The Foundation – Part VI(As Above, So Below. Introduction)

As Above, So Below. Introduction

We’re almost to the end of this series.  As I stated before, the principles are relatively straightforward.  The learning and the growth comes from the conscious application of them, and the frame of reference they provide. I perceive them as a new pair of glasses – for those of us who need to wear them, when you have the proper prescription, your vision clears and often your field of vision expands.  That’s how it was for me with these principles.

I literally began to see life differently, and began to live it in a different way as well.  A lot of how I move in the world makes no sense to other people because often it is not “logical”.  And that’s OK.

The Story of the Young King Who Came to Earth

Another Cosmic Fairy Tale

The Young King Who Came to Earth  (c) 2012, Julie Marie.

We begin this story as all good stories begin:  Once upon a time, on a world far, far from this one, there lived a young King who had great courage and fidelity.  As ruler of his world, he had complete memory of all the lifetimes his Soul had lived.

He was an alchemist of the highest order, and had learned through experience that more could be gained through peaceful means than with war and conquest.

It had been broadcast throughout the Universe that there was a planet in great need of assistance. The Creator had sent out The Call, and from many worlds, and across infinite dimensions, The Call was answered.

How to Know if You are on the Right Path

Tree-lined pathway (Photo credit: felinebird)

But how do I know if it’s the right thing to do?

First let me say that we do not have to have understanding at the physical level before we move forward.  All that is required of us is that we are willing to take action when we are guided by our intuition or our gut, to do so.

If there is struggle to make things fit, it’s likely that you are missing an important piece of the puzzle.  Do not be disappointed, and don’t give up on the idea just because you have met with some resistance.  But also be open to considering the possibility that you are headed in the wrong direction.

The best thing you can do at times like this is to just get quiet, and in the stillness of your center, seek clarity about what exactly it is you are to do next in order to resolve the conflicting energies.  Sometimes the answer will come immediately, sometimes you will remain uncertain for a while.  It is a process, and clarity will come. But sometimes it comes eventually, not immediately.

Are you feeling restless?  Do you feel you need to be doing something different with your life?  What can you do about it?  Do something.  Eventually you will understand what it is your Spirit has been trying to tell you.

I spent a tremendous amount of energy going to law school because that was how I interpreted my Soul’s guidance at the time.  I ended up not using that degree, but the training has served me well on my spiritual path, so there really are no mistakes, only different ways to get to the same destination.

Be comforted by the understanding  that if you continue to strive to make the best decision in the moment, you will eventually end up where your Soul has intended all along.  And so you got to see some interesting sights along the way.  It only enriched the experience, didn’t it?

Once you find your niche, your calling, your sweet spot, you will know it because your life will open up in ways you cannot imagine.  Will everything begin to just flow smoothly for you?  Probably not.  But you will feel lighter and more alive than you did before.  The struggles will seem not as challenging and the triumphs more glorious.

And it is never too late to experience this.  It is always, in all ways, as you have designed for it to unfold.  Trust yourSelf.

The path you take is made by walking it.

All original material posted to this site is copyright 2012, Julie Marie. All rights reserved.

On “Service” and Soul Promptings

 

Virginia – Arlington National Cemetery: Women in Military Service for America Memorial

This is a story about how we follow the promptings of our soul, our Spirit, whether we are consciously aware of it at the time or not.  The good news is, we listen.  The bad news is, a lot of times we don’t know we are paying attention to our higher guidance, which can lead to confusion sometimes.

One Most-Asked Question: What is My Spiritual Path?

The Answer

      One question I am most often asked is: What is my spiritual path?  There are many variations on this theme as well.  Some examples are:  How do I find my spiritual path?  What is my mission, my purpose?  I feel like I am here to do something special, but I don’t know what that is.   Sometimes I can hear the anguish of their uncertainty in their voices.  And always my response is the same:  you are here.  Incarnated at this time.  Your Soul knows your purpose, your mission.  You, at personality level, do not have the same expanded viewpoint as your knowing, (sometimes called Higher) Self, but you can learn  to quiet that part I call the ‘little Self’ in order to allow the ‘greater Self’ to begin to come more into your conscious awareness.

     Our little minds want to categorize and separate and label things.  It’s how the brain works.  We clump similar things together, and most of our responses to situations are based upon the lightning fast decisions made by the brain.  Most of our living of life is actually unconscious and automatic.  I am not knocking physical existence.  I am merely pointing out that the very experience of that existence IS your path, your purpose, your mission.

Your life is your spiritual path.  The two are not separate.      

      I will concede here that it certainly can feel as if they are two different things, especially when you have what is called an awakening.  During that process, a person can reach the conclusion that the two things are separate because the brain does not have a context or a category to lump these often totally new and different  experiences into, and so our consciousness reaches the conclusion that this spiritual stuff must be something different from our ‘regular’ life.  And often what will happen is we tend to fall back into our comfortable habit patterns wherever possible, thus leaving behind those experiences we could not find a proper place for in our awareness.  And that is the most unfortunate thing of all, for we have just missed a stellar opportunity to step into consciousness and to live our lives from a higher perspective.

