Seeking the Stillness
"Be still and know that I am God." The essence of spiritual growth is this simple statement. Being still allows the inner spirit fragment the opportunity to send its messages to your mind. This, in turn, will make you conscious of the spirit's leadings, converting subtle inspiration into a way of life. Living, then, becomes a personal religion motivating you not only to do good, but also to seek continued enlightenment, to strive to know God and become Godlike.
Why Stillness Is Important
Communion with God, communion at the spiritual level, is the highest form of human communication. Talking with God transcends the state of mental relaxation because it gives the indwelling spirit the opportunity to imprint spiritual truth onto your mind. When you have achieved a mental relaxation and stay at that level without reaching beyond to the spiritual level of communion with God, you will feel peaceful and perhaps blissful, but you will not reach the deeper level of enlightenment, understanding, and love that truly teaches you the best way to live. Your inner spirit waits for this opportunity so that it can communicate our Creator's love to you.
It is in this state of spiritual communion that you reap the greatest benefit. The love our Universal Father/Mother pours over you is endless and unconditional; it stops only when you choose to break the connection. Being in this state of spiritual communication is the greatest motivator for building your spirituality. God's wish for you is to develop this state of being so you can truly feel that Spirit loves you and is with you always. Can you think of a more healing power than this? God's love heals all: It banishes anger, self-doubt, and fear by the intense power of goodness.
The longer you can stay in the flow of our Creator's love, the more insight and understanding you gain to help you structure your life in a more productive and positive way. Your life will improve as you are given the tools you need to rid yourself of the excess baggage of fear. You feel uplifted, you feel transported to the realm where love is the only law, where you get a taste of living as a spiritual being in God's family. The more love you feel, the greater your capacity to grow spiritually, to seek enlightenment, and to attain the happiness you desire. The only stumbling block to a satisfying life is an unwillingness or lack of desire to share your inner life with Spirit.
The human tendency is to not seek communion with the inner spirit of God. This is because you have not been trained in childhood to still your mind or encouraged to develop a personal relationship with God. How, then, can you reasonably expect to be able to discern what Spirit is trying to say to you when the mindal ground for spiritual seeds to be planted has not been properly cultivated? The treasures of listening to your inner voice are greater peace, greater self-awareness, and self-love and love for others, but it does not happen overnight, especially when habits accumulated over your lifetime overtake your best intentions to follow your spirit's leadings. Be very patient and nonjudgmental with yourself; allow yourself some time to familiarize yourself with this process of attuning to the inner voice. But a regular, well-ordered practice can help you begin and support you as you grow more comfortable in sharing your life with God.
God's love heals all: it banishes anger, self-doubt, and fear by its intense power of goodness. The longer you can stay in the flow of our Creator's love, the more insight and understanding you gain to help you structure your life in a more productive and positive way.
The Stillness Practice
There is no magic formula for reaching the state of stillness, but there are general guidelines to make it more successful.
The most important objective in practicing stillness is consistency. You benefit the most if you do it daily. Practicing the stillness every day will form a habit, a spiritual habit, which then becomes a part of your daily routine. It is not required to do it at the same time every day; but it is helpful to do so while you are getting started.
Choose a time when you can escape from the pressures of family and work life. Even though life is very busy and it may almost seem impossible to incorporate stillness into your day, envision this time as your retreat into the realm of peace and beauty – a mental vacation. Try to set aside twenty to thirty minutes when you will not be interrupted. If this is too much time, then just do what you can, even if it is for five minutes. But do try to practice it every day for as long a time as you can. You can do this in your home or outdoors, whatever is your preference. Remember, you are trying to develop a daily habit that will, over time, lead you to doing it automatically. You will find that you look forward to this time of quiet reflective communion; you will need it almost as much as the air you breathe.
The Seven Steps of Stillness
Get Physically Relaxed
The first step is to become completely physically relaxed. You want to create a state of total relaxation and peace. Your goal is to eliminate all tension and stress from your body. A popular position you may want to consider using is to sit upright in a comfortable chair with your feet on the ground. You may also lie down, but you might fall asleep, especially at first, since this is the initial response of your mind when you begin to unwind. Since you want to spend this time with God, it is better to stay relaxed but alert. Choose a position that is comfortable and will keep you awake. It also is helpful to pick a time of day when you will be alert. Practicing before bedtime may put you to sleep, so daytime stillness is more productive.
Now, take several deep breaths and allow all the tension to leave your body. Imagine that with each inhalation you are allowing God's love to enter your body, and with every exhalation, tension and worries depart. Repeat this breathing until you feel a sense of relaxation. You may feel energy enter at your feet. Envision this gentle power running up your legs, your torso, into your arms, and up, out the top of your head.
