¿I'am spiritual?

Trying to define what is spiritual and what is not ...
Being spiritual is a way of life, where first one who is aware that we share this universe, this world, nothing belongs to anyone, everything absolutely everything in this world is passing, nothing ends with death unless this body that is just a place of our soul for a while.
Being spiritual means learning gradually come into harmony with everything around us, learning that the more you give, the more you have, learn that the vibration of each individual affects all who are in their vicinity. So if your spiritual progress will improve your environment and everyone will benefit.
Nobody can be happy for others, no one can fail to be happy because others are not, but we can not afford that our way worse the way of others...
In the material world who has more, it is because others have less, but in the spiritual world who gives more love, more love receives, who teaches others to share their knowledge, we lose nothing and those who receive knowledge learn and improve.
Praying, repeating sentences, not an act to allow more pleasure to a magnificent God, is an act of gratitude or even meditation.
It is also a portal that opens into a interior plane to recognize our internal weaknesses, our dark and forgotten corners.
The comforting prayer is one that aims to improve the soul of those who perform, and bring no consolation if you ask an improvement in the material plane.
All beings come into this world to learn, and therefore learn from birth until the day I leave this body. We should not grieve for the many experiences that have made us suffer, every one leaves at least one important lesson, perhaps more than one ... we can be sad when a bad experience is repeated because it shows us that we could learn from her the first time and therefore it happens again to return to give the opportunity to learn.
If we accept that we were born to learn, why beg God for salvation as an experience that will bring us eternal teaching? ... Why is it so hard?, Think about the eternity of the soul ... not in the passenger of this life, after all we will all grow old and die.
Then back to the beginning, am spiritual because I pray? Because I repeat mantras? Because I participate in spiritual gatherings? Because I practice yoga or meditation? Because I practice Reiki? Because I buy spiritual books and try to learn about it, all I can?
I can say that just because some of them ... you are not spiritual. It is not a spiritual person who prays at home or in your church and then when it moves on the street is a bad person with their neighbors ...
It is not spiritual people just only because he say it is, but who behaves as such, who think and feel on the spiritual plane.
And ¿how then?
Well, part of what must be learned in life is to be a good neighbor, it seems very basic right? But a good neighbor is one who is willing to help without thinking of a benefit. Looking for help in what may yet who ask him for the good of all.
It also seeks to improve himself, and every time you have opportunity to consider how to achieve change, works on it and transform them step by step onto virtues, he does.
It's not my intention to give a long list, so I suggest you to search in dictionaries the whole list of virtues and serve as an example.
But please do not take all the roads, do not try to look all virtues to achieve in a month, remember that the spiritual cord can not stretch beyond what may or breaks.
Every spiritual path is a winding road of gradual improvement, choose a goal and works near it, not divide your efforts in many goals, it usually does not work.
I'm talking about normal people with normal jobs and therefore can not spend all your day to the spiritual path, perhaps the freest more time move faster, maybe not, it can be distracted in ways that do not lead to better plan and who may have less time and more convincing use their short time very effectively.
So my suggestion is this, find your target, that only you can choose them, for a time of day to work on it thoroughly, is preferably every day at the same time, there is little time at least 15 minutes but that time is sacred to you and only you. You can start with a mantra, well sung, singing the best you can the sound of each syllable, so that the sound vibrate your body, follow with your chosed prayer, and always ends with a silence as deep as you can within your own .
If possible try in the course of the day silently repeat your prayer as often as possible.
That is a spiritual path, but not let in the rest of your day to be contaminated with actions that go contrary.

Was already well along this article, we will continue tomorrow ...
a hug, Paul Barbe

The time to start a spiritual path

Life has marked stages, one of them to grow as a person, which naturally makes anyone until the day he learns to be independent, to fend for himself.
For different ways, life itself takes every person to move from one stage to another ... one day comes when the challenges to the worldly life do not have satisfactory answers.

