Seven Spiritual Principles
1. The Principle of Design Beneath Chaos
There are no accidents in life. All things are as they should be. Everything that happens in our life is put there for the evolution of our consciousness - or personal transformation. We are not designed to make this evolutional shift by ourseIves. If we accept that life is divinely designed so that we each receive exactly what is required for our spiritual growth, then our life experiences can begin to move us though our suffering toward our personal destiny. Our sadness, resentment and anger can begin to transform into awe, curiosity and wonder. This is the teaching of the design beneath the chaos.
2. The Principle of Release & Faith
Faith means “believing in things not yet seen” and out of that a willingness to step into the river of life and let it carry you to the shore of your destiny. This is when, out of faith, we are willing to release our defenses that we have developed to protect our essential Self. When we surrender to the way things are and how our situation is exactly what it is, things have the opportunity to change. When we resist what is “so” we deny our right to heal. Our fear that our life will spiral more out of control or that we will be faced with circumstances we can’t handle prevents us from surrendering completely to how things are. When we can embrace the “I don’t know” and admit that we don’t know how to fix things, then we are ready to get the help we need.
3. The Principle of Humility
When we are willing to get out of our own way and let go of our defenses, we become humble. Humility is doorway through which the Divine can enter our lives. If we believe we can do things ourselves, then we are living life from our Will rather than from Divine Will. When this happens we become embolden by our arrogance. Our false sense of pride, or Ego, then obscures our ability to see the entire situation with clear eyes. Our Ego will take charge and remain in charge until we step outside our righteous beliefs that we know what is going on and realize we are not independent and separate beings, rather we are part of a network of interconnections and inter-being. We are simply a small, insignificant part of the whole YET, essential.
4. The Principle of Awareness & Self Empowerment
This is the ability to respond from a place of personal power – many people fall into the trap of assigning blame or finding fault, but this spiritual principle teaches us that once we are aware of our ego's conditioning and the opportunity our situation has provided for us to see deeply into ourselves, there is a surge of self empowerment. Embracing the guidance that is available from Spirit, God, or The Divine, we begin to look at how we participated in and co-created our divorce, separation or the chaotic drama in our lives. To heal and move forward in our lives we must begin to take responsibility for our entire set of circumstances and make peace with our past. At this juncture we begin to see how we have chosen the exact partner and events in our life to teach us the perfect lessons. Once we have invited Spirit into our lives and into our awareness and asked for guidance, we then begin the journey toward wholeness.
5. The Principle of Choice & Forgiveness
Once we understand the design in our life, we can see that we have choices and have always had choices and that there are no wrong choices in life – only the consequences (or from the Buddhist teaching – karma) in each choice. We remember who we really are and understand how to come from the highest place inside of our self. From this place - forgiveness is possible – for our self, our family, and our situation. Once we have taken responsibility for the part we play in creating our life, we can choose new and empowered interpretations of our life and experiences. We can make conscious choices about how to interpret the events in our life and become responsible for, and the designer of, new possibilities. Now we can cut the karmic cords with our partner, family members, co-workers or life events and take back the aspects of ourselves that we've projected onto our mate(s), parents, friends or life experiences. We can now distinguish what our self-defeating behaviors have been and learn how to act instead of react in difficult situations and encounters. We are able to ask the Universe to forgive us. Asking for forgiveness allows us to let go of our judgments and beliefs about what is right and what is wrong and find compassion for our entire self. Compassion unfolds when we are in the presence of the perfection of the Universe, when we can experience ourselves in another. It comes with the great understanding of the difficulties and ambiguity of being a human being. Once we have received compassion for ourselves, we will be able to find compassion and forgiveness for other significant people in our life – friend and foe alike.
6. The Principle of Transformation & Possibilities
This Principle begins from the place of self-love and understanding. When you commit to your emotional wholeness you are committing to being there for yourself each and every day and know you can count on yourself to be true, honest and forthright. From this place of knowing yourself and loving yourself, the whole world becomes the ground of potential – the ground of possibilities. The past is irrelevant, the future does not exist – there is only now and from this place of now, you can respond to the world from the highest expression of who you really are! In this presence of mind, Transformation is inevitable and Possibilities are endless.
7. The Principle of Gratitude
From the Principle of Gratitude we begin to see the gifts all around us and in every situation. From here we have infinite possibilities available to us – grounded in our own Divine Truth - our own generosity. Once we have deeply experienced the freedom in the fact that we are always at choice then forgiveness is available to us and begins to open up vast possibilities for new realities. Forgiveness breaks all the cords that keep us tied to our past. It allows us to experience our innocent heart which is filled with love and excitement for life. We can create a new future, one grounded in our own divine truth. Gratitude wants to give. It wants to be generous and so we are the recipients of the love that is our true nature. Once we stand in gratitude, we are open to what life and grace can offer. Copyright © 2005 by Illana Berger
