In my life I had different stages and cycles concerning on religion, the family of my mother was Christian, my father who suffered in his life the two world wars and his family was decimated by war or by tuberculosis, became deeply atheist .
I kept my Christian belief to my youth, but when my father fell sick to my 20 years and saw him suffer so much, after 4 years of endless suffering, I also became an atheist, but as is the old saying goes "nothing is forever in this life, never say never, ever or forever..."
When everything seemed to fall, came to me books of Lobsang Rampa, with them I became very interested in Tibetan culture and religion, however I could never fully accept his philosophy of life, although I incorporate a large part of their religion in my new believing. I started a new cycle in my life, trying to unite Christianity with Buddhism ...
Years went by and everything changes, came to me over time the interest in reading about the philosophy and religion about hinduism , but also about Inca and Maya people...
So I began to notice commonalities in world religions. The spiritual level as I understand it unifies the belief of mankind ...
My life has had many changes, may be it's the destiny of this life that I had ... fight for things, lose interest and change direction, try and try to move on...so many times.
Whenever I noticed the conflict in myself and also in others, the competition between material and social goals, and its clear antagonism with inner peace. Every time I devoted my best efforts to worldly progress was when despite my accomplishments my inside felt more miserable. And other times I spent my effort in spiritual way...things become complicated for me in social aspects... so it appeared to be a matter of choice one or the other but not both.
Maybe the big inside break was generated in the process that led me to my initiation into Reiki, and then my unwavering determination to achieve mastery. From the beginning I heard that if completely devoted my life to Reiki I can reach that goal, but only so...
Then came a moment that a rebellion was born in me and I decided to follow my own way. Without realizing that this decision would change my life as much as it did, because it pushed me to modify a lot in my inner self. Even so I managed to reach my master degree while continuing to "hooked" to my traditional economic support, like one more worker. I found a way to continue so, but of course with their costs ...
What I want to share all this, is that there is no single way to reach a goal, what matters is the will to stick to a decision, and sustain the effort every day to achieve it.
To grow spiritually is not necessary to be religious, neither to follow a dogma, you don't need to bow to rules dictated by others ...
I'm not saying that to marked a unique path is easy to follow, but strongly argue that...I only achieve to feel good when I stay in the attempt to overcome my own, when every day I do my spiritual work, I not worry to follow a rigid routine that if I don´t perform makes me feel bad, but worry to hold some daily job, not step backwards ...
If I'm working on an improvement of transforming a defect into the path of its opposite, a virtue, not let me back ... Try in the working day, take care of my concepts without allowing contaminated by the events of daily life.
And back to the alternative religion or spirituality, for me, one thing does not remove the other, but at the same time if you hold, being religious does not mean that it is spiritual.
I remember an interview that was done to the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetan people:
What is the best religion?
"The best religion is the one you get closer to God, to infinity. Is one that makes you better"
What makes me better?
"Those that makes you more compassionate, more sensitive, more detached, more loving, more caring, more responsible, more ethical ... religion that you get to do that is the best religion"
In this way, I encourage my readers, that do not bind to the concepts established by others, if they feel comfortable with a religion, hold it. Still, thank God you can make thousands of ways. Whether it's through a traditional prayer, or that same sentence but just memorize wrong don't worry repeat, because at least we do, and yet it's okay if we do our own personal prayer.
The fact of thank God for everything brings a significant return as a reward ... we feel better. It is important to pray, it is not good to ask. It is important to pray but to maintain an attitude more in line with what we pray. It makes no senso to trap yourself, something very simple there is no worse judge than yourself.
To finish this article, sing your mantras, pray as you feel better, learn to smile at yourself in the mirror, try your best path to follow and you will live more in peace, and so it will be easier your way and those who share your life and those who cross you each day.
A hug for everyone, Paul Barbe
A while ago I heard a native dance of the Caribou Indian people, and thought that these songs are simple and good to use as mantras intonation for meditation in search of inner peace ...
There is no better gift to yourself that after a busy day, bring to your soul with a song like this, you could not like the style, but is good to try, many indigenous songs have enormous spiritual power, his lyrics are simple and easy to memorize and then sing to yourself. I recommend it, it's worth.
Another time I wrote that the first step in daily meditation or spiritual work is to reconcile the best possible the inner harmony.
You can not meditate, being nervous, stressed, anxious or worried.
