Loving  Self is the fastest way to create a stronger connection with Spirit. However, most of us are not proficient in doing this.  We may think we know all about Loving Self but it is the last area we master, as spiritually developing beings, in body.   This can take several lifetimes to fully master.  However, we are given all the chances we need to make decisions for ourselves which are loving and in integrity with our spiritual, True Selves.

1.  One step to Loving Self is embracing that God and I Are One. We are not separate from God/Spirit.  We may feel disconnected but in truth we cannot be separate no mater what we do, feel, don’t do, think or imagine.  We are One with All That Is and that’s the Truth.  Most of us do not know this however because we give our power to human fears, emotions and thoughts every day.  This results in making us feel we are separate from Divine Presence.

Many of us  do not gift ourselves with the experience of meditation and authentic prayer,

Meditation II by Roshnii

so we do not have the daily opportunity to learn from Spirit that we and God/Great Spirit are One.  Even if we do meditate, we may not be actively releasing our human fears, thoughts and emotions.  Therefore, we may be peaceful in Silence and then go right out and have an argument with our co-worker because we are not releasing our fears and concerns proactively, clearing our energy field and making more space for Divine Presence in our lives.

At the very least, affirm out loud and daily,

• There is One Power, One Source, One Life Force.
  
• I Am One with All That Is.
  
• I Am an Individualized Expression of God.

This brings  Divine Knowing more readily into our energy fields as we affirm these truths regularly.

2. Loving Self has nothing to do with personal indulgence and everything to do with living in integrity. Loving Self is  going out with friends and NOT over drinking, over eating, over smoking, over spending, over gambling or over sexing with others.   Anything prefaced by “over” is not living in integrity.  We usually know when we have “over” done something though frequently, not at the time.  Perhaps for a time it feels easier to pretend to ignore this information we have about ourselves. This pretense is costly to us.   When we “over do”  we are by definition, out of balance.  This absolutely affects us mentally, emotionally, spiritual and physically.  Living in integrity is Loving of Self and by the way, benefits not only ourselves but all whom we meet.

flickr turns 4, we celebrated by mode

The energy of being with friends,  can be a very self loving experience if we are able to be our authentic selves in their company and receive affirmation for our own True Selves. This looks like being able to say I’m sorry for something we have done which was unkind or unthoughtful and being forgiven.  This looks like being able to say, “this was great but now I need to get some rest to function tomorrow”.  This looks like being able to set good boundaries for ourselves and have our friends or partners respect this in us.

3. Other acts of integrity include saying “no” to requests of us which are not good for us,  helpful for others or respectful of our own inner knowing for ourselves.

Robert (name changed)  is a management consultant in his late thirties,  in international management.  When just setting out, he felt he had to take all work that came his way for financial reasons. He loved the bi-play around negotiating new work, agreeing on the rates, specifying deliverables and getting the contract.  However, time and again, he experienced a sense of deflation when it was time to actually do the work.

Robert did notice repeatedly,  that if a  contract was good for him,  it was almost without exception,  good for the clients as well.  He began to try to determine while negotiating contracts, if he would enjoy the actual work.  He  made some spectacularly bad choices during this time.  His fear of having enough money continued to play heavily into his judgment about clients.   After 3 years of working with this rather directly, he turned away a very large contract for 6 months of nearly full salary, because it felt really wrong for him.

After that time, he had appreciably fewer bad contracts show up in his life, because his learning was complete.  His soul was at peace with regard to these learnings and therefore he no longer attracted these situations to himself.  He had learned to live in integrity with himself and not to “prostitute himself” for the sake of prestige, money, recognition, or safety. In Loving Self enough to only accepting work situations which were good for him, Robert  radically transformed his life for the good,  in all areas, not just with work.

In facing these situations for yourself ask the following:

• Is this a loving choice for me?
• Am I being honest with myself, about whether this is good for me ?
• What is making me consider working (or staying) in this setting which I know is crummy for me?

