Living in Harmony With Spirit
To contact the divine Presence within you, it helps to be on a spiritual wavelength, one that attunes to the spiritual frequency of your inner Spirit. The more you live and think in harmony with the empowering melodies of the Spirit Way, the more spiritual you become.
Achieving this spiritual harmony requires positive, faithful, and unselfish attitudes of mind—spiritual attitudes—not just for yourself and others, but for the world at large. Changing your thinking is a powerful and practical way of getting closer to the Spirit Within.
A spiritual attitude is a mental framework, a persuasion, or an outlook that guides our actions and reactions to life. Contemplating and fostering these spiritual and moral perspectives is a simple and effective method to spiritualize our thoughts.
The attitudes of mind listed below are familiar to most of us, and it would be easy to add more. The critical difference here is that all of these mental attitudes are placed within a cosmic and spiritual context. Spiritual thought, or right thought, as Buddha would call it, is an essential mental framework for attaining enlightenment.
Attitudes Toward Yourself
Have Self-Respect
A healthy dose of self-respect is vital for a successful life. But self-respect should not be confused with self-admiration or any other narcissistic tendency. Self-respect must be balanced.
Like so many virtues and attitudes, even the good ones can be taken too far. Those of us with excessive self-respect tend to be overly proud, stubborn, and arrogant, while those who lack self-respect are unlikely to attain their highest goals in life. Strongly correlated with self-respect is self-confidence, and without a measured degree of confidence, we set ourselves up for consistent failure.
While it is important to examine and evaluate one’s strengths and weaknesses, too much self-examination or self-criticism destroys self-esteem. It is not helpful to be too hard on ourselves. Take time to develop a healthy self-respect by first acknowledging that you, like all of us, are prone to human frailties.
We may be searching for perfection, but it is unrealistic to think you can achieve it instantly, or even in a decade. And it is unlikely that anyone else we chance to meet is perfect. Regardless of any personal faults, understand that it is your motivation in life that truly defines you, not your present state of imperfection.
Spiritual living mightily increases true self-respect.
– The Urantia Book
Spiritual living comes about whenever you allow the indwelling Spirit to help you—and when you genuinely believe that it will help you. A spark of the First Source lives within your mind just as it does in everyone else. Believe and accept that you are just as important as any other being in the entire universe—that you truly belong—because you do!
There is an inseparable connection between your inner life—your thoughts and desires—and how you express yourself in your outer life. It is almost impossible to gain any self-respect if you cannot, or will not, love and respect others equally. By the spiritual laws of the universe, you receive what you give. Go about living your life with honor and dignity. Live up to your duties and responsibilities. Serve and respect others, and you will soon gain that self-respect you so truly deserve. This is God’s Way.
Be Determined
Even if we have a burning desire to achieve great things, without determination and perseverance in the face of all obstacles, it will be difficult to make much headway.
It’s only natural to desire success, but the test of our spiritual character and our ability to persevere is how well we manage failure. It is not so much that we win or lose, succeed or fail, as how much we learn to deal with life’s situations regardless of the outcome. How we cope with failures and disappointments is the true spiritual test.
Defeat is the true mirror in which you may honestly view your real self.
– The Urantia Book
Our disappointments are often rooted in unrealistic expectations about ourselves, about those around us, about the world, or about God. Come to realize that, when things go “wrong” in your life, it is an opportunity to educate yourself, acquire wisdom, and develop a strong character. In the process, you become inured to disappointment and adversity.
Spiritual people take whatever is thrown at them because they know that, in the great scheme of things, the most important objective is to advance, day by day, in character and in wisdom—to become more like the Divine Spirit.
As we advance, we learn to overcome and manage adversity, we learn to solve problems, and we learn how to conduct ourselves in any situation. And all this is accomplished with determination and perseverance—both of which are fortified by our enthusiastic and undaunted faith in the love, wisdom, and goodness of God (see also Divine Problem Solving).
Be Courageous
Courage is having the mental strength to withstand danger or difficulty. But this strength is itself founded on the strength of our moral convictions. Whenever we are thoroughly convinced of the righteousness of a cause or a belief, it is easy to find the courage to defend it.
Courage is the confidence about those things which one professes to believe.
– The Urantia Book
But it’s difficult to arouse courage when we lack moral conviction. We need to develop a keen sense of right and wrong, fairness and justice, truth and goodness, kindness and compassion, and love and respect. Then courage comes easily.