Remember the principles of Reiki Mikao Usui that other day I wrote ... "Just for today do not worry" says one.
It is important to devote some part of the day, a sacred moment for intimacy with oneself, to dialogue with the heart and soul. In that sacred moment should be free from any relationship with the outside world, that time is for you.
In this intimacy... sung to yourself a mantra, is a big step toward harmony, the more we get into a state of harmony, the higher the internal energy and is easier to reach levels of understanding that would not otherwise can be achieved.
It's useful to put a background music that fulfills a role of external noise curtain, as long as that music does not come in conflict with your state of peace and inner harmony.
But beware that this state of harmony is not lost, because we see driven to solve mundane problems of daily living.
The sacred moment should be used for our inner health, is to heal our ailments of the body, our sentimental or emotional ailments, but above all to enter a state of gratitude and peace.
Let's start with a full breath slowly and to increase the internal vibrations. When seated in a comfortable position, while retaining a very relaxed breathing, deep, making entering a lot of air and releasing very gently, after a while try to visualize (imagine) colors in our front, or try to view special items such as a door, a window that goes into a nice beautiful light or air.
There is a very important exercise is good practice all you can, so:
Imagine that comes from heaven a light color that is most pleasant or proper, suppose gold, silver, white, purple or color you want or need ...
Imagine that light bathing your whole body, imagine that the light goes into your mind, gives you peace and comfort, breathe, imagine that light after it invades every part of your body giving relief and comfort, breathe deeply, when you enter the air, also does the light, when the air slowly goes out also moves the impure energy out, so your body gets cleaned ...
Imagine now that the relief and cleanup moves through your body, head, shoulders and throat. Then his heart is filled with light and you feel better with each breath, your peace increases your lungs are filled with air and light ... Now the light reaches your belly. Continue illuminating your whole body and feel the slow circulation of air in your lungs has been purified your body .
Once you have done this for a long time, if you have a nice quiet place to do light exercise stand, then incorporate, and with very gentle body movements of his hands, arms and legs as they feel them yourself if you do not know what to do make circles with one hand, then another, then one follows the other, invent, imagine dancing slowly and gently that God is watching and enjoying your devotion and gratitude ... follow, always gently.
Finally, stop, raise his hands to heaven and sit back down. So does nothing, just breathe deeply for a while, and finally put your hands over your heart and be thankful. No doubt you will feel much better.
Hugs to my dear readers, Paul Barbe
Like all our work we do always expecting to get a return, who works carrying bags waiting at the end of the month to receive his salary. Those who study expected to pass their exam, those who strive to advance their spiritual path they hope to reach "above", "closer to the light," feel better about yourself, see the light of his brothers near ...
Each period of different work I have undertaken in this path takes promising leads and other stages where comes the question, ¿did I move?.
Never got the answer, then the way I've found to support my effort is this: if I don't my daily spiritual work, at the end of the day I feel "it's a lost day."
It is very strange as our planes of existence are related ... the body seeks its own satisfaction or need and struggle to stay away from vices ... the mind seeks to learn, entertain, also has his struggle against the ego and against of what away from good habits, values ??and virtues, and on the other hand, the soul seeks to evolve, vibrate higher, closer to the light of God.
It is not easy to reconcile all this.
But I realized one day that the body manages to accept the plans of the mind, then if I keep my mind on a good path the body makes its way regardless of the effort is to perform. But also when I can put the mind to serve the soul, and managed to maintain my daily work on my spiritual path, my mind rests
in peace and this is their grand prize.
When my restless mind is placed in conflict with everything, when I lose my connection to my soul, things go wrong.
There is no action performed only on the desires of the mind that lead to peace, to be well beyond a short time. A very concrete example I've seen and experienced in relationship with others, and especially with my partners in this life, when the mind and body guide the relationship, that relationship is doomed to failure, when the relationship is guided by the soul relationship grows, gets stronger and is an infinite pleasure.
Each spiritual work that I achieve, always left me the gift to feeling better.
So ... What matter how much progress towards my goal? the mere fact of feeling good and more peaceful is enough. And precisely to feel good is the basic requirement to continue to make further spiritual work.
You can not make any spiritual work if you do not feel in harmony doing so, I can not recite a mantra, say a prayer if I'm thinking of something else that get me away from that meditative state.
Those days when energy is low, that anything seems a huge effort is a sign that my soul is warning me that I have not done anything to raise my level of vibration, it is because I lack the energy that I feel this way .. .
