Secrets of Spiritual Happiness

Secret #37 -- See the Bigger Picture of Your Soul's Journey

 

    

 

By Sharon Janis

 

Man's unhappiness.... comes of his greatness; it is because there is an Infinite in him, which, with all his cunning, he cannot quite bury under the finite.

--Thomas Carlyle

We are so much more than we can ever know.   One great key to spiritual happiness lies in our choice of identification.  

Each of us is a spark of the eternal, great, soul that exists beyond time -- the "Before Abraham was, I Am" aspect of all creation.   Yet, we are also people who apparently exist in time and space, with all that entails.   The entire spiritual journey takes place between these two aspects of ourselves -- the little petty guy who is concerned about many things that are not so important in the grand scheme of things, and the eternal, great soul who is the source of the whole grand scheme of things.   And what a journey it is!

In the grand scheme of things, our individual life is like being on a vacation, though admittedly, not always the most pleasant one. But haven't you ever been on a vacation gone bad?   It happens.   Recently in the news, many people have been going on cruises where hundreds of the guests ended up quite ill -- a good example of vacations gone bad.   Of course, life is a bigger journey than just a weeklong cruise; therefore we have many more opportunities for all kinds of experiences -- good, bad, pleasant, and unpleasant.  

At the end of this "life-vacation," our deepest soul also gets to go home -- wherever that unknowable home may be.   In fact, some say that our deepest soul has never left home, and that all the colorful phantasmagoria of life is but a dream in the mind of God, the Supreme Soul who "dreams" us all into existence.

If we identify only with the little us - who goes by our name and has all of our limited and individual personality and physical traits - then we are likely to experience the ups and downs of life as huge waves that may engulf us.   All the troubles in life become so big and important.   We ride the not-so-thrilling roller coaster of happy and sad, which never truly comes to rest in the depths of true spiritual happiness.

If, instead, we identify with our unknowable greatness, through knowledge, contemplation, and faith, then we become spectators of our own life.   As spectators, we can enjoy the show, regardless of whether it is appearing as a drama, a comedy, or perhaps even a tragedy.   We naturally see the inherent beauty and perfection of life.   The key is to look at life as a play and to enjoy the show!

Now, with this expanded view in mind, I'd like to be your tour guide on a little side trip of this journey.   I'm going to share with you a visualization and contemplation exercise that can be used to symbolically dissolve any situation that is troubling you or holding you down at this particular time in your life.   Image-based contemplations like this can help us to get over inner stresses, such as anger, fear, grief, and all the other emotions that create obstacles in our lives and block our experience of spiritual happiness.  

Choose your most potent trouble - whether it's a big worry that is shadowing you, a contentious situation you may have with someone at work, an inability to forget or forgive someone who you feel has harmed you, or a major loss that you may have recently suffered. If you can't find anything from recent years, well, bully for you.   You can go back as far as needed to find an appropriate problem.   If there aren't any, even from childhood, then you're either dead or enlightened, and why are you reading this book?

Don't just choose the situation, but really get into all the emotions you have about the matter.   If it's a memory that brings up anger, bring forth the anger fully.   If it's something you've complained and moaned about to friends, then bring up all those angry words you've said out loud and in your mind.   Really get into the feeling, down to its roots - which may even be in childhood experiences that you don't consciously remember.  

Whatever the charged feeling is, elicit it.   Feel it.   Make the problem as big in your mind as it has ever been.   Don't judge what you feel, or limit what you feel.   Just take a moment to close your eyes and jump into the fire of whatever is most bugging you in life right now.   Don't worry, this book won't burst into flames, and the pages can also withstand a few tears, should they come forth.

How are you doing?   Sorry if I've bummed you out a bit, but don't worry, it's for a good cause - clearing the way for your long-term happiness.

Now take all that big mass of negativity that you've invoked, and with your mind's eye and your heart's intention, bring it all together into a big ball. Imagine your hands bringing the whole troubling situation, along with all the energies and emotions that come with it, together into a big ball. With your mind's imagination, pack all the troubles together tightly, as you might pack together a snowball.  

Now imagine that the background of your field of vision is the physical universe - a black tapestry with many specks of colored and white lights, spinning, smashing, and flickering.   Your hand appears as a big cosmic hand made of glittering blue star stuff, and the ball of negativity is also made of the same shimmering stardust.   Bring your ball into center stage.  

Hold it and look at it - this fiery blue ball of energy spinning in your cosmic stardust hand, this problem that has been bugging you.

This ball is not made of solid stuff, but of a combination of words, thoughts, perceptions, emotions and experiences - just as the planet Saturn is not solid, but is rather a round mass of gas particles that have coalesced together.   The particles that have coalesced into your ball of troubles are made of all the images and thoughts that you've had regarding the challenging situation.   Ultimately, even these are made of the same shimmering spiritual essence that creates the best of times, the worst of times, and all times.

