Japanese Culture

For those of you who were not convinced or persuaded by my first article on this subject, I thought I would add to it with more evidence. If you haven't done so, it will help if you read my first article "Freewill - Does Mankind Have It" before this one. Thank you.

As it happens, someone e-mailed me recently questioning my 'claims' that mankind does not have freewill. As always, I will remind readers that The Truth is not something that is claimed, it is something that is declared in confidence or preached as news - the Good News, and then either accepted or rejected. Now this man made his remarks based upon the idea that Paul reasoned with the Jews in the synagogues. Which he did not, please see my article: "Did The Apostle Paul Reason With The Jews In The Synagogues?" He then went on to say:

"You claimed to refute the idea that Paul reasoned with the Jews, and implied that logical reasoning is evil and worldly. But I ask to you: if reason is evil, then why can Christians use it so effectively to minister to atheists? If reason is evil, then why can Christians use it so effectively to minister to atheists?

Now here he is missing the point or points, because there is nothing wrong with reasoning if it's accompanied and guided by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but in too many cases it isn't, and that includes the men who translated the Holy Word of God into the English of the King James Bible. Now this carnal reasoning is the problem and yes it is evil if it's applied to the Holy Word of God without the Holy Spirit. Finally he said:

"However, I do believe that God can use the faculties He has given us to lead us to Himself."

Here again, we see the mainstream Christian inability or the trinity blindness causing them to be unable to see the Father and The Son as two supreme beings, not one being, and this is precisely the issue. It's the Father tha16D0t leads us, not to Himself, but to His Son - The Lord Jesus Christ and no man or woman can come to The Lord Jesus Christ unless The Father calls us. John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

By this, too, I trust you all understand that the act of salvation is not in the hands of man, but, rather, in the hands of The Father God alone and no one else. This is why the mainstream Christian slogans "I have found Jesus" or "I have accepted Jesus as my saviour" are not true - they're just delusional lies. When The Father calls, the answer can only be as it was for Samuel and Jeremiah. In Samuel's case it was a simple answer "Here am I Lord". In Jeremiah's case it was predestination - Jeremiah was always going to be Jeremiah the prophet, come what may, so where was Jeremiah's freewill in this scenario! It wasn't, it wasn't there at all, because Jeremiah didn't have freewill!

"I know that you're probably thinking that those people can't see your truth because they are incapable of doing so. However, this denies the freewill that is the core of what it is to be human. After all, God "created man in His own image." If we are created in God's image (which I am sure you believe) and we lack free will, then that implies that God doesn't have free will either.

Yes we were created in the image of the Godhead but unfortunately this man has forgotten one catastrophic event - man's fall from the benefits that came with being created in God's image. As you know man chose (and chose for the last time) to believe a liar instead of his Creator who told him the Truth, always. Once man fell he lost any freedom he once had and became a slave to sin and the curse of death and a servant of the Devil. Again, as you must know slaves and servants just do as they are told, they have no freedom and certainly no freedom to choose, so they have no freewill. We have to be free in order to have freewill.

The fallen and lost have will, yes, but it's not free because the only will they can perform is the Devil's will for he is the god of this world (age or its systems) and he deceives the whole world. Man is in a rebellious frame of mind continually against his Creator. Even if man does good he is still in the overall fallen condition for he has the knowledge of good and evil within that fallen condition. This means he will sometimes do good and sometimes do evil but he is still fallen and in slavery and/or in bondage.

John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Freedom only comes with being Born Again. Anyone not Born Again is not free so therefore has no freewill. If we say we have freewill what is this freedom the Lord is referring to? Freedom is freedom you cannot have categories of freedom, it's either freedom or slavery.

I do not make any claims, for The Truth is not something we claim it is something we either have or do not have so we tell it like it is, i.e. through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in order for The Lord Jesus Christ to make His home with us. Once this has occurred we can only speak The Truth. Claims are for Bible intellectuals who do not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

'Christians' can minister to atheists until they are blue in the face but unless the Father is calling those atheists they will remain atheists.

"At the end of your article, you said that those who claim that you were using reason to convince them of reason's evil were in essence wrong, because they were using reasoning to do so. In doing so, you created a circular logic that comes across as "the only reasoning that is true is that which I declare to be true"--something that has turned many intelligent nonbelievers away from the Lord."

My 'reasoning', as you call it, only appears circular because reasoning without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can only be circular. This was the problem the first century Church had with Hellenising Greeks with their philosophers who infiltrated the Church and corrupted it with their non-gospel. Once Born Again His Spirit joins our spirit and all our reasoning then points in a straight line to Him and is no longer circular.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

It's a Spiritual thing not a reason based logical thing and this is where so many go wrong within mainstream Christianity.

Thank you for taking the time for e-mailing me back. While I still do not completely agree with you, especially on the point that persons without Christ do not have free will (if our will is not free, then God determines who will be saved and who won't, which is against His plan for us, for "it is not God's will that any should perish." ), it is good to know that you are not one of those people who considers himself above responding to people with honest questions."

I thanked him for his reply and pointed out that, in part, he had answered his own queries.

He was right, it is not God's will that any man should perish and that is precisely what will happen - God's will, will happen. Is God all powerful or not!? God's will is not our will for His ways are not our ways (unless we are Born Again) which, if it is God's will that is being done it proves that our will is not in the picture - free or otherwise. The Lord Jesus Christ came and conquered death so if any man dies and remains dead i.e. has not been a part of any resurrection then He and the Father will have failed. Nothing is conquered completely if any fraction of it remains unconquered. The Lord did not come to this earth to partly conquer sin and death, He came to conquer it all complete5B4ly and He did!

With regards to his point about our 'freewill' he had not understood the issue that it's only being Born Again that gives us freewill. Adam and Eve lost their 'freewill' - the first Adam. We are under the grace of the second Adam and have been restored to an even better position than the first Adam before he fell. We are, in effect, more free than the first Adam so we have freewill if we are Born Again, but the lost and unsaved do not have freewill, they can only do the Devil's will - that is the fallen condition.

If we believe that the lost and unsaved have freewill then by default we are saying that they have a say in whether they are saved or not. By default you are saying man's decision overrides or overrules The Father's decision and man has the power to control God's will. This is a tail wagging the dog scenario of cataclysmic proportions that he is describing here, whichever way you look at it, and makes God look very weak indeed. This, too, is the foundational flaw in all mainstream Christian denominational teaching and it renders all adherents to it as believers in a non-gospel.

Once we embark upon a spiritual journey of salvation based upon man's decisions or upon man's authority, which, if it is our decision then it must be based upon our authority, we then have a spiritual journey of Spiritual insecurity. That is why mainstream Christians are always questioning the validity of their salvation565 and in turn why they live lives of worry, fear, guilt and doubt about their position in Christ. Why? I will tell you why, because it all started on a sandy foundation of their decision based upon the myth of their freewill when all the while it is not their decision at all but, rather, The Father's decision alone.

I told him, I hoped it would help him in his understanding and we parted on good terms with him saying he thought I made some very interesting points. He said he would have to think long and hard on this subject. He thanked me again for being willing to sacrifice my precious time, so it was refreshing and encouraging to part amicably.

Charles Crosby.

If you, too, have any queries on this or any other subject please feel free to e-mail me: yes2faith@yahoo.co.uk

This qi gong color visualization helps you to strengthen the energy of the pericardium and heart. The pericardium energy is associated spiritually with our intimate relationships. Thus, when our pericardium energy is low, we find ourselves more challenged to engage intimate relationships positively.

For example, we might be more apt to engage in arguments or refrain from exhibiting loving actions that show that extra level of thoughtfulness.

