Spiritual Solutions

Spiritual growth is the process of inner awakening, and becoming conscious our inner being. It means the rising of the consciousness beyond the ordinary existence, and awakening to some Universal truths. It means going beyond the mind and the ego and realizing who you really are.

Spiritual growth is a process of shedding our wrong and unreal conceptions, thoughts, beliefs and ideas, and becoming more and more conscious and aware of our inner being. This process uncovers the inner spirit that is always present, but hidden beyond the ego-personality.

Spiritual growth is of great importance for everyone, not only for people who seek spiritual enlightenment and choose to live in far away or secluded places. Spiritual growth is the basis for a better and more harmonious life for everyone, a life free of tension, fear and anxiety.

By discovering who we really are we take a different approach to life. We learn not to let outer circumstances influence our inner being and state of mind. We manifest composure and detachment, and we develop inner power and strength, all of which are very useful and important tools.

Spiritual growth is not a means for escaping from responsibilities, behaving strangely and becoming an impractical person. It is a method of growing and becoming a stronger, happier and more responsible person.

You can walk on the path of spiritual growth, and at the same time live the same kind of life as everyone else. You do not have to live a secluded life in some far away place. You can raise a family, work or run a business, and yet at the same time engage in practices that lead to inner growth.

A balanced life requires that we take care not only of the necessities of the body, feelings and mind, but also of the spirit, and this is the role of spiritual growth.

10 tips for spiritual growth:

1. Read spiritual and uplifting books. Think about what you read, and find out how you can use the information in your life.

2. Meditate for at least 15 minutes every day. If you do not know how to meditate, it is easy to find books, websites or teachers who can teach you meditation.

3.  Learn to make your mind quiet through concentration exercises and meditation.

4. Acknowledge the fact that you are a spirit with a physical body, not a physical body with a spirit. If you can really accept this idea, it will change your attitude towards many things in your life.

5. Look often into yourself and into your mind, and try to find out what is it that makes you feel conscious and alive.

6. Think positive. If you find yourself thinking negatively, immediately switch to thinking positively. Be in control of what enters your mind. Open the door for the positive and close it for the negative.

7. Develop the happiness habit, by always looking at the bright side of life and endeavoring to be happy. Happiness comes from within. Do not let your outer circumstances decide your happiness for you.

8. Exercise often your will power and decision making ability. This strengthens you and gives you control over your mind.

9. Thank the Universe for everything that you get.

10. Develop tolerance, patience, tact and consideration for others.

Spiritual growth is the birthright of everyone. It is the key to a life of happiness and peace of mind, and the manifesting the enormous power of the inner spirit. This spirit is equally present within the most material person, and within the most spiritual person. The level of the manifestation of spirituality is dependent on how much the inner spirit is close to the surface, and on how much it is covered and hidden, by thoughts, beliefs and negative habits.

Remez Sasson writes and teaches about spiritual growth, meditation, self-improvement, positive thinking, creative visualization, success and mind power. He is the author of several books about success, creative visualization, affirmations and the development of inner strength and power.http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com for articles, quotes and e-books.

Visit his website

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

You can go directly to the blog, at http://spiritualsolutionsblog.com/blog/

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

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Watching President-Elect Obama speaking in Philadelphia before his train trip to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, I was reminded of three personal experiences.

The first memory was of my wife, Kathryn, and I attending the annual convention of the Association of Unity Churches in Philadelphia in the summer of 1976, the year of the 200^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

When making our reservation at the hotel I had requested a king-size bed, but when we arrived to check in the desk clerk informed us that the only king-size bed available was in the Presidential Suite. He said they would go ahead and put us in the room but that we may have to move to another room after two or three nights because they were expecting a VIP who would be occupying the room upon arrival.

We readily agreed to the arrangement and proceeded up to the room on the top floor of the hotel. It was an enormous room with windows on three sides of the hotel overlooking the historic city. There was a full open kitchen in the middle of the room and the bedroom containing the promised king-size bed was off to one side. Throughout the suite were scattered seven television sets in addition to several sofas and other furniture. We later found out that President Gerald Ford had occupied the suite the weekend previous.

Kathryn and I felt we should take advantage of our accommodations to invite some of our friends up for refreshments. So I went out and shopped for various drinks and mixers, iced tea, cokes and snacks, while Kathryn called up some of our arriving minister friends.

The room began to fill up rapidly and soon was abuzz with happy people enjoying connecting with each other. One of the early arrivals in the suite was Rev. Ernest Wilson, a beloved longtime Unity minister from the Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City; he found a corner seat on a comfortable sofa and settled there with drink in hand.

A few of our friends jumped up to help prepare drinks and snacks in the kitchen as more and more people arrived, including a contingent from Trinidad who, led by Rev. Violet Assam, sashayed down the corridor to the room chanting, “We don’t care what you do; we behold the Christ in you.”