These may be feelings you experience for the first time during physical relaxation. Do not be alarmed if you feel a tingling sensation or a warm rush of energy. You are allowing your body to receive the energy that is naturally occurring in the universe. This energy has a tremendous healing effect since its source is God. Think of it as a loving, beneficent force regenerating your body. Even if you are unable to achieve the next levels of stillness about to be discussed, you will find that just this deep relaxation leaves you more refreshed and give you greater stamina when you practice it regularly. However, if you do wish to continue your stillness at the point when you feel very relaxed, you are ready to begin to still your mind.
Get Mentally Relaxed
While the phrase "stilling the mind" implies that your mind stops thinking and becomes totally empty, what you are trying to do is actually to rid your mind of all the endless chatter that fills it. Ideas such as, "What will I eat for dinner" or "What will I wear tomorrow" or "The kids are driving me crazy" still linger from the day, but now is the time to distance yourself from them. You are trying to quiet your mind to concentrate on communicating with God. The goal of stillness is to focus your thoughts on God exclusively.
To help your mind rid itself of the internal commotion, it might be helpful to listen to uplifting instrumental music for all or part of the time. Vocal music may distract you, so try to use only instrumental pieces, especially those which elicit feelings of joy and tranquility. Also, you might find that picturing yourself in a beautiful environment is most conducive to relaxing your mind. Or you may picture yourself with someone you love – visual imagery is an effective means to still the mind. But this is a personal choice. There is no one right way. The best way for you is whatever you find evokes this state the most easily and helps you stay relaxed. The key element in achieving mental stillness is being able to stay centered on the one thing (your focal point) that is evoking peaceful, loving feelings. Centering your thoughts on this will bring about feelings of happiness, serenity, and a deep sense of well-being.
If your mind wanders – and it will many times – simply refocus on whatever is you are using to relax – the music or the visual imagery, for example. You will have to do this quite frequently, but do not be discouraged. Above all, do not reproach or judge yourself for not being able to be still for long periods of time. When you first start doing stillness, you find that your mind wants to stay fairly active. This is normal. Preventing your mind from wandering is the most difficult part of all. Even if you only achieve mental stillness for a few seconds, it is the beginning. Over time you will find that you can stretch these moments of stillness into a few minutes or even longer. This is why daily practice and repetition is so important. You will get better with continued practice. You will find it easier to still your mind and stay focused on what you wish to achieve in your communication with God.
Stay in this state of mental relaxation for as long as you wish. Enjoy the currents of energy flowing through you. Linger in the feelings of warmth, calmness, and comfort. Be good to yourself. You deserve this relaxation time. You work hard, you have a busy life. Take this time out and envelop yourself in tranquility and beauty. This is your bastion in the midst of life's conflicts.
You may find yourself wandering from your point of focus; you may see images and colors flash across your mind. Do not be concerned — this is the natural movement of your mind. Just gently bring it back to your point of concentration, your focal point, and bask in the loving warmth surrounding you. Stay there and rest until you feel compelled to begin your conversation with God. You will sense when you are ready to do this.
Talk to God
Communion with God is your goal in seeking the stillness. Once you have centered yourself in mental relaxation and feel the music or imagery deep within, you will feel a warm sense of connection, of wholeness. This is your signal that you are ready to start talking to God. Next, imagine yourself being in Spirit's presence. By envisioning God through whatever conceptual pictures you prefer, you foster a sense of personal communication. You could envision God as a beautiful force or light surrounding you; it could be an image of a person holding your hand; it may be a mother loving you; it could be imagining yourself as a child lying in loving arms. Whatever you envision God to be is very personal to you and is the right picture. No one visualization is correct. Each person will view God uniquely. But your goal is to see yourself in a relationship with God, actually to feel God with you.
When you have envisioned God in whatever form you desire, begin to talk to your Creator to your heart's content. God wants your doubts, fears, problems, desires, and joys. Say whatever you wish to say. Share your feelings and thoughts. God is intimately acquainted with all of your thoughts and feelings; there is no secret, guilt, or shame unrevealed to Spirit. However, from the human standpoint, talking to God affords you the opportunity to recognize where you need help and creates a receptivity to being supported and guided by your Divine Parent. So, freely share all aspects of your life with God – positive and negative.
Ask for Help
As you tell God about your problems, ask for help to work through them. Request the spiritual antidotes of patience, forgiveness, understanding, and compassion instead of anger, hate, fear, and other negative emotions. Talk with God as if you were with the most loving parent or person imaginable, for in reality you are. Ask to be filled with Spirit's love. Ask for Divine Parental guidance. Ask about anything that perplexes or troubles you. You will never find a more sympathetic listener or compassionate friend.
You are a child of God, and your Divine Mother/Father wants to love and support you through life. It is important to ask for help, however, because you have free will. God does not offer advice or guidance without your permission. Identify what it is you need from Spirit so it can be offered to you. If you are not sure of what to ask, simply say to God, “What do I need now to grow spiritually?”