Hence there is the reason to work daily on a spiritual journey, no goals, first of all work on me and those days when I managed to do a good job ... then I think about goals.
Today my attempt is to raise my energy by thanking to life for all I could understand that I need to be grateful, I trying to honor God as best I can.
I give great importance to care all relations with everybody, without judging, or at least I try.
Daily I struggle to accept that there is a time to every process of life and ther is not my anxiety who's going to accelerate or even more for my spiritual evolution.
I do my best to remember to honor the living energy of all that surrounds us, if I can not understand or accept another human being, if I succeed I give my blessing and let him aside ...
I try to be generous in sharing with others, stay away from the attitude of "doing business" and to get more of others than how many I give...
Finally I work to offer these items at all, although it is not easy to maintain a high level, although not receive a response, although not receive anything in return, what matters and that comforts me is to deliver the best of me, generously and that makes me feel good.
A hug to those who read me, Paul Barbé
Over many years I realized that my life's path is unpredictable, I have lived worried about things that never happened, I lived thinking about achieving goals, situations, goals, targets, in fact spending my time and even today they never be performed... months or years later, in a quiet moment, I realized that in fact most of what was not met ... they agreed to the wishes of my mind, who's living constantly jumping, resembled what he wanted in my heart, but superficially. But the times that I managed my inner peace I agreed that those desires were not according to my soul. So I asked myself many times ... Why is it so difficult to be clear that is what my soul desires, so as not to waste neither my time nor my energy?
The mystery of my way has always been a relatively undefined, impossible to catch, because the tough times ... they are still sought, then after a time I realized that the mistakes that led to those trips they were because I refused to accept those mistakes, and from there ended up being the result expected.
But ¿what I should do to clear where to walk if I could not understand? understand myself, ¿how can I not feel lost? ...
I remember me praying for weeks to God for guidance to be clear about the way ... and not getting aid ... so, ¿What to do? At least, for that problem if I found the answer, ¿do I know myself what I wanted?, ¿Should I stay well clear where I wanted to get and why?
So, over the time I learned to monitor my moods, and a useful way I found is this: if I'm going through a stage in my life when I'm unhappy but looking around me everything seems fine ... If I only plan on finding an easier path ... Or put another way, if I can not thank for everything I have and I have accomplished... then where is the problem? ... lack of inner harmony. The famous triangle: mind, feelings and soul, are in conflict.
I know, I have always been difficult to understand well what is the path that my soul desires to continue, well then ..., how to solve this problem is to be attentive to this state of inexplicable discomfort ...
If the horizon toward which I walk does not make me feel good, it's time to stop, and strive to find whatever it is, tp get peace in my mind to understand why I am upset. Because it's easier to understand what is wrong and then correct the course to disengage from that discomfort. And if the way to unhook from this discomfort leads to a course that clearly deviates from that goal I wanted to achieve, then it is time to seek not a moment, but consider a few days of reflection since the goal was wrong.
Ie I have the patience to find out where I want to go at any time.
People say: "if you know where to go, you will arrive sooner or later." But the point is not that, ¿Does it make sense to strive to reach a beach... if you do not want to put my feet in the water?,
¿Have perhaps sense to make an big effort to climb a mountain if I feel uncomfortable with the wind? I have seen many people who know their way, but both give up the effort to follow, that it seems to have forgotten, or have convinced themselves that are invalid in the spiritual plane. It reminds me of
many nightmares I've had in which want to walk and my legs weighed tons.
I wonder ... ¿why lose hope to get there, why so scared?, ¿Why so many fears, so many ties? If my present don't feel right, why stick with it?, Fear of losing what?, what you not accept... and live whishing something else?
The self-compliance and false convictions are a very heavy burden to carry on your back for the rest of life ... Is of no use to lie to yourself, say "I know nothing, an rather I don't want to know anything ... because it's easier" . If there is something rather absurd is playing solitaire and become trap.
If I am unhappy with my life from yesterday and today, it is clear that I will arrive tomorrow, if I know what I'm getting, is a powerful torture to myself tie my feet and very vain implore God to untie me.
Now if the reason for discouragement is because I want my results tomorrow, then things go wrong in the head ... once I wrote, "everything is easy to reach at the end not worth it, or rather it's worth not reached "
I always try to remember phrases, parables and famous stories. In this case, I can compare the spiritual walk of life, to that old story of the race of the hare and the tortoise ... Not by a long run is reached first, the speed does not matter if you do not know the course.