We discovered that, unbeknown to us, the people manning the desk in the lobby were sending people up to the room as being a reception for arriving ministers and teachers. It got pretty lively in there and we got a call from the desk saying that there were some complaints about the noise we were making and could we tone it down a bit.

It all provided a happy memory of our visit to the “City of Brotherly Love” and the convention in that 200^th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence.

As a postscript to the above story, we were indeed moved to another room after a couple of nights or so because we were told that the VIP was going to arrive. We never did find out the identity of the VIP, but we were delighted to be moved to what was called the Queen Suite which was much more comfortable and cozy than the Presidential Suite. In fact, Bill Fischer, the director of education for the Association, had the room opposite ours and he asked us how we rated such a nice room; he said his was the size of a shoebox with just a view of a brick wall through the window. We were truly blessed.

The second memory that was triggered was when I saw the televised broadcast of President-Elect Obama giving his speech on Sunday to thousands of people from the steps on the Lincoln Memorial which caused me to reflect on the occasion in that same location in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.

Since I didn’t relocate to the United States until November, 1967, I was not present for that powerful moment. But in 1968, when Dr. King was assassinated, I was working in downtown Chicago on West Monroe which was quite near the area where angry and grieving people were turning cars over, burning and looting. That tragic event was forever seared in my memory.

Seeing all those people gathered in the National Mall on Sunday also brought back to mind the 1994 convention of the Association of Unity Churches in Washington, D.C. That was the year I was president of the Association; in February of that year Kathryn and I had left our ministry in Roanoke, Virginia, to go to St. Petersburg, Florida, where I became senior minister at First Unity Church. We had friends from both churches attending the convention. What a wonderful experience that was! We had enough free time that we were able to visit the Lincoln and Washington memorials and walk the Mall beside the reflecting pool, stopping to pay our respects at the awe-inspiring Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall along the way.

The third memory is the association I can’t help but make between this historic inauguration of President Barack Obama and the pride I felt when I became a naturalized citizen of this great country on the Fourth of July in 1985 at Monticello, the former home of President Thomas Jefferson, in Virginia.

There were people from 96 countries becoming citizens on that special day, and Senator John Warner along with two judges was there to welcome us into our citizenship. Also attending the festivities were forty-two members of our Unity church in Roanoke, Virginia, who had travelled up to Monticello on a charter bus. It was an occasion I will never forget.

In the same way, we who are witnesses to the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the United States of America at such a critical time in the history of this country, is an occasion none of us will ever forget.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

You can go directly to the blog, at

http://spiritualsolutionsblog.com/blog/

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com

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What I am going to ask you to do may seem a little weird for a moment. I want you to listen to your thoughts. Now tell me, what kinds of thoughts fill your head? How would you label them – as positive, or negative?

Now let’s say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone who would meet you would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?

The answer to the first question is up to you. But the answer to the second question can be pretty generic. Although people will not be able to tell you exactly what you think, they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.

Here’s another question. When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if waiting for something exciting to happen?

You know what? The answer to all these depends on your frame of mind.

Your thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too – unless, of course, you are a great actor.

And it doesn’t end there. Your attitude can also affect people around you.

The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.

Your positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly invigorating. Plus, the people around the person carrying positive thoughts are usually energized by this type of attitude.

Negative thoughts on the other hand have a sapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a festive gathering into a funeral wake.

A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.

We can also define attitude as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the world, more or less you have a negative attitude brewing up. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.

You have much to gain from a very positive attitude. For one, studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. Projecting a positive attitude also helps one to handle stress and problems better than those who have a negative attitude.

A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you will love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others are around feel the same way.

A negative attitude, on the other hand, has, of course, an opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel the same way.

If you want to have a positive attitude, you have to feature healthy thoughts. This is probably very hard to do nowadays since, all around us, the media feeds us nothing but negative thoughts. A study shows that for every fourteen things a parent says to his or her child, only one is positive. This is truly a saddening thought.

If you want a healthier outlook in life, you need to think happy thoughts, and you have to hear positive things as well. So, what can you do? Well, for starters, you could see a funny movie, you could play with children, spend some time telling jokes with friends. All these activities fill you with positive stimuli, which in turn promotes positive attitude.

Although it is impossible to keep ourselves from the negative things around us, you can still carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things, the positive things in life.

And this positive attitude you now carry can be of benefit to other people. Sometimes when other people feel down, the thing people mostly do is try to give them advice. But sometimes, all they need is somebody to sit by them, and listen to them. If you have a positive attitude you may be able to cheer them up without even having to say anything.

If positive attitude is really great, why do people choose to adopt a negative attitude instead? One who carries a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal for attention. Before you get me wrong, feeling sad, angry, or gloomy is not wrong itself. But dwelling on these thoughts for far too long is not healthy either. There is a time to mourn.

As always, if you are beset by troubles, even in your darkest hour, focus on the good things in life, you will always have hope. Problems become something you can overcome.

