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Accessing Spiritual Direction
by Wayne W. Dyer. Can
you make a flower grow? Probably your first response is, "Such a simple
thing to do. Plant a seed in some dirt, provide sunlight and water and in time a
flower will emerge. The proof is that there are millions upon millions of
flowers sprouting all over the world at this moment!"
That is certainly true. However, I am inviting you to reread the question and
consider who or what generates the life that makes a flower grow, because the
who or what is the source of solutions to all our problems.
Who or what causes the flower seed to blossom, and the tiny embryo to become
a human being? Who or what grows our fingernails and beats our heart even as we
sleep? Who or what is behind the movement of the winds, which we feel but never
see? What is this force that keeps the planets in place and hurls our world
through the galaxy at a breathtaking speed? These questions have been asked for
as long as humans have had the ability to contemplate their existence.
Spirit is what I have chosen to call the formless, invisible energy which
is the source and sustenance of life on this planet. This force, no matter the
name we give it, can solve every problem that we encounter. There is a spiritual
solution to every problem, we only need to learn how to access it.
I first read about these steps when I immersed myself in How
to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, written sometime
between the fourth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. These spiritual
disciplines and techniques were written to enable a person to achieve the
ultimate unitive knowledge of God.
I trust you will discover for yourself that these things you have come to
label as problems have a ready solution available to you right now, in this
moment, in that world we are calling spirit.
The First of Three Steps Of Spiritual Direction
Recognition: It may appear obvious that one must first recognize something
before applying it, but this is actually the most troublesome step in moving
toward spiritual illumination.
Recognizing the availability of an invisible force or spiritual direction that can be put to use in
solving a problem, requires overcoming a great deal of our early training and
conditioning. Have you ever thought about the limitations we experience when we
identify ourselves as only a physical body in material existence?
For instance, do you believe there is only one kind of power or knowledge,
which relies on your sensory or intellectual faculties to solve problems? Most
of us have been taught this is true and that all of the information that has
been acquired is the total inventory of options available to us. This is a
conditioned attitude of nonrecognition of our divine connection to spiritual
direction problem solving.
In this state of nonrecognition of spiritual direction we believe that medicines, herbs, surgery,
and doctors are responsible for all healing, or that improving one's financial
picture involves the exclusive application of working hard, studying,
interviewing, and sending out résumés. In essence, nonrecognition leads us to
believe that our knowledge is limited to those kinds of phenomena, which are
explainable through our sensory functions.
Patanjali described a kind of knowledge or power that is not accessed solely
through the material or sensory world. Recognition that this power exists and is
always available is the first step in activating it. However, it is not accessed
solely through the teachings of others, or through ancient writings, just as we
do not dream because someone teaches or writes about dreaming. Recognizing, like
dreaming, is something we access by making an inner and outer commitment to our
ability to recognize.
Recognize A Spiritual Direction
For example, in this first step when you are faced with a problem, I suggest
you create a personal affirmation such as: "I may not know exactly how to
access the spiritual solution here, but I fully recognize that a spiritual
solution exists." By recognition of its existence, we invite the power to
be known by us.
As physical beings we can make a flower grow in the sense of the response to
the question in the opening sentence of this book. But if we are thoughtful we
realize that we cannot even begin to unravel the mystery of the invisible force
that initiates life. Yet it is in this omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent
spiritual world that we find the solutions to all our problems. This spiritual
force is everywhere and in every thing and every one. When we incorporate the
first step, recognition, we begin the process of accessing this all-knowing
power.
[InnerSelf Editor's Note: We would have loved to present all three steps
here, but were only able to get permission to reprint this first step of the
text from the book.]
More books by this author.
About the Author
Wayne
W. Dyer is the best-selling author of over twenty
books and has a doctorate in counseling
psychology. He lectures across the country to groups numbering in the thousands
and appears regularly on radio and television. He holds a doctorate in
counseling psychology from Wayne State University, and has taught at St. John's
University in New York. He lives in southern
Florida. Visit his website at
www.WayneDyerBooks.com.
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