Embracing Joy and Strength when Times Are Tough
Sep 29, 2020 06:49PM ● By Elle Maurene
Each of us is really a divine, unique, shining spiritual being: soul. Soul exists because God loves it. The challenges of life can tempt anyone to forget that birthright of joy and spiritual freedom. But accepting that birthright—really taking it to heart—helps show how tough times provide an opportunity to build inner strength.
Gratitude. Thinking, writing or saying all the things one is grateful for shifts the energy from “poor little me” to “look what bounties I have in my life”. It opens the heart to divine love. As guide and teacher Harold Klemp writes in The Spiritual Laws of Life, “Gratitude unseals fountains of creativity, because a grateful person is relaxed.”
Repeating a sacred, meaningful phrase that strikes a spiritual image in the consciousness. People have done this throughout history. Sometimes it is called prayer. The ancient Chinese ECK Master Lai Tsi offered this verse (in The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, Book Two):
“Show me Thy ways, O Sugmad;
Teach me Thy path.
Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me;
On Thee do I wait all day.
Remember, O Beloved, Thy guiding light
And Thy loving care.
For it has been ever Thy will,
Spiritual exercises. Daily spiritual exercises (including singing HU) tune us into God’s love. The Spiritual Exercises of ECK promote higher levels of awareness that give access to divine creativity for solving problems and building spiritual stamina.
Compassion. Spiritual exercises let the heart open to compassion for all life. Compassion consumes the heart with love, leaving no room for stress.
Surrender. Spiritual surrender means giving one’s worries and cares to God and aligning the personal, human self with soul. It does not mean giving up free will but, rather, allowing the Divine to flow through every thought, word and deed. Acting consciously as a vehicle for God’s love dissolves fear and lifts the heart.
Staying spiritually strong, free and focused. Keeping focused on something higher than life’s challenges is a priceless, strengthening discipline. Spiritual contemplation, singing HU, embracing gratitude and practicing compassion and surrender to the Divine all lift us above the daily grind.
Elle Maurene, author of the visionary fiction novel Masters of The Golden Wisdom and member of the Eckankar clergy, works in marketing and sales and lives in north Phoenix. Find spiritual events and opportunities from Eckankar in Tucson at EckankarArizona.org. Learn more about Eckankar at Eckankar.org.
Eckankar, the Path of Spiritual Freedom, offers tools for anyone to transform their life into a place of peace, resilience and growth.
Gratitude. Thinking, writing or saying all the things one is grateful for shifts the energy from “poor little me” to “look what bounties I have in my life”. It opens the heart to divine love. As guide and teacher Harold Klemp writes in The Spiritual Laws of Life, “Gratitude unseals fountains of creativity, because a grateful person is relaxed.”
Singing or chanting the word HU. HU (which rhymes with the word you)is an ancient, universal name for God that can open the heart to divine love and insight. Singing the word HU, inwardly or aloud, can attune anyone to a higher consciousness where calm prevails.
More information on HU—plus an inspiring recording of thousands chanting it—is online at HearHU.org. Download the free HU app for Android or Apple (search for HU, keyword Eckankar).
Repeating a sacred, meaningful phrase that strikes a spiritual image in the consciousness. People have done this throughout history. Sometimes it is called prayer. The ancient Chinese ECK Master Lai Tsi offered this verse (in The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, Book Two):
“Show me Thy ways, O Sugmad;
Teach me Thy path.
Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me;
On Thee do I wait all day.
Remember, O Beloved, Thy guiding light
And Thy loving care.
For it has been ever Thy will,
To lead the least of Thy servants to Thee!”
Since Sugmad is another name for God, one can substitute the word God, Lord or whatever word for the Divine feels right.
Spiritual exercises. Daily spiritual exercises (including singing HU) tune us into God’s love. The Spiritual Exercises of ECK promote higher levels of awareness that give access to divine creativity for solving problems and building spiritual stamina.
Compassion. Spiritual exercises let the heart open to compassion for all life. Compassion consumes the heart with love, leaving no room for stress.
Surrender. Spiritual surrender means giving one’s worries and cares to God and aligning the personal, human self with soul. It does not mean giving up free will but, rather, allowing the Divine to flow through every thought, word and deed. Acting consciously as a vehicle for God’s love dissolves fear and lifts the heart.
Staying spiritually strong, free and focused. Keeping focused on something higher than life’s challenges is a priceless, strengthening discipline. Spiritual contemplation, singing HU, embracing gratitude and practicing compassion and surrender to the Divine all lift us above the daily grind.
Soul—our true self—has the spiritual resources to stay balanced and happy even in tough times.
Elle Maurene, author of the visionary fiction novel Masters of The Golden Wisdom and member of the Eckankar clergy, works in marketing and sales and lives in north Phoenix. Find spiritual events and opportunities from Eckankar in Tucson at EckankarArizona.org. Learn more about Eckankar at Eckankar.org.
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ECKANKAR, The Path of Spiritual Freedom "The purpose of Eckankar is to make God an everyday reality in your life. As Soul, you have the God-knowledge within you. The teachings of ECK w... Read More »
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