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 spiritual harmony requires adopting positive, faithful, and unselfish attitudes of mind—spiritual attitudes—not just for yourself and others, but for the world at large. This is a powerful and practical way to lay the groundwork for your spiritual attunement.
A spiritual attitude is a mental framework, a persuasion, an outlook that guides your actions and reactions to life. Contemplating and fostering these spiritual and moral perspectives is a simple way to change your way of thinking—to spiritualize your 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 the mental framework so essential for attaining enlightenment.
Attitudes to Yourself
Self-Respect
A healthy dose of self-respect is vital for spiritual success. But self-respect should not be confused with self-admiration or any other narcissistic tendency. Self-respect must be balanced. Like so many virtues or 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. But those who lack self-respect are unlikely to attain their 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.
Spiritual living mightily increases true self-respect. 156.5.14
– The Urantia Book
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. You 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 you 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 change 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.
Determination
Even if you have a burning desire to achieve great things, without the determination to persevere in the face of all obstacles, it will be difficult to make much headway.
It is only natural to desire success, but the test of your spiritual character and your ability to persevere is how well you manage failure. It is not so much that you win or lose, succeed or fail, as how much you learn to deal with life’s situations regardless of the outcome. How you cope with failures and disappointments is a true spiritual test.
Defeat is the true mirror in which you may honestly view your real self. 156.5.17
– The Urantia Book
Daily 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, you are given an opportunity to educate yourself, acquire wisdom, and develop a strong character by making yourself 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 spirit character and divine wisdom—to become more like the Divine Spirit.
As you advance, you learn to overcome and manage adversity, you learn to solve problems, and you learn how to conduct yourself in any situation. And all this is accomplished with determination and perseverance—both of which are fortified by your enthusiastic and undaunted faith in the love, wisdom, and goodness of God (see also Divine Problem Solving).
Truthfulness
What is truth? This has been a philosophical question generating a mountain of literature since at least the days of Socrates (470-399 BC). But let’s keep it simple by adopting the correspondence theory of truth, which states that we accept something as true only if it corresponds to the realities of the universe, or whether it accurately describes those realities.
We explore the nature of reality through science, philosophy, and religion. And, as we have seen, our perceptions of reality are relative, but nonetheless, even our limited observations have some truth to them. We may not be able to see the whole picture, but we can see a part of it (see Truth and Reality).
For the moment, however, let’s not be concerned about the truth of any objective reality. Instead, you should be clear about your own mental state of truthfulness. You could ask, for instance, whether your perception or assessment of yourself is true? What about others? Are you acknowledging, in all sincerity, the reality of who you are and what you do?
Living a life of truthfulness means being entirely honest, sincere, and genuine—free of all hypocrisy and affectation and free of all pretentiousness and deception. It is a life forever loyal to the truth.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
– Psalm 51
The more honest and faithful you are, the more receptive you become to the guidance of your inner Spirit and, as your ability to commune improves, so does your conviction of truth.
But being truthful does not mean you should tell the world all that is on your mind. Without some discretion, you may appear foolish. In the same vein, keeping a secret is not necessarily a violation of truthfulness. Some things are best left unsaid for the benefit of all.
In all that you think, say, and do, being truthful is a divine virtue. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone were truthful. There would be an immediate improvement in all aspects of family, society, business, and government.
Follow the Spirit within you and devote yourself to the truth, even in the little things.
Be Courageous
Moral courage is in short supply in the 21st century. In the current social media age, many of us hold zealous opinions that often glorify intolerance or normalize indifference. In such a contentious atmosphere, it takes great courage for reasonable people to speak their minds. Indeed, those who dare to do so are often mocked (or threatened) by self-appointed critics who have little or nothing constructive to contribute.
But acts of moral courage are not confined to the outer world. It takes considerable courage to know yourself and to explore new levels of personal experience and unfamiliar zones of thought.
Courage is having the mental strength to withstand danger or difficulty. But this strength is itself founded on the strength of your moral convictions and your degree of selflessness. Whenever you are thoroughly convinced of the righteousness of a cause or belief, it is easy to find the courage to defend it.
Courage is the confidence about those things which one professes to believe. 146.3.2
– The Urantia Book
Courage is rooted in your confidence in, and faithfulness to, a cause or belief. It’s difficult to arouse courage when you lack moral conviction. But if you learn to develop a keen sense of right and wrong, of fairness and justice, of truth and goodness, of kindness and compassion, of love and respect, of spirit and divinity, 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 Cheerful
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. 94.8.17
– The Urantia Book
Worthy goals exist in all walks of life, whether it’s creating a work of art or doing well in your career. But spiritual goals are the most rewarding of all, including your ongoing self-identification with the Spirit within your mind, 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.
Attitudes to Others
Forget Yourself
Being selfless is more than being unselfish—it is also forgetting about yourself. And a good way to achieve self-forgetfulness is to help others and uphold your responsibilities to family, friends, society, and the world.
To be fair, it is not always possible or even desirable to completely forget about yourself. 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, 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 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.
Research studies suggest that helping others is one of the most effective ways to overcome depression or anxiety. This compassionate approach works because it takes your mind off yourself and puts it onto others. The happy result is that, by making a positive difference in the life of someone else, you make a positive difference in your own.
One study suggests that children are naturally altruistic and cooperative in reciprocal social situations. Most children are taught to be selfish by their parents, or by 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.
While having a healthy self-respect is necessary for a good life, overblown notions of self-importance are not. To become less self-centered, take refuge in the love of the Spirit within you, find ways to help others, and make time to fulfill your duties and responsibilities. By getting yourself out of the way, you allow God to fill your soul with his affectionate, divine nature (see Spiritual Habits for the Soul).
Live in Love
Love is the overriding force that binds the personal universe. 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
The word love is used so loosely in so many different contexts that it often lacks any clear meaning. This lack of meaning (or value) is partly due to the language we speak and the culture in which we thrive.
The English language does little to distinguish between different expressions, or meanings, of love. We can use the word in a very banal way such as “I love cherry pie.” But we can also use it with significantly more meaning and value, such as “I love my wife.”
Compare this to the Greek language, which has individual words distinguishing between sexual love, friendship love, family love, and universal love (the love of God), and we realize that it is important to clarify and conceptualize what we mean by the love of God.
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.
Whoever dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.
– John 4
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 emulate the spiritual attitude of God.
But divine love is not 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, one who is willing to take whatever steps necessary to prepare their children for the realities, responsibilities, and challenges of a mature, spiritual life.
Compassion
It is much easier 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
It is an unfortunate fact that, in many cases, our opinions and views are founded on very scant evidence, if any at all. Suspicion and fear give rise to hearsay, disinformation, or misguided notions premised on false stereotypes—the consequence of lazy thinking and bigotry.
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.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
– Dalai Lama
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.
If we honestly desire to improve civilization, we need to make an attempt to understand and help each other, to empathize and to love. 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.
Forgiveness
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 a wise and loving parent forgives her 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 old 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.”
Helping Others
It may appear obvious that we would all greatly benefit by doing good for others, our families, and our world, 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, resentments, 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 or any religious following 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.
The greatest among you will be your servant.
– Jesus of Nazareth
Modesty
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, if not a cosmic context—it is recognizing where we stand in the great scheme of things.
Vanity, on the other hand, is linked to pride and egotism—to being self-centered. It limits your ability to see yourself as you truly are. Vanity is founded on a 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
Instead of being pretentious, try being modest. Modesty is a spiritual state of mind because it reflects the truth that, no matter who you are, you are no more important spiritually than the next person. We are all regarded equally in the cosmos—we are all children of God and we are all treated with the same fairness and impartiality.
It is always good to do well in life, to provide for the necessities and to strive to do better. But put aside your feelings of envy and vanity by recognizing that any self-betterment begins by first recognizing and accepting your present circumstances. From this sober vantage point, you embark on your own quest of spiritual exploration and experience, of self-conquest and achievement; an adventure in which your individual accomplishments are earned honestly through your own diligent efforts.
Patience
All things take time. And although it is not good to procrastinate, it is also a fault to try to rush things through. Growth and evolution, whether material or spiritual, always progress along ordered lines wherein the next stage of development is constructed on the foundation of the previous one. Any attempt to skip a stage inevitably tempts failure and can lead to discouragement.
Be patient with yourself by becoming aware of your present stage of experience and what you need for the next stage. Make an honest attempt to evaluate yourself in the light of spiritual truth. Be confident in the inevitability of your spiritual betterment, and rest assured that all things will come in time.