It is common for spiritual seekers come into maturity, because once they reach certain achievements, there will be a time of life when you do not get more achievements to bring relief, buy a new TV, a shirt or car, is very fleeting joy, and so any object large or small, valuable or not... relationships with people are too shallow...
Everything seems to lead to a gap that threatens to swallow everything ...

So sooner or later everyone wonders, this life... is everything? Is there anything else that awaits me after her?
Without going into a level of existential beliefs, I raise this point of view ... the apparent injustice: some are born surrounded by good conditions, aids and benefits ... and others across many limitations ... seems to be very bad. Can a
God be so unfair?

The answer I found is in the perspective that every being has an eternal soul and to live lives in which to learn a set of lessons ... and the objective or goal to achieve is to overcome these lessons, that can take 25 lives in this world,
100 or 900.

If a person spends a useless life, selfish or whatever it is, it is likely that it does not exceed any of the remaining lessons, and as a student of a school or high school, can say... one year is lost, a life vain.
These lessons can we regard them as spiritual steps to climb.

On the other hand, inevitably at some point in life every person think about the chance to walk a spiritual path, unfortunately many leave these concerns because they can't find a proper teacher.

If someone with very difficult self-conviction reach to decide to give some spiritual way and comes across a to teacher who asks him a series of very difficult lessons or exercises... it is quite likely that person to leave in the first
attempt.
Others with strong believe they will try, but teacher can not discourage the novice, a student of 1st year of school is impossible to solve an equation of 2nd grade.

For that reason I wrote few days before "Each one must choose the direction or exercise that suits your current place in your spiritual path".

For a person who is just beginning, it's fine for starters, is raising a very basic goal, say a mantra repeated 20 times per day, perhaps in the first month never got it, but it is not so difficult, then some days will succeed and maybe on Sundays just want to have fun.
But one day that simple goal can be achieved without difficulty and then you must choose your next goal, but never get boxed. For example, the mantras are not the only spiritual tool, it is just one of many.
I suggest that somewhere along the way a person tries, consider a day of self-inspection, a day away to see themselves with enough peace and honesty, and from there to consider that part of his nature is the most difficult and stops your spiritual progress .
If you become confused that involves changing at an early stage of spiritual growth, I can list a series of habits and customs that are negative and of course, the opposite is desirable:
Should be changed: laziness by effort, monotony by creativity, generosity for selfishness, bad character for stability and resilience, insulation by communication, critical for tolerance, you can continue the list but I think the example is sufficient.

Do not expect a beginner a goal of becoming an apostle of Christ, nor a teacher surrounded by hundreds of students, I suggest not raise any goal beyond something as simple and important as being a better person.
It is common that at one point someone raised the way ... even though I have tried never got to be even close to the goal I wanted to achieve, I have spent 3 years and I'am still so far away that I would never get there.

If anyone has happened something like that, even without knowing him, I have the answer: first, the goal that was drawn was wrong, too demanding; but on the other side and this is very important, that person at that moment have to reflect and remember how it was 3 years ago and ¿how he is today?, surely it is so great the progress that only with that ... should smile a whole week.
I've written days before, "never traces very high goal as the next achievement, because you don't know what you can wish once you climbed three steps of the 20 needed for that goal, is likely when you be 3 steps above, your wishes are new ones".

The important thing is to walk on your spiritual path but at the pace you can sustain.

