awareness

Spiritual awareness and insight

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Conscious Suffering is Good

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Have you ever noticed that spiritual individuals embrace the same kind of suffering all the rest of us are trying to escape?

We all suffer when a loved one dies, or we get ill, or hungry, or run out of money.

Then you have those rare people who seem to relish choosing to live in such conditions and who have consciously adopted the rejection of worldly happiness and comfort. (This is like firemen who rush into a burning building that everyone else is hurriedly running out of.)

These humble types of people seem to have an inner wisdom and contentment that most of us lack.

What is ironic to me is that everyone else knows and grasps the idea of “no pain, no gain.” Suffering has a good side! This rule works for procuring both worldly and spiritual success. The “pain” here is intentionally (and actively) sought and is not the same kind of suffering that happens to other creatures or passive victims.

In this relatively short physical lifetime on earth (that lasts perhaps 80 years), it seems irrational (and delusional) to strive only for temporary self-centered success. Eternal or inner happiness comes from intentionally sacrificing this kind of self-centeredness, which curiously, causes a form of personal suffering and a real sense of loss (of one’s old self).

Some people don’t believe in the existence of God because of all the suffering in the world. Others believe in God because suffering can be turned into a blessing.

http://www.provinggod.com

Spiritual awareness and insight

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Source of life – Gives hope in adversity?

The Source

As we know, social disorder and personal problems exist in human society and in our individual circumstances. We could end up immersing ourselves in negativity about this if we are not careful. Keeping ourselves awake at night with worry. Cursing fate for our plight. We might doubt whether there is any source of goodness around.

Spiritual awareness is rather a vague phrase but nevertheless it can lighten our load. We perceive a deeper side to reality when for example we notice a life force that makes things grow and flourish, whether it be in nature or in one’s personal life.  Or when we feel in tune with a higher inspiration for our creative work. Or when we see evidence of a design within the order of the universe.

In whatever way we think of it, we can see reality as something greater than ourselves: as something beyond what is physical. It transcends our bodily experience and material concerns.

Religion

Religious cultures over history have venerated a similar idea envisioned in various supernatural guises.

Today, in western Europe, the churches are declining. However, many non-churchgoers designate themselves as ‘spiritual but not religious’. You may not be committed to a taught faith but do try to figure out what’s true, and what’s good, and then to start living a better life.

Western religion has a word in different languages meaning God. Some people, likewise use a capital for the first letter of their word for what they feel to be beyond themselves.  Words used are Being, the Source, the All, the Divine, the Infinite, the Absolute etc. These words may be used slightly differently.

The Source

As I understand it, ‘the Source’ means there is a source of spiritual light and love.

“I am not aligned with a religious belief system but I do have a faith in something bigger, a divinity of some sort. I choose to call it ‘source’.” (Helen Leathers, personal development teacher)

We may sometimes feel separate from this Source. Nevertheless, we may believe we have a continuous connection with it. It is seen as a part of us as we seek wisdom, guidance, intuition, or inspiration. People sometimes say that a focus on this higher energy allows us to remember our mission, our vision, and our reason for being.

If the Source is real and not a figment of the imagination, a question arises. To what extent can we rely on it when times are hard? When we face what is bad in life?

The All of everything

Some speak of the higher reality in terms of ‘the All’, meaning the all of everything. The focus is on the all of life, the all of love, the all of goodness, the all of wisdom. This is a wonderful idea about what can enthuse and move us. However, I notice that the term ‘the All of everything’ also seems to imply the all of disease, the all of selfish desires, and the all of folly.

We are aware of the Holocaust, Stalin’s Gulag, Pol Pot’s Killing Fields. I would argue that we are so horrified by despicable events, as genocide, terrorist killings, and serial murder, that it is insufficient to refer to such atrocities as ‘bad’ or even ‘very bad’. We need to invoke a more basic idea of the ‘evil’ of some actions and of the delusional ideas that attempt to justify them.

The chaos caused by natural disaster, suffering of disease and evil of man’s inhumanity to man, have a very troubling influence on life as we know it.

