Faith First, Then Enlightenment

Faith (believing without the benefit of proof) must come into our minds first before spiritual enlightenment can set in and grow. Faith can thus be looked upon like fertilizer for the soil...the mind being the soil (in this analogy). Faith can be likened to the act of opening the blinds to let light shine in. It is not an easy feat to accomplish (the feat of believing blindly) since the mind can be quite stubborn and thus needs to be programmed.

The step to programming the mind is simple. It is a series of repetitive, daily verbal declarations affirming the belief you wish to program your mind with. Say out loud to yourself (look at yourself in the mirror if you wish) continuously everyday for at least thirty days "I believe..." Successful salespeople use this technique to change any belief that mentally blocks them from achieving their success. If they are shy and hesitant, they will verbally declare out loud to themselves "You are bold and confident."

This is easier said than done but if you can manage to get yourself to do it, you will reap the rewards of your new found Faith. Are you desperate enough to try anything? Desperation can surely be turned into a good thing...in this case, if you can somehow channel it into the stimulus that sparks a monumental change in your life.

To illustrate with the example of my own life, I blindly believed in Jesus at the moment when He was revealed to me at an early age. From there my life ventured into a path of absorbing as much enlightenment as my young mind was capable of absorbing, then subsequently questioning these beliefs (during my adult life) and seeking analytical and logical proof, and finally coming back full circle into settling into a set of beliefs fully centered on following the Way and Truth that is Jesus, even in the absence of any proof.

Trying to gain enlightenment without first establishing a level of faith within our minds will more than likely lead to confusion...something we certainly don't need any more of.

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Meaning and Purpose in Life

In the description of the soul and its activities (in other essays on this blog) , we learned that the soul connects with other souls and within that connection it fulfills its essence and nature...that essence being LOVE. We further learned that the direction of Love's spiritual energy is from one soul towards another...it is an outward direction. Human nature on the other hand is focused on the self (and the term we use for this activity is 'selfish'), the preservation of the self, and the fulfillment of all the various needs of the senses of the body (touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell)...it is an inward direction.

With this in mind, it is easy to see how a tug-of-war between the two elements is constantly going on. During the infant stages in the development of the connection between the body and the soul, the soul has very little activity on the mind. As we grow older and incrementally garner wisdom from our various experiences of "pain" and "suffering", the connection grows, gets stronger, and the activity of the soul on the mind (its influence on it) increases.

To illustrate, when we first come into the world in the form of a baby, we are in our most selfish state of being...that is only natural. After all, we need to preserve our existence and yet we are completely incapable of taking care of our basic needs at that stage. As we grow and acquire more and more physical and intellectual abilities, we becomes less and less dependent on others. As we acquire more independence and the capacity to provide for our needs, we begin to have more control over these necessities. As we attain increasing control over the fulfillment of our necessities, we can begin to learn about considering the needs of others. And so goes this cycle of our development until we reach the end of our lives. It is therefore our spiritual goal to somehow reach the highest level of state of unselfishness and love we that we are capable of attaining by the time that moment arrives.

The surest measure of the growth and increased development of the connection between our body with our soul is the amount and degree of selfless acts of love (charity) we do on a moment by moment, day to day basis. The more acts of love we do and the more of these acts we do automatically (like it being a second nature to us), the more certain we are that this connection is reaching higher and higher levels in the spiritual plane.

This is, in essence, the true meaning of and purpose in the journey of life - the incremental growth and development of the connection between body and soul. Consequently, as our body (mind) connects with our soul, we connect with God. The perfect union of our soul with God is our ultimate endpoint.

Every act of love we do for others is influential in the growth of that other person's body-soul connection, their spiritual journey and ultimately, their connection and communion with God.

The act of love we render can be as simple as a sincere, welcoming smile delivered at the just right moment to a stranger who is so moved by the loving gesture that the direction of his life path is altered toward the light.

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Loving Intentions or Simple Lust?