A hug, Paul Barbé

Mantras and prayers

Yesterday I spoke of personal prayer, I have also written about the daily effort to be spent to progress on the spiritual path.
Many have concerns such as ... if I am not constant in my daily spiritual task, step back? My answer is this: To halt does not mean it is not moving backward, it would be if the person includes activities that are opposite to a spiritual path. But to stop or stop doing personal work of each day makes you lose the habit of doing it and you lose the harmony that is achieved in permanence.
Well then, what is the proper daily task?
Those suited to each person, the advice can be successful and can not, because only each hiker knows his weaknesses and even more if it exercises regularly will know fully what are their difficulties.
So if a road is very difficult to reach a goal, you must find a longer path to follow more accessible although take longer to go across.
Not recommended to stretch the inner cord to the dangerous limit to burst, is not recommended to spend 10 hours a day to repeat and repeat dozens of prayers and mantras to mean only that a vocal exercise that leaves nothing more than fatigue.
I can give examples of exercises, many other teachers can do to, but the important thing is that the walker choose carefully all of them, which can make and which will bring further improvement.
Another tip, is not recommended for the traveler, at any time of his way to claim spiritual climb 20 steps a short time, the reasons are many but the easiest to understand is that hardly succeeds.
Humility is a building block for the seeker, perhaps now in this moment, is not desirable to think that if we keep a routine in a few days to reach a higher echelon? The time will bring other achievements, step by step.
On the other hand, once you reach 3 steps up the perspective will be different, and it is possible that the new height shows the need to refine the direction that we have not seen from below.
Well back to the exercises, we have the simplest mantras are short sentences, its name comes from India, there are hundreds of mantras, Hindu, Tibetan, Buddhists, in short, you can find many online and I recommend it, choose those who seems most appropriate today, work with them consider repeat many times in the day or the days you feel ... later change or add other mantra, that you should only be guided by your affinity for him. Maybe one day will fit you a mantra and tomorrow you may want to repeat another, it's all good.
The prayers are different, there are longer, I as an example, our father, you can repeat it as often as you want, but prayer should not be repeated like a mantra, prayer must be accompanied by a recitation in and at the same time the mind must be focused on each phrase of the prayer is a meditation dedicated to prayer.
I advise that each person as he advances in his own very personal spiritual journey ... try to write your own prayer that humble and honestly express weaknesses or desires, not others, but a prayer to the very soul of oneself, is an intimate dialogue with the soul, an attempt to communicate with the purest each one has.
So is for example something as simple as "my soul Help me to find the good in every person and stop looking at faults", try writing for yourself, correct this sentence all day if necessary, is very powerful effect achieved a personal prayer.
So in summary, by now I recommend, look for your mantras, write your own prayer, repeat them until you get an advance; in the future you can adapt your prayers to your current state of the road.

The road is yours, let your heart and your soul guide you.
A hug, Paul Barbé
(traslated from 5 jul 2011)

my personal prayer

The idea of change is the key to all spiritual process. We started looking for a change for a foreign model, someone I admire, a teacher, a famous therapist or follow the exemplary behavior of a monk or one that suggests the traditional religions, sacred texts.

Then we start to change as we are, as models based on a self ideal, which we would be, what should be.