4. Loving Self requires proactive attention to our deepest needs. If we are not getting enough exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, or spending endless hours before a computer or TV, we need to attend to this.  It is a loving act to pay attention to these things.  If we are deeply lonely, we need to take steps to be with others even if it feels like a big risk.  If we are in a bad relationship, we need to ask for Divine Help to come forth within us, release all that is our part of the bad relationship, and bless the other person regardless of the past.  If we are bored, we need to name the fear behind this and face it squarely so that we can move on from the languishing energy.

Loving Self is creating more compassion with ourselves in all areas of our lives. Love heals all things, no matter the size or complexity of what we might be facing.  Clear the fear you carry connected with the situation, call in Love even though you may not know what next steps to take because such acts create a stronger connection with All That Is, which leads to Inner Peace.

Death is simply another state of being. It is one we know little about.  We therefore tend to focus on the fears and experiences surrounding death and mix that up with the state of death itself.  Many of us have unhealed sadness and grief about losses in our past.  We may also have fear about our own passing or the passing of a dear loved one.  Death is part of every single person’s life.  Traditionally, in Western societies, we fear death.  That shared mass perception about death comes from unexamined fears we hold and from the habit of giving power to death, from our minds.

There is only One Power, One Source, One God. Death has no power of its own apart from Divine Grace and Presence.  Death is a transition to another calling for our soul’s continued growth, however painful that loss may be for those of us remaining in this life.  However, if we give death power from our minds, it is as if there is indeed something to fear.

For those of us carrying imbalances with death and dying, take a look at those.  Releasing the blocked energy causing these imbalances can bring us more peace.  Ignoring the issues we have with death only allows those feelings to remain in our energy field, festering away.  We may not be aware of how those unexamined feelings are affecting us but without a doubt, they are dragging on our energy.   It may feel scary and unpleasant to dip into death especially on a sunny, blue sky day but that is exactly what I would recommend.

Abbey House Gardens - Upper Lawn by jmenard48

A Universal Truth for all beings regardless of our beliefs is that we are eternal. I suspected this for a long time before I knew this to be true.  In working with individuals passing over from life to spirit form, the energy of the person is fully present on the other side.  There is no body as we know it but their personal energy remains in tact.  I have not traveled with others beyond transition time as they first pass over but I figure if they are present during transition time, that is good enough for me.  I know their being continues on to where they are supposed to be because some of them have left in a blaze of Light.  Also, individual  stays in transition state are usually short,  a week or less.  As they pass on,  I imagine other forms of  “body” are assumed.

In working with those who have taken their own lives, it is clear that when they are in transition state, the same issues they were trying to escape from here, are still with them.  Such issues reside in our psyche or spiritual energy which remains in tact so the taking of our own body does not release us from the issues we carry in our souls.  However, we get all the chances we need. We have all the time we need.  We will be given opportunity after opportunity to learn to love ourselves and to respond to the challenging circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Some persons have been here, in body, many, many times and have worked through such challenges and difficulties.  Other souls are newer and have a number of issues to resolve in the physical plane.

This is a spiritual truth for all of us.  We take our spiritual knowing with us when we pass over. We do not magically get cleanly wiped slates as we exit life.  We take our relationship with All That Is into the next dimension of our being and continue right where we left off.  Therefore, it is highly useful to do deep clearing work on this side because all the issues we release here which are not of the Light, will not convey with us.  Actually, we will never have to deal with them again for ourselves,  in this dimension.   As we come into  Right Relationship with death or any other issue here, we will remain in that Right Relationship for all time. ( to be continued)

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Here are some awesome photos representing Peace, by a range of artists.  I hope they are as uplifting for you as they have been for me.  CLICK ON EACH PICTURE to see the full range of the artist’s work along with background stories for some of these specific photos. You will be connected to the artists’ individual photography web page.  This is also true for all the photos used in any of my posts.

The first photo was a photography project for a class.  You can read more about this on the artist’s web site.