The question about reliance on the spiritual Source when we face what is bad is a challenging one. What hope and trust can we place in the Source of goodness when we encounter evil? Here are some suggested answers.

Purpose of love

Just as there is a design in the orderliness of nature, so is there not also a creative plan for humanity? An intention within the higher reality to bring about stability and beauty in our lives? If it is love that is the cause of all of what is good, then I would say the Source of love intends our growth and fulfilment.

According to this view there is a purpose of higher reality to bring about human happiness for the sake of love. Love wants the best for who is loved.

“The essence of love is loving others…, wishing to be one with them and devoting oneself to their happiness.” (Emanuel Swedenborg, spiritual philosopher)

This loving purpose might be in the background when we bring on suffering to ourselves. I would say nothing happens by chance. We suffer when we lose our friends, our job, and the good regard of our loved ones. Where is a loving purpose within our unhappiness? Is it not to do with a self-compassion that allows us to learn from our mistakes? Obliging us to face up to the reasons for our loss – perhaps complacency, laziness, or self-centredness.

Power of love

I believe we are all potential channels for the power of love. When we connect wholeheartedly with the Source, love can win if we are faced with scorn, malice or contempt. Its power of healing, through our behaviour can give comfort to those who inwardly suffer from a myriad of various problems. Its power of understanding, through our words can inspire good sense and enlightenment no matter what irrational fears are being experienced.

Evil as no independent force

Another way, to have confidence in the Source, is to not exaggerate any power of evil. I favour the idea that evil, although real enough in its effects if given reign, does not really exist in its own right. In other words, social injustice, pain, misery have never been inevitable. What is chaotic and disorderly comes about because people at times have chosen to stand good on its head. I see the evil of suffering, and hatred as the tragic rejection and thus absence of orderliness, contentment and compassion. In fact, the inversion of all that is good.

I would like to suggest that the cause of chaos and disorder is not an evil power that some religions have sometimes, and mistakenly in my view, referred to as the Devil. Instead, an atmosphere of evil originates in the way humans sometimes have freely chosen to behave.

“It is human spiritual disorders like lust, vengeance, cruelty and oppression that incubate disease and misfortune.” (Bruce Henderson, Swedenborgian writer)

I happen to hold the view that disease and natural disasters are due to the negative side of this spiritual environment around us. Let us then all try to not feed its influence. We could instead turn towards the spirit of love. This is shown by the outpouring of service and kindness in the wake of disasters. Seeing others suffer can help us to be more sensitive and merciful.

Conclusion

We have the potential to be a vehicle for both good and evil. In very trying times, putting one’s hope in the Source of love is not easy. But we all have a part to play in turning back towards Love Itself and helping with its plan to bring happiness in the world.

Copyright 2019 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems

Spiritual Awakening in children-is this possible?

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discovering Inner Health and transformation

Spiritual awakening in children – Is this possible?

At times children seem untidy, noisy, and demanding. Some appear even empty-headed, selfish, and endlessly bickering. At the same time many of us feel a sense of vague longing for our own childhood. There is something about being a child that pulls at our heart strings. Probably this is to do with how in children the ‘here and now’ is central. They are said to live in the moment and have a natural energy and spontaneity about them. But do children show any signs of spiritual awakening? Do they have transcendent awareness?

William Blake and William Wordsworth in their poetry Songs of Innocence and Ode: Intimations of Immortalityevoked the awakening of a magical freshness of childhood perception as well as a natural kinship with all that is seen.

Ideas about spiritual awakening during childhood

Abraham Maslow who studied ‘peak’ experiences in adults, thought that children also undergo an awakening of visionary experiences but usually lack the words to talk about them. Even if you happen to remember having a deeply moving event many decades ago, you may not recall it with total accuracy.

Dr. Elisabeth Kűbler-Ross, famous for her books about the terminally ill, surprised medical science in the late 1970’s by revealing in her book On Children and Death, the transcendent perceptions of her patients.

“It is impossible to ignore the thousands of stories that dying patients – children and adults – have shared with me. These illuminations cannot be explained in scientific language.”  