If we will change our spiritual path, we need a new direction, because the confusion is what leads us to paths of others. And not because the paths of others are better in themselves, but because from our comparison we see us in a inferior position.
It is easier to place trust in others, trust that the teacher knows, that the tradition for some unrevealed reason is like that, or thinking about that thousands evolved in those roads shown.
When listening to a teacher, it's easy to think that his words teach a lot and therefore I do everything as he follows ... but often in practice we noticed that for some reason not everything is going so well, some do, but another says that the course is not precisely that, at least for ourselves.
In general, each teacher teaches a practice which must continue to progress spiritually.
The spiritual exercises are useful to exit or escape structures or ingrained habits that limit us, repressed or distracted.
Followed by a period of time during a retreat, is worthless if they achieve tangible progress, otherwise it is not because the person is not enough evolved that not alloy to progress, but these exercises are not suitable for him.
Curiously, our focus is always placed on the world that our eyes see, or the world around us, the reality that for each individual is different, as we interpret it within ourselves. Spiritual growth comes to be reflected in the ability to change the way of interpreting reality that our senses show, and especially in our internal communication.
The spiritual path does not lead to a sky up there, we carry inside us where our soul. Therefore we will open doors, inward to achieve an advance then we think differently.
The difficulty is given in daily walk in that the inner journey we are accompanied only by ourselves, in a dialogue between mind and spirit.
The spiritual path then leads to a paradoxical situation where we move to different sides, the sky, to a contact with the world and with others hikers who we are spiritual way to, but also to our inner search. We can’t enter higher planes of spiritual path, I mean to higher levels, if at the same time we do not move toward a more intimate contact each time with our essence.
It’s a very winding way and in practical effects seem to have many doors, which each have to find the key.
In fact the door does not exist as such, but for each individual is like there, every time we say move a substantial distance is because we find the key that unlocks that door. In our daily walk can change direction many times, and distract us from that path, but spiritually once we reach a certain level, once you open a door, the next time will not need to get the key directly under our will cross.
Inner silence is what allows a intimate dialogue where from it we understand because we are where we are. One approach is to express this internal dialogue in a personal prayer.
It’s not always possible to express in words our inner turmoil, because the language is limited for the simple reason that all language was created to communicate with the mundane and hardly suited to express the spiritual.
It is said that meditation is the gateway to a feeling of emptiness, is the happiness of the extinction of that unlimited for being in the gap in total peace.
Our personal prayer is a reflection of our progress, wherever we are in the course of the spiritual path, we have a state of spiritual evolution and therefore a vision of reality, the world we live in, our projection to where we think we are or we can go.
Therefore, pray, pray or express for ourselves, our internal conversation about what we want, want or need, which is what we expect to happen ...
It is not that we pray because we are from a religious point, because for my, spirituality is not religion ...
Personal prayer is a very useful tool for understanding the inner truth, is a practical meditative state used to arrive at a deeper meditative state.
To escape our connection to the everyday is very handy to use the personal prayer to begin the path to inner silence; from there we connect with the spiritual. In the silence we enter within us, we look in a honest mirror, at that time our lives become filled with silence, realizing there the reality of our identity, and entered, with silence, the illuminated door that connects us to eternity .
I think it is vastly more useful to construct our own prayer or pray, adapted to our state of evolution, a sentence that reflects all our wants and desires. To repeat a traditional prayer of any religion, often is meaningless or makes no sense to us, or no makes a connection with our spiritual path.
We pray to our spirit, so that through prayer that we get in touch with our soul. Our soul is our great eternal energy center, we are learning along the spiritual path, a way to communicate with our soul or spirit to guide us on how to move forward, then our prayer is the repetition of our request for guidance.
Then as we reiterate our daily personal prayer, it happens that our repetition marks our need and therefore it is becoming clear to us, in what we must work within, and on the other hand our spirit takes that statement and helps us achieve this goal.

As we move away from illusory needs and worldly goals, our prayer began to be increasingly an expression of spiritual development, then, we see how our internal energy grows.

Meditation is the gateway to our individual freedom, and she will show us that there is not a marked trail that shows us today step by step how we will do to reach the longed personal enlightenment. But each small goal achieved will be just that, another door that we opened. From there we think, generate a new sentence for this new search process to where we walk now, that something must change within ourselves ...

Meditation is to shed the burden of the Ego, inner prayer retouched each day, free of ties with the material world, frees us enough to understand the next step to take.

To advance you must be free enough from prejudice, rooted customs and traditions, free from attachment to things and people. Because the spiritual path is free and unique to each individual. And there are no fences or gates that prevent reaching our higher state of existence, but we must have the persistence in wanting to go and honesty to accept that we must change.