Peace by Cayusa

Presented by The National Multicultural Festival (below)

Pierre Pouliquin, the next photographer writes,  “The Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC) ensemble is working relentlessly to promote a “Culture of Peace and International Friendship”. Dressed in their exotic traditional costume, the PCPC artists and dancers will perform popular folk dances of Punjab, namely Bhangra and Gidha. In various styles and symmetries, they will perform to the beat and sound of traditional drum and other folk instruments. This spectacular performance will invigorate the whole audience.”

Exotic Bhangra from India by Pierre Pouliquin

Our third photographer known as The Zion View,  dedicated the following photo to all those who were affected by recent bomb blast in Bangalore, Ahmedabad,  and Jarkand in India.

Let there be PEACE, please... by THE ZION VIEW

The next photo comes from Carf who writes , “contrasting colors, contrasting realities, contrasting pasts, contrasting presents, contrasting futures and contrasting lives!  Nevertheless, best friends, Matheus and Vando.”  Click on photo for more of these boys’ stories. They both live in Brazil.

Best Friends- a safer pathway to peace by Carf

Danny Hammontree, our next photographer writes,  “I met Dogman at Camp Casey in Washington DC.  As soon as I saw him I knew I had to get a good photograph of him.  I think in total I took about 60 shots of him throughout the 3 days I was in DC.  When I photograph people I really try not being noticed because I want to get people as candid as possible.  I wish I could post every photo I took of Dogman but you know… Maybe 1 or 2 ”

When: September 24th 2005
Where: Washington DC
What: The United for Peace and Justice Anti-War protest & march.

Dogman 1 by Danny Hammontree

Trey Ratcliff , our last photographer took this picture in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and called it Islamic Peace.  It looks like delightful peace to me.

Islamic Peace - by Stuck in Customs (Trey Ratcliff)

Coming into Right Relationship with aspects of our lives is another way to think of seeking Peace.  Right Relationship refers to the highest form of connection with a person, place or situation for this place and time as defined by Divine Knowing.  Right Relationship is a concept which requires us to let go of defining that fully for ourselves and simply seek this increasingly in our daily lives.  For example, when I am irritated with a neighbor or colleague, I am out of Right Relationship with that person.   I may not fully know what Right Relationship looks like with a specific person, however, when I am out of Right Relationship, I usually know it.  I feel anxious, irritated, on edge, confrontative, nervous, when I think of them or when I am around them. This is a good place to begin seeking Peace.

Japanese Rock Garden (Photo by vgm8383)

The contrast between balance and non-balance becomes gradually clearer as we are increasingly in Silence.  The challenge is what to do about it.  If we are out of Right Relationship with a person and we want to re-balance, what can we do?

One main principle in seeking Peace is that others do not make or break our Peace.  We make or break it.  We choose to get angry, to feel judged, to feel mistreated, to feel betrayed, to feel irritated or insignificant.  However, we often talk about this as “so-in-so made me feel sad, mad, glad”.  Actually the truth energetically is more like this, “when I think about or I am with so-in-so, I feel mad, sad, or glad”.  The choice to feel that way is ours.  The choice not to feel that way is also ours.  This later realization usually spurs shifts in how we work these issues in our lives.

What does being out of Right Relationship look like?

Years ago I got irritated with one of my colleagues who always had to have everything we worked on perfect to her standards of perfection.  I was clearly out of Right Relationship with this person.  Let’s call her Sonya. Every meeting I had with Sonya always devolved into her stating what was wrong with the efforts we had made on a joint project.  Sometimes the issue was the “clarity of the brochure”, sometimes the issue was the appropriateness of the pictures we had used, or the font, or the unstated messages, and on and on.  What I needed to work on was why I got so irritated. After some Silence with this issue, it came to me that I really, really resented feeling controlled.  This type of experience is something that I also had in other areas of my life, surprise, surprise.  What was this about?? How could I release it?

What can we do about being out of Right Relationship?

Here’s what I did.  I sat down and wrote in my journal about all the experiences I had ever had when I felt controlled by another person.  I went back to my childhood, I wrote about my marriage, I wrote about other work settings. I wrote until I was finished with all these experiences.  I learned that Sonya was not the creator of this experience, I was.  I learned that what I really was working with was the fear of not measuring up to other’s opinions of me.  When I got this clarity, I asked during one of my meditative sessions, to have all this fear of not measuring up to be lifted from my energy field. It was.

