Spiritual Learning Blog - Tips and Ideas for Spiritual Growth

How to Improve Your Self-Esteem

In my work as healing practitioner, there is a consistent pattern I’ve discovered when people don’t get well, or don’t achieve a goal: They have low self-esteem and don’t believe they are worthy of health, wealth or success.

And I’m here to encourage you to get over that right now. You absolutely do deserve everything wonderful in life. You are indeed worthy of all good things.

I can think of a few reasons why low self-esteem is so pervasive in our culture:

First, we are surrounded with advertising that inundates us with the message that we have to be slimmer, taller, blonder or better dressed in order to have value.

We’re constantly being compared to supermodels. It’s humiliating. And it’s just plain wrong.

Checklist for A Perfect Day

How does one start a good habit? Particularly the habit of having a perfect day?

I admit that a checklist for anything, particularly a perfect day, might sound too unspontaneous to be a spiritual undertaking.

But to accomplish anything, we have to be intentional, and really work at it. And work takes time without interruptions, which means being organized. And checklists help with that!

This is my checklist for a perfect day [work day; days off are not so scheduled]. I am a person who finds routine productive and comforting. If you are, too, you may find this checklist helpful. By doing them in order, it guarantees they get done.

Change it to accommodate your lifestyle.

A tip:

If you have a commute to work, put commute time on your schedule. And I highly recommend doing something peaceful or productive during that commute. Listen to a motivating CD, do breathing exercises, or, if you’re a passenger, meditate. Commute time doesn’t have to be wasted time.

THE PERFECT DAY CHECKLIST

Commitment

I have always believed that commitment to a goal or cause is essential to its success. One can’t be lackadaisical about the intended result.

For 30 years I have carried around in my personal organizer a statement on Commitment written by W.H. Murray in “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition” in 1951.

It seemed about time to share it. Because every word is true:

“You Are Light” — A Guided Meditation

Why listen to a guided meditation?

Meditation is one of the most beneficial methods of reducing stress and improving health. It has been proven to:

reduce anxiety

bring deep relaxation

lower blood pressure

improve sleep

strengthen the immune system

If you do not have a regular meditation practice, guided meditations are an excellent place to start. Best of all, it’s effortless.

Let this seven minute guided meditation bring you peace of mind today.

Why An Open Mind is the Way to World Peace

My father taught me many wonderful things, mostly by example, which is the best way to learn. One of the things I most admire about him was that he had a very open mind and respected differing viewpoints.

That is refreshing in this day and age when people are quick to “unfriend” people who don’t see things the way they do.

I recall the time my father was at a football game sitting in front of someone rooting for the opposing team. His friend asked why he wasn’t upset about it and my father’s response was simply, “Well, that’s what makes a horse race.”

When I joined a cult in the 1970s, my father maintained a very open, wait and see attitude before judging me and my guru. In fact, he and my mother came to hear my teacher speak and to learn more about what I was involved in. I really didn’t know many parents who were doing that at that time.

In fact, my father told me about a conversation he had with someone critical of my guru:

Dad: Have you gone to hear him speak?

Critic: No

Dad: Have you spoken with members of his group?

Critic: No

Dad: Oh, so you’re an expert!

My father never hesitated to call it like he saw it.

What Were You Doing While the World Was Falling Apart?

What were you doing while the world was falling apart?

Imagine your great-grandchildren asking you that question. Can you be proud of your answer?

The “seventh generation” principle taught by Native Americans says that in every decision, we must consider how it will affect our descendents seven generations into the future. It is clearly not embraced by most governments and corporations in the world today.

It is also at the heart of the Idle No More movement of the Canadian First Nation People.

The Idle No More movement started in Canada in December 2012 as a response to Canadian Bill C-45 which lowers environmental protection standards for Canadian waterways, much of which passes through the land of indigenous [First Nations] people.

Please remember that before our ancestors came to North America several centuries ago, this entire continent was indigenous land.

What’s the Opposite of Cyber Bullying?

What’s the opposite of cyber bullying? Cyber compliments!

