The Way Out: Inward
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Falling Upward
Usually when you see people make giant strides in their lives it is
almost always preceded by a fall. The alcoholic who comes to grips with his
alcoholism or the drug addict who wakes up in his own vomit have fallen very
far. When they got to the bottom, they had an awareness. The bottom is really
important for spiritual development.
The ego doesn’t want you to experience a fall, because when you
have a fall, you find your higher self, the spiritual part of you, or God. The
ego is terrified of that, so it promotes a steady little river of misery and
helps you to avoid a fall.
The Kabala
teaches us that in order to be able to move from the physical level to the
spiritual level, you have to generate an incredible amount of energy and the
only way you can generate this energy is through a fall.
The Courage To Turn Inward
The opening line of Your Sacred Self is, “You have been
facing the wrong way.” You don’t find the courage to change by facing outward
and looking for it anyplace outside. When we’re born the door opens just for a
split second and we enter a room called daily awareness. It’s all of the things
we have learned about who we are, what we can do, what we can accomplish, what
our goals and limitations are. However, it’s only one room in this house of
potential human awareness.
The only way 99 percent of the people know how to get out of the
room of daily awareness is to die. At death the door opens again, just for a
split second, and out you go. We call this your life.
Going Beyond Fear
There are a few who really explore. Most people spend their life pushing
on the walls looking for a door that opens outward. A few people have an
awareness, an instant awakening, an epiphany, and realize that the door to
higher awareness, to other rooms in the house, opens inward.
You’ve got to step back and pull the door inward. You have to
metaphorically turn yourself in such a way that you can face inward instead of
outward. That’s where you’ll find the courage to change. Instead of having to
die in order to experience heightened levels of awareness, you can learn new
ways of going outside the room of daily awareness and explore all the other
rooms in the house of potential awareness that go beyond fear and beyond all
limitations.
-Wayne
Dyer, Ph.D.
Recognized as the father of motivation, Wayne Dyer has sold well over 40 million books in the U.S. alone. He became a well known author with his best-selling book, Your Erroneous Zones, and has gone on to write many other classics, including; Your Sacred Self, Manifest Your Destiny, Pulling Your Own Strings, You'll See it When You Believe It, Real Magic and The Sky's the Limit. He regularly appears on stage around the world with his friend Deepak Chopra. The purchase of some of these same books from the Friday's Inspiration Life Enrichment Books link will directly benefit CASA, the sole beneficiary of all sales.
The Key
Most men have sentiments, but not principles. The former are temporary sensations, the latter permanent and controlling impressions of goodness and virtue. The former are general and involuntary, and do not rise to the character of virtue. Every one feels them. They flash up spontaneously in every heart. The latter are rules of action, and shape and control our conduct…
--Albert
Pike (1809-1891); "Morals and
Dogma"
What’s in there, behind the door to the inner parts of me? Much of
my adult life was based upon sentiments, as Pike would say. I left that inner
door closed because I didn’t want to know what was in there. I thought I
knew, and that was enough. Some good stuff, a few general moral concepts about
respect for others, the usual amount of politeness and courtesy from my
upbringing; a generally nice guy was in there, I believed – all he needed was
some strokes, some sort of recognition from others and that would validate my
belief. But that was delusion, wasn’t it? Thinking that way is like Harold Hill
selling music lessons without instruments. It could be all fluff and
imagination without authentic proof or substance. What I really needed, true
peace and happiness, just might be in there as opposed to being somewhere
outside of me.
How was I to ever know without any self-examination? I had a hunch
that if I was not willing to look within, I would not be able to find anything
of value that might be waiting there. The alternative was to be satisfied with
what I thought I had, and to forego having what I really needed. I was not
satisfied with what I had. So, instead of waiting until I hit the bottom, I
raised the bottom up to where I was at that time. Unlike Dr. Dyer’s description
of reaching that crisis point, I did not fall upward - I jumped willingly.
It was time to go exploring, looking for my authentic self, but I
feared going where I needed to go. This was going to take some energy and
discipline, which scared me even more. I had to make the commitment to myself
first, and that scared me totally. I did commit myself to this search within,
and Providence truly moved. It was a bold but terrifying move for me, this very
serious commitment to myself. Mine was not the genius behind it, because it was
more like desperation than genius. It was scary time - what would I find?
No more hesitating. Still, the fear was with me… one step on this
path led to the point of no return, once that door was opened there was no
closing it, ever again. Resistance is futile – you will be assimilated –
Aaaaaahhhhhhh! Hey, this isn’t so
bad after all…
So, lessee… First of all, what is important enough to me to keep,
and why am I keeping it? What is more important? What is less important? What
am I willing to sacrifice in order to step up to this commitment to myself?
What is lacking? Do I have principles, and if so, what are they, and are they
all that I need in my life? I made lists of things that I liked and disliked,
things I did and didn’t do, things I wanted to do, what I wanted to stop doing,
what I believed in and what I wanted to learn, my relationships, my financial
situation, and my health. I even drew up a diagram of my understanding of life
and its purpose, and what I believed I either had or should have at the center
of my life, and what was around that center. I kept a journal, I listened to
people, especially family members, when they gave me feedback, and I spent a
good deal of time alone with myself.
Now, what did I find in there? The ability to identify what inside
of me can produce anger, divisive thoughts, destructive actions, negativity,
and disharmony. I also learned what within me would produce love, healing
thoughts, constructive actions, and creativity. I learned that my soul is a
positive entity at the core of my being which loves me without restriction and
accepts me without judgment. Recognizing and valuing that inner me has infused
me with authentic empowerment and has taught me a reverence for life and the
value of aligning my personality with my higher self, and both of those with
the loving purposes of Spirit. It was a joyous journey, a journey
to wholeness that began with a healing of myself.
I also found that I did not have go through this process alone,
that there was help, if only I would ask.
This exploration also helped me to see that I needed to commit to letting go of
the pain and the shame that was binding me. Commitment, I discovered, was not just
something that happened by choice instead of chance, but that it grows like a
muscle that becomes stronger as it is exercised. My willingness to commit has
borne fruit – (study Matthew
7 for the whole concept) and it has shaped me, not with simple sentiments
but real principles.
Commitments require focus. Someone once described the process thus:
“Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a
character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” Staying focused on the
upper road and my highest calling, attending to my inner wisdom, and being open
to Divine assistance helps me gather the courage to fight my ego and its resistance
to my spiritual stretching and growing. Staying focused on those things that I
am committed to gives me the guidance of clear vision and a readiness to answer
when Spirit calls. Giving all of my commitments some serious and timely consideration
before jumping into them provides the opportunity to learn whether making such
a commitment is in the best interest of my spiritual growth, and the strength
to say no when it is not.
The door to the way out leads within. Begin now this inward
journey, or renew your commitment to press forward in your exploration. Seek
the aid of your unseen guides, and ask Spirit to aid you in finding that Key
Which Unlocks All Doors.
Michael
email: Michael@N-Spire.com