A hug for all, Paul Barbé

The middle way

When Buddha first expressed the concept of the middle way, this understanding arose from a mistake he was making ... had decided to retire to a distant place in a forest to meditate, which made for a very long time, chose a big tree and sat beneath it, only moving to go to take water from a nearby river or eat some fruit I could find. Throughout the day I was sitting meditating in search of enlightenment.
One day when he approached the river to drink, he saw a boat with an old man and a young boy, the old teaching the young to tune the strings of his instrument, Buddha listened "so you should not stretch too much because the strings will break, but shall also not be loose because there will be an unpleasant sound.
That comment Buda transported him to his current life and realized that he had been pulling his own rope to the fullest, while his poor body was very weak, which paradoxically was blocking his path to enlightenment. As realized his mistake, he resumed a more normal life for a monk, reached not long after his enlightenment. After that one of his most important teachings was, the middle way.
The concept of the middle way is important for all be looking forward not only in his spiritual path, but also in a general sense of progress of any project in life of being.
If the effort is insufficient, it will not reach important goals, but with the help of others and therefore has no lasting value. If the goal is spiritual steps, help from others is useless, because nobody can evolve on behalf of others, no one can vibrate for the other, and it’s of no use to push to another step that never deserved to go.
On the other hand if the person intends to withdraw from the world around him, left to care for their environment, their family, left to care for your own body, something will go wrong ... because, for some reason that person is living where he is; there will be a reason to have a family too, with its responsibilities to fulfill. Leaving everything would be possible only for a privileged few with deep pockets who could pay others to care responsibilities, and then the path to enlightenment would be restricted to the privileged, and it is not.
I disagree with those monks who devote entire days to repeat his prayers, like a machine, a tape is more effective...
I do not think either, that turned into a hermit, away from everything, depending on the support of others is a sure path to enlightenment. Surely a hermit after ten years of retirement if he is forced to return to live in a rigorous world with people really problematic around him all his days, I do not believe that this monk (hermit)will maintain a higher being balanced and long ...
So back to the middle path, the spiritual journey of every person is accompanied by live, this life in the world that we live, and therefore part of a day devoted to the obligations that each has, and then in the hours of day that each has for himself,  can dedicate some of them to spiritual enrichment.
Just as an old adage, people talked balanced life was 8 hours, 8 of rest and 8 of fun.
There for me, as I said a balance, to fulfill obligations to the environment, society and family obligations to care for the body, the necessary, then care for the feelings, health of mind and of course the care of the soul and spirit.
Well anyway, anyone who forgets his all, end up sick. In this life we do not get along anything material, but we take two things, everything that we learn, and love that we collect for our good actions.
I am a firm believer that the spiritual quest, the spiritual path is associated also to cultivate the mind; because an automatic follower of dogmas, traditions and customs, an unstoppable man of prayer, a recitation of written phrases they are claiming for my move "with his rope too loose "as intended to advance through the example of others. Progress is trying to understand, not just accept what you read or heard. Progress is trying to understand, not just accept what you read or heard. Each person is whether to seek the inspiration of others, but to experience their own steps.
The spiritual path in his middle way, is effort, not too little and not too much too, not an exaggerated effort to force quit. Not be deaf to all ancient knowledge, but not buckle under the dogma imposed by others. For my spiritual path, not religion, because all religions were a path from the past that have long served to at least show the way; people today with all the access to information that is available, each everyone can learn what he need and then experience their own way, with dedication, but without excess. Individual strings are learned to tune from a little, but there are also learning to play music, a bit like every musician, with dedication and with time, you learn.

Hugs to all, Paul Barbé

Learning in the path

When I look back and remember my most anxious period of spiritual search (which included one from 1996 when I  received my initiation into Reiki 2nd level and July 2003 when he finally agreed to my initiation into Reiki Master 1 ...

I had a first stage where I thought I should participate in any group activity could, because from there to he many contributions of ideas, suggestions paths, interesting examples of paths of others, would receive the necessary inspiration to let me clear my way forward, there came a moment when I realized that, had earned more in confusion, perhaps in despair of not being as good as others, I fell in comparison to see me less than "images" of others...

So what is what was wrong?, the only thing that I could understand was my great desire to advance on the spiritual path, but more than this, it become a deep longing to achieve the mastering in Reiki, but it was impossible to save the money that the Alliance Reiki asked for the master degree... then I saw all the doors closed.

So I fell into a period of years in which I withdrew into an inner quest, had a job away from Montevideo that made me difficult to participate in most events, but also weighed in the balance the return of the few who had been participate without seeing ... a personal improvement ...

Since progress did not come, I started looking for other spiritual paths, through yoga, and reading spiritual philosophies, in short, very arid land for a lone seeker.

There was born the passion for small pilgrimages, which were really long walks in touch with nature. Then I found a wonderful partner. I found something that works for me, long walks as a meditation in motion, so simple in my mind wanders to my path and I did not bother to maintain a state of inner silence.