So when nothing is clear to me, I try to control my anxiety not to despair for not moving, then moving may aimlessly, ending up back at the same place where I am now standing.
When I look without looking ... only to find, I depend on what I find and therefore only by fortune, that almost never be conducive to spiritual growth but rather a new learning experience, I'll be somewhere and I may have to go back.
My first steps to learn on my spiritual path was a path to my basic self, to give meaning to my search. Learn how to improve my routes that take me to meetings with other walkers and try to understand at every moment the whole environment of the situations, people present, trying to see where they go and how it relates to my own way. Never too late to return to find oneself.
I tasted most of my life long walks, and for quite that as an excuse to use my mind wander while she is distracted by the scenery, I can chat with my soul, with my heart and always on the end has become somewhat clearer in my heart, my feelings are more exposed and therefore I see a light on the way to go...
It's so important to know where to go that it's worth every effort to clarify, to achieve inner harmony that tells us clearly, Yes I want that ... my heart and mind feels happy accepts ... When the goal is clear a felling comes with unmistakable enthusiasm, comes our inner energy that propels us forward.
When we are able to focus internal energy to an object or a horizon, the energy is revalued, rebuilds and gives us more encouragement to continue. If later the energy vanishes, if it appears that there were no reasons for such courage will be attentive to what is opposing us to diminish what displayed.
Is this objection valid?
A hug to my followers, Paul Barbé
Today (10 jul),I tried to add an attachment with a long list of strengths, weaknesses, good and bad qualities, in order to serve as a reference for the same and with a more advanced reading allowing people to mark me which ones are most important when loocking forward to change, I see interesting to know a general opinion on that topic, but then gave up for lack of advanced knowledge in managing a blog or web page design.
So instead the goal today, I will comment on good qualities important to a spiritual path, and the others that people must work to leave.
First of all I write here from the spiritual point of view, which largely runs counter to the good qualities in the material world.
An example, be generous, trusting, faithful, humble, sacrificial, and so on. It is not advantageous in the material world, but in the spiritual. So from now on everything I write below is referring to values and morals that are important for spiritual progress.
Basically you have to improve: kindness, authenticity, emotional stability, flexibility, generosity, gratitude, honesty, humility, order, patience, perseverance, respect, tolerance ... and secondly we must fight to eradicate: competitiveness, selfishness, falsehood, nonconformity, infidelity, prejudice, arrogance, violence.
Both lists can be much longer, are just a reference.
Some of them, there are such important things that you can not think of making an honest spiritual journey if you do not change what is necessary.
To be clear, I will not become confusing for you with many virtues to get and it because it should be discouraging... The spiritual path, is easy to understand, if we look as a path of progressive improvement.
We all have much to improve ... today there are people who have many good, perhaps more than others, but they can not walk at this time in a path of spiritual progress and instead someone with less spiritual conditions have decided to progress toward spiritual enlightenment.
This does not mean you should abandon today, or right now all your wrong habits, or bads, it means that it has begun working to improve yourself, and so is your goal in a period of time that he himself fixed achieve better than it was a while ago.
There is no way a competition over who has more virtues and good qualities, but rather the constant effort we can do every day, not allowing himself to take any steps back.
Sometimes everything seems to show that you can not move forward, but if there is a sincere attitude to fight to improve, undoubtedly achieved.
I have a suggestion ... when the road becomes very hard to improve on a certain goal, sometimes it's good not to stop worrying about it and try to move towards progress in another. I give this example, suppose someone tries to be more kind to people and has reached a point where no further improvement, incorporating the habit of being grateful is a great support to the previous achievement. If that person gets to thank all the good that you learn to acknowledge how good it receives from others and therefore will be easier to be nice.
Otherwise, when you can not advance a goal, try other ... all have much to improve, no?
I repeat here the 5 principles of Reiki, Mikao Usui taught by, for nearly a century.
"Just for today, do not worry"
"Just for today, do not be angry"
"Show respect to your parents, teachers and elders"
"Earn your living honestly"
"Be grateful for everything that is alive"
I suggest that they are incorporated as a personal prayer, not to be recited, but to repeat and incorporate them into daily life.
On the other hand as can be seen on these principles, mentioned good qualities animate yourself to create other principles for yourself.
A big hug for all, Paul Barbe
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
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