Patience wins all things.
– Teresa of Avila
Discern the most efficient uses of your time by learning the difference between procrastination, problem avoidance, and wise postponement. Plan your time so that you never have to rush through life. And put aside some time every day for relaxation and reflection.
Learn to be patient with others by understanding their strong points even as you recognize their shortcomings. Patience comes from learning to love and respect others as you would like to be loved and respected.
Tolerance
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 your views. It is the ability to make fair, unbiased judgments of opposing opinions without having to convert all others to your 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 is 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.
Tolerance must be fortified with understanding and forgiveness. A good education in social history, social sciences, or the humanities is an excellent way to overcome intolerance because these disciplines provide students with an understanding of social dynamics and social evolution—how people and societies change, evolve, and improve.
Students also become aware of the potential dangers to civilization by learning about the causes of conflicts and wars and other undesirable past events. And they become aware that, in spite of dictators and tyrants, the vast majority of people around the globe want the same thing—to live happy, peaceful, and prosperous lives.
The highest result of education is tolerance.
– Helen Keller
Discretion
Discretion is the ability to show good judgment—to make good decisions based on facts and relationships. It is an ability that requires wisdom, tact, and tolerance as well as understanding, forgiveness, and compassion.
A common source of indiscretion is speech. It’s easy to blurt out foolish words or say something you will regret in a moment of anger or haste. An effective remedy is simply to bite your tongue (or delay a hasty text message).
Pause for a moment to consider the consequences of what you say. This requires a sense of proportion—the ability to judge the relative importance of possible outcomes. Weigh your words and actions wisely.
Be careful of the words you say
– Anonymous
Keep them short and sweet
You never know from day to day
Which ones you’ll have to eat.
At the heart of discretion is wisdom, and wisdom is derived from knowledge, experience, and insight. Follow the lead of your inner Spirit with courage and thereby gain wisdom, but keep in mind that true wisdom also embraces discretion.
Graciousness
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. 171.7.1
– 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.
Sincerity
Sincerity is the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, and hypocrisy. Some synonyms for sincerity include honesty, genuineness, truthfulness, and good faith.
It is 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. 39.4.14
– 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
Trust
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. 28.6.13
– The Urantia Book
Faith
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 the act of living your beliefs. For instance, you may believe water will boil when you put a kettle on a hot stove. But when you actually get off the kitchen chair to put the kettle on, you have gone beyond belief, you have taken an act of faith that the water will boil.
Faith 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.
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.
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
— Helen Keller
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 an awesome, 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. Your spiritual maturity is a true measure of how much you actually live your faith.
For more on faith, see Have Faith – But Faith in What?
Humility
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 and measured 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. You may entertain fantasies of being special—but in the eyes of God, you 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. But our Divine Parent loves us equally. If you really want to improve your status with God, learn to love and help others.
If you are good at something, have special talents, or high intelligence, then instead of putting your time and effort into self-aggrandizement or selfish ambitions, take the time to use your abilities and skills to help others.
So long as we are on this earth, nothing matters more to us than humility.
– Teresa of Avila
Adopt a humble state of mind, especially when you attempt to contact the Spirit within you. If you insist on speaking to God 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.
Cosmic Consciousness
The entire universe, when viewed as a complex and orderly system, is called the cosmos. Cosmology tries to explain the structure and significance of the cosmos, including its physical composition, all forms of life, internal relationships, and the reasons for its existence.
In addition to knowing God, the God experience is an attempt to understand the cosmos—to see the big picture. If we truly wish to discover truth, then we must be open to all possibilities, whether scientific or divine.
Exploring cosmology 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. It is one path to God consciousness.
Cosmic awareness, or cosmic consciousness, 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 Really Be Spiritual Without God?). 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. 3.5.15
– 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.
Be Mindful of Your Attitudes
The preceding list of spiritual attitudes is not comprehensive by any means, but it is enough for a healthy start. Cultivating these outlooks is an excellent way to harmonize your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and faith with the truth of cosmic reality.
Make a point of adopting spiritual perspectives. 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
For more ideas about the soul and soul growth, see Your Soul – What Is It? and Spiritual Habits for the Soul.