Give Thanks
In the act of requesting help from God, a sense of support and connection is conveyed to your mind. This yields a sense of thankfulness. You can continue, then, by offering your appreciation for all of life’s goodness and blessings. Thank Spirit for the good things in your life, because Spirit is the source. Offer praise for the beauty, magnitude, and glory of our Eternal Father/Mother's being.
Thanksgiving is a natural phase of spiritual communion that deepens the child/Spiritual Parent bond. You appreciate what God has given you, and in turn, your receptivity to feeling God’s love increases. This is the springboard for building your relationship. You recognize what God does for you because of Spirit’s great love for you. You open the way for communication from God to begin, allowing the current of love to flow between you and God.
Listen to God
Once you have spent time talking with God, asking for help, and giving thanks, the other half of the communication process is to listen. Listening to what God has to say is the foundation for your thoughts and behaviors to become more spirit-led and God-like.
By talking with God and offering trust at the human end, you give your spirit the permission it needs to communicate truth and shower love upon you. Cooperating with your inner spirit is fundamental to your continued growth since your free will cannot be superseded. You cannot benefit from the wisdom of the spirit's leadings and feel God's love unless you truly desire it. Growing spiritually is a choice. The desire to be with God needs to come from you. No one will ever force you, not even our Universal Father/Mother.
But if you choose to develop this relationship, then it will be worthwhile only if you listen to what Spirit wants to say to you. Communication is a two-way street. In this sense, God is no different from someone else who wishes to talk to you. You would enter willingly into communication if you wanted to be in a relationship with another person. You can also do this with your Spiritual Parent.
So at this stage of your stillness, listen for God's answer by allowing your mind to be still for as long as you are able, just as if this wise counselor were sitting by your side speaking to you. When you converse with someone, you allow your mind some time of repose as you listen to what the other person is trying to convey. The signal conveyed by your spirit will reach your mind more efficiently when you listen inwardly. You cultivate an increasingly receptive environment when your focus is attuned to listening to your inner voice. It takes time, dedication, and perseverance to attune yourself to this inner leading; however, if you practice consistently, you will be richly rewarded.
At this stage, when you are seeking insight or answers to your questions, allow your mind to be totally open to listening. Your inner spirit will begin to communicate with you. Tune your listening inside. Wait as long as you can and maintain your listening focus. Depending upon your receptivity and your ability to remove the barriers to communication, colors, pictures, words, or ideas may flash across your mind. Do not try to interpret any of these. Simply continue to listen. This is your spirit's opportunity to communicate to you. The longer you can focus on this inner listening, the longer will your indwelling spirit have to impart to your conscious mind what it feels you are ready to receive.
Sense the Divine Presence
Our loving Divine Father/Mother stands ready to lavish you with unimaginable love and beauty. Envision Spirit showering you with divine affection, as if you were standing under a shower of loving rain. Actually ask God to send the Divine presence and love flow through you, and offer your love back. This is the culmination of the personal relationship with God. In this state of stillness, you are getting to know the Universal Father/Mother. You are sensing and learning about God's loving, merciful nature. You are in touch with Spirit's infinite compassion, are receiving tender mercy, and bountiful understanding. In opening yourself and asking for guidance for your life, you are learning to accept that God loves you.
The dynamic of coming to know God is similar to learning to know another person. Just as you need to communicate and spend time with someone in order to truly know who he or she is, so you need to communicate with God in order to benefit from Spirit’s goodness. However, in human relationships there is a potential for misunderstanding or for poor advice to be given. But our Creator, in Spirit's perfection and unconditional love for you, will always understand what you are trying to say. Only God knows what is deep within your heart and soul. Only God will give you unconditional love and acceptance and the true answers to all of your questions. Only by developing this personal relationship will you truly enjoy the fullness of Spirit’s love, wisdom, and counsel. The growth of this relationship is boundless and increases, over time, in beauty and glory as human child and Divine Parent unite in a loving eternal embrace. This is the culmination of the stillness.
Why Stillness Is Important
Communion with God, communion at the spiritual level, is the highest form of human communication. Talking with God transcends the state of mental relaxation because it gives the indwelling spirit the opportunity to imprint spiritual truth onto your mind. When you have achieved a mental relaxation and stay at that level without reaching beyond to the spiritual level of communion with God, you will feel peaceful and perhaps blissful, but you will not reach the deeper level of enlightenment, understanding, and love that truly teaches you the best way to live. Your inner spirit waits for this opportunity so that it can communicate our Creator's love to you.
It is in this state of spiritual communion that you reap the greatest benefit. The love our Universal Father/Mother pours over you is endless and unconditional; it stops only when you choose to break the connection. Being in this state of spiritual communication is the greatest motivator for building your spirituality. God's wish for you is to develop this state of being so you can truly feel that Spirit loves you and is with you always. Can you think of a more healing power than this? God's love heals all: It banishes anger, self-doubt, and fear by the intense power of goodness.