Hoffman’s findings about children

Clinical psychologist, Edward Hoffman collected memories from adults regarding inspirational awakening during their early life. He discovered a pattern of childhood spirituality in the memories of early years detailed in his book Visions of Childhood.

These involved deep meaning, beauty and great harmony, often involving the awareness of a different kind of reality. Uplifting experiences happened in ordinary places, as well as whilst encountering nature, and during near death or crisis episodes.

Remembered are spontaneous moments of bliss, and profound insights about life and oneself in childhood: memories having an enduring significance into adulthood.

Profound intuitions in children

Hoffman’s respondents reported accounts of experiences when as children they speculated about life and death, and engaged in reflections regarding personal existence and self-transcendence.

For example a man reported that as a child his family had a mortuary in a small town in Colorado. Consequently, he grew up with a certain familiarity with death. He remembers constantly pondering where dead people go. “Do they just go into a hole in the ground? What does it feel like to be dead?” When aged nine he recalls sitting on a park bench imagining his dead grandfather being in a dark, lonely, black expanse of ‘nothing and no one’ forever and ever.

A terrible and chilling dread came over his entire body. But then instantly it vanished. It was replaced by a warm comfortable, and bright feeling – and a kind and loving presence. “I seemed to hear my grandpa saying, ‘See, it’s all right. I’m just in a place that’s different.’ ”

From that day on he remembers “I never again had a fear of death.”

One woman from Connecticut reported that her older child when aged three would occasionally ask her questions about God. One day he was standing still for a long time next to a window in their home. Just staring and not moving. An unusual thing to see in someone so young. Eventually he moved away and when asked what he was doing he replied in a matter-of-fact way “I was talking with God”. He remained subdued and then went on playing as usual. He didn’t want to share the experience with her and when asked about the incident at a later point in his life apparently didn’t recall it.

How common is spiritual awakening in children?

Are deeper experiences common but stay hidden from ourselves? That would be true if misunderstood by the child experiencing them. Or perhaps they seem unusual because they were never shared with others due to being so private, hard to put into words and unique to the individual. Or perhaps parents and childhood friends reacted negatively causing the child to clam up?

Implanting of spiritual feelings in children

One way of understanding what is going on is the idea of spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. He suggests the infant mind is especially open to what might be called the heaven of innocence.

spiritual awakening childrenSo states of wonder and trust in life being basically good inflow into little children from a higher spiritual realm. As a result of this inflow the young child looks with eyes of wonder, thinks with a mind of imagination and feels with a heart of innocence.

Part of this state of innocence is a willingness to believe one does not produce all the good things which come to one. It is acknowledging a certain insufficiency.

Also the heavenly trust in the divine reality and consequent sense of the ‘eternal now’ can arguably be seen in the infant’s lack of any sense of time.

He suggests the inflowing higher feelings about the goodness of life vary according to age.

  • Little children trusting in life as good.
  • In middle childhood wanting to know about what is good.
  • In adolescence wanting to understand why it is good.

According to this view when we are young these unconscious feelings and inner awareness forms deep intuitions, like seeds that remain dormant as we grow up. But later we need to draw on them for our spiritual awakening in adulthood.

Importance of re-connecting to our childhood spirituality

These memories of our early years suggest there is ‘a small forgotten child who is our past self’ yet who ‘still lives within each of us’. Hoffman maintains that strengthening the link to our childhood is crucial for achieving greater happiness. Not only connecting to both the wounded child within but also to those moments of spiritual awakening in childhood.

The notion that the innocence of childhood may harbour special intuitive and spiritual sensitivity is reflected in the words of Jesus Christ who said

“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Copyright 2017 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems

Pet cats – What can we learn from them?

pet
Our pet Geoffrey

My wife and I have a pet cat called Geoffrey. We have got to know him quite well – his eating, relaxing, communication, play, and so on. Animals live on an entirely natural level and I realise it would be a mistake to attribute human emotions to them. But is there anything we can learn from our pets about the deeper side of life? Any thing about them that points us to an ideal way of human living?