The heart energy is associated more directly with our spirit or soul energy. When this energy is low, we might find it difficult to be in touch with our life purpose in terms of a spiritual direction. We also might find it challenging to engage social interactions which require spirit/heart energy. As you perform this meditation, take a moment to let go of any obstacles to nurturing your pericardium and heart energies.

Qi Gong Heart Visualization and Breath Work

Take a moment to sit quietly off the edge of your chair. Allow your spine to relax and slump slightly. Tilt your pelvis slightly up and back to facilitate further slumping of your spine. Exhale for a long, slow count of five. As you exhale, visualize realizing gray energy from the center of your chest.

Inhale for a long slow count of nine. Visualize breathing in deep red and bright red colors into the heart center. Continue this pattern of exhaling and inhaling with visualization for two more cycles.

Place your hands palm over palm over the heart center. Feel the warmth of your hands permeate the heart center. Imagine the heart center glowing red and vibrant. Place your hands, palm over palm, facing inward on the lower abdomen below the belly button.

Breathe deeply and slowly as you feel the warmth of your hands, vital energy flooding the lower abdomen and flowing into the left and right kidney. Relax and feel prepared for whatever lies ahead, knowing that your heart is open and vibrant.

Consult with Kay today for personalized qi gong meditations that improve your health and remove energy blockages. http://www.aikihealing.com

Author Kay Hutchinson, CAMQ,CAMT is a practitioner of Chinese medicine, energetic life coach and teacher of qi gong movement. She is the founder of Aiki Healinga private practice in Austin, Texas, and the publisher of "Health Prosperity" a publication dedicated to empowering people to manifest optimum health and wellness.

In a world where stress, strain, rush and restlessness abound, peace of mind is of paramount importance. It is a treasure that everyone desires, but only very few know how to gain it, and even fewer really do something to get it.

With all the advancement of science, no remedy has yet been found for lack of inner peace. Often, even when being in good financial condition and in good health, people have no peace of mind, which only proves that peace of mind does not depend on external conditions or on any scientific or technical progress. The solution has to come from within, not through external means.

It is not always possible to change external conditions, but you can certainly change your inner attitude and learn to stop allowing outside influences affect your moods and states of mind.

Peace of mind is not something to be found only on the Himalayas, by monks and hermits. It is attainable here and now, wherever you are, irrespective of your external circumstances, since it is an inner state, and is independent of circumstances and external conditions.

Peace manifests, when the incessant inner chatter of the mind slows down. When it appears, anxiety, stress, worries, fear, mental and emotional restlessness, nervousness and impatience disappear. It is a state of inner calmness, tranquility and serenity, which brings forth happiness, tolerance, inner poise, inner balance and self-control.

Peace of mind is an acquired skill, which requires time, practice and perseverance to develop, just like any other skill. With the right training, and with desire, motivation, patience and perseverance, you are sure to attain at least some degree of inner peace.

Peace of mind will enable you to manifest calmness and tranquility in your daily life, and also in difficult and trying situations. It will allow you to display emotional and mental detachment whenever needed, and thereby avoid being too affected by other people's words, feelings and behavior. It will also enable you to control your reactions and become a happy, patient, tolerant and open-minded human being.

There are various techniques for gaining peace of mind, and following and implementing them, even for just a few minutes a day, wil9E7l make a noticeable difference in your life, and you will soon become aware of positive inner changes within you.

You don't have wait for the perfect circumstances to start working on gaining it. You can start here and now, regardless of the kind of life you are living, and irrespective of your circumstances. This might require some effort on your part, but it is a worthwhile project and the rewards are great.

You can continue living your own life, without changing your external condition, continue with your job and relationships, and yet work on attaining inner peace. This is done in a gradual manner, by learning to change your mental attitude, developing inner strength and inner detachment, through meditation and through other means.

It is not possible to teach this important and fascinating subject in such a short article, but you can find more articles and guidance at

www.successconsciousness.com/peace_mind.htm

Remez Sasson teaches and writes on positive thinking, creative visualization, motivation, self-improvement, peace of mind, spiritual growth and meditation. He is the author of several books, among which are "Peace of mind in Daily Life", "Will Power and Self Discipline", "Visualize and Achieve" and "Affirmations - Words of Power".

Visit his website and find articles and books filled with inspiration, motivation and practical advice and guidance. Website: http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com Books: http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_and_books.htm

When we have a few quiet moments to ourselves, we may wonder at how bountiful this Universe is. Nature has indeed provided us with much beauty and wealth. In fact, the thought may even strike us - how nice it would be if we can tap into this source to bring more abundance into our lives.

Well, the truth is that it is possible. There is a spiritual law of abundance, according to gurus like Deepak Chopra, Abraham or Esther and Jerry Hicks, and Bob Proctor, just to name a few. According to this law, the Universe is abundant and that we can have virtually anything we desire. All of what is currently in our reality is the result of our manifestations.

In the context of quantum science, we know that the Universe is made up of matter and energy. Matter and energy are the same; each is transformable into the other. Hence, all of bounty in nature, is a result of the unmanifest that has been transformed into the manifest. And that includes our physical forms.

Deepak Chopra, in his book on the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, said that the source of creation is divinity (or the spirit); the process of creation is divinity in motion (or the mind); and the object of creation is the physical universe (of which the physical body is a part). All of these three aspects of reality are fundamentally the same thing. They all come from pure potentiality; originating from pure thoughts. It is therefore clear to see that we are co-creators of our Universe. If we choose to focus our thoughts on great abundance, giving more energy to them and tapping into the vast wealth that the Universe has, we can bring our thoughts into reality.

We can choose not to believe this and to separate ourselves from all that is. Or, we can choose to experience for ourselves the exuberant abundance that we see in nature. When we make a choice for the latter, we can then begin to attract all the abundance that we want into our lives.

The Spiritual Law of Abundance is appealing because it makes us know that we have the power to change our environment. We can be abundant. We can experience joy and happiness in quantities that we never thought we deserve to in this lifetime. Abundance, including money, will flow to us like never before when we understand and apply this law properly.

Evelyn Lim is a writer of inspirational articles, helping her readers find happiness and improve the quality of their lives. Sign up to a free 7-part email course on How To Attract Abundance and get a free report on Creative Visualization here http://www.AttractionMindMap.com/freetips.htm

Has your spiritual growth taken you to a point where you encounter the spirituality information known as "eternity?" This critical concept of "eternity" has huge ramifications about every aspect of your spiritual growth and evolution.

Let's look at God as a never-ending process of love. Let's look at our own lives as a never-ending process of love. Do you see the parallel?

You may be saying to yourself that by looking at our own lives as a never-ending process of love would not be a good sample because eventually we die and this human death stops the process. That would be a very astute observation except for the accuracy of the belief that our human "death" somehow stops the process of our existence and never-ending evolution.

For now, I am going to propose to you that the reality of this argument is that we never really "die." Yes, it is true that this human form that we occupy, known as the human body, has the ability to cease its bodily functions and no longer be a functioning member of this earthly physical society.

However, it is not true FCCthat the phenomenon of human death means the end of your existence. You are a three-part being made up of mind, body and spirit. Your beingness is eternal, just like God's. The infinite intelligence that is God is the infinite intelligence that is you. God is eternal and you are eternal. What if you actually believed that last statement? God is eternal and you are eternal.

Can you see how everything in your life would change if you actually believed, with all your heart, that you are an eternal being? Can you see how limiting it is to believe that your existence ends when your human body not longer functions? Can you see how unlimited your horizons would be if you truly knew that there is no end to your existence?

Can you see how everything is a matter of perspective? If you perceive that you have a limited amount of time on this earth and then you die and your story comes to an end, you will look at that short life span from a perspective of limitations and unfulfilled needs and desires.

If you perceive that you have an unlimited amount of time on this earth, or any other cosmic setting of your choice, to fulfill whatever agenda you choose, you will look at that eternal life span from a perspective of having no limits on fulfilling any needs or desires that you choose.