The longer you can stay in the flow of our Creator's love, the more insight and understanding you gain to help you structure your life in a more productive and positive way. Your life will improve as you are given the tools you need to rid yourself of the excess baggage of fear. You feel uplifted, you feel transported to the realm where love is the only law, where you get a taste of living as a spiritual being in God's family. The more love you feel, the greater your capacity to grow spiritually, to seek enlightenment, and to attain the happiness you desire. The only stumbling block to a satisfying life is an unwillingness or lack of desire to share your inner life with Spirit.
The human tendency is to not seek communion with the inner spirit of God. This is because you have not been trained in childhood to still your mind or encouraged to develop a personal relationship with God. How, then, can you reasonably expect to be able to discern what Spirit is trying to say to you when the mindal ground for spiritual seeds to be planted has not been properly cultivated? The treasures of listening to your inner voice are greater peace, greater self-awareness, and self-love and love for others, but it does not happen overnight, especially when habits accumulated over your lifetime overtake your best intentions to follow your spirit's leadings. Be very patient and nonjudgmental with yourself; allow yourself some time to familiarize yourself with this process of attuning to the inner voice. But a regular, well-ordered practice can help you begin and support you as you grow more comfortable in sharing your life with God.
God's love heals all: it banishes anger, self-doubt, and fear by its intense power of goodness. The longer you can stay in the flow of our Creator's love, the more insight and understanding you gain to help you structure your life in a more productive and positive way.
The Stillness Practice
There is no magic formula for reaching the state of stillness, but there are general guidelines to make it more successful.
The most important objective in practicing stillness is consistency. You benefit the most if you do it daily. Practicing the stillness every day will form a habit, a spiritual habit, which then becomes a part of your daily routine. It is not required to do it at the same time every day; but it is helpful to do so while you are getting started.
Choose a time when you can escape from the pressures of family and work life. Even though life is very busy and it may almost seem impossible to incorporate stillness into your day, envision this time as your retreat into the realm of peace and beauty – a mental vacation. Try to set aside twenty to thirty minutes when you will not be interrupted. If this is too much time, then just do what you can, even if it is for five minutes. But do try to practice it every day for as long a time as you can. You can do this in your home or outdoors, whatever is your preference. Remember, you are trying to develop a daily habit that will, over time, lead you to doing it automatically. You will find that you look forward to this time of quiet reflective communion; you will need it almost as much as the air you breathe.
The Seven Steps of Stillness
Get Physically Relaxed
The first step is to become completely physically relaxed. You want to create a state of total relaxation and peace. Your goal is to eliminate all tension and stress from your body. A popular position you may want to consider using is to sit upright in a comfortable chair with your feet on the ground. You may also lie down, but you might fall asleep, especially at first, since this is the initial response of your mind when you begin to unwind. Since you want to spend this time with God, it is better to stay relaxed but alert. Choose a position that is comfortable and will keep you awake. It also is helpful to pick a time of day when you will be alert. Practicing before bedtime may put you to sleep, so daytime stillness is more productive.
Now, take several deep breaths and allow all the tension to leave your body. Imagine that with each inhalation you are allowing God's love to enter your body, and with every exhalation, tension and worries depart. Repeat this breathing until you feel a sense of relaxation. You may feel energy enter at your feet. Envision this gentle power running up your legs, your torso, into your arms, and up, out the top of your head.
These may be feelings you experience for the first time during physical relaxation. Do not be alarmed if you feel a tingling sensation or a warm rush of energy. You are allowing your body to receive the energy that is naturally occurring in the universe. This energy has a tremendous healing effect since its source is God. Think of it as a loving, beneficent force regenerating your body. Even if you are unable to achieve the next levels of stillness about to be discussed, you will find that just this deep relaxation leaves you more refreshed and give you greater stamina when you practice it regularly. However, if you do wish to continue your stillness at the point when you feel very relaxed, you are ready to begin to still your mind.
Get Mentally Relaxed
While the phrase "stilling the mind" implies that your mind stops thinking and becomes totally empty, what you are trying to do is actually to rid your mind of all the endless chatter that fills it. Ideas such as, "What will I eat for dinner" or "What will I wear tomorrow" or "The kids are driving me crazy" still linger from the day, but now is the time to distance yourself from them. You are trying to quiet your mind to concentrate on communicating with God. The goal of stillness is to focus your thoughts on God exclusively.
To help your mind rid itself of the internal commotion, it might be helpful to listen to uplifting instrumental music for all or part of the time. Vocal music may distract you, so try to use only instrumental pieces, especially those which elicit feelings of joy and tranquility. Also, you might find that picturing yourself in a beautiful environment is most conducive to relaxing your mind. Or you may picture yourself with someone you love – visual imagery is an effective means to still the mind. But this is a personal choice. There is no one right way. The best way for you is whatever you find evokes this state the most easily and helps you stay relaxed. The key element in achieving mental stillness is being able to stay centered on the one thing (your focal point) that is evoking peaceful, loving feelings. Centering your thoughts on this will bring about feelings of happiness, serenity, and a deep sense of well-being.
