Spiritual-one: Blog on Spiritual Growth & Development

Spiritual Fasting - A Secret Source of Power

By Laura De Giorgio

Fasting can help you to renew your body and your mind and to deepen your awareness of the spirit within you. On a physical level, as your body gets rid of toxins and has the opportunity to renew and recharge itself, many even seemingly incurable health problems will simply dissolve.

Dr. Oda Birchinger who supervised over 70,000 fasts, pointed out that fasting can heal and help rheumatism in the joints and muscles, circulatory problems, skin diseases, allergies, respiratory problems, eye problems, to name just a few.

Dr. Tanner who fasted for 53 days when he was 77 years old discovered among other things that his thin, grey hair was replaced with new black hair, the same color he had as a young man.

On a mental level, fasting will help you to get rid of worries, fears and anxieties. It will also help you to get rid of all sorts of addictions.

On a spiritual level, not only will your awareness of the spirit within you deepen, but as different energy centers open and balance, different powers will begin to emerge spontaneously from within you.

There is no other way for certain powers to emerge from within you, except through fasting, because fasting removes both physical and mental obstacles, allowing the spiritual energy to express freely through you.

As a side-effect of fasting, you will discover that your abundance will increase also.

In short, fasting is the fastest way of bringing miracles into your life.

The difference between dieting and spiritual fasting is that while you are engaged in spiritual fasting, and are abstaining from food, you are focusing your thoughts on that which is eternal within you. By directing your attention to that which is eternal within you, through meditation, chanting, heartfelt prayer or by repeating spiritual affirmations throughout the day, you will discover that you can go for a long time without food and still not feel hungry, because you will be absorbing the energy directly through breathing and through the energy center on top of your head.

When you focus your attention on that which is eternal within you, you may experience a sensation of electricity running through your body, because you will literally plug yourself into an ocean of boundless living energy and power.

We live in an ocean of boundless, living energy and power - in an ocean of boundless life-force. Energy flows where attention goes, so as you direct your attention to it you open yourself up and allow this boundless living energy and power to flow through you.

You should listen to your body when you fast and you should prepare your mind and body for the fast. If you regularly engage in some kind of spiritual practice, you will find it much more enjoyable and effortless to fast.

If you have never fasted before, you may begin fasting just for 24 hours. If you want to go on longer fasts, you may prepare your body by eating light food for a while. You may then try fasting for 5 or 10 days on liquids - fruit or vegetable juices, even clear broth, or you may try fasting on water alone and see how long you can do that while feeling reasonably comfortable. Slowly you can work your way up to 40 day fasts or even longer.

If you keep on fasting frequently, you will develop a habit of fasting and you will also discover that you can fast longer and longer with greater and greater comfort and enjoyment.

When you complete your fast and return to eating food, do so gradually. Begin with soups, raw or steamed vegetables or fruits and light salads. Let your body adjust to digesting food again.

Not only will you fast longer and longer with greater and greater comfort, but you may enjoy it more and more as you experience the spiritual high and all kinds of benefits that will emerge spontaneously from fasting.

You can fast for a particular purpose, for healing, abundance, supernatural abilities, for any other specific blessing, or simply because you enjoy the depth of spiritual awareness you experience while you are fasting.

One side effect of that deepened spiritual awareness is that you will open yourself to information that was not available to you before. You will begin to clearly hear the voice of the Spirit within you.

As you remove the obstacles that are clouding your awareness of the Spirit within you, your Inner Light will begin to shine brighter and brighter and you will begin to notice more and more Light radiating through your eyes.

You will begin to experience greater and greater sense of profound inner peace and whatever you may want to manifest in your life will begin to manifest faster and faster simply because you have removed the obstacles from within you.

Dr. Laura De Giorgio is the author of over 2,000 hypnosis, subliminal, supraliminal and supraliminal plus recordings in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. On her website http://www.deeptrancenow.com you can access many free articles designed to help you use the power of your mind more effectively, many free hypnosis downloads and movie presentations.

 

Defining Spiritual Concepts

By Michael Muehleisen

What constitutes evil? What is the difference between "good", "bad", "love" and "evil"? These are philosophical questions that man has been trying to answer since St. Thomas Aquinas; and long before him.

Good, bad, love, and evil are relative terms, and only apply in the worlds of duality. These terms are also subjective in the sense, that what is good in one culture can be seen as bad in another; the same with love and evil. With this in mind, we shall try to define good, bad, love, and evil in spiritual terms.

Good is any action that does not encroach on another person, or do harm yourself. It may, or may not benefit another; but it does not harm them. Holding doors, mowing the lawn, being pleasant to other people, and going to church are all good by this definition.

Bad is any action that hurts, or causes a negative effect on another. Hitting, gossiping, vandalism, and robbery are bad by this definition.

Love in the spiritual sense, is giving to another without thought of reward, or gratitude. Love is altruistic in nature, and shown through demonstration. Real love cannot be expressed in words. Real love is demonstrated by one's actions. A parent's bond with a child, the miracles of Jesus, giving one's life to save another's, and sacrifice are all love by this definition.

Evil is achieving one's own desires no matter what the cost to others. Evil is self absorbed, and egotistic in nature. Evil has no regard, what so ever for anyone else, only for its desires. Murder, rape, tyranny, and black magic are evil by this definition. Satan is the embodiment of true evil in this world. It is inconceivable that anyone would choose to worship him. The true manifestation of evil is incapable of love, how could these souls believe that he will return their adoration?