This is essay is not about spirituality but I share it here to shed some light on some of the questions women have relating to their relationships with the men in their lives. What I am about to share here for all women (young and old) can be a rather harsh and difficult truth to accept and come to terms with. Let me be clear at the onset that this truth applies to men in general and not to all men. This is advice that I give my own daughters and female friends whom I care about.

Men make an instantaneous (practically automatic) discernment at the very moment they first cast their eyes on a woman they are attracted to. They discern that the woman is either:
(1) someone with whom they can enjoy sexual fun and pleasure with and (quite soon after) leave and discard once they have had their fill and move on to the next, or
(2) a serious contender for their heart and soul and whom they would consider living the rest of their lives and possible starting a family with.

How can one a woman what is going on in the mind of your date? Here is one surefire and certain way to tell.

If the subject of sex in any manner, degree, shape or form is brought up at any moment in the first date then the woman can be certain that the man has discerned her to be type (1) and looked upon with pure lust (whether the man realizes this himself or not) with short term expectations.

For a man who discerns a woman to be type (2) as described above, sex would be the farthest thing on (even absent from) his mind. The man would be so enamored that he is completely focused on getting to know and connecting with the person inside the object of his sentiment. In fact, sex will not even venture into his mind until well into the point when he and the woman both have developed a high level of connection and intimacy such that the thought of sex would naturally arise more as a result of the desire to be as physically close and connected to her as he can be in order to express through physical means that sense of spiritual intimacy. For some men, they may respect and look at the woman as they do their own mothers so much so that they would repress any natural development of the desire for sex with her (not a good thing either).

While it is certainly true that sincere feelings of love can and has been observed to develop with relationships that started out as purely lustful in nature from the very beginning, these have sadly been proven (many more times than not) to be short-lived and lacking much longevity.

With this awareness about men and the way men think and feel, you should be in a better position to make well informed decisions concerning your numerous dates, set reasonable expectations and increase your likelihood for success in fulfilling what you desire the most from the dating experience.

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Spirit and Flesh

A great spiritual Teacher expressed this truth as the hour of His capture and subsequent torture approached while in the company of faithful disciples who could not even manage to stay awake with him during those last few minutes of freedom “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

With those few words, this Teacher effectively captured and profoundly articulated the natural and difficult tug-of-war between the soul (and its activities) and the body (human nature or programming). Let us not be discouraged by our current inability to overcome aspects of our nature that undermine the activities of the soul. Rather, let us keep striving for small incremental successes day by day, moment by moment.

As we recognize our own limitations in this regard and accept these with peace (with awareness that we are earnestly connecting with and responding to the activities of your soul), let us leverage this understanding of ourselves into an earnest effort to understand others and be at peace with their shortcomings and earnest efforts in becoming a better persons. This is a worthwhile act of love and charity.

This act of love is in line with the same act of love exhibited by the same great spiritual Teacher above when He expressed these last words as He was being put to death on the cross - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

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A Leap of Faith

It is my sincere hope that as you read the various entries on this blog, you will come to sense and allow yourself to open your mind to one very important and essential consideration - the soul is simply too important, too critical, too fundamental an element and factor in the being of a person to deny its existence (and consequently deprive yourself of the benefits derived from acknowledging it) solely on the basis that it is "imaginary" and you are unable to sense it and prove it.

Understanding the soul is key to fully knowing and understanding ourselves. This is definitely (and logically) one area where giving the benefit of the doubt will reward you in countless ways. Some of these rewards include attaining a sense of belonging, understanding our place in this existence, finding fulfillment in our lives and reaching the state of inner peace.

I solicit you to heed a well known absolute truth - blindly believe first and then and only then will you sense and see the truth beneath that which you believe. Believe in the presence of the soul and the soul will reveal itself to you.

Here is my invitation to you...take a leap of faith with me in earnestly believing the existence of the soul and take steps to nurture it until you reach a point where you have complete certainty over its falsehood. Even if you do get there, what do you stand to lose by this leap of faith apart from a feeling of disappointment at the end? Heck, we stand to lose much more playing any game of chance in Vegas. I assure you (just as everyone else who took this dive would), you will not get to that sad endpoint.

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