No matter what social environment or domestic adversity you were born into, having courage—unshakable conviction in the highest morals and a sublime hope for a better world—always develops a strong and noble character. Having courage means living a bold life in the spirit, one that squarely faces the many problems of everyday life.
But having courage does not mean being confrontational, nor does it imply taking unnecessary risks. Do not confuse courage with recklessness, impulsive behavior, or passionate displays of exuberance. The steel of courage is best tempered by patience, tact, and wisdom.
Be Happy
Happiness is living the truth. True happiness does not rely on things existing in the outside, or objective, world because cheerfulness originates in the inner life, in the subjective world. Wealth and possessions may give us a brief interlude of happiness and contribute to our peace of mind by providing the comforts of life. But genuine happiness—being in good spirits—is more often linked to our pursuit and achievement of worthy goals.
The highest happiness is linked with the intelligent and enthusiastic pursuit of worthy goals.
– The Urantia Book
Worthy goals exist in all walks of life, whether it’s creating a work of art or doing well in our careers. But spiritual goals are the most rewarding of all, including our ongoing self-identification with the Spirit Within, which leads to God consciousness, achieving self-mastery, and helping others. Pursuing worthy goals always requires some effort, and while all effort does not necessarily lead to happiness, there can be little happiness without it.
Lasting happiness comes to all who have confidence in a loving and helpful God. Your unwavering faith in the good wisdom of God will ensure your success, day by day, in your spiritual pursuits. Ultimately, happiness comes by giving up the egotistical desires of the self and living your life the Spirit Way.
Happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
– The Urantia Book
Attitudes to Others
Be Selfless
Being selfless is more than being unselfish—it is also being self-forgetful. And a good way to achieve this is to help others and uphold our responsibilities to family, friends, society, and the world.
To be fair, it is not always possible or even desirable to completely forget about ourselves. It’s more a matter of striking a healthy balance between the needs of the self and the needs of the soul. But when it comes to doing good works for others, the self is not important.
Unwarranted feelings of self-importance not only impede your spiritual reception, but they also wear you out in the process. It is both exhausting and unproductive to waste energy by being self-centered. If you wish to accomplish any meaningful goal in life, learn to get yourself out of the way by concentrating on the job at hand.
Being self-centered not only depletes your energies, it also inhibits your reception of the spiritual gifts of God. You cannot be truly selfless and spiritual if you crave self-glorification. By forgetting about yourself, you open yourself to the messages of divine love and compassion forever beaming out from Paradise.
O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
– Francis of Assisi
There is no selfishness in God or in any of the universe personalities who serve him. God gives everything of himself, as much as any one of us is willing and able to receive. If you wish to become a participating member in the great spiritual club of humanity, learn to forget yourself—to cooperate and help others. Indeed, teamwork is one of the most valuable lessons to learn while still on this world.
One study suggests that children are naturally altruistic and cooperative in reciprocal social situations. They learn to be selfish only later in life, after adopting the misguided ideals and poor examples of others. The regrettable outcome is that fostering selfish interests in children eventually has an adverse effect on all levels of society.
Embrace Parental Love
God’s love is the supreme force that draws together the entire universe of personalities. If we wish to adopt and foster any attitude at all, it should be that of love.
Love is the desire to do good to others.
– The Urantia Book
As mere mortals, we may not fully grasp the universal love of God, but it is not difficult for us to identify and appreciate the unconditional love that most parents have for their children. By appreciating the depth of family love, we come to know God’s attitude of love.
It is this kind of universal, parental love we wish to explore, nurture, and express in our own lives. Parental love is a spiritual love, a divine love. By learning to love others with the same unconditional kindness and affection we give to our children, we emulate the spiritual attitude of God.
But divine love is not a romantic love in the sense of being overly doting, dreamy, or fanciful. Instead, it is more like the love of a mature, dutiful, and wise parent who is willing to take whatever steps necessary to instill self-confidence in their children without pampering them. Wise parents prepare their children for the realities, responsibilities, and challenges of a mature, spiritual life.
The child does not always comprehend the wise and loving motives of the father’s restraining discipline.
– The Urantia Book
Be Compassionate
It is easy to arouse feelings of compassion and mercy when we learn to understand each other. We live in a time of rash judgments and strong opinions. But having to deal with self-assertive and vociferous individuals should not deter our compassion for them. If we want to be treated with love, respect, and understanding, we should realize that others do too.
