InnerSelf

Q: Premaji, is it necessary to have a strong personal will to grow spiritually and to find God?  A: Spiritual development doesn’t happen automatically. You may want enlightenment very badly, but it only happens through your daily application of spiritual principles. One of these principles is sankalpa, which means "will power" in Sanskrit.

by Dr. Richard Moss. Fear is the principal force that divides our hearts. It will continue to do so unless we increase the muscle of our attention and faith that lets us remain present for more and more of reality. When we consciously meet our fear, our faith grows...

Realizing that we create everything we experience - no matter how positive or negative it may seem - is the first step in spiritual mastery. But it's only the beginning. Trying to satisfy the endless needs of the ego leads to complete disillusionment. I'm a strong proponent of viewing acts of service as a...

For eons of time, prophets, seers, religions and Holy Books have foretold the coming of an Age when Heaven would manifest on Earth, an Age in which Humanity would develop the latent powers within and reunite with our own Divinity, an Age when transformation would occur at an atomic, cellular level, and...

by Bruce D. Schneider, Ph.D. Some of the most difficult questions I've ever been asked are: If we are one with God, then why wouldn't God have created us with that thought to begin with? What is the purpose of not knowing? Why don't we feel perfect?

Don't think about enlightenment as a goal, it is not. It is not a goal; it is not something that you can desire. And if you desire it you will not get it. In desiring a thousand and one things, by and by you come to understand that all desire is futile. Each desire lands you in frustration; each desire again and again throws you into a ditch.

by Joan Borysenko. The seven directions and the seven chakras reveal seven paths to God. Although we will discuss these paths in a sequence that may seem linear, one path is no more "advanced" than another. They are simply different expressions, distinct rays of energy that each of us embody.

by Marie T. Russell.

Every night and every morning we go through a death of sorts and a rising from the dead. The state of sleep is very much like dying -- one's soul leaves the body for another place. Whether at night we experience teachings in other realms, or alternate lives in other times and...

by Swami Sivananda Radha. Each culture sees human life as a progression through a series of stages... in an attempt to understand the evolution of human beings. Those people on the outer circle are just holding onto life; for them it is a matter of survival.

by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles. Every world religion and every form of education has tried to teach us Universal Law in one form or another: the Law of Cause and Effect, the Law of Karma, an eye for an eye, reaping what we sow. In more scientific terms: like attracts like, action and reaction, radiation and magnetization.

by John Payne.

For many, channeling is a new buzz word and it seems that everyone is doing it and many people are talking about it, reading about it and indeed relying upon it. But what is channeling and of what use and purpose is it? Does it have a spiritual role for humanity at this time? Is it a dangerous pastime that can mislead and create...

Among traditional peoples, when a woman expecting a child enters the last trimester of her pregnancy, the shamans of her community place her in a deep state of trance. The shamans then connect with the spirit of the child coming into life, and they speak to it: 'Who are you? Why are you coming into our village? What is your life purpose?'

Why we are here? Who and what are we really?. The great mystical traditions are astonishingly united in their answers to these questions; they each claim, in different ways, that we are essentially sparks of Divine Consciousness, emanated by the Divine out of itself, and placed here in this dimension to travel back to conscious union with the Godhead.

by Prema Baba Swamiji.

What is enlightenment? How can I experience it? What books should I read? What is transcendence? What is this nirvana? What is enlightenment? Where does Self-inquiry lead? What is the purpose of religion?

Esotericism as a way of life is an art. It is the art of living from the inner reaches of one's being. As art it is based on sensitive, intuitive perception, open to inspiration. And as true art it is a creative way of being, expressive of true universality. But it is also a science -- a science of the soul of things..

by Scott Anstadt. Although the Voice for God is always present and available, God will not speak to us until we have invited Him/Her to enter our awareness. This is the first step in aligning ourselves with our spiritual power. It is the only step that we must take on our own, in that it is the step of inviting and calling upon the Holy Spirit, Voice for God, or Universal Mind.

On November 28, 1989, I was enjoying my early morning walk at dawn in a state of gentle meditatory delight when suddenly an awareness broke in upon my consciousness. I stopped to examine it more clearly, and I seemed to look out upon the earth from a new perspective. I "saw" a golden light presence engloving (fitting like a glove) the earth. I asked within, to whoever was revealing this, "What is this?"

by José Stevens, Ph.D.

What is Karma? Where does it come from? What is its purpose? How do you create it and how do you resolve it? The more you know about karma, the greater your ability to complete it and reduce its control over your life.

There comes a time in an individual's spiritual evolution when every seeker/person on a spiritual or philosophical quest, must come to the realization that all higher knowledge, higher truth, and all higher wisdom can only be revealed through their own being.

by Jon Mundy. At one point the Course In Miracles says: At no single instant does the body exist at all. (T:362; T-18. VIII. 3:1.) On the surface of things, this sentence does not seem to make sense, for if there is one thing that seems obvious it is our bodies. Let me suggest an analogy that may be helpful...

Knowing deeply and believing completely at every level of our being that we are not separate from God, that we are one with the Divine, will heal us. Many of us believe that in order to access the God in heaven or on the mountain top, we need to go outside ourselves to look for help.

Each soul incarnated into a specific form on earth for a unique purpose. Your journey is now and exists at this moment, whether you realize it or not. It will be more enjoyable if you consciously pursue your spiritual purpose to bring the world to Love. Consciously following your spiritual purpose brings you ultimate joy, balance, peace, freedom, and happiness.

by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles. The words 'We are ALL One' have reverberated through the hearts and minds of Humanity in one form or another since the beginning of time. They do not express a lofty platitude or a sweet cliche even though our lower human egos have often perceived them as such. They profess a profound Truth.