Introduction

I have written this book specifically for the advanced student, though not in the sense the term advanced is usually employed. For me, the advanced student is one who has reached the realization that getting what you want from life involves waking up to what you are as a spiritual being. There are many who see their spiritual awakening as the means of acquiring things and conditions that will make them something more than they are now. In this book, I treat the spiritual awakening not as a means to an end but as an end in itself. Achieving this end, which is now and has always been within the reach of all, is the true starting place for getting what you want from life.

More than three decades’ work as a minister has given me the opportunity to observe many people operating within a wide range of spiritual understanding. I think it is fair to say that when most start their studies of spiritual principles, their intention is to get more out of life. They feel that something is missing, that their previous attempts to fill the gaps haven’t worked, and that the spiritual approach offers the surest way to get back on track in making their life a more fulfilling endeavor. And so it does.

I have also observed that many who have been on the spiritual path for years often express levels of frustration similar to those levels that originally prompted their search. They have obtained many new ideas, but they feel no closer to the satisfaction they crave. I suggest that this happens because they have adopted two commonly held erroneous beliefs. The first is that their current dissatisfaction is attributable to their limited understanding of God, that eventually they will gain enough understanding to give them the satisfaction they seek. The second belief is that in their present state they are spiritually incomplete, that they need to develop spiritually before they can reach a satisfying level of experience. Both assumptions are false.

If you are among these individuals, you now possess of all the knowledge you need to have a firsthand, personal relationship with your Creator/Sustainer. Furthermore, you are as complete now at your spiritual core as you will ever be. No natural barriers exist between your current self-perception and your completed soul. The only chasm that stands between where you are and where you want to be is a perceptual error. As long as you hold this perception of distance and separation from your spiritual home, you will continue to wander in a far and foreign country. The moment you drop this perception, you return to the warm reception of your spiritual home. Embracing the simple truth that you already have what you seek spiritually will revolutionize your approach to getting what you want from your spiritual quest and, in the broadest and most fulfilling sense, getting what you want from life.

Nearly all self-help literature is geared toward achieving the ideal person you dream of becoming. This book, taking the spiritual point of view, challenges such a notion and, more important, urges you to examine closely your beliefs about your own spiritual awakening. The ideas set forth here will help you open your mind to your native soul, that eternal dimension of you that is firmly established in the field of limitless energy we call God, the Creative Life Force. The traditional view of the soul is that it is in a state of evolving to a higher level. In this book, I counter that assumption with the recurrent theme: God will not and cannot give you any more than you already have. Your native soul is now complete and nothing is keeping you from experiencing your completeness.

The practice of meditation—periods of deliberate spiritual receptivity—is the narrow gate (Mt. 7:13-14) by which you enter the domain of your native soul. If you are meditating yet failing to experience your spiritual essence, you are not meditating, you are thinking. Meditation is the act of opening your intuitive portal, a faculty that enables you to experience the spiritual domain, to the living presence of your completed soul. Becoming successful at meditation does not require years of training, for there is actually very little to learn. Meditation is a receptive state that opens your awareness to the perpetual radiation of your soul. You already know how to receive spiritual light, and you have been doing so all along, though perhaps unconsciously. You invite the perpetual light of your soul into your field of awareness by assuming this simple attitude: My completed soul is now radiating light. I am conscious of this light.

When I mention meditation in this book, I am referring to a practice of internal reflection. You will want to spend quality time away from all distractions and enter a spiritually receptive state. This practice is your primary resource for tapping your inner power. However, you will also gain much by getting in the habit of experiencing the light of your soul while driving your car, shopping, conversing with people or taking a solitary walk. Bring this awareness into every aspect of your life. Given even a small chance, the light of your native soul will break forth, first as a small and seemingly insignificant thrill of energy. Return often to this experience and this tiny thrill becomes the steadfast beacon that will guide your every thought. You do not want to spend a mere percentage of your time in meditation; you want to spend all your time experiencing your life from your spiritual depths.

Do not think of meditation as a difficult practice you must adopt. Think of it instead as the birthing process for an entirely new vision. Emma Curtis Hopkins pointed out that “it is primarily what we most see [our inner vision], and not what we most think, that constitutes our presence, power and history”. Many people attempt to change their lives by changing their thinking. Your thinking follows your vision. The practice of meditation raises your vision and your thinking naturally conforms. All your executive faculties—faith, imagination, judgment, will and elimination—fall in line with the radiance of your soul. Take to heart the reminder Jesus gave to his listeners:“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God’” (Jn. 6:45).This book is a presentation of ideas that are based on my experience and understanding of the spiritual awakening. It is my prayer that these ideas touch you in ways that make a significant difference in the way in which you perceive yourself, and that this shift in perception is enough to set you on a true and genuine path toward getting what you want from life.

Chapter 1