That's a pretty liberating perspective and the amazing thing about it is that either one of these perspectives, these belief systems, is available to you. You are free to choose any belief system that you desire.

One of the keys to making these choices in life is to be aware that these choices exist. This book is going to help you with that awareness.

Another key to making a choice in what you believe about Life is to look at your choices and then ask yourself this question, "Which of these choices serves me?" You simply look at your choices and I mean you really look at them and then you go within yourself for the answer to the question, "Does this serve me?"

Does it serve you to believe that you have a limited existence that spans from your birth to your death? Or does it serve you to believe that you are an eternal being that is in the never-ending process of evolving?

Go ahead. Ask yourself these questions. Only you can answer these questions for yourself. There is no right or wrong answer. There is only the answer that you choose for yourself. Then ask yourself if your answer serves you.

Most of us have unconsciously been living with the belief that we are born, we live our lives and then we die. We have made life choices, throughout our entire lives, with this belief system wholly integrated into our decision-making process. We have seen the consequences of living within this limited belief system. We have justified and rationalized every choice that we have ever made with the idea in the back of our heads that we are all going to die. We have limited "who we are" and "who we can be" by employing a belief system that makes most of our lives seem meaningless.

The question is, "Does this serve you?"

Richard Blackstone is an award winning author and international speaker on Love, Oneness & Creation. Journey into discovery of Self by reading this FREE report; "The 3 Simple Immutable Laws of the Universe" at: http://www.NutsandBoltsSpirituality.com

I have over 15,000 pages of "spiritual wisdom" on my main web site. The title of my web site is "Spiritual New Age Wisdom, but it never occurred to me to write about what "spiritual wisdom" is, until I received a posting in my guest book asking about it.

Wisdom is knowledge applied, so "spiritual wisdom" is spirituality applied; it is that simple. New Age Spiritual Wisdom is the knowledge of New Age spirituality applied to your everyday physical life.

Spirit is what you are naturally, so everything that you do is spiritual. Because being spirit is natural, when spiritual attributes are applied to your everyday life, your life becomes less of a struggle, and there is a natural tendency for your life to flow easily because you are in harmony with spirit. 151EWhen you add your conscious thoughts to your spirituality, the purpose of your physical life becomes vague and chaotic. The farther you move away from your true nature (which is spiritual) the more difficult it is to return to it because you become brain washed.

As you move away from your childhood and start to believe all the things your parents and your elders tell you about life, and how yours is supposed to be lived, the less spiritually motivated you become. You start to live your life for others and in a way that is acceptable to them, and you loose site of your purpose and why you decided to become physical. The farther you move away from your childhood the more difficult it is to apply spiritual attributes to your life, and the natural ability to consciously alter what you are or will experience.

Because you are life itself as well as the creator of it, you have all the attributes of a creator. The more you accept the misinformation or disinformation of your parents or elders, the less your ability to use your power. After years of believing what they tell you, you become impotent and mortal. However, the good news is that you can get it all back, unfortunately for most of us; it becomes a major struggle with our old beliefs about why we cannot. The older you get and the more entrenched the misinformation, the more difficult your spiritual quest will be. You can have it all back in a heart beat if you can let go of your physical thoughts and accept your true nature as your new reality; but that is easier said than done. Experience has taught me that it is another lifetime or several before that transformation can happen. The idea of acceptance is easy; its practice however, is most difficult. It is a lot of work and energy finding your way back and the harder you try, the farther away you move.

If you are lucky enough to have parents who are wise in spiritual matters and they allow you to maintain your natural awareness and develop it, the powers will stay with you and are accessible for the rest of your life. If you are fortunate enough to be reading this and are intuitive or intelligent enough to understand, you work will be less if you are critical about the information that is given you. People will always try to disempower you, with this awareness comes your best defense. They cannot take away your power unless you let them - unless you believe that you do not have it.

Parents want the best for their children, but the struggle for spiritual awareness or wisdom should be the parents' not the children. It is difficult to let go and allow a child to find their own way. We want to guide them and protect them and that desire is inherited in every parent, but every child must choose, or suffer a life unfulfilled. As parents we tell ourselves and others that we want more for our children, yet we give them the same misinformation given to us, that will guide them to less. Of course when we say this, we are thinking of material things once again ignoring their spiritual purpose for being physical. Loving our children unconditionally and knowing that they have a purpose will allow the freedom for them to follow their destiny - again, easy to say, not so easy to do.

The world is the way it is because we have stifled our spirituality and replaced it with boxed religions which do not want us to use our power. We have allowed fear to replace love and freedom to evolve into the greater human that we are so capable of. Spiritual wisdom would bring back life into our physical experience. Spiritual wisdom would encourage diversity, not assimilation. Life must move in all directions before it can know itself as complete. There is no life if we all believe in the same things. Acknowledgment of our differences is acknowledgment of life in all its expressions, none better or worse than the other.

Spiritual Wisdom is your awareness expressed in the best possible physical manifestation of your own thoughts. Be true to your own wisdom.

Roy E. Klienwachter is a resident of British Columbia, Canada. A published author, a student of NLP, New Age Light Worker, Teacher and Phenomenologist. Roy's books and articles are thought provoking, and designed to empower your imagination, and take you to places you would never have thought of.

Visit Roy at http://www.klienwachter.com or Claim your copy of Roy's new book at: http://www.yourlifewasnevermeanttobeastruggle.com

We humans tend to have a penchant for 'pouring' cities and leveling hills. It seems we love to create networks of streets, businesses, and housing developments. We are enthusiastic about pouring concrete, macadam, and steel over what were once natural landscapes. We lose little time cutting interstate highways and planting shopping centers, shopping malls, and golf courses on perfectly good land.

Metaphysically, the ego does all it can to urbanize the natural spirituality of our human nature. It flattens our 'peaks of higher spiritual consciousness,' clogs the flow of Spirit, and does its best to construct intellectual grids of dogma and tradition upon our evolving inner landscapes.

This article is about improving our spiritual consciousness so we can live more fully -- and permanently -- at the speed of our Christ Consciousness. One of the greatest prosperity stories in the New Testament is the story where Jesus the Christ feeds thousands of men, women, and children on a hillside.

Metaphysically, this historical event symbolizes an internal process which goes on in our minds. I refer to this particular story as the first fast food service in the New Testament. The story appears in all four Gospels, but I shall use John's Gospel since it contains elements which are not mentioned in the other Gospels. Read John 6:1-15 in your favorite New Testament version.

This event takes place at the time of the Passover, an important historical Jewish holiday. There would have been hundreds of thousands of people traveling to Jerusalem. Did Jesus feed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish? It seems incredible doesn't it! Did the generosity of a little boy compel thousands of other people to share what they had? Perhaps. Did Christ have the power to manifest anything He wanted? Of course! However, I believe the importance of this story rests with its metaphysical interpretation which makes it one of the greatest formulas for prosperity ever found.

The meanings of key phrases, terms, and characters in this story metaphysically interpreted:

• Sea of Galilee represents the Garden of Eden

• Sea of Tiberias stands for right thinking

• Crowds usually represent a mindset that seeks spiritual understanding

• Jesus symbolizes our quickening Christ potential

• Disciples are our higher mental faculties and spiritual capacities

• Passover represents passing over sense pursuits by choosing a higher state of spiritual consciousness

• Philip stands for the power of the spoken word through affirmations and denials

• Andrew represents a Spirit-oriented strength of mind

• Simon Peter personifies a deepening faith

• Boy generally represents childlike faith and imagination

• People seated our comfort and acceptance of our Christ Nature

• 5 loaves stand for ever-present substance which underwrites the capacity of our five senses to manifest our good

• 2 fishes symbolize both formative and creative divine ideas

• 12 baskets represent the 12 highest spiritual qualities within us that are quickened and strengthened by the influence of Spirit

When we toss all of these characters and key concepts into a metaphysical basket, here's what we get:

When we focus on our connection with our Christ Self using affirmations and denials to declare our good, we will be able to manifest incredible abundance through the strength of our faith, which in turn quickens all of our highest spiritual faculties so that we can become the best Christs we can be.