A few weeks later Sonya and I had a meeting. I had asked her to just go ahead and make all the changes she wanted to before our meeting on the brochure we were writing so that it was exactly as she thought it would work.  There was no tension, no angst. We negotiated some changes without the irritation I usually had felt.  I felt really clean and balanced.

I knew that something really different had happened for me. I had sought Peace and in that seeking, it had been given to me.  It was not given without my effort but rather as a result of trying to clear the energy that was taking me out of balance. This spiritual principle has been shown to me hundreds of times since then.  When I take steps towards Peace and Balance, all that is needed is provided.

Welcome to this blog!  So glad you found us. We will be exploring Inner Peace and spiritual health in daily life. We will look at how to get there, what keeps us from staying in a state of Peace, what triggers our anger, guilt, fear, pride, judging, forgiveness and hope and  how to work our way into greater and greater balance and wholeness.

Photo by matthewvelie

We are here to seek Peace in all areas of our lives, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. The question is, how do we do that? It begins with facing the areas of our lives where there is clearly a lack of Peace.  We know these areas as places of tension, arguments, irritations, anger, strain and stress.

Whenever we are out of balance, we are not in a place of Peace. Arguments, frustration, anger,  and irritation are the outward indications of inward imbalances.  We may not realize what those imbalances are, but we get all the chances we need to identify areas of imbalance because they keep presenting in varying ways until the root cause of the imbalance is cleared from our energy field.  What is most amazing about spiritual health is that as we fully release blocked energy from our own energy fields, we see positive changes in the outward expressions of those difficult imbalances in all areas of our lives.

No one else can do this work for us. We have to undertake this effort ourselves.  However, we also get all the help we need as we set the intention to come into greater and greater Peace.  It is as if the Universe around us is attuned to those seeking Peace and rushes to help us in the most amazing of ways.  When we are seeking Peace, even before we have arrived at Peace in some area of our lives, there is help.  We simply have to be silent and take that help in, which comes vibrationally from entering into Silence.

Help can come from many other ways as well.  We can become renewed and more peaceful by taking a swim, by working in the garden, by seeing a good friend, by watching an inspirational movie or by creating something lovely.  These ways of connecting with positive energy can also very helpful to us at times when seeking Peace.  However, in certain areas of our lives, where we are stuck in old energy, old patterns and old ways of thinking, we need a higher knowing , a higher connection with Divine Energy.

The process of seeking Peace is one that is most powerfully undertaken with Divine Partnership in all its many forms.  That is because, there is an Infinite Knowing way beyond our human knowing which kicks in when we make an intention to seek Peace.  When we first make that commitment, or set that intention to seek Peace, we don’t have a clear vision of why we are out of Peace, why we need Peace, what we are thinking, feeling and doing which is at odds with Peace.  That knowing comes to us in Silence, if we enter into it regularly.

This is a best kept secret. Within the Silence is the deep Knowing that is the key to lasting Peace.  For when entering Silence, we leave our outer roles, concerns, responsibilities, thoughts, lists, and self-judgments outside of that time and space.  With some practice, we are more and more our own true selves in Silence.  We can more easily “free-float” in that Silence. Then the contrast between that sense of Peace in Silence and our daily, outer experiences of being out of balance make themselves increasingly known to us.  Without some experience of “letting it all go”, as one experiences in meditative Silence, where would we learn about the feeling of Peace in our own experience?

Take a few moments in the beginning of your day to simply be still and “know that I am God”.  Whatever your experience is will be perfect.  Even if there is a swirling cacophony of things to do, places to go or people to see in that first effort, it is a beginning.  If you have already had experience with Silence try expanding your time a few minutes or simply try to be more accepting of the experience you have in that time of Silence.  Silence is a gift to ourselves and it is within this journey that we find Peace that passes all understanding.  Begin with opening the Silent space with the Highest I AM/Divine Oneness/God energy of the Universe.  You will be in good hands this way.