Did you enjoy your journey through our discussions on the different ways to use your body to be in the God Force? I'm curious to hear how you took your path deeper. Or maybe you're one of my readers who's creating a brand new path for yourself. Let me know!
Remember, there are three principles that apply: action, devotion, and contemplation. The more balanced you are in applying all three of these principles to your spiritual path, the happier and more satisfied you'll be with it—not to mention it enables the Divine Within you to shine more brightly!
Now we'll journey through the principle of devotion.
A Relationship with the Divine Within
The principle of devotion is about using our heart to talk with the God Force. It's about developing and maintaining a personal relationship with the Divine Within.
“Talking to God should be part of every aspect of life, in times of peace as well as in every battle.” —Stormie Omartian
All spiritual paths offer a multitude of ways you can do this. However, in the Tree of Life Sanctuary’s Your Path~Your Spiritual Satisfaction program, we start with these:
- reverence for the Divine Self
- keeping a spiritual diary
- practices to attune with the God Force
- chanting and mantras
- service through one’s individual life purpose
- gratitude for abundance
Legendary Stories
Over the years, I've heard many stories from Tree of Life Sanctuary’s Your Path~Your Spiritual Satisfaction program colleagues about how they developed this inner, spiritual relationship. I especially appreciate how they proved over and over that simple steps can be amazingly powerful. Their stories will touch your heart.
Reverence for the Divine Self
One participant realized how she'd been misinterpreting the term “reverence.” She discovered that she was already doing things to develop reverence in herself, and was now eager to try out new ways.
Keeping a Spiritual Diary
Keeping a spiritual diary was challenging to some participants, while several were already doing one. The two factions learned a lot from each other! They shared ideas on how to move through blocks, such as different formats and methods for keeping a diary.
There were also ideas shared on how to review the diary for patterns and habits of thought. Everyone finished feeling more inspired, ready to explore and deepen their diary practice.
Practices to Attune With the God Force
One participant, never having used a practice of attunement before, used one to calm and re-center herself after a very rough day. She was filing for bankruptcy and discovered that she'd been given erroneous information on how to do it. This increased her stress around her lack of money. She did the attunement and was surprised with how quickly the practice shifted her from stress to calm.
Chanting and Mantras
Another participant heard about chanting and mantras, but he never really understood why anyone would do them. Then he discovered that he’d been doing them already . . . when he would say his rosary out loud!
Saying any prayer repetitively, especially out loud, is a form of chanting. However, he was mostly saying the words unconsciously. He applied the devotion principle—coming more from his heart—and his rosary experience became much more powerful and energizing.
Service Through One’s Individual Life Purpose
The idea of knowing one’s life purpose can be both intriguing and intimidating at the same time. One participant realized that a life purpose was not what she thought a life purpose was supposed to be.
She thought it meant she had to be a leader, advancing a cause out in front of the crowd. Then she had an “a-ha moment” when she grasped that her purpose was to be a support person for such leaders.
Another participant recognized that while he was already clear on his life purpose, he shifted his perspective on how to fulfill it.
Gratitude for Abundance
Being grateful for abundance as a spiritual practice felt strange for some participants. One realized that her discomfort with the idea was rooted in her upbringing, having been told that “money was the root of all evil.”
She learned that money isn't evil, and that abundance comes in many more forms than money. Soon she understood how the level of abundance and gratitude in her life was actually a reflection of her relationship with the God Force. This insight set her “on fire” about this practice and she started a daily gratitude journal.
Nothing Great is Ever Accomplished Alone
One thing is for sure, while each participant felt vulnerable in their new spiritual stretches, all were extremely grateful to have the support of the Your Path~Your Spiritual Satisfaction group as they moved forward!
As each topic was covered, they learned where they were stuck and what was behind it. Hearing their fellow participant’s stories, they were heartened to know they were not alone in their “stuck-ness!" They developed not only trust in the group, but also in the coaching process.
As the months rolled by, each of the participants experienced a deepening of their relationship with their Divine Within. They were much more connected to their heart and they held a new trust in life. They felt more willing to stretch themselves, taking reasonable risks, which led them to greater joy and happiness overall.
Ready, Set, Action!
Over the next few articles, I'll share with you more about each of the devotion topics. As always, I invite you to explore these topics in your own unique way, by yourself or with others. Share with me about how it's going and what blocks you're running into. You can use the comment section below, or for more privacy, email me at [email protected]. I’d really like to hear from you!
Written by Laura Abernathy