Dr. Bil Holton is a metaphysician and Truth practitioner. His mission is to help others have a better understanding of the Bible, and learn how to walk the spiritual path on practical feet. Visit his website at http://www.metaphysicalbible.net to learn more about Bil, and to view the many resources that are available to help you on your Truth walk and spiritual journey.

An elder of the Church visited a 3rd grade Bible class one Sunday morning. He asked the class why people call him a Christian? A little girl named Laura raised her hand. "Yes," said the elder pointing to the girl, "go ahead"

In sweet innocence, Laura replied, "Because they don't know you?"

Ba-da Bing, Ba-da Boom!

Indeed, I often wonder why God puts up with us as His children given the way we often think and act. No, I am not speaking about holiness, though holiness is certainly an element of faith. Rather, I am referring to the way Christians walk in step with the world when i1C84t comes to their health and lifestyle.

Based on health and lifestyle, most people would be hard pressed to single out a Christian in a crowd of unbelievers. Christians eat the same junk foods, drink the same soft drinks, get just as obese, come down with the same diseases and get treated by doctors trained in the same medicine, take the same drugs and often die from complications following the same medications and treatment.

Don't get me wrong. I am not questioning anyone's faith, their Church attendance, worship, church activity, or none of that stuff. No, rather what I'm questioning is the spiritual disconnect I see in the operation of our faith with our own physical health and well-being. I mean it's as though many Christians consider food and medicine as being irrelevant to the practice of their faith.

Oh sure, we pray over our food and we pray for healing when under the care of a doctor. I am not talking about that. What I'm talking about is not giving consideration to food and medicine as being a weapon of Satan. Crazy, you say?

Let me give you a word of knowledge from God's Word. It is our responsibility as Christians to "test everything" and to "avoid every kind of evil" (I Thessalonians 5:21). Everything certainly includes food and medicine, two large parts of our life.

Time and again, God's Word tells us to; "live a life worthy of the calling" we received (Ephesians 4:1), to not be "conformed to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2), "not to be yoked together with unbelievers" (II Corinthians 6:14). "For what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever" (II Corinthians 6:15)?

We typically relate those verses to avoiding sin, and rightfully so. But there's more than holiness at stake here. There is a matter of righteousness in how we care for our fleshly body as well.

For "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'...Therefore, come out from among them and be separate...Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" ((II Corinthians 6:16 to 7:1).

So now: If I tell you that eating a diet high in saturated fats creates heart disease, would a steady diet high in saturated fats be something that contaminates the body? Would it matter to you?

If I tell you that monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer found in many processed foods, may cause obesity and creates adverse reactions in many people, could MSG be something that contaminates the body? Would you care?

If I tell you that your body must be alkalized to remain free of disease, would having an acidic body be something that contaminates the body? Would this information cause you to want to test your body's pH level?

If I tell you there are safe and effective alternatives to prescription drugs, which often cause adverse reactions, including death, would taking those drugs be something that contaminates the body? Would it matter to you?

My point is that the world could care less about your well being, it only wants your money. So the world is full of lies and "feel goods" to keep you coming back. That is how the world works. For instance: To get you to buy processed meats, meat packagers inject sodium nitrite into the meat to make it look fresh and to preserve it. Never mind that sodium nitrite when heated forms nitrosamines, extremely powerful cancer-causing chemicals. Does that matter to you? It matters to God who knit your body together in the womb of your mother. He has something to say about that.

Or suppose you are diagnosed with cancer. Never mind there are safer and more effective alternatives then the surgery your physician recommends. He thinks a surgeon should cut you open from front to back to remove the tumor. If you survive the surgery, you would be given toxic and often lethal drugs. Your doctor gives you no other viable options. Does that matter to you? It matters to God who knit you together in the womb of your mother. He has something to say about that as well.

Here's the point. God receives no glory in you getting sick with a disease. He receives no glory in disease and suffering period. God receives glory in healing, and through sacrifices we offer to Him in body, spirit and soul. That word sacrifice refers to how we live our life, which includes the welfare of our body.

Since food and medicine are high on our list of life"s priorities, it is in these areas that we must be on guard and cautious about the most. Why food and medicine? Well, if you were Satan, could you think of a greater way to inflict more harm than through food and medicine? People need to eat and people need medical help. Satan acting through the world works 24/7 in both the food and medical industry to put and keep you down, to keep you from glorifying God in body.

It sickens me to see so many Christians in physical suffering brought on by their own neglectful lifestyle. Trust me, this has a huge impact. Others looking in the Church from outside observe there is nothing going on there different from the world. There is nothing to make them want to seek God. If only Church leaders would understand God"s laws do not stop at the Church door; if they would only begin to educate Christians about the holiness of their body as it relates to food and medicine, life as a Christian would become much healthier. Many people outside of Christ would begin seeking Him.

I believe the local Church has a responsibility to educate believers in the righteous manner they should treat their bodies. No, not just warn them about the misuse of sex and drugs, but to teach them the difference between good and bad food and medicine. Church leaders should teach us how to "purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit," But here is where things get fuzzy and blurred.

Many Church leaders, ignorant themselves of the connection between physical and spiritual health, are fearful of getting into trouble with the law or fear being outcast as false teachers. Even worse, some Church leaders just don't get the connection between obeying God's natural laws and spiritual healing.

They have an "eat, drink and be merry" attitude toward the body. This is the disconnect I spoke of earlier. The mindset they carry is that Church is where one goes for salvation. The world is where one goes for health and healing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). Our body is a member of Christ's Body (I Corinthians 6:15). Our body, spirit and soul have all been redeemed. There is no earthly reason why we should leave responsibility to the world for our health and well-being, anymore than we should leave our souls to the world for salvation.

Churches conduct classes on almost any Bible related topic you can imagine. Why not a healthy lifestyle class? Topics could include such things as learning how to read food labels and what to watch out for, identifying known food chemicals suspect for poor health, iden586tifying physicians in your area trained in holistic health, Bible study on the subject of health and much more. Not only would such classes be popular, they would serve to draw more visitors.

Food and medicine are the issues of our time. The more a Church is willing to involve itself in educating its flock on the topic of food and medicine as a spiritual act of worship, the more we will see a healthier Church.

Jim Lynn is Director of Gods Healing Word ministry and Author of The Miracle of Healing in Your Church Today. For more information visit: http://GodsHealingWord.org

Persecution of those who believe in Jesus Christ has escalated rapidly all around the world. Why are so many political authorities afraid of men and women having real living vibrant faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. It is irrational and illogical. Most believers want to do all they can to help the secular authorities. Yet, it has been like this from the beginning.

Priorities can lead you to prison.

Peter and John are filled with the power of God and determined to be present at worship.

One of their priorities was worship. A disciple of Jesus Christ will always be present at worship. On their way to worship they met a man who was sitting begging outside the gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was in his 40's and had never walked.

Peter spoke to this man, took him by the hand, and helped him stand. Strength flowed into his feet, ankles and legs, and within a few minutes he was walking, jumping and praising God. Well, what would you do if you had just been healed miraculously by the power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ?

He had been down all his days. These servants of God lifted him up.

Many people need a lift.

Everyone knew something supernatural had happened, and Peter has some explaining to do. He describes how this man had been healed through faith in the name of Jesus. Trouble soon comes on the scene. This is the first real trouble. This is very different from being laughed at, ridiculed, and accused of being drunk.

The authorities are greatly disturbed because the apostles are teaching the people and proclaiming that Jesus is risen from the dead. Peter and John are seized, arrested and put in prison. These religious authorities in Jerusalem show no concern whatsoever for the man who had been healed. It is as if they were not interested.

However, there is fruit, as more people come to believe in Jesus Christ.

Peter confronted sickness, and challenged sin in people without opening his mouth, the consequence of which lands him in a Jerusalem jail.

Why is it that when you give someone in need real help or when you wish to give real help to people in the Name of Jesus Christ and in the Power of the Holy Spirit, there can appear such a negative reaction? Do remember that there is an enemy of God who hates and detests people serving and ministering in the love and strength of the risen and living Jesus.

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has traveled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com

In the schools of Thelemic influence, the evolution and realisation of the being (soul) is described as the EMANCIPATION. Modern Spiritual Physics rather speak of METAMORPHOSIS, thus extending the concept of an illuminated spiritual path not only towards "recovery" and "awakening", but also of the attainment of new heights and a new spiritual "conquest". The Ascension schools put the emphasis on the process of ASCENSION, underlining the importance of a coordinated and complete evolution on all the planes of existence and reality of the being. All the schools, from the most traditional to the most modern, see evolution as the realisation of an evolutional process through multidimensional experiences of this particular Universe and describe a spiritual but also a physical evolution that occurs. Nonetheless, the concept of physical evolution must be extended to a holistic system far greater than the current terrestrial sensorial experience.

The path towards CONSCIENCE (its integration, re-composition and re-evolution) can be taken through various possible "ways" that begin at different points: the evolution of the states of consciousness through Meditation, Ceremonial Magick or, for instance, the Kabala, the awak161Aening of the spiritual and vital energies based on Alchemy and the work on the Chakras, the completeness of the Androgen through Tantrism, the recovery of the Archetypes and the re-awakening of the internal senses according to Spiritual Physics. Ascension schools also put the emphasis on the process of reactivation of the nitrogen basis that compose human DNA (two strands today of what should be over 3 billion). In order to position this last assertion in the proper context and integrate it with the knowledge divulged on this website, it is important to firstly make a few mental connections and keep in mind a couple of elements as follows:

-The composition of matter and its "base bricks"

-The connection between Alchemic Elements and Temporal Matrices (therefore Derivative Laws)

-The relationship between the base bricks of matter and Thought

-The relationship between the sub-conscious and the soul personalities along with their ideal functionalities on more planes of reality (multidimensional incarnation concept)

-The relationship between the concept of reality, the archetypes, the 163 elements and the internal senses, therefore

-The relationship between thought/complexity, awareness/perception, derivative laws, the elements and DNA as the programmed pillar and structure of our species

DNA is the internal memory (mental and emotional) of every particle and cell of time and space. This memory can potentially contain the entire history from the beginning of creation until the present time. DNA, through the sequences of the genetic code, is the core conservation and transmission program for universal information.

The decoding of the human genome leaves us with a lot of interrogations. It is clear that the entire DNA structure is potentially useful and refers to a more complete existence that we no longer have access to for various reasons connected to our alien and terrestrial history. Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine correspond to the alchemic elements or air, fire, water and earth and establish a certain "order" within us, which also supports our vital, psycho-physical and spiritual functions.

We know that each alchemic element corresponds to a precise order of matrices of derivative laws that constitute the structure of our quarks and base matter. These are sensitive to THOUGHT and are closely related to the plane of existence that we are able to perceive with our senses, both external and internal, as well as the applicable archetypes. It is all connected. With regards to human life on this planet to the extent of what we know today, approximately 200,000 years ago the Sirians disseminated the red race, the Pleiadians (180,000 years ago) the yellow race and the Sirian-Assirians (150,000 years ago) the black race. Therefore in a sense the first human beings disseminated by the Sirians could count on a structural level of awareness (both physical and light bodies) based on 36,000 active base pairs. These pairs progressively reduced to the two we currently have and therefore suffered a redimensioning (literally, from a dimensional point of view) of the concept of reality.

Until not too long ago, the base pairs were actually 12 and the astrological system was a method to decode it, with the 12 corresponding zodiacal signs which established a convention for the interpretation of human character.

Therefore, spiritual and physical complexity go hand in hand, which helps us understand what is meant by Metamorphosis and Complete Ascension.

Ideally, an initiatic path prepares the etheric level for the recovery and reactivation of DNA. It may follow a certain course, described below using the conventional terms our of friends of the School of Global Ascension, but this can be listed differently:

Initiate, 3,000
Bodhisattva, 6,000
Mahavisnu, 15,000
Third Dimension Conscience: 36,000
Level of Oneness, 200,000
True Friend of God, 1,000,000
Passage to Fourth Dimension: 5,000,000
Passage to Fifth Dimension: 25,000,000
Passage to 25th Dimension: 100,000,000
And so on and so forth until the Realisation of Conscience and Divinisation of Reality, 3,000,000,000

It is therefore all connected: participation and extended dimensions, archetypes, internal senses, illumination, awakening of the inner god, use of thought, etc. However we wish to call it, the process begins, extends and reaches realisation, consistently co-involving hand in hand the sphere of intimate awareness, etheric bodies and those that are exquisitely physical. All of which is reciprocal and directly reflected on the concept of reality.

CARLO DOROFATTI
http://www.horuscentre.org

Energy stealers are everywhere! They are your family members, your friends and they are your co-workers and YOU may even be one yourself. A more common name is a Psychic Vampire and we all know what vampires do! In this case the vampire is sucking our vital energy, depleting us and causing us to become unhealthy emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Spiritual purification and cord cutting are some tools that can keep the vampires away!

What does the term Psychic Vampire mean anyway? A psychic vampire is a person that steals other peoples energies because they are living their life in victim consciousness and believe that everything happens to them. Living in this manner is very dis-empowering. Therefore in order for them to feel better about themselves they need to attach themselves to another persons energy field. In order for this vampire to attach themselves to your energy body, they form cords attaching the two of you together. When they need a boost, they unconsciously steal your energy instead of using their own! These cords are also like highways and run both ways! That means that you will also receive their energy whether it is positive or negative.

If they have a headache, you may also develop a headache. It they are depressed, you may become depressed. If they are angry, you may become angry and so on. As you can see this can be very detrimental to your health. At an unconscious level, you have allowed the vampire or vampires to attach themselves to your energy body through these cords. These cords are not visible to the naked eye but they can be seen with the psychic third eye. These cords prevent you from really being the real you! It is imperative that these cords be severed and sometimes a spiritual purification is required for your well-being and also for the growth of the other person.

How do we recognize a Psychic Vampire? Some traits of the dis-empowered energy stealer are:

- feels lonely or abandoned

- feels they have been rejected

- needs constant reassurance

- never feels satisfied

- doesnt like to be alone

- seeks nurturing or feels they need to be taken care of

- low energy and fatigued

- they have a poor me attitude

- is a drama king or queen

- constant talker that never allows you to speak

- needs you to be their therapist or rescuer fixing their problems

- the blamer making you feel guilty about things

- vindictive by putting you down

- a person that is unhappy a lot

- tries controlling you or your life

- manipulates you to get things their way

How do I know if I am being psychically attacked?

- dizziness

- loss of energy

- muscle tension

- mental confusion

- headaches

- chronic fatigue

- sleep disturbances

- irritability

- depressed mood

- physical illness

- small diminishing aura

- leaks, holes and/or tears in your aura

- and a whole lot more!

I know, you are now thinking that is almost everyone alive! Unfortunately, too many people are simply not aware of their energetic bodies and how they operate. Once people start taking responsibility for creating their own lives and taking back their personal power this will not be an epidemic. (Granted other conditions also can be the cause of these symptoms besides being psychically attacked.) Those that psychically attack others either do this consciously or subconsciously. Either way it is detrimental to your health, in all areas of your energetic being, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

How do I protect myself from this? First you need to become aware of which individuals deplete your energy and limit your contact with them. But simply not being in their physical presence does not stop them from draining you! Know that not all people attacking you are people that you know either! Secondly, you need to release all the negative emotions that you carry within yourself. If you hold anger, hurt, jealousy etc. inside your being, it is like you are shackled to a ball and chain, holding you hostage with your own creation! Releasing of all negative emotions brings freedom as fear is the robber of peace. Why must I do this? Because any disharmony in our four energetic bodies will cause us to be vulnerable, so that darkness and confusion can enter. Being aware of this is empowering. I stress this, do not go into fear now that you are aware of this. Simply take the steps to protect yourself. Darkness consists of anything that is of a lower/heavier vibrat5B4ion such as anger, fear, depression, jealousy, hatred etc. When angry thoughts are directed at you, they can penetrate your weak and vulnerable areas like arrows. What happens is they take away your clarity and fill you with confusion and drain your energy. Following are some tools to empower yourself from Psychic Vampires.

Here is a simple cord cutting exercise. Cord cutting should be done on a daily basis and much more often when we are going through a stressful period in our life. These cords should be cut from our loved ones as well. No cord attached to anyone or thing is good!

- Take some deep cleansing breaths. In through the nose and out through the mouth. Call upon Arch Angel Michael and ask him for his assistance in cutting all cords that are attached to your being. Visualize Michael swirling his sword around your entire being severing all the cords. Know that no cord can remain intact and they are returning to where they came from. When you feel Michael has completed this process, thank him for his assistance. It is done. Easy as that!

Here are some physical steps for purification.

- Burn all relevant photographs or objects holding memories of the person, place or situation.

- Write down all feelings of frustration, anger, hurt, fear, etc., and burn the paper, flush it down the toilet or bury it. Please dont give it to the person! Repeat this step as often as necessary.

- Clear all the cl5B4utter from every room of your home. Rule of thumb. If you havent used in 6 months its not likely you will! Get rid of it.

- Clean and if necessary redecorate your home. Bringing nature indoors is wonderful energy!

- Check there are no books in your bookshelves or pictures on your walls that have negative energy. Surround yourself with high vibrational objects, spiritual books, spiritual pictures, plants, fresh flowers etc.

- Sprinkle holy water in all rooms starting at the center spiraling outwards.

- Smudge with sage, cedar and sweetgrass and invoke the help of God, the Ascended Masters, the Great White Brother and Sisterhood, the Archangels and Angels, your Higherself and I AM Presence.

- Play sacred music and sing, chant OM or say The Lords Prayer.

- Cleanse and purify your crystals and dedicate them to the Light.

- Light candles and use high vibrational pure essential oils.

You now have the tools and knowledge to take back your personal power. I invite you to empower yourself today!

Lisa Whatley is an Indigo/Crystal Adult, single mother of four Indigo/Crystal Children, an Entrepreneur, Writer and an Energy Facilitator. She has helped many people change their lives with the services she provides. She resides with her four children in Northern Ontario Canada. She ca111Cn be reached through her personal website http://www.InfinityLightHealing.com

There are occasions when someone sends a bunch of quotations, and encourages me to pass them on. The following gems are worth reading and studying. As they richly blessed me, may they richly bless you. Take time as you meditate upon them.

The prayers and supplications that Christ offered up were, joined with strong cries and tears, herein setting us example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God!

At God's counter there are no Sale Days, for the price of revival is ever the same - travail.

The depth of a revival will be determined exactly by the depth of the spirit of repentance.

'Where there is no vision, the people perish' (Prov 29:18). Where there is no vision of eternity, there is no prayer for the perishing.

Workers that are strangers to knee work may work up a temporary excitement, but never will be able to secure the copious outpourings of genuine revival power.

When God is about to give His people the expected good, He pours out a Spirit of prayer, and it is a good sign that He is coming towards them in mercy. Then when you see the expected end approaching, then you shall call upon Me. Note, promises are given not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer, and when deliverance is coming we must by prayer go forth to meet it. When Daniel understood the 70 years were near expiring, then he set his face with more fervency than ever to seek God.

Don't come to me with that rubbish that there is no emotion in religion. You cannot have real religion without emotion. In Scotland they are crying for a revival, but they want a revival without emotion, and they will never get it. There never has been a revival without emotion and there never will be."

Whenever you touch reality in the spiritual realm, you touch things that are so vital that any normal, healthy person cannot fail to be moved. If we have today such ministry in our churches that men and women cannot be moved, there is something wrong with our preaching.

It seems to me that there are but few who really live with a passion for God - especially a passion just to be with Him. Today there is such a noise coming up before the throne of the Most High - the clamor of so-called praise, singing, and joyful shouting. But I wonder if the same people who love to sing and shout, loudly exclaiming the the praises of God, really have such an intense glory in their secret life with the Lord. When the meeting is over and there's no one there to listen except the only One who matters, do you still have that same passionate joy in your spirit, just to be alone with the Living God?"

It is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won. We must conquer all our circumstances there. We must first of all bring them there. We must survey them there. We must master them there. In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the Presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that? Or have you been satisfied to meet and fight your foes in the open spaces of the world?

He that leaves off prayer leaves off the fear of God. A man that leaves off prayer is capable of any wickedness. When Saul had given up inquiring of God he went to the witch of Endor.

A great many people do not pray because they do not feel any sense of need. The sign that the Holy Spirit is in us is that we realize that we are empty, not that we are full. We have a sense of absolute need. We come across people who try us, circumstances that are difficult, conditions that are perplexing, and all these things awaken a dumb sense of need, which is a sign that the Holy Spirit is there. If we are ever free from the sense of need, it is not because the Holy Spirit has satisfied us, but because we have been satisfied with as much as we have. A man's reach should exceed his grasp. A sense of need is one of the greatest benedictions because it keeps our life rightly related to Jesus Christ.

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.

God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask for it.

All God's giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they believed that God would be with them.

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.

We know the utility of prayer from the efforts of the wicked spirits to distract us, and we experience the fruit of prayer in the defeat of our enemies.

No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages53B, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com

Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. The sin is limitations. As soon as you once come up to a mans limitations, it is all over with him. Emerson

Have you been paying attention to the latest workplace issue? Clearly, one would not argue that its workplace spirituality. This reality does not mean that people want to conduct church at work or to carry their favorite religious guide. However, workers want to more meaningful lives.

Many individuals dont want to separate their personal and work lives as it pertains to this purpose. Will organizations listen? Over the last several months, I have been fascinated with the possibility on applying the concept of spiritual formation in Americas workplace.

I am not advocating infusing religion into a secular environment. The term spirituality relates to the spiritual need of humanity. Its about allowing employees to develop their spiritual aspects in a holistic manner.

For the most part, employees are asked to keep their personal lives separate from their work environment. This is maddening to many. The spiritual void in the workplace provides unnecessary stress at work and home. What does spirituality mean for secular organizations?

Spiritual formation encompasses growing an individuals character, emotional capacity, and personal achievement; however, it also relates to allowing an individual to discover him or herself. Therefore, the notion of spiritual formation addresses the issue of personal development in a holistic approach by nurturing body, mind, and spirit.

As organizations continue to struggle with global competition and human capital issues, executives will look for more management solutions. Applying spiritual formation as an organizational tool may be an alternative in supporting corporate values.