If your mind wanders – and it will many times – simply refocus on whatever is you are using to relax – the music or the visual imagery, for example. You will have to do this quite frequently, but do not be discouraged. Above all, do not reproach or judge yourself for not being able to be still for long periods of time. When you first start doing stillness, you find that your mind wants to stay fairly active. This is normal. Preventing your mind from wandering is the most difficult part of all. Even if you only achieve mental stillness for a few seconds, it is the beginning. Over time you will find that you can stretch these moments of stillness into a few minutes or even longer. This is why daily practice and repetition is so important. You will get better with continued practice. You will find it easier to still your mind and stay focused on what you wish to achieve in your communication with God.
Stay in this state of mental relaxation for as long as you wish. Enjoy the currents of energy flowing through you. Linger in the feelings of warmth, calmness, and comfort. Be good to yourself. You deserve this relaxation time. You work hard, you have a busy life. Take this time out and envelop yourself in tranquility and beauty. This is your bastion in the midst of life's conflicts.
You may find yourself wandering from your point of focus; you may see images and colors flash across your mind. Do not be concerned — this is the natural movement of your mind. Just gently bring it back to your point of concentration, your focal point, and bask in the loving warmth surrounding you. Stay there and rest until you feel compelled to begin your conversation with God. You will sense when you are ready to do this.
Talk to God
Communion with God is your goal in seeking the stillness. Once you have centered yourself in mental relaxation and feel the music or imagery deep within, you will feel a warm sense of connection, of wholeness. This is your signal that you are ready to start talking to God. Next, imagine yourself being in Spirit's presence. By envisioning God through whatever conceptual pictures you prefer, you foster a sense of personal communication. You could envision God as a beautiful force or light surrounding you; it could be an image of a person holding your hand; it may be a mother loving you; it could be imagining yourself as a child lying in loving arms. Whatever you envision God to be is very personal to you and is the right picture. No one visualization is correct. Each person will view God uniquely. But your goal is to see yourself in a relationship with God, actually to feel God with you.
When you have envisioned God in whatever form you desire, begin to talk to your Creator to your heart's content. God wants your doubts, fears, problems, desires, and joys. Say whatever you wish to say. Share your feelings and thoughts. God is intimately acquainted with all of your thoughts and feelings; there is no secret, guilt, or shame unrevealed to Spirit. However, from the human standpoint, talking to God affords you the opportunity to recognize where you need help and creates a receptivity to being supported and guided by your Divine Parent. So, freely share all aspects of your life with God – positive and negative.
Ask for Help
As you tell God about your problems, ask for help to work through them. Request the spiritual antidotes of patience, forgiveness, understanding, and compassion instead of anger, hate, fear, and other negative emotions. Talk with God as if you were with the most loving parent or person imaginable, for in reality you are. Ask to be filled with Spirit's love. Ask for Divine Parental guidance. Ask about anything that perplexes or troubles you. You will never find a more sympathetic listener or compassionate friend.
You are a child of God, and your Divine Mother/Father wants to love and support you through life. It is important to ask for help, however, because you have free will. God does not offer advice or guidance without your permission. Identify what it is you need from Spirit so it can be offered to you. If you are not sure of what to ask, simply say to God, “What do I need now to grow spiritually?”
Give Thanks
In the act of requesting help from God, a sense of support and connection is conveyed to your mind. This yields a sense of thankfulness. You can continue, then, by offering your appreciation for all of life’s goodness and blessings. Thank Spirit for the good things in your life, because Spirit is the source. Offer praise for the beauty, magnitude, and glory of our Eternal Father/Mother's being.
Thanksgiving is a natural phase of spiritual communion that deepens the child/Spiritual Parent bond. You appreciate what God has given you, and in turn, your receptivity to feeling God’s love increases. This is the springboard for building your relationship. You recognize what God does for you because of Spirit’s great love for you. You open the way for communication from God to begin, allowing the current of love to flow between you and God.
Listen to God
Once you have spent time talking with God, asking for help, and giving thanks, the other half of the communication process is to listen. Listening to what God has to say is the foundation for your thoughts and behaviors to become more spirit-led and God-like.
By talking with God and offering trust at the human end, you give your spirit the permission it needs to communicate truth and shower love upon you. Cooperating with your inner spirit is fundamental to your continued growth since your free will cannot be superseded. You cannot benefit from the wisdom of the spirit's leadings and feel God's love unless you truly desire it. Growing spiritually is a choice. The desire to be with God needs to come from you. No one will ever force you, not even our Universal Father/Mother.
But if you choose to develop this relationship, then it will be worthwhile only if you listen to what Spirit wants to say to you. Communication is a two-way street. In this sense, God is no different from someone else who wishes to talk to you. You would enter willingly into communication if you wanted to be in a relationship with another person. You can also do this with your Spiritual Parent.