As stated above, these terms are relevant only in the worlds of duality, the physical, the astral, and the mental. When one goes beyond these worlds, there is only love. Our problem is traversing our path through these lower worlds until we have earned the higher ones.

This article is from my blog "Mike's Common Sense". My blog is a common person's perspective on a variety of subjects; Spirituality, humor. life, and politics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Muehleisen

Using Intuition to Live on Purpose

By Jaqui Duvall

Upon visiting my dentist during my college years, he said he was concerned about one of my teeth, "Looks like you may need a root canal." It was not a good time for me so I ignored him as well as the little voice inside my head that nagged at me, "There's something wrong with your tooth."

Five years later when I finally made it back to the dentist, I was sent for a root canal that very day. During the entire procedure the Endodontist was shaking his head saying, "Oh no. No, no. This is not good. I can't save this tooth, it's got to come out." He sent me to an oral surgeon that same day.

As I was lying on the table trying not to swallow the bone and tooth fragments in my throat, the oral surgeon was nearly bracing himself to yank and pull the tooth because it was completely fused to the bone. The only way to get it out was to drill. Ouch! I can't say whether or not that tooth could have been saved had I had the root canal five years earlier...but I believe the chances would have been a lot greater.

I wish I could say this event cured me forever from ignoring that "little voice" inside my head. Unfortunately it took several other situations with much greater consequences to finally get my attention however, as I've continued along the path of stepping into my purpose, I've come to believe that listening to the "little voice" is essential to my success. The "little voice" is known by many different names but most commonly it's called intuition.

What is intuition? A deep sense of knowing, a gut feeling, a still small voice, the source of deep wisdom within us, our higher truth. When people say we have all the answers inside of us, this is the part of us that has those answers. It shows up differently for people, but all with the same results...it holds our absolute highest good. I believe it is the voice of God within us.

Connecting with intuition goes beyond intellect, beyond feelings, beyond guessing. It's a connection with spirit. Carl Jung originally called it the "collective unconscious". Christians call it the "Holy Spirit". Most people know exactly what this experience is but few can clearly describe it.

When I live my life guided by intuition, I am in the present moment. I have a connection with my body and all it's sensations, feelings and messages. I am trusting the outcome of every situation to the God of my understanding. I'm not trying to control what happens in my life. I am living by faith.

It was the voice of intuition that told me to turn down a job offer shortly after I was laid off from a corporate hi-tech job. At the time, I was in school to become a life coach, I was on unemployment and being a practical person and fearful of financial insecurity, I started looking for a job.

I was excited to have found a job listing that was even remotely related to something I had been trained for and there was a vague promise I might be able to do some coaching as well. Although the pay was much less than I had been making in my last job and it was likely to require long hours, I wasn't thinking of it as long term.

When I went in for the second round of interviews, I had just attended a weekend of coaching school. I was feeling high on spirit and possibilities as I sat there listening to my new boss ask if I could start the following week. My whole body sank, my spirit felt dark and cold and the little voice inside said, "I can't do this".

I realized that I had arrived at a crossroads. I could go back into security (or relative security) for a steady paycheck and benefits and attempt to fulfill my passion on the side, or I could trust in the call of spirit to an unknown future. I went home and slept on it...but the answer was very clear, if I said "yes" to that job, I would be saying "No" to God, "No", to the call of purpose, "No", to possibility, "No", to growth, "No", to the future. I would once again be trading my soul for a paycheck. My intution was telling me to trust in a higher vision for my life and my work. The voice of spirit within me was telling me, "I will lead and guide you. I will take care of you. Don't give up on me now."
So I turned down the job and forged ahead into uncertainty.

Learning to listen to intuition is a process. It requires a relationship with the Self. It doesn't work to listen to intuition just some of the time or to listen only when it's something I don't care about or don't have a stake in. Living by and being guided by intuition requires complete and total trust in God, a commitment to faith and a willingness to live in uncertainty. It also requires living in the present moment. Not in the past, ruminating over what I did or didn't have, or the future, anticipating what could happen. The present moment is where all power lies because it is the only moment in which I can take any action.

Many years later, I am still at it. Still walking the path of an unfolding purpose with an uncertain future. What is different is that I feel in harmony with my Self. I start my day by asking for guidance, where to place my focus and energies, and courage to do the work. So many times through these years I have encountered situations that previously would have terrified and paralyzed me. Today, I walk through them with the calm assurance that I am taken care of and guided by a God who loves me and holds my highest good.

I don't know what God's plan is for me, I can't know. I can't predict the future or see the end result but I can successfully live in the present moment through my commitment to intuition and when I do that my life works.

Jaqui Duvall works as an author, trainer, and spiritual life coach and counselor to help people live authentically and genuinely through defining and connecting with their inner spirit. She develops and delivers workshops, leads mentoring groups and works with individuals to help them identify and express their inner spirit and live a life of consciousness and intention.

Jaqui has two CD programs, "Positive Affirmations and Prayers to Lift Your Spirits" which is packed full of affirmations and prayers, including a "Repeat After Me" section where you can participate and begin an affirmations practice of your own. This CD program reflects the daily practice that Jaqui has established to support herself in maintaining a positive attitude and motivation to stay on track. The second "How to Make Affirmations a Powerful Force For Change" is a recording of a live teleseminar Jaqui did on all aspects of using affirmations. Jaqui has a new website, check it and the CD's at: http://www.theevolvingself.com