Contentment in our pet

We often see Geoffrey lying on his side with his paws stretched out in front of him, with a sleepy look on his face and with half closed eyes. Very different from a cat who swishes its tail, has ruffled-up fur or is heard hissing. Sometimes he may roll over on to his side to show his tummy, communicating that he feels relaxed enough to expose such a vulnerable area.

Sometimes I wish I could be as relaxed as our pet and delight in simple pleasures. He doesn’t put himself under unnecessary stress. If a dog barked at him, which happens occasionally, he shows no after-effects. Unlike us e.g. who, when shouted at by an angry car driver, would likely be a bit tense for a while afterwards.

Anyone who has tried to meditate will realise that the mind is restless. Inwardly we jump from one worry to the next, one guilty secret to another. Inwardly chattering away, the mind has a mind of its own, creating unnecessary emotions like anxiety, anger or gloominess. Our cat is showing us the importance of stilling and calming the mind. You can learn to do this, if you don’t do so already, by creating space in your day for quiet reflection, meditation or prayer.

Awareness in our pet

If we change the furniture round in our home or introduce any sort of change outdoors, Geoffrey soon looks into every nook and cranny. Our neighbour once saw him exploring over 40 feet up the trunk of a high tree. They say ‘curiosity killed the cat’ but ours is still alive and well.

I wonder if we are sufficiently willing to explore what is really going on around us.  Are you awake to the ‘here and now’ rather than focusing on automatic habits of thought?

“The past is history,
The future is mystery,
This moment is a gift.
Which is why it is called ‘the present’. “
(By an unknown poet)

Are you sufficiently curious about what others think so as to become a better listener? People convey an enormous amount of information about themselves through subtle movements and tones of voice.

Do you notice things of beauty in what is going on around you? A child playing, moonlight shimmering on the water, a tree swaying in the wind. Are you fully aware of your physical and social surroundings and want to investigate them?

Independence in our pet

You can’t herd cats. Like all of them, Geoffrey shows independence. He is quite happy to spend time on his own each day. He responds to enticement rather than ordering around. A clicking of the fingers and verbal encouragement can get his attention and interest in coming over to me. But unlike a trained dog ordered to ‘heel’, he won’t do as he is told.

A quality of independence is something one needs in order to be a spiritual thinker in the face of materialistic society. Without individual reflection and perception, how can one rise above the social pressures of the crowd.

Non-aggression in our pet

Another quality in our pet cat is non-aggression. The public walk their dogs off the lead along the woodland public right of way that goes right through our garden. Geoffrey has learned to watch carefully. He is quick to avoid danger of being chased. He runs away or climbs a tree when he sees a threat. Only when cornered by a barking dog will he flatten his ears and hiss as a warning to stay back.  He could cause painful injury lashing out with his sharp claws but most cats only attack defensively as a last resort in such a situation.

Some of us have a tendency to show hostility to others after little provocation. It is as if we believe ‘attack is the best form of defense.’  Instead, shouldn’t we adopt a more socially acceptable form of non-aggressive behaviour to assert what we think is right and stick up for ourselves?

Friendliness in our pet

Geoffrey is our only pet and so we are the only social group he has. He likes to come to us for a fuss, perhaps a stroke or grooming or be allowed to lie on our laps. He purrs and sometimes tries to lick us at these times. So we get companionship and affection from him.  When we are in the garden we often find him near by. There is a quarter of a mile walk along a woodland path from our home to get to where our car is parked and he invariably walks with us and stays waiting until we return sometimes several hours later. Then he greets us with a meow with tail up, pleased to see us again, sometimes rubbing his head against our legs.

Some of us are naturally more friendly and agreeable. Others of us are distant and less communicative. But I believe what our pet’s expression of affection suggests is the possible ideal of loving kindness. This is the feeling praised by all the world’s main spiritual and religious traditions.

The lesson here is not just expressing feeling – although that is important – but us having a generosity of spirit, being agreeable, kind, patient, tolerant, considerate and forgiving and even compassionate.