So at this stage of your stillness, listen for God's answer by allowing your mind to be still for as long as you are able, just as if this wise counselor were sitting by your side speaking to you. When you converse with someone, you allow your mind some time of repose as you listen to what the other person is trying to convey. The signal conveyed by your spirit will reach your mind more efficiently when you listen inwardly. You cultivate an increasingly receptive environment when your focus is attuned to listening to your inner voice. It takes time, dedication, and perseverance to attune yourself to this inner leading; however, if you practice consistently, you will be richly rewarded.
At this stage, when you are seeking insight or answers to your questions, allow your mind to be totally open to listening. Your inner spirit will begin to communicate with you. Tune your listening inside. Wait as long as you can and maintain your listening focus. Depending upon your receptivity and your ability to remove the barriers to communication, colors, pictures, words, or ideas may flash across your mind. Do not try to interpret any of these. Simply continue to listen. This is your spirit's opportunity to communicate to you. The longer you can focus on this inner listening, the longer will your indwelling spirit have to impart to your conscious mind what it feels you are ready to receive.
Sense the Divine Presence
Our loving Divine Father/Mother stands ready to lavish you with unimaginable love and beauty. Envision Spirit showering you with divine affection, as if you were standing under a shower of loving rain. Actually ask God to send the Divine presence and love flow through you, and offer your love back. This is the culmination of the personal relationship with God. In this state of stillness, you are getting to know the Universal Father/Mother. You are sensing and learning about God's loving, merciful nature. You are in touch with Spirit's infinite compassion, are receiving tender mercy, and bountiful understanding. In opening yourself and asking for guidance for your life, you are learning to accept that God loves you.
The dynamic of coming to know God is similar to learning to know another person. Just as you need to communicate and spend time with someone in order to truly know who he or she is, so you need to communicate with God in order to benefit from Spirit’s goodness. However, in human relationships there is a potential for misunderstanding or for poor advice to be given. But our Creator, in Spirit's perfection and unconditional love for you, will always understand what you are trying to say. Only God knows what is deep within your heart and soul. Only God will give you unconditional love and acceptance and the true answers to all of your questions. Only by developing this personal relationship will you truly enjoy the fullness of Spirit’s love, wisdom, and counsel. The growth of this relationship is boundless and increases, over time, in beauty and glory as human child and Divine Parent unite in a loving eternal embrace. This is the culmination of the stillness.
The Embrace of God
Seeking the stillness and listening to your inner voice will lead you to the happiness and fulfillment you desire. Be patient with this practice, for these rewards come in time. How quickly you reap the benefit depends on how much you can remove the barriers to your receptivity and how willing you are to intuit what your spirit guidance is trying to convey. At first, you may not notice anything different. But one day, you suddenly realize you will seem to be happier overall. Or, you may find that you react more positively in a situation where in the past you became angry or sad. This is your indication that you have grown.
As you continue this practice, your sense of self-worth expands and you find new facets of your personality and ways to better express yourself positively and constructively. New feelings of love will begin to emerge, not only for yourself but for others. You find yourself more willing to share your love. You exhibit more patience, tolerance, generosity, and goodwill toward others as your desire to share God's love tenderly fans the flames of compassion. You find people being drawn to you by the fragrance of love you exude, compelling them to seek the spiritual riches you possess. You will be supremely satisfied to share your treasures with them. All these are your rewards for taking the time to seek the stillness and listen to what your spirit strives to convey to you.
Feeling God’s Love
God's love is freely and lavishly given to you when you attempt to commune spiritually. Love is the actual inducement to grow in comprehension of spiritual reality. Love produces physical, mental, and spiritual sensory feelings that act as catalysts to heighten your desire for enlightenment. The more love you feel, the more you will crave. Receiving God's love at the physical level feels good; it feels peaceful, it makes you feel whole, it compels you to always want more. God's love is quite addicting, but this addiction produces only beneficial effects, ones that assist you to become a better person, the person you know deep inside that you were born to be. This is what will lead you to new heights of happiness, joy, and serenity.
These feelings are real. They are not just mental exercises or physiological responses. They are your motivation to seek spiritual growth. God's love is like no other feeling you will ever experience. When you sense divine love, when you allow Spirit's love to surround you, you experience a small part of our Creator’s divinity. Goodness, mercy, patience, understanding, wisdom – all that is Spirit. The magnitude of the Divine character and the power God commands creates a sense of awe when you are in the flow of our Universal Father/Mother’s love; it is humbling and elevating at the same time.
The degree to which you feel this love is proportional to the degree you believe you are worthy. The more you feel loved by God, the more you love yourself and others. This growing feeling of being loved expands your faith that your Spiritual Parent’s love will always be there for you whenever you feel alone or lost. Just as a child may run to a loving parent for comfort and consolation when he or she is afraid, so can you turn to your Creator Parent in times of trouble, to receive the understanding and solace you need to buoy you up in the waters of adversity. These spiritual gifts will always be there to answer your cries for help during times of emotional and material crisis.
The Bounties of Listening to Spirit
These blessings are yours for the asking. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find. But it takes time to see the fruits of your spiritual labor. Discerning spiritual answers is a lifelong pursuit and your capacity to do this increases with conscious cooperation. Trust God to be the pilot of your ship. Turn your faith, your desires, your aspirations toward your spirit and be willing to listen to what it is trying to convey. Often the road is very rough. Many times there are obstacles to surmount. Sometimes these are put in your path deliberately, not to frighten or dishearten you, but to challenge you to bring forth those aspects of your personality that can lead you ever forward to Divinity and to greater awareness of the truth, beauty, and goodness existing in the universe we share with Spirit.
Problems will not miraculously be taken away from you, however, because challenge creates choices. You must decide how to handle your problems. Will you see life as the pursuit of only material goals, or will you allow spirit to add another dimension to your life? When your spirit guides you, you give yourself a great advantage. You avail yourself of the wisdom and counsel God waits to impart to you to help you meet life's obstacles with courage, strength, and hope. Your life's circumstances will not magically change. You will, however, be able to find the means to overcome difficult situations and see them from a different perspective, making them seem less daunting.
Spiritual growth is dynamic, it is stimulating; it is not for the weak or the ease-seeker. If you are up to this challenge, you are given many spiritual gifts and great support to bolster your courage for the long journey to perfection. The greatest barrier to your happiness and spiritual illumination is your unwillingness to move from the chair of complacency, from the clutches of mere existence. If you want to be happy, then you must act! You cannot expect happiness to find you – you must be willing to go out and get it. Only the spirit inspires you to attain the fulfillment you desire. Only the spirit guides you to these rewards. Faith is all you need to attain your goal of happiness. Taking that first step of faith by trusting God's love for you is all your spirit needs to lead you the rest of the way home.
This is the way of spirit. It requires a person to courageously face fears and hopes and sincerely seek to discern the better way to live. Your spirit cannot compel you to do anything against your will. But know this: If you truly want Divine help, it is as close as your mind.
Seek the stillness, practice daily, and these joys will be yours. You will feel God's love for you grow with each passing day. You will gradually become alive with the glow of the divine light that shines from within. Your light is a beacon that illuminates a world lost in darkness. Your light is to be shared, for love cannot live in isolation. This is not its nature. Love exists in relationships and must be shared in its expression. God's love is available for you to internalize, to feel deeply, and then to pass on to those with whom you come into contact.
When you are in love, do you not feel you could burst? Love compels you to jump for joy and to shout to the whole world how wonderful you feel. So it is with God's love – it is not for you to keep inside; it must be shared. As you share love with others, you allow it to grow. Expending that which you have inside allows it to be replenished. That is the nature of love: It never runs out. You never have or give enough love. When you feel you have given it all, more is there for you to draw upon. This is what the Creator has decreed as part of the universal plan. Love is the dominating and driving force of the universe. Love makes you want to do good, not only for yourself but for others. This is the reality of universe. Love dominates. Love pervades all.
As you develop this personal relationship with God through your stillness practice, you will be revitalized by the recognition that God does indeed love you; you are a beloved and precious child. This security expands your capacity for self-acceptance, self-worth, self-love, and serenity. How could it be other than this? Realize that you are partaking of Divine Love, the perfect love. When you open to the guidance of your spirit fragment, you access the love that God wishes to share with you. The insight to overcome personal shortcomings, the wisdom to understand who you are, and the courage to be a good and righteous person – plus the desire to serve others with love, kindness, and compassion – are the hallmarks of this developing relationship with Spirit. God's love for you is what allows you to grow in these divine attributes. What is more attractive than to feel the greatest love of all?
As you continue this practice, your sense of self-worth expands and you find new facets of your personality and ways to better express yourself positively and constructively. New feelings of love will begin to emerge, not only for yourself but for others. You find yourself more willing to share your love. You exhibit more patience, tolerance, generosity, and goodwill toward others as your desire to share God's love tenderly fans the flames of compassion. You find people being drawn to you by the fragrance of love you exude, compelling them to seek the spiritual riches you possess. You will be supremely satisfied to share your treasures with them. All these are your rewards for taking the time to seek the stillness and listen to what your spirit strives to convey to you.
Feeling God’s Love
God's love is freely and lavishly given to you when you attempt to commune spiritually. Love is the actual inducement to grow in comprehension of spiritual reality. Love produces physical, mental, and spiritual sensory feelings that act as catalysts to heighten your desire for enlightenment. The more love you feel, the more you will crave. Receiving God's love at the physical level feels good; it feels peaceful, it makes you feel whole, it compels you to always want more. God's love is quite addicting, but this addiction produces only beneficial effects, ones that assist you to become a better person, the person you know deep inside that you were born to be. This is what will lead you to new heights of happiness, joy, and serenity.
These feelings are real. They are not just mental exercises or physiological responses. They are your motivation to seek spiritual growth. God's love is like no other feeling you will ever experience. When you sense divine love, when you allow Spirit's love to surround you, you experience a small part of our Creator’s divinity. Goodness, mercy, patience, understanding, wisdom – all that is Spirit. The magnitude of the Divine character and the power God commands creates a sense of awe when you are in the flow of our Universal Father/Mother’s love; it is humbling and elevating at the same time.
The degree to which you feel this love is proportional to the degree you believe you are worthy. The more you feel loved by God, the more you love yourself and others. This growing feeling of being loved expands your faith that your Spiritual Parent’s love will always be there for you whenever you feel alone or lost. Just as a child may run to a loving parent for comfort and consolation when he or she is afraid, so can you turn to your Creator Parent in times of trouble, to receive the understanding and solace you need to buoy you up in the waters of adversity. These spiritual gifts will always be there to answer your cries for help during times of emotional and material crisis.
The Bounties of Listening to Spirit
These blessings are yours for the asking. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find. But it takes time to see the fruits of your spiritual labor. Discerning spiritual answers is a lifelong pursuit and your capacity to do this increases with conscious cooperation. Trust God to be the pilot of your ship. Turn your faith, your desires, your aspirations toward your spirit and be willing to listen to what it is trying to convey. Often the road is very rough. Many times there are obstacles to surmount. Sometimes these are put in your path deliberately, not to frighten or dishearten you, but to challenge you to bring forth those aspects of your personality that can lead you ever forward to Divinity and to greater awareness of the truth, beauty, and goodness existing in the universe we share with Spirit.
Problems will not miraculously be taken away from you, however, because challenge creates choices. You must decide how to handle your problems. Will you see life as the pursuit of only material goals, or will you allow spirit to add another dimension to your life? When your spirit guides you, you give yourself a great advantage. You avail yourself of the wisdom and counsel God waits to impart to you to help you meet life's obstacles with courage, strength, and hope. Your life's circumstances will not magically change. You will, however, be able to find the means to overcome difficult situations and see them from a different perspective, making them seem less daunting.
Spiritual growth is dynamic, it is stimulating; it is not for the weak or the ease-seeker. If you are up to this challenge, you are given many spiritual gifts and great support to bolster your courage for the long journey to perfection. The greatest barrier to your happiness and spiritual illumination is your unwillingness to move from the chair of complacency, from the clutches of mere existence. If you want to be happy, then you must act! You cannot expect happiness to find you – you must be willing to go out and get it. Only the spirit inspires you to attain the fulfillment you desire. Only the spirit guides you to these rewards. Faith is all you need to attain your goal of happiness. Taking that first step of faith by trusting God's love for you is all your spirit needs to lead you the rest of the way home.
This is the way of spirit. It requires a person to courageously face fears and hopes and sincerely seek to discern the better way to live. Your spirit cannot compel you to do anything against your will. But know this: If you truly want Divine help, it is as close as your mind.
Seek the stillness, practice daily, and these joys will be yours. You will feel God's love for you grow with each passing day. You will gradually become alive with the glow of the divine light that shines from within. Your light is a beacon that illuminates a world lost in darkness. Your light is to be shared, for love cannot live in isolation. This is not its nature. Love exists in relationships and must be shared in its expression. God's love is available for you to internalize, to feel deeply, and then to pass on to those with whom you come into contact.
When you are in love, do you not feel you could burst? Love compels you to jump for joy and to shout to the whole world how wonderful you feel. So it is with God's love – it is not for you to keep inside; it must be shared. As you share love with others, you allow it to grow. Expending that which you have inside allows it to be replenished. That is the nature of love: It never runs out. You never have or give enough love. When you feel you have given it all, more is there for you to draw upon. This is what the Creator has decreed as part of the universal plan. Love is the dominating and driving force of the universe. Love makes you want to do good, not only for yourself but for others. This is the reality of universe. Love dominates. Love pervades all.
As you develop this personal relationship with God through your stillness practice, you will be revitalized by the recognition that God does indeed love you; you are a beloved and precious child. This security expands your capacity for self-acceptance, self-worth, self-love, and serenity. How could it be other than this? Realize that you are partaking of Divine Love, the perfect love. When you open to the guidance of your spirit fragment, you access the love that God wishes to share with you. The insight to overcome personal shortcomings, the wisdom to understand who you are, and the courage to be a good and righteous person – plus the desire to serve others with love, kindness, and compassion – are the hallmarks of this developing relationship with Spirit. God's love for you is what allows you to grow in these divine attributes. What is more attractive than to feel the greatest love of all?