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Much of our understanding (or misunderstanding) is the result of how fully informed we are about any issue. We cannot hope to understand other people or other issues when our minds are awash with misguided prejudices or wishful thinking. And this is true not just on a personal level but at every level of social interaction.
One of the most glaring examples of prejudice in society is evidenced by the number of people in American jails who have since been exonerated by DNA samples. As of January 2021, 375 people convicted of serious crimes have been released on new evidence. And it is a sad fact that almost 70 percent of all wrongful convictions were men from minority groups. In fact, Blacks and Latinos are incarcerated at rates much higher than the White population (5.1 and 1.6, respectively).
A similar systemic bias exists in Canada, where more than 30 percent of inmates in Canadian prisons are Indigenous peoples, although they make up just 5 percent of the population. These are just two examples of the evil and grief brought about when nations are blinded by prejudice and hatred.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
– Dalai Lama
If we honestly desire to improve civilization, we need to make an attempt to understand and help each other, to empathize, to be compassionate. This means considering a person’s true motivations as well as the hardships and traumas they may have endured—and may still be enduring in their everyday struggles.
Be Forgiving
Forgiveness does not come easily to all of us. But this selfless attitude of mind is essential to our spiritual betterment. And the reason for this is that God is forgiving, just as wise and loving parents forgive their children. Forgiveness is truly divine, and if you aspire to be Godlike, to cooperate with the celestial fellowship, then learn to forgive and, eventually, to love.
Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.
– Martin Luther King Jr.
An inability to forgive is a reflection of spiritual immaturity and a failure to understand, appreciate, and love others. And again, understanding is the key. The easiest way to forgive others is to be sensitive and sympathetic to their cultures, histories, experiences, hardships, shortcomings, strengths, and skills. As the adage goes, put yourself in their shoes.
But forgiving someone does not suggest we are condoning their unruly behavior, nor does it mean we have to trust them. If a child lies or steals, we need to be clear that it is unacceptable behavior. And even though our love for that child is undiminished, it may take a while for him to earn our trust again.
Forgiveness requires a strong, moral sense of compassion and empathy, one motivated by love. Jesus was the first spiritual teacher to say we should love our enemies, that we should bless those who curse us, and that we should pray for those who persecute or mistreat us. He lived and died by this principle, even forgiving the Roman soldiers responsible for his scourging and execution.
Just as there are physical laws in the universe, there are also spiritual laws. By forgiving others, your soul at once becomes open and able to receive God’s forgiveness of your own misdeeds. God forgives, but you will be incapable of experiencing this forgiveness in your spiritual life until you actually learn to forgive others.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
– Jesus of Nazareth
A practical benefit of forgiveness is that it is important for both mental and physical health. This is something spiritual mentors have alluded to for some time, and it is now substantiated by clinical studies. A pioneer in this area was Robert Enright, who began by studying forgiveness among adolescents. Following this was Fred Luskin’s popular work, Forgive for Good (2003).
Research in this field has since proliferated, and much of it confirms initial assessments. For instance, a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in 2016 concluded that “greater forgiveness is associated with less stress and, in turn, better mental health.”
Divine love does not merely forgive wrongs; it absorbs and actually destroys them.
– The Urantia Book
Be Good – Help Others
It may appear obvious that we would all greatly benefit by doing good for others, our families, and our communities, but it seems the point can never be stressed enough.
There are many reasons why we refuse to be good or refuse to entertain good thoughts toward others. But the chief reasons are selfishness, resentment, greed, ignorance, and bigotry. If we are thinking continually about what is best only for ourselves, our own family, ethnic group, or nation, then it is difficult to bring about what is best for everybody.
Indeed, a spiritual life can best be defined by the good it does. By dedicating your life to doing good, you live in the spirit, thereby opening your soul to receive the goodness of God. To be genuinely great in life, you must be genuinely good in your service to others. Even the smallest act of kindness brings joy to the angels.
Greatness and goodness simply cannot be divorced.
– Jesus of Nazareth
Be Modest
Modesty is the quality of being moderate in any estimation of our abilities or accomplishments. It is the ability to see ourselves within a greater context—it is recognizing our humble position in a limitless universe ruled by an eternal God.
Vanity, on the other hand, is linked to pride and egotism—being self-centered. It limits our ability to see ourselves as we truly are. Vanity is founded on our desire to have others think highly of us because of how we appear, what we can do, or the things we possess. But vanity is not a virtue. Even if your fans adore you, vanity has no value in the spirit realm, and to make life worthwhile, you need worthwhile values.
Envy goes hand in hand with vanity because vanity persists only as long as there is a receptive and envious audience. We envy others for their appearance, fame, possessions, or accomplishments. Feelings of envy are often grounded in our own lack of self-esteem. But envy, like vanity, does nothing to help us progress in the spirit.
Be yourself; everyone else is taken.
– Oscar Wilde
Be Tolerant
Being tolerant means having a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions, beliefs, and practices that differ from one’s own. It means going through life without being defensive or stubborn in our views. It’s the ability to make fair, unbiased judgments of opposing opinions without having to convert everyone else to our way of thinking.
[Commander Lock] “Goddamn it, Morpheus. Not everyone believes what you believe!”
– Matrix Reloaded
[Morpheus] “My beliefs do not require them to.”
Being tolerant does not mean we have to accept or agree with other people’s opinions. Nor does it imply that we should sanction unbridled liberty. In a peaceful and orderly society, it’s not reasonable to assume that people can do whatever they please, whenever they please. But regardless of how offensive we may find another person’s views or actions, this does not give us the right to vilify them. Tolerance maintains a constant attitude of love and respect.
Those who are completely intolerant of the opinions of others are usually strongly opinionated themselves. The more stubborn and intractable we become, the greater the possibility of endless conflict and misunderstandings.
The highest result of education is tolerance.
– Helen Keller
Be Gracious
To be graceful is to display elegance in manner, movement, and speech, whereas being gracious is the personal quality of being kind, courteous, charming, and compassionate. Graciousness is a natural consequence of spiritual maturity and a reflection of the beauty of your inner life, which you then manifest or express as beauty in your outer life.
As you grow in soul and come to identify more with the divine way of the living Spirit, you become even more gracious, more graceful, and more beautiful. Your trust in the promises of God and your clear vision of a divine destiny fill you with confidence and peace, even in the face of life’s most pressing challenges.
You can cultivate gracefulness, but graciousness is the aroma of friendliness which emanates from a love-saturated soul.
– The Urantia Book
Graciousness is the outcome of this sublime confidence, a confidence born of your unconditional and steadfast faith. Your gracious character, as expressed in your speech and action, is apparent to all those around you. You become more poised and composed, more charming and pleasant in manner. It is a positive indicator of your spiritual coming of age.
Be Sincere
Sincerity is being honest, genuine, and truthful. It is being completely free of pretense, deceit, and hypocrisy.
It’s impossible to live a truly spiritual life if you are not completely sincere. Whenever you try to impress others with affectations or pretensions, you are in fact lying about who you are. Spiritual beings live in truth; they act and speak with sincerity, and those who wish to enter the spirit domain must be equally honest of heart.
The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity.
– The Urantia Book
Being sincere means tearing down your ostentatious and egocentric facade in order to appear as you really are on the stage of life. Honest people are not ashamed of themselves, regardless of their deficiencies, nor do they feel guilty for being imperfectly human. They have learned to laugh at themselves and have the courage to admit their mistakes and to correct themselves according to the Spirit Way.
Attitudes to God
Be Trusting
Childlike trust is the entrance fee at heaven’s door. Having complete trust in the goodness and love of God, as well as the ministry of the angels, is a transforming attitude of mind because it enables spiritual forces to function on your behalf.
Trust opens the floodgates of spiritual wisdom and soul energies. And with increasing trust comes peace of mind and the certainty of living in a gentle and understanding universe. It changes the way you look at the world. Indeed, no religion or spiritual path can provide much personal happiness or inner peace if it does not instill a wholehearted, unwavering trust in the loving and good ways of the Eternal Spirit.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me.
– Jesus of Nazareth
Take time to transcend doubt and indecision by trusting celestial powers to spiritualize your thoughts. It’s easy to trust in the goodness, love, and compassion of God when you realize there is nothing threatening about it. There is absolutely no fear that God will betray your trust. Only good can come of it.
God is divinely trustworthy, which inspires us to be trustworthy too. Whenever we accept certain duties or responsibilities, we acknowledge that others have put their trust in us to perform these duties to the best of our ability and in an honest manner. Responsibilities to families, friends, business associates, or a public trust should be held in the highest regard. Few things are more destructive to our spiritual natures than betrayal of trust and disloyalty to friends.