 

“Earth’s living creatures correspond to affections, the mild and useful ones to good affections, the fierce and useless ones to evil affections” (Emanuel Swedenborg mystical philosopher)

Copyright 2017 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems

 

Positive awareness – How to find it?

positiveThere probably were some positive experiences you have had recently. Just small things really. Like the delight of bumping into a friend at the supermarket, a warm glow felt when someone shows you some consideration, or the delight you felt in observing your small grandchildren playing.

But when bad things also happen, how easy it is to forget the positives. The washing machine develops a fault. Someone at work has a go at you. You sleep badly because of a sore throat. If you focus on the bad stuff, you quickly forget any pleasant experiences and instead develop a negative frame of mind. So much so that you are in danger of noticing no hint of anything good and seeing what is bad in everything. So if you have this damaging tendency, how determined are you to start to see things differently? To notice more about the magic of life? And how in practice could you go about this?

Blocks that hinder you noticing the magic of life

You can be inwardly deadened by the noise and pollution of our urban environments, the endless information and the drudge of work. The temptation is to mindlessly sleepwalk through this kind of life; allowing past memories and future fantasies to dominate your consciousness as a way of escaping from the reality of the present moment. Then of course you become absent-minded; too alienated from the needs of the moment to notice the here and now with its ordinary crop of positive, albeit fleeting, experiences.

“The past is history,
The future a mystery,
At this moment is a gift.
Which is why it is called `the present.’ ”
(Unknown author)

Another factor that can hinder us in getting in contact with the positive uplifting side of life is that of materialistic science. The spiritual writer Roger Walsh has pointed out the blinding power of science, saying that we are so bombarded by its way of looking at the universe as a great meaningless machine that we are led into a kind of cynicism regarding any meaning and purpose behind our world.

A third factor I would like to mention, is that of attachment to bodily pleasure and worldly concerns. For example developing an emotional, if not physical, dependence on alcohol, drugs, food, competition for social status, excessive consumption, and over identification with one’s ‘tribe’.  Preoccupied with the material side of life can corrupt any vision of the spiritual.

Exercise focusing on positive experiences

One way of combating these problems is the 15 minute exercise of noticing the positives in your day. Here are some instructions.

1.      In the evening, sit down alone comfortably in a quiet place with paper and pen.

2.      Reflect on the day’s events; what you did, who you spoke with and what was said, where you were and what you saw.

3.      For each of these remembered ordinary moments, pause and consider anything positive. Were you touched by anything good about the experience? Perhaps it was a fleeting or subtle moment when you felt pleased or impressed.  May be you were even caught by a beauty of the situation.

4.      There would have been what was negative mixed up in what was positive. But write one sentence for each time about any positive aspect.

5.      When you have finished reread your list.

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind.” (Ashley Smith)

Benefits of recognising the positive

Looking for the positive each evening can have an accumulative beneficial effect. But to gain this benefit you need to make an effort.

“You need to stop. Wake up. Be more aware. Be conscious and recognise that something good is happening.” (William Bloom)

When you are searching for positives you are likely to feel watchful, more relaxed and better humoured. Try to be mindful of how your mood has changed. Surrender to the experience. If it feels uplifting then think of it as a moment of spiritual connection even if it lasts only a few seconds. It is not true that spiritual experiences are only rare and intense. A positive experience can be common and ordinary such as simply a feeling of uplift from a chance conversation, a brief flash of insight, or a moment of laughter.

As you start to take more notice of good experiences, you are likely to want to search them out. And so many people actively seek some connection with the wonder and energy of life through the natural environment. They find the ambience of some landscapes takes them into a different mood and they become more sensitive to even a whisper of magic. Others hope to find something essentially good and wonderful about life in a friendly crowd or in intimacy with their loved one, or when caught up in a team of fellow workers in full and creative flow.

Swedenborgian point

A relevant Swedenborgian maxim is ‘influx adapts itself to efflux.’ In other words, inflow into the mind is proportional to outflow of the mind: perception from a higher level is proportional to the mindset of the observer. If you look for something you are more likely to notice it. But if you are resistant to the possibility of seeing the spiritual, you will be blind to it.

“Seek and you will find” (Jesus Christ)

Copyright 2013 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems