Spiritual Guidebook Quotes

Judgment…is one of the ego’s tools to foster separation through comparison.

The duality of positive and negative becomes subsumed in Oneness. There are no opposites in the totality and absolute perfection of the Oneness that we know as Divine.

There are no coincidences and no mistakes. Every role has a purpose and every path has merit. Everything we do and experience is for learning to remember our connection with God.

How wonderful it is those people that we meet by chance and invite us to live again. The memory of them will keep hope alive forever.

In fact, there is nothing we can conceive of that is not energy. It doesn’t just infuse everything; it is everything.

Energy is neither good nor bad. It just is.

The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everybody should follow any one path. Listen to your own truth.

The spiritual freedom we seek cannot be found by grasping at, retreating to, or protecting our perceived safe spaces. Our freedom lies in remaining open continuously, not only to Life’s changes but also to the Divine Light within us and others. This is our choice. Although often perceived as a weakness, being open and surrendering to the experience of the present moment is our greatest strength. By authentically living Life in the Now, we submit to Divine guidance where we find the freedom to see everything equally and sacred in Truth.

When our will is strong and aligned with Divine intent, there is nothing we cannot do or be. With power and guidance flowing through us, Life becomes an effortless dance as we relinquish control and limitation and allow our Spirit Within to express itself.

To know God begins with knowing ourselves, our true selves, whom we uncover as we make choices that help us step beyond the influence of the ego.

Trust allows. Not trusting obstructs.

Sometimes the only way to find the answers, is not to travel far away, but to venture deeper within ourselves.

To find peace in any moment all we need to do is respect our own soul

It doesn't matter how long the dance lasts As long as the encounter ignites the passion of life in us once again, And the trail of its beauty remains etched upon our heart forever.

fear...is THE underlying emotion behind anger, anxiety, sadness, jealousy, judgement, and other such negative emotions, all of which are energetic blocks to our awareness and ongoing awakening.

the simple way of speaking the truth is by not lying. If you do not lie, you are speaking the truth. But if you are trying to speak the truth and you do not know what truth is, then you are making your own truth. You say my truth is my truth and I am speaking the truth and you should listen to me. That is confusion. Do not lie. By not lying, you practice speaking the truth.

The Father tells Catherine that the more the soul grows in love for God, the more the soul will also grow in love for its neighbor. Some of the specific ways of loving our neighbor that Catherine lists are intercessory prayer, good example, counsel, advice, and spiritual and material help.

He had in his Bronx apartment a lodger less learned than himself, and much fiercer in piety. One day when we were studying the laws of repentance together, the lodger burst from his room. "What!" he said. "The atheists guzzles his whiskey and eats pork and wallows with women all his life long, and then repents the day before he dies and stands guiltless? While I spend a lifetime trying to please God?" My grandfather pointed to the book. "So it is written," he said gently.—"Written!" the lodger roared. "There are books and there are books." And he slammed back into his room. The lodger's outrage seemed highly logical. My grandfather pointed out afterward that cancelling the past does not turn it into a record of achievement. It leaves it blank, a waste of spilled years. A man had better return, he said, while time remains to write a life worth scanning. And since no man knows his death day, the time to get a grip on his life is the first hour when the impulse strikes him.

Forgiveness is…an archaic perception of personal debt and guilt designed by the ego to trap us unendingly within itself.

Making a decision never to freely choose to commit even a small sin is an important turning point in the spiritual journey.

Sometimes when we think it's the end of the road Is when we learn to fly

Life makes you grow and change. It makes you grow through change.

To see and live from a higher context, we must begin to see that change is not threatening, it just is. It is the movement of Life around the constant and permanent presence of our Higher Self, our God Within. It is seeing and living from the perspective that everything is perfect and was created in love to lead us back to our Source, regardless of appearances.

the spiritual journey is all about is uniting our will with God's will, wanting what He wants, loving what He loves, living a life that in all its aspects honors Him and gives Him glory.

Union with God of this depth is totally unattainable by our own efforts; it is a gift that only God can give; we are totally dependent on His grace for progress in the spiritual life. Yet

What is your state of soul with respect to mortal sin? Are you firmly resolved never to commit it for any reason whatsoever? . . . In this resolution consists the foundation of the spiritual life.

One of the most common reasons why people begin the spiritual journey but then turn back is because they find themselves failing, wearing out, or getting tired or discouraged as a result of relying on their own strength or intellect rather than on the Lord. In

In brief, the purgative stage or way includes the initial phases of the spiritual life, including coming to conversion, turning away from sin, bringing one's life into conformity with the moral law, initiating the habit of prayer and the practices of piety, and maintaining a relatively stable life in the Church. (The

Teresa witnesses to the fact that even if we are not fully attentive in our prayer, little by little, even imperfect prayer will change us. Simply “showing up” for prayer time evidences our desire to be with the Lord. Even though sometimes it seems that we are more there physically than spiritually, our desire allows Him to draw us closer.7

What if we don't have a strong desire for God? What if we only half-heartedly desire to make progress on the path to full union with God? The Scripture and the teaching of the saints makes clear that when we lack something essential for the spiritual journey—such as a strong desire for God—then we are to ask for it, and it will be given. Not all at once necessarily, but gradually, over time, as we persevere in asking.

There is a particular spiritual practice that Francis highly recommends that is possible for all of us: even on those “impossible” days when we are perhaps unable to undertake our normal spiritual practices, we can stay rooted in prayer by constantly addressing brief prayers to the Lord. These can be acts of love, of adoration, of faith, of hope, of petition, or simply of saying the name of Jesus—throughout the course of the day.

