70 Daily Reflections For Your Spiritual Awakening E-Book

Adrian Tanase

• Herausgeber: Crystal Gate Publishing
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: The Golden Path
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 145

Beschreibung

Throughout our lives, we all experience a gradual and slow process of Awakening. Those of us seeking the spiritual aspects of life are using centuries-old practices of accelerating this process, be it by using meditation, yoga, silent prayer, devotion, contemplation, reciting mantras or mostly by just keeping mindful during their day. By being more mindful and centered every day, we become more compassionate, develop gratitude for what we have and manifest a clearer perception of our world, both in the spiritual dimension and as well in the casual and mundane one. Thus, we start to love more, give and receive more, appreciate things more and live a balanced, happier and abundant life. I wrote these reflections with carefulness to encompass most of the spiritual aspects that are present on a spiritual path and with the hope that these pieces of wisdom will create that much-needed space where your soul can finally feel the freedom that it is meant to experience here, on Earth, during this life.

Leseprobe

70 Daily Reflections For Your Spiritual Awakening

Adrian Tanase

ISBN: 978-3-96508-600-5

© 2019 Adrian Tanase

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Author: Adrian TanaseCover : Adrian Tanase

Publisher : Crystal Gate Publishing

For contact and inquiries

[email protected] www.crystalgatepublishing.com

Foreword

In this book, I am presenting 70 reflections or meditations on different spiritual topics, such as the Ego and the Higher Self, presence and mindfulness, compassion, happiness, karma, letting go, Enlightenment, solitude, unconditional love, forgiveness, meekness, truth, positive affirmations, change, non-attachment, Buddha-nature and also other dynamics that usually appear and manifest on the path of our spiritual practice. You may find these reflections useful especially if you are new on your spiritual path and are asking yourself a lot of questions. These reflections are really helpful for anyone who is looking to find his or her inner self, that deeper spiritual dimension of ourselves, where love and compassion manifest abundantly.

Each of these meditations is spanning one, two or even three pages, but the information contained is rather condensed. You can choose to read a few chapters a day or just jump in and read the chapter that you feel drawn to, as many times as you need. You can also take the time and choose a particular chapter and meditate on its meaning or even meditate on single phrases contained in that chapter. These reflections contain a lot of knowledge and are also pointers to the actual practice that we need to have, so we can advance on our spiritual path.

The message of these reflections is seen from both the ancient Christian perspective as well as from the Buddhist one and it is in itself motivational and also inspiring. I have come to understand that Christianity is mirroring perfectly into Buddhism as they rely on the same fundamental virtues that one needs to cultivate while practicing on his spiritual path. Although at the current time, people still see them as two different things that might have almost nothing in common, through reading both Christian and Buddhist texts, I have come to the conclusion that using them both as a reference, while practicing, one can advance much faster and can also start to see that all the different faiths or belief systems that exist lead to the exact same place.

If you want a real and lasting transformation, you need to read slowly and with focused attention each chapter many times and take time to meditate on particular phrases that you find of interest. In this way, you can start to see the seeds of awakening planted in this book blooming in your soul's garden and also healing you as well through the wisdom that is to be found inside each of them. I personally had to read the whole book about 40 times from the first page to the last, when I was editing it and getting it ready for publishing. The results of putting up so much work into it were outstanding. When I saw how my own spiritual path and practice were transformed, by reading each and every chapter so many times, I was amazed. My mindfulness increased tenfold, my practice improved radically and my whole world changed. I was able to truly and deeply understand what I was teaching others and this made a total shift of perception in my life. 

For this book to manifest or appear in its current form, I have to give many thanks from the bottom of my heart to all the spiritual teachers of today that inspired me through their presence and their wisdom, especially to Eckhart Tolle, a man who has changed my life, through his wisdom, understanding and through his simple, unique and transformative book that is "The Power of Now", which I read for the first time back in 2002.

May all these reflections, that I wrote with much carefulness and consideration, help you in your daily life and walk along with you on the path of your spiritual Awakening.

Namaste

1. Presence

As you venture through the doors of perception, you will find another dimension that exists and dwells in our reality. Its qualities are peacefulness, alert stillness and a deep sense of being at home. The stillness that you will find inside yourself will reflect in the outside world and you will find that everything around you exists also, in stillness. Even the events that once disturbed you are now purely existing as everything else does; they just are. You begin to notice more and more your surroundings, while being still but alert. Your mind settles gradually and you start to experience a calmer, deeper state of being. Soon, everything starts to have a new dimension added to itself. Paintings are starting to speak to you through their vivid colors. Each person you meet has a certain uniqueness and vibration, you can feel they reflect a certain unseen warmth. Each city street has its unique characteristic and story. Everything is all of the sudden alive and each thing is telling you its story. The stillness inside you witnesses the world around. You will find a new stunning world unveiling in front of you. You cannot get back to your old life because you know this new better world. You feel that the beginning of a new life dawns. You cannot waste a moment in this new life that you have found and as you lay down to sleep, at night, you faithfully await for the next sunrise, with unspoken gratitude for everything that exists around you.

2. Silence

Into a mountain’s cave, a fire is lit. There is only a bed carved in stone with a few thick blankets on it. The old man feels the warmth of the fire in the silence that is occasionally disturbed only by little drops of water dripping from the ceiling. In his retreat, he opens a book and immerses in reading. The moon has risen and crickets fill the air with their tranquil sounds. In the old man’s mind there is much silence. The cave has no door and one can see myriad little stars lighting up the sky. Somewhere else, far away, a window is lit with a candle.

3. Being aware

Everything starts with awareness. Being aware makes you gradually jump into a different dimension, which exists intertwined with our mundane reality. The quality and quantity of the information that you receive by being aware, by paying attention to what you do, where you are and how you do it is totally different than the mundane quality of your everyday life. Awareness brings with it, gradually, presence. You can say that one hour of continuous awareness, in the present moment, brings a gram of presence. Presence is like gold. It is always valuable. You need presence in hard times, to make sure you act from your best of interest. Presence is like a good companion that always shows you the best way you should take or the best decision that is to be made, at a certain point. Presence helps you in any life situation and it also brings with it inner peace, that is very hard to obtain in our days, where everything is moving on fast forward or even in hectic ways, sometimes.

So everything starts with awareness. Being aware of your surroundings is a good start. You completely forget about future or past events, you are completely immersed in the Here and Now, in the present moment, and you are paying attention to everything around you, including yourself, in a relaxed but sharp manner. Presence will gradually bring you everything your heart has ever desired, if practiced daily. Be present. That’s all you need to do in order to easily fulfill your life purpose and your deepest wishes and desires. Presence is like a lamp that illuminates your Destiny, so you can see where you need to go, every day.

4. Happiness

Never look for happiness outside of yourself. Temporary happiness might exist in so many places, indeed, and it can be bought with currency, but it is still a temporary thing. That means that you will have to jump from “temporary happiness” to “temporary happiness” your whole life. So you might look for your whole life high and low, just to realize that your true treasure is to be found inside. Your soul might be hidden or not visible all the time, but all your actions spring from it. We need to understand that which we actually need is not temporary happiness that will only be here for a while, but true, real and genuine happiness. Genuine happiness can only come from opening your heart, or loving, forgiving and having compassion for others. As you progress on your path and do acts of kindness and selfless acts of compassion you will find, at some point, that you can generate the happiness that you are longing for, from the inside. That is, from the sacred space of your heart. You can love and also be loved. If you could love every being that you could think of for the next 3 minutes, acting accordingly in your immediate reality, then you would get a glimpse of how it is to live in a world full of love. Showing others how you appreciate and respect them, will make them start respecting and appreciating you as well. Showing others love will not only grant you unlimited happiness but also it is the greatest gift that you can give to another human being. Through sharing love effortlessly while in this life, with any sentient being, this will open the gate for you to know soon, sacred or divine love, which is the greatest gift one may receive while in a human life.

5. Compassion

A compassionate soul is worth more than a big pile of diamonds, for compassion can eliminate all the suffering of the world. Because of this, once all the suffering in the world will go away, everyone will start glittering tenfold than the most expensive and fine diamond or emerald jewel. Then, to express the gratitude for showing compassion in such a way, one can adorn himself with these most precious gems.