After reading about the plague of cyber bullying on social media, Jeremiah Anthony of West High School in Iowa City, Iowa decided to do something about it. He started using social media to compliment fellow students instead of bully them. It spread like wildfire.

Jeremiah started tweeting daily compliments to his friends in October 2011. Soon a few of them started a twitter account called @WestHighBros. to send compliments to fellow students. Now the entire school is sending and receiving positive tweets — over 3000 so far!

Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail and How to Make Goal Setting Succeed

[quote]”Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” Fitzhugh Dodson[/quote] The concept of making “new year’s resolutions” has been a bit of a joke in our society for about as long as I can remember — the joke being that “resolution” has become synonymous […]

How to Say Goodbye to 2012

How we say goodbye is important. Including how we say goodbye to 2012.

We’ve all heard that one door never closes without another door opening. But how we close the first door will have an impact on the new door that opens.

Why? Because good transitions are essential to a balanced life. They set the stage for, and welcome, what’s to come.

FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR SAYING A HEALTHY GOODBYE TO 2012:

The Winter Solstice — Why It’s the True New Year

Winter Solstice is the day when light is reborn out of the darkness of winter.

Our days start to become longer and lead us back to the beauty of spring and the warmth of summer, stretching towards their peak at the Summer Solstice.

Most ancient cultures celebrated this return of light and life with feasting, music, light and fire, and for many, it was the true beginning of the New Year.

It was so important to the pre-Celt ancients of Ireland that they spent over 30 years building a monument to the returning sun: Newgrange.

Older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza, it was designed so that on the Winter Solstice, the rising sun shines directly along the long passage into the inner chamber and for 17 minutes illuminates the chamber floor and the symbols etched on the back wall.

It’s hard for the modern mind to fathom spending 30 years to build a monument for a 3-day event. What did they understand that we don’t?

Why Is The Butterfly Effect Important for You?

I know how easy it is to feel powerless in today’s complex world. That’s why it’s really important for you to know about The Butterfly Effect.

The Butterfly Effect was first stated in 1963 by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz, a pioneer in chaos theory.

It states that a butterfly could flap its wings on one side of the world, creating tiny changes in the atmosphere, that in turn set molecules of air in motion that eventually could create [or prevent] a tornado in another part of the world.

So what does that have to do with your life? A lot!

Are you asking the right questions?

Are you asking the right questions? This occurred to me recently when I was feeling a bit sad for no apparent reason.

Instead of staying stuck there, I stopped and asked myself, “What am I really upset about? What’s really going on here?” And the answer came. There’s always a deeper reason affecting us.

In truth, some of the turning points in my life, and in the life of some of my friends, have come from asking the right questions.

Here’s a list of what I consider some of the best.

Prophecy of Crazy Horse

This was passed on by Chief Joe Chasing Horse, a relative of Crazy
Horse. He translated it from the words of a grandmother who was
present when the words were spoken.

This is a statement of Crazy Horse as he sat smoking the Sacred Pipe
at Paha Sapa with Sitting Bull for the last time, 4 days before he was
assassinated. Many of these words are often repeated. There is one
line often left out, that of the “young white ones”.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving prayers are common to most religious groups. Native Americans had entire ceremonies just for the purpose of expressing thanks – sometimes they lasted for days.

This Thanksgiving Prayer comes from the Seneca Nation and is at least 500 years old.

It is traditionally done around a fire, with spiritual food on the altar. I have adapted it to be used as a Thanksgiving Prayer on our national holiday:

THANKSGIVING PRAYER FROM THE SENECA NATION

And now we are gathered together to remember the Great Mystery’s first instruction to us: to love one another always, we who move about on this earth.

And the Great Mystery said that when even two people meet, they should first greet each other by saying: “Nyah Weh Skenno” which translates to “thank you for being” and then they may take up the matter with which they are concerned.

[Nyah Weh Skenno more literally means: “thank you for being alive in the here and now and not adding to the confusion of the world.]

