody needs love. It is important to put your anger aside and look at the situation between yourself and the person or people in question. Really look at them. Look at them like you don’t know them. See their pain, their dissolution in life. It’s up to you to rise above and seek the higher plane of spiritual awareness, because in this life we get one chance. Take that chance and start trying to give in to forgiveness and let people back into your life. As good a place as any to start forgiving is in the home. If you don’t live with your family, then start with a friend or maybe a work colleague you feel has let you down. It’s quite important, like anything in life, to start small. Don’t run before you can walk. As all the different areas of your journey start to make sense, the book won’t be divided into separate passages of information. It will become one large pool of knowledge for you to dip into at any time. But for now, let’s start small.
Forgiveness Exercise
You probably know who you need to forgive. Right then, let’s take the first step. It’s hard, but think of the rewards of a more peaceful life. Imagine the person’s face in your mind. Think back to a time before you had your feud, when things were still good and fun was being had. Simply focus on that image for a couple of minutes until you’re certain that your feelings for that person feel good. At the exact moment of feeling good, imagine a line of silk or something of your choosing going from your mind to theirs. Now, imagine a small envelope with a piece of paper inside it. On the piece of paper it simply says, “Dear friend will you please forgive me.” Now imagine the letter gliding along the silk line all the way to the mind of the other person.