Then I began to enumerate a long list of places you should wander, looking for places that were special or magical about where I could get to meditate in silence and peace.

Over the years hundreds of kilometers traveled on foot, trying so many different places, dunes, hills, mountains, beaches, mountains and forests, but none were all good enough to reach a state of deep inner peace, a state of harmony with the whole, to reach a small light or deep insight, to clear my spiritual path.

So the years passed, the search for different places, each with its own challenge, but all that went on, at least I felt, were the miles walked ... Search, to find not even myself... Shortly after my initiation into the master, when the search had turned a... Well now, what do I do? How do I follow?.

One weekend I decided to climb a mountain near the small town I lived in Italy, is called the mount Sorate, which are actually a group of mountains where in the central there are a hermit named, the old San Silvestro, about 1500 years, with the ultimate goal to reach a isolated mountain at the end of the pilgrimage.

I reached the top of the first hill where today is the monastery of Sant Oreste, and night had fallen, I decided to lie down on a bench in the courtyard outside and meditate all night, but the cold of the night did not help much. At daybreak resumed my walk, and came to the old hermit, trying to focus my energy on the spiritual search that pilgrimage, I followed a few hours after the last mountain course, which I already past noon, I was there a long time in a silence interrupted only by the wind ... I returned from that weekend more confused than happy.

I never got any special understanding ... once again nothing was enough.

And then I wondered, may never find that special place?

Time passed and finally I realized that magic was not the goal sought, was in the way I set myself to go to reach that goal.

A few years later I wrote in my house a presentation with images ... the text is as follows:

"I lived looking goals to achieve,

"But the best times of my life were those of my daily struggle ...

"Because in them I learned my limits, and my ability to devote the best of me after something that is important ... and to get up on each trip.

"I learned ... to be humble, to ask for help when I could not only ... but also to recognize that it was I who had to take steps toward my goal…

"I also have faith in myself, to see the beauty of life, having a light that I pointed the way ...

"But when we finally reached the goal, and looked... I left all the way back,

"And then by looking back at last achieved the goal...

"Amazed realized that this was meaningless by itself... it was no longer the same person who started the long journey ...

"But despite all, that long journey, yes, it had sense,

"Because the great value of everything was in my growth process to achieve... because thanks to him I could be a better person.

"I learned that the goal itself was not important

"What is the process of growth that succeeded in walking each day into a higher state...

"Quit worrying about past trips, not content with a single goal achieved...

"As life goes on and always have to get better more...

"We all cross bridges to make the best of ourselves, a bridge to infinity"

Take long to realize that if I reached forward, perhaps not what I once dreamed it would be, but, I knew what was my path? ... And not true to my inner light.

So much so as my first search phase latter also confused because as the old saying goes, many trees don’t let see the forest, and looking at the forest I can’t see the huge tree in front of my nose ...

Today I can say, no matter if I stop a while, because often is necessary in spiritual walk, just if I can feel inside, with humility and sincerity, is this my way?

A sincere hug, Paul Barbé

Basic formula to reach the top floor of your staircase to enlightenment.

Harmony with your environment, Inner peace, Humility, and Constant effort. Simple Ingredients, mmm, look at the first.

Harmony is not difficult to understand what to do, but how to achieve it, goes hand in hand with acceptance and respect for everything and everyone. Discard critique and judge. See the good in each individual. You have to work on that is important.
Humility is simple to understand that you do not need to be better than anyone in anything, you just have to be better than yourself ... You don't depend on the favor of another, for your own spiritual path; it is essential humility, recognize everything that needs to be corrected and then start doing it.
No need to worry about all the years someone has been looking for his lighting, if you have been working less time, nor if he has paid for seminars or courses and you can not, nor if the environment in which one lives is more favorable ... no more favorable environment for the spiritual journey...
Stay in a state of humility and honesty with yourself, do your homework each day in your own way without looking that way others do, without humility you will believe that nothing is enough and more, that you need things or favorable situations to advance, and it's not.
Inner peace, stop thinking so much, life is much simpler than what most imagine, it takes so little to live in peace, the problem is your own mind it was programmed from childhood to seek in vain in the wrong direction, to seek assurances that never exist, to give importance to what is ephemeral. Every thought must be put concern on a balance beam and in the other the question ... And what, ¿does it matter from here to (eg) 5 years?.
Meditation for many is so difficult to achieve, ie a meditative state, seeks to achieve an inner silence, some suggest filter the thoughts that come to mind and rule them out one by one, others say it should be stripped of all that is imposed on us. We can not have peace of mind to follow our spiritual path if we follow under the conditions that others told us to walk, is like trying to walk east, but facing north ... one of two things will not work, or we'll be north or stumble so much as we shall have no more legs.
There are hundreds of sayings and famous quotes, I like very much one that is well known, I write like this, make the maximum effort needs to be done, accept what can not be changed. And spend the deeper understanding
to understand that it should or should not change.
Constant effort, in what?, let go of worldly ambition, to achieve true detachment from all time, no more comparisons.
Seek to create a list of activities to accomplish each day, related to individual spiritual improvement, but never put on your list what others do, because it seems advisable to remember that the spiritual journey is
individual, each individual must walk their own spiritual path with their own personal live situations , you must also be realistic and honest with yourself. For example do not try to make a leap of 6 feet without've never tried or not you've trained for it ...
So your list of activities should accompany your current status, or your current spiritual level course must accompany your lifestyle and basic needs that must be filled. Having to work does not prevent to work on yourself when you're in your home. Do not add to your list for example to pray 500 times a day if your time and our basic needs do not allow it, adjust your way to your unavoidable obligations, and do not worry, that will not stop.
The list of your spiritual activities you can modify as often as necessary.

A sincere hug, Paul Barbé

A stairway to heaven

It always amazes me the conviction that many people who say they are on a spiritual path, speak abour their notorious progress , and all that are achieving at certain periods of time.
Each time I was present in groups where they exchange comments among those present, from different disciplines who knew, from a list of rituals that followed, the courses involved, what they paid for them, or trips and seminars ... in order to listen to them gave me the impression that progress in the spiritual path is only for the people blessed with a wonderfull life ...
This life has smiled on them and can be paid courses, trips and seminars, they can spend many hours a day to various disciplines of meditation.
From all the experiences that I always remember, there is one that comes to this reflection, in 1996 when I finished my last day of the seminar of my initiation into Reiki I, a fellow of the seminar raised the teacher, wondering how to save the $ 500 needed for the next seminar, Reiki 2. The answers and solutions seemed misplaced and unfair, for she was a mature woman, blind and poor. He had counted on these two days all the difficulties she had to save money for that seminar and it would be virtually impossible to save 3 times more for the next.
Many other similar situations sometimes lived for many other seminars, courses and trips ... These events then are restricted to the elect?
Perhaps the privileged can like the song says "buy the Stairway to Heaven "?...
I am convinced that in any way. The advance on the spiritual path, does not go hand in hand with the push that a person can give to another who walks its way. The progress, can only be made by itself. No one can walk on the other, or climbing a spiritual ladder rung of the name of another.
Having the privilege to receive teachings from one or more teachers, useful to see from different perspectives, how to walk the unique path of each. But to get a master degree in a discipline for the sole merit of having the money to pay for seminars means that person is advanced above of another person who could barely pay an initiation.
Where is the breakthrough for me, is all that could be sustained achievement in every day, every week and every month a person to maintain their desire to improve, accept old mistakes, refine and change. Constantly, every improvement involves the beginning of a new cycle, each small step up is achieved, will have a better perspective to choose where to go, but there will always be to maintain the humility that is probably what is missing more than progress was made.
And this is neither pessimism nor conformism, to myself the humble are those who actually advance, those who seek to convince their friends all they know, all that have evolved and achieved, is nothing more than an advertising his own ego than a true sign of its progress and evolution.
Not all that glitters is gold, you can not buy the rise of a single step on the ladder to heaven. The doors will not open because it is the golden key bought, or because it is followed to the letter the way said a teacher. No use having the best library if it is able to interpret what is read.
Comparative not think that a person is a saint because he is seen smiling every day in his temple, where he is safe from many experiences that others have faced.
Comparative not think the balance that shows a hermit who lives secluded in his hermitage, because there sure has a life of peace. Should be brought to the chapel and into the jungle that master of problems experienced by many for whom time is more balanced and more fighting to follow their best possible way.
That blind companion plunged into a world of trouble, probably today after 15 years spent is understood it is probable that it did not matter could not have done more seminars, matter that would thereafter to continue to cultivate his soul.
Cultivating the soul, temper the spirit everyone can do it, no good comparisons and there is no advantage for either. Everything tends to swing, because from what I have to live, the spirit and soul are tuned and grow when one manages to overcome the difficulties, and again up the trips.
And of those falls more boisterous, who manages to keep going without succumbing, you have probably gained more than a stepping stone towards heaven.

