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