As soon as we wake up turn to the Lord, thank Him for another day, dedicate it to Him and ask His help for living it in a way pleasing to Him. Take a substantial time for personal prayer (including spiritual reading) as early in the morning as feasible. Attend daily Mass as often as possible. As far as circumstances permit, pray the Liturgy of the Hours.25 Withdraw into the cell of our souls periodically during the day to remember the Lord, to be aware of His presence and speak to Him. We can do this even in the midst of activities.

There is a powerful tendency in fallen human nature to drift from God-reliance to self-reliance, with the woeful results to which Teresa of Avila testified. At the very heart of the biblical revelation is a profound insight into the incapacity of the human being, apart from Christ, to live the Christian life. The primacy of grace, and our response in faith to this gift, is the clear biblical witness and an absolutely foundational element of the spiritual life. We have to be very clear on this as we proceed in exploring the elements of the spiritual journey. To neglect the very foundation, the primacy of grace, is to build a shaky structure that won't stand.

Sacraments   I once met a man whom I’ll call Steve. He grew up in a nondenominational charismatic church. He was a highly motivated, highly talented individual. He was also a strong leader and an excellent communicator. Given his personality and gifting, it’s no surprise that he became the pastor of a successful independent church. His life seemed to be going great until the day he discovered that his wife was having an affair with one of his best friends. The situation got worse when his church fired him for not being able to control his family.   Unemployed, going through a divorce, and cut off from the community that had always surrounded him, a friend invited Steve to join him at an Anglican church. There he discovered the power of liturgy and the mystery of the communion table. Steve didn’t have the kind of spiritual life he had always relied on. Nothing about God made any sense to him. He couldn’t sing praise songs, he couldn’t read the Bible, he couldn’t even pray. But he could eat.   Steve’s mind needed answers. His heart needed to be comforted. His soul needed grace. Sermons weren’t giving him answers and praise music wasn’t comforting, but the body of Christ was feeding his inner self. Steve discovered that God was real to him when he ate and drank Holy Communion. Even though Steve was at the lowest point of his life, a time when he could do nothing to help himself, he was still able to receive the sacrament.

What we are now, we continue to be.

Discernment is trust put into practice.

Certainly there are within the Church of God spiritual persons who serve him faithfully and with confidence, speaking with him as a man speaks with his friend, and whose consciences bear witness to his glory. But who these are is known only to God, and if you desire to be among them, then hear what sort of people you should be. I say this, not as one who knows it by experience, but as one who desires to do so. Show me a soul which loves nothing but God and what is to be loved for God's sake, to whom to live is Christ, and of whom this has been true for a long time now; who in work and leisure alike endeavors to keep God before his eyes, and walks humbly with the Lord his God, who desires that his will may be one with the will of God, and who has been given the grace to do these things.

It is clear that the principles of detachment and poverty of spirit are absolutely essential for making progress in the spiritual life. Francis de Sales gives some good advice to those not in formal religious life about how to approach this area. Although a true poverty of spirit can exist in the midst of wealth, the capacity for self-delusion is great. Francis gives us some indicators so we can discern whether we truly have a spirit of detachment or poverty or just think we do. First of all, Francis acknowledges the positive advantage of wealth, and even acknowledges the right to increase it, if done in a proper manner. So also you can possess riches without being poisoned by them if you merely keep them in your home and purse and not in your heart. To be rich in effect and poor in affection is a great happiness for a Christian. By this means he has the advantages of riches for this world and the merit of poverty for the world to come. . . . I willingly grant that you may take care to increase your wealth and resources, provided this is done not only justly but properly and charitably.8

Do any worldly desires, Ego fulfillment or fulfillment of mind-perceptions, feelings of hurt or enmity, are good enough reasons to remain stuck or waste an entire life time - ‘a birth’ on that???

To kiss him is to obey him, keep his commandments, do his will, and follow his desires, in brief, to embrace him with tender obedience and fidelity. Therefore whenever we receive any spiritual consolation on that very day we must be more diligent in doing good and humbling ourselves.11

Your divine light, your soul’s essence, will always urge you to bend, grow, and change.

To be able to communicate at a soul level with another human being is the biggest treasure of the physical dimension.

Your purpose on this Earth is to evolve, grow, and forge a path for yourself and your future.

At any moment, you have the right to take up space and be yourself.

Created with the perfect blend of stardust, shadows, and light, you're all those things and more.

You're allowed to shine like the brightest star.

In order to make progress, you need to arrive at a place of radical honesty — a place of saying, 'Not only did I create the outcomes that I’ve experienced thus far in my life, on some level, I wanted to create them.

Here I do not refer to the simple love of charity we must have for all men but of that spiritual friendship by which two, three, or more souls share with one another their devotion and spiritual affections and establish a single spirit among themselves.

Realistically, Francis says, there will probably be falls along the way, but God can use even these to deepen our humility. Imperfections and venial sins cannot deprive us of spiritual life; it is lost only by mortal sin. Fortunately for us, in this war we are always victorious provided that we are willing to fight.27

There is a far greater purpose for us and the world, more than we can see or some would like us to see. We must carry on and trust infinitely the power of the soul.

The distance of two breaths is the only moment of life we have.

Faith brings comfort and strength to all of us, but we must surrender to a higher power and when we do, we are the most humble and the most powerful.

When love touches us, it dissolves the walls of mis understanding and builds a bridge that helps us walk towards each other.