by John Ashbrook
The pursuit of spirituality is one grand endeavor. It is much more than yoga, meditation, books, classes, and crystals. Spirituality is a lifelong process of deep personal exploration. Spirituality can ever be a final state; it must be an ongoing process. The spiritual life is not easy, and it is not hard, it just is! It is the honest knowledge and subsequent expression of one’s true self. It is the acceptance of who you are at any given moment, whether you like what you see or not. Spirituality is about embracing your truth, with the full understanding that you must first accept and embrace who you are now before you can ever be more.
A spiritual person takes full responsibility for the life they create, and they understand that denial is the enemy of personal change and growth. A patient, gentle understanding discipline of negative discoveries will eventually dissolve them and lead to the development of harmony within one’s soul. If all this sounds like work, you are right, it is. It takes real commitment to address one’s personal truth and real courage to accept it, but the reward is the diminishment of paralyzing fear and the enhancement of freedom. As you pursue the discovery of your own infinite uniqueness, you will, at some point, realize that this continuing process is, in itself, the most rewarding, fulfilling activity in your life. In fact, it is your life because it allows you to express your total being and create the newness of the eternal moment. You will see the obvious greater spiritual significance in everything, and your greatest joy will be found in the quiet calm of your eternally expanding consciousness.
This commitment to the spiritual life makes all things possible because self-love is manifested within the soul. This love is not static, and it does not stand still. Although it may be subject to a natural ebb and flow if love does stand still, then it is no longer love. The spiritual definition of love is a free-flowing continuum of harmonic cooperation between the masculine and feminine principles of the unified soul. This harmonic co-operation fosters infinite diverse expression and manifest creation. When such a dynamic exists in the psyche, then one’s existence can be no less than totally fulfilling. All possibilities are subject to reality. This dynamic of infinite self-expression that is the hallmark of divine inner love can only lead to humble self-esteem that sees truth without judgment, a heart of real attachments, and a sense of duty that is genuine but not self-destructive. Such an individual knows no fear and attracts no danger. They walk through life with complete faith and trust that all is unfolding as it should. This dynamic of divine self-love is not without problems, but they are met with a willing openness of self-examination, which makes it possible to dissolve them with a minimum of discomfort. A person who truly loves themselves never runs or hides from their shortcomings; they embrace them with gentle acceptance. This inner harmonic co-operation is constantly raising the spiritual vibration of the soul, guaranteeing the bliss of fusion with all that is. When such joy is manifested within, then it must also manifest itself in one’s external world. The outer conforms to the shape of the inner. The conscious and unconscious are one, and as such, manifestation of ideas happen more quickly with less effort. From this, it is obvious that enhanced prosperity must be the result of genuine, spiritual self-love.
This self-love creates a deserving attitude within the soul, which automatically attracts abundance. The healthy soul does not measure prosperity by one device; instead, it seeks to create a balanced blend of components that exist in unison and in complete harmony. Prosperity then becomes like a symphony of pleasing elements to be enjoyed separately and in many variety combinations, as well as the whole. Divine prosperity can be measured in an infinite number of ways because it is created according to the expression of the unified soul’s desire at any given time. The balanced, harmonious soul expresses itself without limit, so it puts no limit on prosperity. In this way, it avoids paralyzing attachments to limited identity. A spiritually healthy individual values all of their diverse expressions, but never identifies with any one aspect of their own uniqueness in such a way that could hamper their ongoing creativity. If this occurs, a non-loving state will manifest because love is freedom, and those who love themselves never limit their identity.
My friends, freedom is the ultimate prosperity! To the exact degree, there is spiritual development; there will be corresponding freedom. We must understand that freedom can never be the result of rigid extremes. Just as there is such a thing as not being responsible enough, there can be such a thing as being too responsible, working too hard, making external accomplishments the great God of one’s existence. This kind of living does not result in an inner harmonic balance of the masculine and feminine principles; therefore, it is not love. It is not being responsible to one’s self because it limits the expression of one’s life. WE must not get stuck in the extremes because they can only produce insecurity, fear, anger, despair, and escape. Too much work, too much play, too easy, too hard, it makes no difference. Prolonged exposure produces the same result. The discipline of balance is the key to freedom. When there is an exact balance, a harmonious dynamic between masculine and feminine energies, the exact goal of the moment will be clear, the exact course of action will be obvious, and the exact result will manifest. Risk or fear of failure are not factors in this kind of freedom of expression, because the internal balance of the soul cannot disrupt the natural balance of the universe – this is complete harmony.
It is easy to see that once divine self-love is established in one’s soul, the joys of prosperity and freedom come along with it and as long as there is self-expression in all of its infinite aspects, the meaning of one’s prosperity and freedom is ever-changing, totally fulfilling and unlimited.