A hug for all my readers, Paul Barbé

Staying on the spiritual path

Time teaches, along my path it was not been possible to maintain an equal effort to advance spiritually for a long time.
I learned that spirituality is not dogma, it is not mandatory because bend to a method does not work, the spiritual for me is connected to freedom, the desire to continue or progress, but to do certain exercises because i'm alone and it is time to do, doens't work.
When the exercise is just methodical performance, I finished  thinking... how many prayers I needed to finish?, instead of being cast upon it, vibrate with a deep prayer, to put all my heart and soul into it ...
Then, are you spiritual because yo repeat a prayer 33 times daily at bedtime?, if that day we just want to sleep, or mourn, is it wrong?
What matter is to stay on track, not to leave, so you can be good, at least for me it has been easy to propose a routine to perform for a short period, say a week, at the end of it evaluate whether to follow another week or perform other routine.
There seemed to be a paradox between method and freedom from routine, I think that the output

passes through this side, the method is good, if not crush freedom, provided it is not oppressive, that's where it ceases to be useful.
Nor is it good to close the window to the world in which we walk, the iterative method also should not be forever ... bored or else at some point it ceases to be effective, it ceases to help.
It's very good look for new ideas, see comments from others who pass their own spiritual path, of course each person will transition its single path, but without trying to copy the way for others, which will not work if its good to learn that they can provide inspiration ....

That's all for now, hugs, Paul Barbe

my first translation, first day

On June 25 I started my blog on my page in Spanish, I did not have the slightest idea that he could receive acceptance ...
Been a while, and readers are maintained, which means that is an issue, not as seductive as the hundreds that abound on the web, but I can think that ... my notes brings some kind of message and for thar reasson they're still readed. Well then it was time to offer it to others around the world who do not read Spanish, so the next option is English, a language that I use at least acceptably. I apologize to my readers for my poor managment of the language.
So, for now I begin to translate my published articles one by one like I'm begin today.
Well let's all have a path that we walk, some say that the human being when you really understand the meaning of life is when you're next to die, curious no?
In my many years of walking in this life, I had to understand that the more I learned was when I missed more, when I made big mistakes, the more hurt an experience, then the pain passed, I begin to see from the distance all the teachings ...
There were also many periods holes, those who think that the day to day, week after week passes without leaving anything encouraging crawling.
As many people have had, I too, lived when all seems fine, no grateful to life that he had, but when many things were lost ... only after I saw how important was what was lost.
So I said to people I know, it's very easy to laugh when all is well, but difficult is getting up again and again ... harder when I saw that I have repeated old mistakes, again!
Prayer has been a curious experience when I did it more methodically, it seemed a terrible effort to keep doing it "to deaf ears," as long ceased to pray, to thank for everything, then come to me experiences that tell to my heart ... there is more to live as if life were the only one.
Many experiences have convinced me that there is something beyond this life to live, something else is, but of course everything that is said is not always what convinces me ...
But I live here and trying to understand ... is that beyond this life and of course I do with this conviction.
My greetings to all, Paul Barbé