The physical universe is a maze of smoke and mirrors, complicated diversions that try to capture our attention and place it on the path of illusions instead of on the path of spiritual truth, love, and happiness. We are living in a swirling mass of positive and negative energies, vibrating to the frequency of the state of consciousness of the world’s inhabitants.

This is clearly being reflected in the chaos earth has been experiencing lately, with hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and floods killing hundreds of thousands of people, animals, birds, fish, plants, and trees. This is contaminating the planet. The effect of these disasters is like a pebble being tossed into a pond and the ripples reaching out to all the banks on earth. Our water, air, and food sources are showing signs of this contamination.

It is apparent, at this time, from the reflection of all the chaos in the universe, that peoples’ lives are not spiritually and physically in harmony. These imbalances are bleeding over into our personal lives. Many of us are experiencing problems with health, finances, and a lack of peace of mind. Spiritual starvation is rampant because attention has shifted to material distractions.

How can we survive and achieve spiritual and physical liberation during these difficult times? By taking responsibility and becoming active participants in manifesting balance and harmony between our own spiritual and physical lives. We can’t change the world. However, we can change our state of consciousness, which, when enough people engage in the practice of self-discipline, would have an uplifting effect on the universal consciousness.
How and where do we begin? We begin by recognizing that there are two parts to each of us: our inner, spiritual selves as Soul, and our outer, physical bodies as ego.

Key 1: Our inner, spiritual self is “Soul.” Soul is immortal, never dies, and lives in an unchanging, timeless state of Pure Energy. Soul is the observer and driver of our physical bodies, witnessing all events in this and past lifetimes.

Soul contains a collection of all the thought pictures of this lifetime as well as those from our past lives. Some of the pictures reflect our virtues, and others, our vices. When we come back each lifetime, we are given the opportunity to work off our weaknesses and vices for the supreme purpose of accepting and giving God’s Divine Love, Pure Energy, back to life. Once we begin to wake up to ourselves as Soul, we evolve to a higher state of consciousness.

In other words, when timeless, spiritual Pure Energy enters the physical universe, it splits into two parts (positive and negative) and becomes secondary energy. This sets up the training ground for all our experiences and opportunities for learning. Our challenge, as Soul, is to blend the positive and negative energies back into the spiritual state of Pure Energy, neutral Divine Love, in our lives here on earth.

Key 2: We are Soul with a body, not a body with a soul.

Key 3: Our outer, physical body—ego—is mortal and is born and dies in a changing world of secondary energy made up of the dual aspects of positive and negative energy. Our bodies are like a car. The car can’t drive itself. Soul is the driver and observer of our physical bodies.

Soul takes on a new body each lifetime so it can learn the lessons that only daily experiences can teach it.

Who is the life-force? God is the Creator and Life-Force. Holy Spirit is the guide. Soul is the driver. And the body with excessive ego is trapped in time and a changing world.

Key 4: How do we experience the unchanging world of Pure Energy? We have to suspend our old belief systems, bad habits, and unhealthy attitudes and elevate our consciousness above the concept that time and space control us. Then we master the freedom to see the whole picture—Pure Energy—instead of the parts—positive and negative energies. Finally, we achieve Spiritual Liberation. This takes many lifetimes, with a wide variety of experiences.

It takes discipline and practice to slow down and step through the illusions of time and space. It takes surrender of old habits, attitudes, and attachments, through the process of letting go. We begin to blend the positive and negative energies within ourselves into a neutral state of Divine Love—Pure Energy.

It is impossible to step through the eye of the needle to the spiritual state with karma.

Key 5: Master the art of spiritual liberation through contemplation. Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Make yourself comfortable. Close your eyes. Empty yourself of any concerns or limitations you may be holding. Take three deep breaths, feel those concerns flowing out from you into a river of Divine Love, and watch them disappear. Bask in the lightness, and begin to sing HU, an ancient love song to God, for a few minutes. Then notice a bright beam of light and a gentle sound that melts your heart embracing and filling you with Divine Love. Open yourself to the guidance of Holy Spirit and the full acceptance of Divine Love. Within this state, let an image or feeling form within your heart with an attitude of gratitude. Explore this uplifting, divine state each morning. Throughout your day, step into your sacred state of accepting God’s love—Pure Energy.

Key 6: After about 15 to 20 minutes, bring an image or feeling back, and write it down, as clearly as you possibly can, in words that match your experience. Be gentle with yourself and trust what comes to you, as long as it is uplifting.

Key 7: Make an action plan. Every gift has to become a physical action. Use it or lose it! A gift unused is a gift unaccepted and unappreciated.

Key 8: This is where we begin to make changes in our lives from the unchanging world. Create a physical container for your creative, spiritual seeds to sprout into your life.

Key 9: Practice the art of weeding your garden of life in the moment of now so the qualities of purity, grace, gratitude, and Divine Love begin to blossom in your daily actions and manifest in your experiences. This is a major step in blending the positive and negative energies in your life into neutral Pure Energy—Divine Love.

Become present in the now, paying attention to your choices. A simple technique to use is to ask yourself, “Will it be purity or pollution”? This goes for every aspect of life: food, movies, television, music, books, habits, words, deeds, and attitudes, which become thought pictures.

The world we live in is the world we have created with our thought pictures. Everything we see happening around us is actually a reflection of our own state of consciousness. We can’t blame the actors on the stage of life for our manifestations. Life is really only a reflection of ourselves. This reflection is a gift showing us the lessons we have come back to earth to learn.

It is ultimately our responsibility to realize that we are already the finished dream. All we have to do is wake up, now, as the dream completed.

** This article is one of 101 great articles that were published in 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. To get complete details on “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life”, visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/greatways2.html.

Author's Bio: 

Sandy Paris is the author of Loving Your Age at Every Age in the Good Times and Hard Times, an international speaker, and a publisher. She is a modern-day expert on antiaging. Sandy has presented 33 years of inspirational and self-help speaking engagements to tens of thousands of people at locations around the world. Sandy’s love for life is contagious, and her writing and speaking engagements reflect the infinite potential in all of us as ageless, timeless, and unlimited Beings. Visit her Web site at http://www.sandyparis.com, or e-mail her at sandyparis@mac.com.