 When you adopt a healthy, positive attitude you don’t have much to lose. Studies show that such an attitude actually retards aging, makes you healthier, helps you develop a better stress coping mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people you meet every day. So, what’s not to like about a positive attitude? Adopt one today.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions. Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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Hello Folks,

Here’s another great blog post from Karl Moore, www.karlblog.com:

Yesterday I was in town and decided to visit a coffee bar.

There was a magazine on the table, and an article caught my eye titled: “Secrets of Success!”

The article was a series of interviews with some of the country’s top entrepreneurs, and it proved quite a fascinating read.

What was clear from the people featured in the article was that they had all experienced failure before becoming successful.

In some cases, they had failed big time – often ending up with absolutely nothing before building up the successful businesses that they have today.

What’s also interesting is that most mentioned that without experiencing failure, they wouldn’t be the successful figures that they are now.

It turned out to be quite an inspiring coffee break.

As I see it, failure is simply experience. But it’s also so much more!

When something doesn’t work out, it presents an opportunity to learn from that experience. And in the failure are the clues for success – ways to do something bigger and better next time round!

So, if you’re experiencing failure in some part of your life right now, acknowledge it as experience and look for those clues that can make you more successful next time.

And think on … The only people who do not fail are those that aren’t doing anything!

It’s true!

So, if the going is tough at the moment, grab some extra inspiration by watching this video:

(Visit www.karlblog.com to view the video – under the heading Failure is Just Experience.)

 Remember – you’re not failing – just experiencing!

Have a positive day!

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions. Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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When something deep within you

gives a nudge

to do some kindly thing,

obey it.

When it suggests you smile

at a stranger, or utter some

appreciative word,

say it.

When the impulse is for good,

don’t question: “Will I rue it?”

It may be only you

are there to hear and heed,

to be Love’s instrument,

so do it.

How often, when we felt

discouraged and alone,

our faith at lowest ebb,

some word, some token

of reassurance came,

and through another’s voice

or kindly deed we felt –

oh, more than felt, we knew

that God had spoken!

                By R. H. Grenville

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Meditation can be used to describe a multitude of different practices; however the goal is to turn your attention inward and get closer to your spiritual core.

Meditation originated from Vedic Hinduism and is generally regarded as an aspect of Eastern religions although Western spiritual practices also employ meditation. Meditation focuses on the spiritual and its main focus is on relaxation and peace, seeking to slow the mind down to a different state of consciousness. It is often used to concentrate the mind and so to listen closer to God; it is also commonly used as a means of personal growth and development.

Some individuals choose to meditate as a way to alleviate stress from their lives, while at the same time searching for a greater feeling of peace and tranquility. Many people choose to also practice yoga for further relaxation as yoga combines the mental relaxation with the physical.

Meditation, being closely connected to relaxation, is sometimes referred to as being meditation relaxation. Other common terms include chosen relaxation and conscious relaxation. Many people choose to learn how to meditate in order to find a state of serenity where they can be at peace.

Mediation is much easier to achieve than most people believe it to be. In fact most people have exercised a chosen form of relaxation in one way or another. Even when you focus on something to the exclusion of something else, such as when you are writing a test, this is also a form of chosen or conscious relaxation. When you try to manage pain in one form or another, this is also a way that you can meditate by way of relaxing your mind to cope with the situation at hand.

When you take a practical approach to pay attention to your breathing, such as when you engage in deep breathing (breathing that comes from the diaphragm) you are attempting to take your mind away from any worries or problems and take it to a better place where you are able to relax and be as calm as possible.

The mind is often filled with useless clutter and removing this “mind clutter” can go a long way in improving your mental and emotional health and well being. If you repeatedly make an effort to clear your mind of the junk that is in it then you must seek to empty it completely and then allow the energy of meditation to take over. You will open yourself up to so many insightful things in your life such as calmness, relaxation, peace and serenity.

Meditation is a way of relaxing your mind and in turn your body and this helps to separate you from your everyday problems and worries. Be aware that with time and faith in yourself you will be able to learn to meditate and it will bring about positive changes in your life. Be also aware that you must commit yourself to practice meditation as frequently as possible in order for it to become an important part of your day-to-day life.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter at Spiritual Solutions.

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

———————————————————————–

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If you haven’t done so already, soon you will be taking down the Christmas tree and putting away the lights and Christmas decorations for another year. The nativity scene has been put away. But will you also be putting away the Christ for another year?

So now what? At Christmas we affirmed the birth of the Christ within us. So what happens now? Where do we go from here?

We often go back to the same old routine, the same patterns and beliefs, the same mistakes we have made before. We forget that we have affirmed a truth of our being, of the presence of God born into our awareness in a whole new way.

I was reminded of this recently when talking to a man who was telling me about his dog. He said, “We have a wonderful little dog in our family, but he does some stupid things. He likes chocolate, and chocolate is poison to dogs. A few weeks ago somebody brought a chocolate cake over. They had put it on the

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