6. Fear or being foolish

Fear is the friend of foolishness, while confidence and trust are the friends of wisdom. When one loses his capacity of seeing clearly, which is seeing through the eyes of wisdom, foolishness or the distorted view of the mind takes its place and starts imagining scenarios that will usually never even happen. When unexplained fear arises, we lose confidence in ourselves, our self-esteem lowers drastically, we even sometimes lose contact with our immediate reality. The moment you notice that the scenery around you changes from being happy and content with your life as it is to fearful and weird dramas that usually are generated by the people or situations around you, or even sometimes by your own Ego-mind, you need to re-assert your position. You need to know that you are now being foolish. This very thing is that which saves you from a lot of trouble. The sky is always blue and beautiful, because of the color of the sea. Gray skies are there only temporarily. Knowing that and also feeling that deep in your soul is the point where you can break the fear that is developing around yourself. So always have an external reference like that, in troubled times. I have found it useful that when you feel unsettled, bringing back to mind a place where you've been and you felt safe, like for example sitting on a bench in the forest on a sunny day, breathing the fresh air and immersing in your book, is definitely one thing you can do to snap out of the fear projected by your Ego-mind, when it arises, for one particular reason or another.

Sometimes, unexplained fear, that is usually developed by our Ego-mind at the mental level and that has most of the time no base in our immediate reality can sneak up on you. That very moment know that what happens in your mind space isn’t real. It is only a temporary situation, that will clear away, once all the “problems” that generated it will subside and dissolve, as they always do. In the face of unexplained fear or obnoxious dramas, just be present, knowing that some things need to happen in order for other things to proceed further. Some things need to happen so people around you or even you can learn valuable lessons. Also, if you can, try to completely relax, feeling your whole body, maybe lying down on a comfortable sofa, feeling the peaceful space of the present moment. Any kind of body tension that you feel is actually your resistance toward the present moment. Try to remember this in any instance when you feel your body is building up tension. When you feel relaxed by having mind and body awareness, being grateful for the present moment, your resistance to being in the present moment dissolves, as being Now silences the Ego-mind and also the fear that the Ego-mind is projecting. Just be present, center yourself and be grateful for being Now. 

So, Buddhists call being fearful as being foolish. To understand this at the mental level, you are not being wise, you are not seeing things clearly. See with simple wisdom that everything is all right as it is and that your mental projections that have generated this fear in the first place are merely a means to distance yourself from the immediate reality, to keep you locked in your mind. If you feel or know that the fear is generated by your own mind and its source is not external, know that these mental projections are rooted in your subconscious mind and that they need to emerge at the present time, in order for the mental field to clear up. Don’t fight them. Acknowledge these mental projections of fearful events, acknowledge gently your emotions and stay with them, observing them, while keeping a steady clear mind of wisdom. It is just a mental storm in a glass of water. It will pass, sooner or later. There is a temporary distortion of your view of the world which translates into fear. Nevertheless, the gray skies never stay there forever. Just see that at some point, the blue skies will soon appear while the gray clouds will slowly dissipate. That's all there is to it.

7. Being stuck

When you know you are stuck in your life it means that you are aware of that. Realizing this very thing is the trigger that gets you unstuck. The residual feelings of the emotional load that comes with that may be annoying or even unbearable, but the blockage has been lifted the moment you realized it. How you decide to proceed after that is your own choice. You can see yourself in action, undoing the ties that kept you locked in the past. Or you can forgive anyone that has ever hurt you or made you feel miserable in your life. Or you can send loving thoughts to the people that created this situation in your life that is the reason for you being stuck right now. The very realization that says “Hey, I’m stuck!” brings a valuable practice opportunity, for one who practices passionately on his spiritual path. Practicing can bring a lot of wisdom along the way and the spiritual practitioner can see with clear eyes the obstacles as being blessings in disguise. If you are serious about your spiritual path and your practice, you know that every mental or emotional blockage of any kind, resistance to what is or generally any hardship that you encounter during your day can always be seen as a lesson or a reason to train your mind more, by understanding your current situation with patience and acceptance. This is an opportunity to understand how your mind works and this is also an opportunity to practice the virtue of patience, so you can overcome these blockages with much more ease. Being stuck is thus, one of the greatest tools, in the hands of a spiritual practitioner.

8. Life

Life is the same as the present moment. It is eternal and ever unfolding. Looking for evidence of life’s creation you will always find that something else originated that “something”, and that something else is behind that too. Life has no beginning and no end. Life is an endless dance between form, energy and the unmanifested. Its language is love and compassion, kindness and peace.

9. Our pure minds