     Your life contains your lessons.  How you live your life is the lesson.  In the early days of my process, I wanted to understand it all, and I wanted to know it now.  I will say that I quickly learned that my physical brain did not have the capacity to properly integrate and categorize all that there was to be known.  I decided to take a different approach after much trial and error.  I  continue to operate from that position today.  It’s pretty simple, actually, but requires that I be still and listen for guidance before I act, and that continues to be a challenge.

     I will get quiet and ask one simple question:  “What do I need to do next?”  Then I wait for a response.  The answer may come in many ways.  It could be a thought I have, or just a feeling.  I do my best to do what comes to me as a result of this process first, then I will concentrate on the mental ‘to do’ list that is always in my mind.   I have a long list of items on that list today, as a matter of fact, but writing this was what I needed to do next when I asked that question, so I put it first.  The rest of that list will get done as well, because that’s how this seems to work, at least for me.

     The other piece to this spiritual path question requires discipline and an intention to be honest with yourself, which is not easy sometimes.  As you move into a space where your heart desires to learn the truth about who you really are, one of the gifts that will come to you are all the things about you that are not who you really are.  Just understand that it is a process, a life long one, I suspect, and that as long as you are willing to look at, and work through, all those things that are not you, you will continue to uncover the diamond that  is your bright, shining Spirit.  And you will do it by living your life to the best of your ability.  And just remember this:  you are perfect just the way you are.  There are no mistakes, only lessons.  And you have come to learn and grow as Soul at a pivotal time in the unfolding of the Universe.  Take advantage of this opportunity.

There’s a part of every living thing that wants to become itself, the tadpole into the frog, the chrysalis into the butterfly, a damaged human being into a whole one.  That is spirituality. ~Ellen Bass

All original material published on this site is copyright 2012, Julie Marie. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Just Say Thank You

An Early Lesson

     The learning curve was pretty steep for me in the beginning, and I did worry a lot about how I was going to manage my  ‘new’ life.  I kept encountering the same situation over and over again, and since this was before I understood that a repeating pattern is one of the ways we learn and grow on this path, I didn’t perceive the significance of it.

     I stubbed my toes a lot more in the early years.  I really wanted to figure it all out, to put this spiritual path stuff in a nice, neat package and run with it.  I was barely awake, and definitely not even close to being aware of how things actually worked.  And please note here, I have learned enough in the last two decades to grasp that I don’t know even the smallest corner of what there is to be learned about being functional as Soul in all of my dimensions of consciousness.  I don’t try to figure it out any more.  I just do the best I can within the limitations of my human understanding.  Sometimes I do better than other times.  Guess that’s why they are called “lessons”.

     During this early period, I met and began to do healing work on an elderly woman with the most beautiful cornflower blue eyes.  I didn’t have a clue that it was healing work then, it just so happened that when I got around her, my hands would get hot and sometimes my whole body would heat up.  Towards the end of her life, while she was still in her home but before the last few weeks in a nursing home, I would drive about 40 miles round trip to spend time with her and to run energy.  According to her, it made her feel better.  I didn’t really have the funds to spare to be doing this, but it felt like the right thing to be doing, so I did.  At the end of each visit, she would offer me a little monetary gift.  Each time, I would refuse.  I had the idea then that if I took the money, I would somehow lose the gifts I felt God had given me.

     One day, when we were finishing up, she fixed those blue eyes on me, and there was a fierce determination in them I’d not seen before.  She reached into her purse, and pulled out her intended gift.  Her eyes told me she was going to win this one.  As she extended her hand, I pulled back. The very quick exchange that followed went something like this:

     ”This is for you.”

     “No, you keep it.  I don’t want to lose my spiritual gifts by taking money for them.”

     ”But I want you to have it.”

     “No, I can’t take your money.”

     “Honey, how do you think God works, anyway?”

     “What do you mean?”

     “Well, it was put upon my heart to give this to you. Where do you think that came from?  If you keep refusing me, then aren’t you really saying ’No’ to God?”

     That last bit did it.  I accepted her gift, and thanked her.  She then told me her story, and I understood that she had personal experience with the struggle many of us have around whether it is appropriate to accept monetary compensation for our spiritual work or not.  I forgot to tell you:  this wonderful woman was the first physical body teacher Spirit put on my path. She and her husband had established a small Spiritualist church near where I lived, and I had been inexplicably drawn in there one day.  I kept going back, and that is how our relationship grew.  She was not an ordinary ‘little old lady’.  She was very spiritually aware, and through our interactions, I moved pretty quickly through some of my spiritual basic training.   I will never forget that first, most important lesson:

  Just say Thank You.

     I was filled with gratitude this morning when I came to sit and write something for the weekend readers.  I saw that sometime during the night, I passed the 2000 mark in views of my writings.  I have no clue whether that is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on the length of time this blog has been up.   I only know I was moved to just say thank you.  You are coming to look, and some of you are coming back.  I know this is God’s way of telling me I am on the right track with this.

I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details. ~Einstein

All original material posted to this site is copyright 2012, Julie Marie.  All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Wikipedia