Thanksgiving and The Magic of Family Meal Time

“The magic of family meal time comes not from the food on the plate but from who’s at the table and what’s happening there. The emotional and social benefits that come from family dinners are priceless,” said Elizabeth Planet, CASA’s Vice President and Director of Special Projects.

Christmas and Thanksgiving have always been my favorite times of the year: time with family and joyous celebrations. From my 20s on, I lived in California and my family was on the East Coast so I chose Christmas as the time to go East to visit, and spent Thanksgiving with friends in California.

It was always a great day, but there was one very interesting phenomenon that happened most years: everyone was very attached to having dishes from their childhood Thanksgivings. That meant we often ended up with multiple duplicate dishes, just made with different recipes.

I recall a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 that had two large turkeys, four different bowls of cranberries and an assortment of other dishes that could have fed 40. I knew at the time it was because each of us wanted to recapture the magic of our childhood Thanksgiving, but only recently did I start to give it more serious thought.

Why Veterans Day Just Isn’t Enough

To me, Veterans Day, celebrated this Monday November 12, just isn’t enough to honor what our veterans have done for this country.

Although I am a pacifist, and was an active anti-war activist during the Vietnam War, I was ashamed of the way our veterans were treated when they returned home.

And I am still deeply saddened by the lack of support and care our veterans receive today.

Yes, war is horrendous, and perhaps if women were running the world there wouldn’t be any wars. But those who did their duty and fought for us deserve better than one day to celebrate them.

The True Halloween History: Honoring Our Ancestors

Most of us think of October 31 as Halloween, a time to dress up in costumes and make merry.

But it originated as so much more. In Celtic times, it was a time to honor those who have gone before us. The masked figures represent the spirits of the dead: our ancestors.

A WEE BIT OF CELTIC HISTORY

The ancient Celts, going back 4,500 years, divided each year into the dark half and the light half. The end of the light half was marked by Samhain [pron. Sow-ihn], a time when they were stockpiling food for the winter and giving thanks to the Sun God.

It is also a time of year when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest – an appropriate time to invite the souls of the dead to come back for a visit. Candles kept in the window guide the souls back home and a place is set at the table for them.

One of My Favorite Irish Stories: “The Pious Man”

Next week being a major Celtic spiritual day [sorry, you will have to wait for next week’s post to find out what it is], I wanted to lead up to it with one of my favorite Irish stories. Please pardon the colloquialisms; you must imagine it being spoken with an Irish brogue:

There was a man there long ago, and he had a great name for himself as being very holy.

He was the first up to the chapel on Sunday, and there was never a mission he wasn’t at, praying all around him. And he was being held up as a good example to the sinners as a very holy man that never missed his duty.

Well, he said to himself, it would be a good thing for him to count all the times he was at Mass, so he got a big timber box and he made a hole in the cover of it, and he locked the box so that no one could interfere with it in any way, and he hid the key where no one could possibly find it.

A Lesson from “A Course in Miracles” — How to Undo Fear

This is a guest post from reader Ellinor Halle of Norway – excellent advice to live by.

Have you heard of book called ”A Course in Miracles?” It’s a great book which can change your life.

I have been practicing “A Course in Miracles” for many years and it has really helped me to go past the fear that prevents us from being ourselves no matter who we are with.

The Course works with the God-given energy that is inside us all, called the Holy Spirit in the book.

When you follow the workbook each day, it helps you to connect to that energy inside us. Then the voice of fear that belongs to the nightmare of childhood (our thoughts that are babbling away, or our ”ego” according to the book) becomes more and more quiet.

What is Civilization?

Just what is “civilization?”

I asked myself that question after writing last week’s post about Christopher Columbus not being the first to discover the New World. And his still being celebrated for paving the way for Europeans to bring “civilization” to the west.

Will Durant spent 50 years writing “The Story of Civilization” and says that civilization is marked by four elements:

economic provision

political organization

moral traditions

pursuit of knowledge and the arts

The Native American societies of North America lived by the above principles for centuries before the arrival of Columbus.

Here’s my definition of civilization:

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