| If you would take one idea from this article, let it be | | | | awakening. Yet, at some point in most lives we begin |
| that a spiritual life is not a life of denial. When spiritual | | | | to wonder what it all means. For some this happens |
| teachers talk about recognizing spirit, they don't | | | | as we become aware of our own mortality. For |
| mean we need to deny the flesh. The body is no | | | | others, as with me, it happens when we lose a loved |
| more than a communication vehicle for our mind. The | | | | one. My youngest son left this world in the prime of |
| mistake we make is exaggerating the importance of | | | | his life. Still others have a near-death experience or |
| the body. That means we are often overly | | | | suffering that becomes so intense there is a forced |
| concerned with it when we are afraid and overly | | | | release that leads to enlightenment. Examples of this |
| guilty about it when we feel pleasure. | | | | third path to enlightenment abound in spiritual |
| I am not an enlightened being or spiritual master. I am | | | | literature. Eckhart Tolle (Power of Now), Don Miguel |
| a student. I believe strongly that the mind should be | | | | Ruiz (The Four Agreements) and Lester Levenson |
| telling the body how to feel and not the other way | | | | (The Sedona Method) are just three examples of |
| around. Our obsession with the comfort of the body | | | | teachers who approached death before waking up |
| often dominates our life. If we can learn to recognize | | | | and teaching what they learned. |
| spirit and let forgiveness dominate our life instead, | | | | It is not necessary to approach death before learning |
| we are moving toward spiritual awakening. | | | | what it means to be enlightened. We can learn from |
| My favorite little book is called Lucid Living. This | | | | the experience of these and other spiritual teachers. |
| simple book can help you wake up to a greater | | | | The teachings about awakening are remarkably |
| awareness of yourself (in less than one hour). We | | | | similar. They can be summarized in a few simple |
| spend our lives building a concept of the self that is | | | | statements. Who we are resides in one singular, |
| not real. Anything that helps us see beyond a limited | | | | continuous moment - this moment. That could have |
| concept of the self will bring us closer to spiritual | | | | been written by Eckhart Tolle, or Timothy Freke |
| awakening. | | | | (Lucid Living). It happens to have been written by |
| Why is it important for us to "wake up?" We can live | | | | Bradley Falk (Guided Passages). |
| our lives without giving any thought to spiritual | | | | |