Many scientists, spiritual sages, and philosophers of various traditions would agree on one thing:   everything that exists anywhere, in any way, is ultimately made up of nothing but energy, solidified light. All that exists is a manifestation of pure spirit, supreme consciousness, and cosmic creative awareness.   The whole shebang emanates from the very Mind of God that thinks you and me into existence, breathing amazing life into, through, and as each one of us.  

With this elevated viewpoint, look at the ball of troubles spinning in your shimmering cosmic hand, amidst the spotted blackness of space.   It's right there in your hand - the whole situation that has been causing you so much trouble, whether for the past few weeks, or the past 50 years, or from even beyond what you are aware of as your current life.  

Look out into the seemingly infinite expanse of space around you.   This universe is so big.   Enjoy being a speck of divine life in the midst of this vast blanket of physical existence.   From this vantage point, the problem probably doesn't look quite so big and insurmountable, does it?   From this expanded perspective, feel and affirm your power to uplift and transform the problem, from the soul-roots out.  

You don't necessarily have to go through decades of psychotherapy, unraveling the memories of every past trauma, in order to find the roots of your present woes.   Just invoke all the known and unknown elements that make up this apparent problem with the power of your will.   Now, with the authority of the spheres, declare the problem to be healed, and no longer a problem.  

With a spiritual awareness of this universe as a creation of the one, eternal, and all-pervasive creative being, you'll have an ability to heal problems from the inside-out, instead of only from the outside-in.   You'll be able to address problems on the much more effective soul level.  

When you try to heal something from the outside-in, things can get very complicated, because you're working with so many varied layers in the outer world of appearances.   However, when you heal a problem on the soul level, all the outer distortions that have come from that problem begin to "magically" disappear and heal.

Solving problems on the outer level alone becomes somewhat of a hit and miss game.   Which knob can you turn to solve a problem?   What thoughts can you think to stop worrying about a problem?   With outer efforts alone, you can spend a great deal of time searching and researching, and still come out with "ring around the collar" - or troubles in your bubbles.  

If, instead, you can raise your personal awareness into your greater, universal self, then you have much more ability to direct the play of your life through your power of intention. That is what we are doing with this visualization exercise - elevating our awareness so that we can heal this problem through the powerful intention of our stronger link - our expanded, creative, harmonious, universal link.

Look again at the problem in your great cosmic hand, and know that you can choose to let go of it right now, just by clearly choosing to let it go.   The key is to make your choice unanimous throughout your being - without holding on to the problem situation for whatever side benefits your weaker self may think it is deriving from these negative emotions and thoughts.  

There are many reasons why we may hold on to problems in life - perhaps using sadness or setbacks as excuses for lethargy or mediocrity, or using anger or worry to support a habit of emotional energy bursts, or to score some positive attention or care from others.  

Other reasons for choosing to persevere through troubles may be more positive and spiritual.   Maybe you would choose to stay in an uncomfortable relationship because you know that this is the only way for your soul to release old negative patterns, or to learn how to have more patience, or to uncover your ability to give and love unconditionally.   Maybe you've accepted a time of poverty because you can sense that this challenge is helping you learn how to have greater faith in God's compassionate presence and protection on a day-to-day and minute-by-minute basis.   Troubles can certainly be good inspirations in reminding us to pray, and pray sincerely!  

As you hold this ball of troubles in your hand, see if it holds any benefits that you may wish to keep for yourself. Even just this one step of acknowledging any possible benefits you may be receiving from a set of troubles brings you back into the driver's seat of your life.   You enter back into the realm of choice, the fountainhead of life that creates and recreates everything in every moment.  

Now, take the ball of unwanted feelings and situations that you are holding it in your imagined cosmic hand. Shake the ball of troubles, waving it around enthusiastically until all the particles fly off and become more shimmering stardust streaming through endless, deep, dark space.   Smile and wave at the radiant, lustrous particles that once were your resentment, fears, frustrations, angers, and disappointments.   Goodbye!   Don't come again!  

Watch as all the blue shimmering particles of that circumstance fly freely, dissolving from the ball, and dancing through the tapestry of universal space.   Now, pick up a big cosmic broom, and cheerfully sweep it all away, sprinkling glittering blue light stardust all over, to the farthest reaches of space, as all the particles settle back into the ground from which all creation comes forth.   Appreciate the underlying beauty that existed even in that challenging circumstance, and thank God for giving and now removing the problem.

As other troubles or challenges arise in your journey of life, you can also see them as sparkling particles of divine consciousness, and offer them back into their universal source.  

See the bigger picture of your soul's journey, and be free. Herein lies the essence of spiritual happiness.

 

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