Reference:

Youth With A Mission (2002). Spiritual Formation in the Workplace: Gods Spirit at Work. Received on September 2, 2006, from http:www.scruples.org/web/articles/Spiritual%20Formation%20at%20Work.htm

2006 by Daryl D. Green

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of two acclaimed books, Awakening the Talents Within and My Cup Runneth Over. He is a columnist, lecturer, professor, and management consultant. Mr. Green has a BS in engineering and a MA in organizational management. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate in strategic leadership. For more information,visit his website at http://www.darylgreen.org

Your spiritual growth is a process of going within. Most spirituality information prioritizes what is inside of you rather than what is exterior to you. So your first concern about your spiritual growth is whether you are choosing to go within for answers to your innermost questions.

When you are living unconsciously you are making choices all the time that are mainly concerned with the world that is outside of your physical body. Everything in life is a matter of choice.

Now, you may think that you are not choosing. You may think that what you do in life is automatic, but that is because you have conditioned yourself to believe that way. You have conditioned yourself to keep choosing the same reactions to similar stimuli. You have forgotten that you have free will to choose any state of being no matter what confronts you in life.

If you come upon a situation that has caused you to be sad in the past, then you will probably choose to be sad if you come upon a similar situation in the present. But it is your choice to be sad. It may be made automatically, but it is a choice. When you are walking in awareness you may consciously choose to be happy. If you consciously choose to be happy in a sad situation, you will do different things then what you would do if you choose to be sad. It is entirely your choice.

It all depends on what is inside of you that you choose to bring forth and deal with in the present situation. What you choose to bring forth will be a state of beingness. What you end up doing will depend on which state of beingness you call forth.

If you are sleepwalking you will just think that you are doing something about your present situation, but as you begin to live life more consciously you start to understand that yes, you are doing something, but the something you are doing is determined by who you have chosen to be in the present moment.

When you make your choices unconsciously you have no idea what state of being you are demonstrating. You just know you are doing something to react to the situation in front of you. What will you choose to react with? Once again, it depends on what is inside of you.

What is inside of you?

I want you to think of an orange. If you cut this orange open and squeeze it really hard, what comes out? Orange juice, right? And why is that? Well, that is what is inside of an orange. You are not going to get lemon juice or motor oil; you are going to get orange juice.

Now, let us take this analogy and apply it to ourselves. If somebody squeezes you really hard, that is, they confront you or antagonize you in some way, what is going to come out of you?

Typically, if you are a sleepwalker, what is going to come out of you is anger, confrontation and fear. Why is that? Well, that is what is inside of you. Right at the surface of your feelings are the reactionary qualities that allow you to bring forth those aspects of yourself that reflect who you define yourself to be.

Most of our conditioning has caused us to bring forth those aspects of our beingness that we have been told are the appropriate responses to certain given stimuli. And because we have been told that these are the right and appropriate responses for a given situation, we dutifully fulfill everybody's expectations by regurgitating those responses as a reaction to whatever we have been confronted with.

My question is two-fold. First, "Where is the free will in that?" Second, "Does that serve you?"

My second question is answered by the first. You only serve yourself by exercising your God-given free will. Of course, the key to all of this is to make these choices consciously instead of unconsciously. And how do we do this consciously?

You must be conscious.

Remember, our beingness creates our doingness. Only by being conscious can you do things consciously.

So here is another big Ah-haaaaa. In order for you to understand what serves you and what does not serve you, you must be conscious of who you are being as you encounter the people, events and experiences of your life.

Say "Ah-haaaaa."

Richard Blackstone is an award winning author and international speaker on Love, Oneness & Creation. Journey into discovery of Self by reading this FREE report; "The 3 Simple Immutable Laws of the Universe" at: http://www.NutsandBoltsSpirituality.com

Over the past years, I have undergone a life-altering transition from living on autopilot to recreating my life as a spiritual calling and a force for good. One aspect of this transition has been the acknowledgement of what I call the "Foundational Laws of Spiritual Physics", detailed below. Basically, these laws state that any action that does not promote the overall betterment of mankind (or soul-kind, for that matter) is a waste of energy at best, and a horrifically destructive force at worst. Any person, life-path, or civilization that tries to deny these laws suffers the same fate as any material object that tries to deny the laws of material physics - it will be inherently unstable, unsupportable and destructive to itself (and probably to anything around it, as well).

We can see clear evidence of this anywhere we care to look. Indifference and emptiness are becoming a national pastimes, abuse begets further abuse, crime creates more crime (and increasingly more martial law enforcement in which mistakes are simultaneously costlier and less accountable for), communal violence that is not only tolerated, but actually glorified as entertainment, escalating nuclear "deterrence", retributive wars giving way to preemptive wars...the list goes unrelentingly on.

In fact, this unrelenting spiral of dispirited behavior is often so overwhelming that we sometimes just give up and quit looking altogether - out of fear, social pressures and the frustration that stems from the belief that nothing we could possibly do would help. We even go so far as to stifle our own divine nature as children of God - abandon our gifts, our purpose and our dreams - in order not to be denounced as selfish, egocentric or over-reaching by those who stand to benefit from our self-imposed impotence. Like the biblical servant who hid his gold talents rather than risk losing them in investment, we not only squander the potential God gave us to grow in this world, but, by refusing to stick our necks out and do something with ourselves, we are essentially returning our gifts unopened and saying that we just don't trust God to know what s/he was doing when we were created in the first place.

For our own good and for the good of all creation, we must stop our present descent into apathy. In the words of the Episcopalian Bishop, Phillip Brooks, we must each seek to, "Be such a [person], and live such a life, that if every [person] were such as you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God's Paradise." Remember the parable of the unfruitful servant, and commit to using your talents more wisely.

The Foundational Laws of Spiritual B60Physics

God is real

God is love - A lot of people go to a lot of trouble to convince others that God is spiteful, jealous, bigoted, discriminatory and even arbitrarily cruel - mainly to justify their own un-Godly behavior. Bullhockey! Remember - if it isn't good, it isn't God.

The opposite of love is fear - What we see as anger, hatred, indifference, bigotry, etc., is actually the manifestation of some fear - fear of loss, fear of insufficiency (love, food, money, status, etc), fear of exposure (hypocrisy, wrong-doing or even just imperfection) and so on. By focusing on eliminating the root causes of the fear, rather than simply dealing with the symptoms, we are able to treat and prevent problems as opposed to simply punishing them after the fact.

We are all children of God, and we are all one through God - There is no "you" separate from "me". All separateness is an illusion created by the limited perceptions of the material bodies (what I like to call our naked-ape suits) that our souls inhabit during their journeys.

You cannot affect the part without affecting the whole - Holding something back from another, or hurting another to protect or advance oneself, makes about as much sense as keeping all your money in your left pocket so that your right hand can't get to it, or cutting the fingers off of one glove and using them to double-insulate the other hand from the biting cold. Built into this law is the reality that what comes around, goes around. Good, bad, indifferent or just downright strange, the truth is, if you deal it at some point, you'll feel it at another. So behave. It's for your own good.

We are here for three reasons: to love each other, to learn from the world around us, and to grow and advance as spiritual beings - "Stuff happens!" is often God's way of accomplishing this. If you don't pay attention and fail to learn these lessons, stuff happens over and over until you get it right. (God apparently doesn't go in for social promotion - you've got to make a passing grade in order to move on.)

We each have our own unique Light - We each have special gifts, talents and abilities that, when cultivated, enable us to love, learn and grow with a richer enjoyment, deeper understanding and greater impact than "living on autopilot" alone could accomplish. We often feel this Light as an emotional pull towards a certain behavior or activity, a surge of energy and loss of time-sense when engaging in a certain activity or a feeling of some sort of purpose or destiny. When we follow this route, much less unpleasant stuff happens, and we "get" the rest of the stuff faster.

All strife and pain in the material world is caused by denial of these laws54E - 'Nuff said.

