Spiritual Understanding

Q: Until I achieve inner, spiritual understanding, what am I to do?

Try to live a good, balanced life. Achieve excellence in something. Seek to help others and develop the many aspects of yourself. Make time to listen to your inner song. Stay away from that which is destructive. Do things in moderation and try not to hurt someone. Be kind to yourself and others. Be a good loving person that is an asset to their family, community and world.

If you do these things, in time, the missing ingredient will appear. Then you will be a King/Queen in this world and the next.

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Greater Freedom

Looking back, so much of my life has been spent seeking things I thought were important. In fact, most of my waking hours have been spent in this pursuit.

Through the Mercy of the Path, there comes a time when I put aside my desires. It is in these moments that I am most free. A heavy weight is lifted from my shoulders and I experience True Reality. I am free to do or not do, depending upon the Design before me. Because I am no longer concerned about my needs and focus on the present, I drink of a greater freedom.

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Illumination

Turtle and Grasshopper were seated outside Turtle’s burrow, watching dragon flies circle the lily pads. Suddenly, a bull-frog jumped and snatched one of the flies right out of the air. Sitting on a pad, the frog enjoyed a mid-afternoon snack.

After a few moments of watching this, Grasshopper turned toward Turtle and questioned: “What happens when we die? Why does one feed off another? Why this endless struggle?”

With a gentle voice, Turtle replied. “In the order of things, there is a balance. All things are connected and joined. Without the dragonfly, the frog could not live. Without the frog, the balance of the Pond would be lost. The frog helps keep the number of flies and other bugs in order.

In this connection, there is energy and purpose: as the body of the fly joins into the frog, so, the energy of the fly lives on. Also, the spark, which gave the fly life, at the moment of physical death, leaves the body and travels upward. That is the part that lives forever.

Remember, everything is joined. Elements which are in the plants, trees and animals are also within us. These are the elements which make up our body. Yet, the other part, or spark of life, is of another dimension. This is the spirit and is part of the spiritual realm.

Many are the claims about the next world. Each path has a vision of this. While views differ, all are united in that there is life after Pond. This is the distant world.

Just as you and I must one day decay and our bodies become part of the earth and Pond, so another part lives on. Joyfully we rejoin the Light.”

Then Turtle stopped.

As Grasshopper thought about what Turtle said, Grasshopper realized Turtle only answered the first part of the question.

Why the struggle? What really happens at the moment of death?

The Lesson

And as Grasshopper watched the frog leap for another dragonfly, Grasshopper realized something.

• This struggle exists so that it might be transcended.

• The leap of faith, or understanding, was possible only through intuitive or spiritual knowledge.

• The lasting answer was a spiritual one. Words could not describe the transcendent nature of the soul and answer all the mind’s questions.

• Reason took you to the door; higher knowledge set you free. It was a matter of knowing or spiritual experience.

Then, Turtle looked at Grasshopper and realized Grasshopper had become illuminated. He was beginning to learn.

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Check-out my two books: Sufism for Western Seekers: Path of the Spiritual Traveler in Everyday Life and The Ferryman’s Dream . Both books are available through Amazon.com or local bookstore.

Press inquiries or to contact the author visit: www.stewartbitkoff.com