I belong to a great religion and I have MASSIVE respect for anyone devoted to any kind of spiritual path that helps them live a useful and hopeful life. My concern is that I keep forgetting what I have in my pocket. I react to situations without care for spirit and journey and all those yummy things that 'believing' can offer and then feel all surprised and confused because of the reactions I get.

I wish I had the maturity and trust to always approach everyone and every situation with grace and love and RESPECT for others.... I think it's just a simple case of standing behind an ego wall. It makes it really hard to have a clear view of my world.

Anyone got any advice about how to live a life filled with spirit at all times?

P.S. Not that it matters - but I am not a Christian

[Aviza]

Well for me it's something I work on constantly. Techniques that help have to do with Chakra balancing. My main plan of attack is envisioning white light around myself. Another good thing to practice is meditation. It centers you. You gain a more spiritual connection to the world. Less ego more spirit.

Originally Posted by Aviza

Well for me it's something I work on constantly. Techniques that help have to do with Chakra balancing. My main plan of attack is envisioning white light around myself. Another good thing to practice is meditation. It centers you. You gain a more spiritual connection to the world. Less ego more spirit.

I find it REALLY hard to sit quietly and contemplate. I am a really unsettled person. Is there a meditating technique that doesn't involve sitting still? I know that might sound like a ridiculous question - but I really don't have patience

[yagr]

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

I belong to a great religion

Excellent because I have MASSIVE respect for anyone devoted to any kind of spiritual path.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

... and I have MASSIVE respect for anyone devoted to any kind of spiritual path that helps them live a useful and hopeful life.

Hey! Me too! But you already knew that. Humor is part of my spiritual path.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

My concern is that I keep forgetting what I have in my pocket. I react to situations without care for spirit and journey and all those yummy things that 'believing' can offer and then feel all surprised and confused because of the reactions I get.

In many great paths, we call our journey our practice, not 'our perfect' for a reason. Personally, I failed to live up to the ideals I espouse 6,492,012 times today. I succeeded somewhat less often than that. I did however, do slightly better than I did last week. And last week I did slightly better than the week before.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

I wish I had the maturity and trust to always approach everyone and every situation with grace and love and RESPECT for others....

So do I.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

I think it's just a simple case of standing behind an ego wall. It makes it really hard to have a clear view of my world.

Outstanding wisdom. I suspect that every time you fail to live up to your ideals, you examine the cause and discover that once again, it's the darn ego - but this practice of examining your shortcomings is part of the practice. We go from:

Unconscious self-centeredness to
Conscious self-centeredness to
Conscious other centeredness to
Unconscious other centeredness.

Sounds like you are at step two, which is not easy to get to. Many, if not most, people never make it that far. Congratulations.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

Anyone got any advice about how to live a life filled with spirit at all times?

Practice, practice, practice...and trust the current.

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

P.S. Not that it matters - but I am not a Christian

Not that it matters, but neither am I.

[yagr]

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

I find it REALLY hard to sit quietly and contemplate. I am a really unsettled person. Is there a meditating technique that doesn't involve sitting still? I know that might sound like a ridiculous question - but I really don't have patience

Oh yes, but patience is still required. Here is something to help you along in your search:

Eight-Form Moving Meditation
4 Moving Meditations to Still Your Mind | Spirituality & Health Magazine

[CoffeeLove]

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

Anyone got any advice about how to live a life filled with spirit at all times?

Please understand that I am possibly the worst person in the world for offering any sort of advice but I should like to share one or two aspects of my own spiritual faith with you.

First and foremost I believe the key ingredient to a goodly spiritual path is to externalise love as much as possible, this doesn't mean you need to go around with flowers in your hair hugging everyone, although the flowers part seems nice to me. No, offering just a gentle and kindly 'hello' to strangers when you pass them on the street is an excellent way of sharing spiritual love, you may find it very surprising how many people there are wandering around feeling alone and scared and having even one person genuinely offering a friendly hello can make a world of difference to them.

The more times you make connections with people outside the more you will start to feel a part of the 'whole' spiritually. Learning to feel in your heart the joy of the gifts from nature is also a strong key to feeling connected spiritually to the world. Marvelling at the stunning beauty on display even in a city garden can grant you a sense of serenity most have yet to experience.

Originally Posted by CoffeeLove

Please understand that I am possibly the worst person in the world for offering any sort of advice but I should like to share one or two aspects of my own spiritual faith with you.

First and foremost I believe the key ingredient to a goodly spiritual path is to externalise love as much as possible, this doesn't mean you need to go around with flowers in your hair hugging everyone, although the flowers part seems nice to me. No, offering just a gentle and kindly 'hello' to strangers when you pass them on the street is an excellent way of sharing spiritual love, you may find it very surprising how many people there are wandering around feeling alone and scared and having even one person genuinely offering a friendly hello can make a world of difference to them.

The more times you make connections with people outside the more you will start to feel a part of the 'whole' spiritually. Learning to feel in your heart the joy of the gifts from nature is also a strong key to feeling connected spiritually to the world. Marvelling at the stunning beauty on display even in a city garden can grant you a sense of serenity most have yet to experience.

Your advice brought tears to my eyes (in a good way). I found it very moving. Thank you. I will take it on board as much as possible.

[CoffeeLove]

Originally Posted by SadButHopeful

Your advice brought tears to my eyes (in a good way). I found it very moving. Thank you. I will take it on board as much as possible.

You see, right there a spiritual connection was formed, you visualised smiling and it touched your heart, you're already on that path. I forgot to mention that very often when you offer your kind and gentle hello to people many of those people will simply ignore you, it is difficult to cope with at first and one is tempted to feel they are being rude. It's important to remember that you don't know what is happening for them in their lives, before we know that stranger might have just received harrowing news, we never can know. When you get a non response try to hold true to your own heart in knowing that although the contact seemed rebuked deep down inside that person still heard you and although they were caught up in their own affairs the connection was still there. More often than not if you see that same person another day and say hello again to them they will remember your initial connection and will respond very warmly, it is a wonderful feeling knowing you have shared kindness with others. Just please be prepared for the odd one here and there who will respond badly, they don't come along that often but every now and then you'll come across one of 'those' people who rebuke your kindness and sometimes curse you for your offered kindness. Try to hold true to the love in your heart and forgive them for their behaviour, they too one day will respond warmly, just sometimes they can seem very scary and threatening so be prepared for that.

Originally Posted by CoffeeLove

You see, right there a spiritual connection was formed, you visualised smiling and it touched your heart, you're already on that path. I forgot to mention that very often when you offer your kind and gentle hello to people many of those people will simply ignore you, it is difficult to cope with at first and one is tempted to feel they are being rude. It's important to remember that you don't know what is happening for them in their lives, before we know that stranger might have just received harrowing news, we never can know. When you get a non response try to hold true to your own heart in knowing that although the contact seemed rebuked deep down inside that person still heard you and although they were caught up in their own affairs the connection was still there. More often than not if you see that same person another day and say hello again to them they will remember your initial connection and will respond very warmly, it is a wonderful feeling knowing you have shared kindness with others. Just please be prepared for the odd one here and there who will respond badly, they don't come along that often but every now and then you'll come across one of 'those' people who rebuke your kindness and sometimes curse you for your offered kindness. Try to hold true to the love in your heart and forgive them for their behaviour, they too one day will respond warmly, just sometimes they can seem very scary and threatening so be prepared for that.

I will persevere!