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

Kaballah is a religious and philosophical system that has an insight to divine nature. It is a form of knowledge that revolves around God and the universe. It is said to have come down as a revelation to sages of the past and is preserved only by lucky few.

Kaballah is a part of the Jewish Oral Law and the mystical understanding of the Torah. In Kabbalah, you find an understanding of the spiritual spheres of creation and learn about the rules and ways of god in administering the existence of the universe.

In the beginning, Jewish mysticism was considered the only form of empirical lore. However it was only under the Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean era, and under its philosophy that Kaballah started developing a speculative character. After this, it was in the medieval era that the Kaballah developed with the mystical text, the Sefer Yetzirah.

Jews consider this book to be attributed to Abraham; and thus became the object of systematic study of the elect. It was then called 'baale ha-Kabbalah'. It was after the thirteenth century that Kaballah branched into extensive literature while opposing the Talmud. The interesting aspect of the Kaballah is that every letter, word, number and accent of its scripture has a hidden sense. The Kaballah also teaches the method of interpretation of all these various occult meanings.

Some Jewish historians believe that it is only the mystical religious systems that appeared after the 12th century should be referred to be part of the Kaballah. According to them, the era and esoteric Jewish mystical systems that existed before the 12th century should be referred using other terms. However there are other Jewish historians that consider this distinction to be arbitrary. This is because according to them, the period after the 12th century is the next part of a continuous line of development that arises from the mystical roots and elements as the other periods of the Jews.

This is why these scholars feel it is okay to use the term Kaballah to refer to all forms of Jewish mysticism, that had stemmed from as early the first century of the Common Era. Though these are two views to the usage and reference of the term in Jewish religion, there is another group of Jews that hold a completely different view.

This group of Jews is the orthodox Jews who tend to disagree with these two schools of thought. This is because they are against the concept of the Kabbalah undergoing any form of important historical development and change in the Jewish history. It was only in the later part of the 19th century that the Kabbalah is studied as a rational system of understanding the world, and not a mystical one.

This is attributed to the emergence of the subject 'Jewish Studies' in the late 19th century. And the pioneer to this approach for Kaballah was Lazar Gulkowitsch. Though the pioneer for this approach was Lazar Gulkowitsch, there are many groups that have made claims to being the author of the Kabbalah. One example is the group Nasorean Essenes. According to them, the original Kaballah is the Qabalta.

The Sefer Yetzirah, the Book of Creation, is one of the first books based on Kabbalah. The text is quoted in the 6th century in Jewish history, while its first commentaries were written in the 10th century. However the historical origins of are unclear as it still exists in numerous recessions that go up to 2,500 words long. And the irony of the Kaballah is that like most Jewish mystical texts available today, the Kaballah is written so that it proves to be meaningless to people who don't have an extensive background of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Midrash.

In other words, to realize the beauty, and to understand the Kaballah, it proves to be beneficial to have a background in Tanakh and Midrash.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for MicroKarma.com, CoffeeZen.com, and PrimeYoga.com

6. Right Effort

"Here, monks, a monk engenders wishes, makes effort, arouses energy, exerts the mind and strives for the non-arising of evil, unwholesome states that have not arisen - strives for the abandoning of evil, unwholesome states that have arisen - strives for the arising of wholesome states that have not arisen - strives for the stabilizing, for the collation, for the increase, for the maturity, for the development, for the perfection through cultivation of wholesome states that have arisen. This, monks, is called Right Effort."

Without right effort, we cannot traverse the rest of the Eightfold Path. Everything involves effort; even the effort to be effortless involves effort if our ego is behind it. The mind always directs the effort, receiving its signals from our underlying karma. When we begin training, and before shifts in our consciousness occur to alter our karma, our mind may use effort in the wrong way. It might promote violence or hatred. After we train for awhile, however, the mind will change its effort and involve itself with compassion and kindness.

Spiritual training is right effort. Spiritual training permeates every aspect of life and eventually involves a total change of being. Spiritual training consists of meditation and morality. Right effort is working through the Five Hindrances (sensual desire, anger, sloth, restlessness, and doubt). Spiritual training also involves battling the defilements of greed (lust and passion). Hatred (anger and ill will. And delusion (infatuation, ignorance, and ego). Right effort means conviction, faith, diligence, mindfulness, tranquility, patience, and discernment.

Right effort always involves balance - not too strong, not too weak; just right. If we try to storm heaven, we will find some kind of heaven all right - but not the real one - we will overshoot the real one. If we lie back, on the other hand, and wait for heaven to come to us, we will be waiting a very long time. So it must be a relaxed effort - persistent, but not straining - that's the best way to put it.

Without effort, nothing can be accomplished, and although it may be true that there is truly nothing to accomplish, in order to understand this in one's heart requires effort! To pretend to understand this and stop all effort prematurely will prove disastrous. We could end up with one foot in heaven, and the other in hell!

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

Faith is a practical mechanism that empowers you to take the impulses you receive from The Divinethe impulses signaling to you what is longing to be born through youand make sure these budding creations have the energy they need to manifest. These creations may be thingsor they may be situations or states of being, such as healings, greater prosperity, higher consciousness. Faith is the energy path to go from where you are now, to the experience of that which you desire.

Faith creates a lifeline of energy so that whatever it is you desire can attract the energetic substance needed for it to manifest. You maintain the integrity of this lifeline simply by assuming that it is unfailingly nourishing and strengthening the energy template of whatever it is that you wish to birth so that it can come fully into your experience at exactly the right time. Doubt, which is anti-faith, creates an energy blockage that deprives your desire of the energy it needs to manifest.

Acting as an energy bridge from what you are experiencing now into what we perceive as the future, faith connects what you conceive of and desire in this present moment across space-time to the point at which you can accept its manifestation. Until we have reached the point in our spiritual evolution where we are acting as the energy masters we really aremasters who have dropped all resistance and can manifest things instantlyfaith plays the role of connector between concept and execution over a span of what we perceive as time.

Faith is a tool that requires cooperation from the ego. Otherwise, through fear, doubt, disbelief, and resistance, it is the ego that impedes our total creativity, and our ability to instantly manifest. Our ego-minds are extremely short-sighted, and tend to believe that if they cant see it, it doesnt existthat if no movement is perceptible to it, then no movement is occurring. But the lions share of the creative process takes place in the unseen realms, so faith allows you to hold the lifeline of energy in place so that what is coalescing around your desire can be fed while the manifestation has not yet appeared in this dimension.

When we help the logic-loving ego understand that unwavering faith is not an abstract concept, but is a practical necessity for creating, having, doing, and being all that we long for, we can more easily get it on board and get it to drop its resistance. A masculine-polarity entity such as the ego is action-oriented, and needs to contribute. An ego without a job serving Spirit is an ego fomenting doubt or dissent, and drawing us down in frequency. So give your ego-mind an opportunity to participate constructively in your divine creations by empowering it to take any necessary practical action in the 3-D world, and by encouraging such activities as making collages or writing stories about how the manifestation of your desire looks and feels. Even your ego will be enthusiastic when the results of your faith become undeniable, and it will more readily allow you to experience that pervasive, constant knowing that all is in Divine Order.

There will come a point at which you are high enough in frequency, and so aligned with your God-Realized Self, the true creative aspect of you, and so absolutely certain of your ability to create your desires, there will never even be a flicker of doubt. Until then, know that faith is a vital tool for being the creator that you are.

2006 Julia Rogers Hamrick

Julia Rogers Hamrick has been a spiritual-growth facilitator for over two decades, and is the author of Recreating Eden: The Exquisitely Simple, Divinely Ordained Plan for Transforming Your Life and Your Planet. Julia writes about and leads seminars on proactive joy, and the relationship between frequency and experience. For more information on Julia and recreating Eden, and to get on her list to be eligible for her f'ree monthly teleseminars, visit http://www.recreating-eden.com