Wednesday, July 4, 2012

No Limitations

Limitations don't mean anything until you reach them.  Why tell yourself that you can't do this or will never attain that goal, if you haven't given all you can give to the effort?  We are all capable of far more than the small self wants us to believe. That negative voice has its own agenda, and it is not love, peace, and contentment. 

The small self is run by ego, and paradoxically in most of us ego would rather complain about failure than attempt success. Failure is something we can have right now, while achievement requires focus, effort, and in many cases, sacrifice of immediate gratification of base appetites. The more we live in the ego, the more we give ourselves over to indulgence, resentment, and self-pity. We create limitations out of our own imaginations to justify staying stuck in the comfortable wallow ego creates for us.

The illusion of limitation is nowhere more evident than in the realm of spiritual growth. We have embedded ourselves in a web of images that collectively constitute the physical world as we see it. We have invented science to convince ourselves that nothing exists that cannot be detected and measured by physical instruments. Others of us have spent thousands of years developing religious (or anti-religious!) orthodoxies to imprison the human spirit by circumscribing the range of permissible spiritual experience.

In truth, there are no limitations on Spirit or on what the individual can experience when the higher Self is expressed through personal intention and behavior. I have recently blogged on the Foundations of Spiritual Growth. From the dawn of human existence the practices mentioned there have enabled many to transcend the limitations that we and others have imposed on ourselves. It is a path that is open to everyone. Following those practices requires only a measure of intention, and the willingness to step out of the busy-ness of the world to a peaceful space in which the higher Self  can act as a channel through which Universal Love can fill and possess our being. But those who choose to do so are rewarded for their efforts a million times over.

I myself denied the validity of spiritual experience for many years.The passage of time brought a sense of frustration and futility as I pursued one mundane satisfaction after another, only to find the anticipated pleasures crumbling in my hands at the first touch. Eventually something activated the kernel of Love at the center of my being and I became open to instruction from the earthly spiritual masters of our time. I became mindful of the opportunities for growth latent in my consciousness, and of the bliss that such growth can confer. I formed the intention to grow. Love fed ravenously on the teachings of contemporary masters and  of their masters throughout history. It was not long before I began to receive insights directly from Spirit through the higher Self. I am still a novice, but my devotion to Spirit is constantly on the upward path, and I continue to derive true satisfaction from surrounding myself with a matrix of Love, peace, and Universal light. 

I am a personal witness to the truth that the only limitations on our spiritual growth, and therefore on our happiness, are those that we impose ourselves. True happiness is not only attainable, it is present at this and every moment regardless of worldly circumstances, because it is drawn directly from the fundamental loving energies of the Universe. All that is needed is the intention to allow it into our lives.

 

The Christmas Promise

An early post in this blog was  A Hymn For The Season .  I reproduce the post here, and dedicate it to all who are facing life's challen...