Trustworthiness is the true measure of self-mastery and character development.
– The Urantia Book
Be Faithful
Faith and trust go hand in hand. While trust brings you to the door of the spirit domain, faith carries you over the threshold. Exercising your faith is essential for spirit contact and spiritual transformation.
Faith far transcends mere belief or sentiment. It is believing beyond all doubt; it is an unwavering conviction—one you are willing to act on without hesitation. Genuine faith is when you are so convinced in your beliefs that you begin to live every moment of every day according to those beliefs. This is living faith—the act of living your beliefs.
Positive faith is more than an idea or an ideal. It is not simply a mental construct. It is an attitude of life that far transcends any mental exercise, and it is by far the most powerful and effective approach to coordinate your life with the Way of God.
Faith is the open door for entering into the present, perfect, and eternal love of God.
— The Urantia Book
When you come to believe, with all your heart and soul, that God is loving, good, and trustworthy, and you begin to live this truth, you reach beyond mind—even beyond conviction.
Your resolute faith in a magnificent, perfect, and loving Source leads you to a life in the spirit defined by modesty, courage, and wisdom. It gives you the strength to persevere no matter what the odds, no matter how many times you fail, no matter how many times you are disappointed.
For more on faith, see What Is Spiritual Faith?
Be Humble
Humility is linked to modesty. Adopting an attitude of humility does not suggest you are weak or that you have a low opinion of yourself. Humility is merely the quality of being humble, being free from pride and arrogance.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
– C. S. Lewis
While pride is generally considered a weakness, a certain amount of pride in our achievements is commendable. Healthy feelings of pride contribute to self-confidence and self-respect. But being overly proud of family traditions, deeds and abilities, superior intellects, or even the illusion of spiritual superiority, is not the Spirit Way.
God is no respecter of persons, which means God has no special regard for any individual or any group of people. We may at times entertain fantasies of being special—but in the eyes of God, we will never be any more special than anyone else. No doubt, some people are more spiritually progressive and, as a result, are more receptive to the gifts of God. Even so, our Divine Parent loves all of us equally. If you really want to improve your status with God, learn to love and help others.
Adopt a humble state of mind. If you insist on speaking to God—the Supreme Creator of the universe of universes—as if he were your equal or, worse yet, your servant, then you are simply making a mockery of the truth. Humility and modesty are the most sensible attitudes in any approach to spiritual truth.
So long as we are on this earth, nothing matters more to us than humility.
– Teresa of Avila
Be a Cosmic Citizen
Cosmic consciousness is an attitude of mind that takes us far beyond the confines of planet Earth. The entire universe, when viewed as a complex and orderly system, is called the cosmos. Cosmic consciousness, therefore, is a way of seeing ourselves (and everything else) in the context of the grand cosmos. It is an awareness of the physical universe, the spiritual universe, and all of the beings living in both—at least as much as we can grasp at this time.
Cosmic consciousness seeks to know God as well as to understand the entire cosmos—to see the big picture. If we truly wish to discover truth, then we must be open to all possibilities, both scientific and divine. For more on this topic, see Cosmic Consciousness – What Is It?)
Exploring cosmology (the study of the cosmos) gives meaning to our lives because, if we know something about the truth of existence, we are better equipped to define the true values of life and, therefore, to visualize worthy goals. Cosmic awareness is one path to God consciousness.
Cosmic awareness is more than recognizing the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the universe around us. It is also the intellectual process of bringing it all together—to grasp the oneness of it all, just as Buddha and Lao Tzu did (see Can You Be Spiritual Without Spirit?). It is a synthesis of all forms of universe reality as well as an attempt to discern cosmic relationships.
Throughout the universe, every unit is regarded as a part of the whole.
– The Urantia Book
Cosmic consciousness is a working combination of scientific, moral, and spiritual insights, or intuitions, that come to each of us in varying degrees. It is understanding the interactions and relationships between three levels of reality—energy, mind, and spirit. And as you begin to grasp these relationships, you begin to see a new reality, an all-in-one reality. You begin to see that the universe is created by God, is unified in the existence of God, and functions in harmony with the will of God.
Accept and believe that you truly are a world citizen and a cosmic citizen—you are a spiritual child of God. You belong in this grand community and, if you wish, you can become a citizen in good standing by contributing to the betterment of all.
I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
– Socrates
