These are some of my favorite passages in “The Spiritual Mind” by Kathleen Kiley Fisher.
— The most common misconceptions about the word 'God', or a higher spiritual power in general often arise in early childhood. The dynamics and interactions that occur within a family unit usually leave deep and lasting impressions about whom or what 'Spirit' or `God' is. Through the eyes of a child, both parents and God are authoritarians and are often misinterpreted as being alike.
The immature mind of a child will conclude that if a parent is wise, giving, and loving, then God must be too. If a parent is frugal, absent, or cruel, then so must be God. These deeply embedded, personal beliefs develop and coincide even when a child receives traditional religious dogma that claims God is separate and apart from the whole of humanity.
Children rarely recognize that their parents have some growing up of their own to do. It would be uncommon to find a child who is mature enough to recognize that her parents are not yet completely evolved. And even when this fact is realized as an adult, the child consciousness buried within may still not agree. Internal conflict about what God is will remain until childhood misconceptions are brought to the surface, reassessed by the mature mind, and re-educated with the truth.
Deeply ingrained 'God' images such as a 'stern dictator', 'too busy with others', 'absent' or 'unavailable' will often interfere with your efforts in trying to develop a deep spiritual connection. There are many personal beliefs and experiences from childhood that remain buried within the unconscious of the adult mind. The exercises on the following pages will assist you in bringing your childhood spiritual beliefs to light. Comparing your current beliefs to those of your parents or other caregivers can be a valuable tool in understanding your perception of 'God'.
— Where there is truth, there is love. Where there is love, there is God. Where there is not love, spiritual awareness is lacking.
The search for truth is the ultimate quest in getting to know your real self. Truth creates an open, uninhibited state in your emotional body that generates the strength and courage to feel anything. If you’re unsure about what the truth is, you can do a ‘check-in’ with yourself. Your body and feelings will always let you know the truth of any matter if you’re genuinely open to receiving it.
Truth emits calm and has a calming effect, even when you’re facing something that’s really painful. Genuine sadness will travel smoothly through your system without getting stuck in defended states of fear. Truth provides a strong, solid, inner container that allows your feelings to flow, release, and exit the body.
Fear instills feelings of anxiety, doubt, confusion, and all other defensive, negative responses. Anxiety is an emotional reaction to something you fear. When you’re feeling anxious, pause for a moment, and ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” You can decrease anxiety by addressing it head-on. You can tune into the specific thought-forms that frighten you. Once you are aware of your misconceptions, you can re-educate yourself with the truth.
Re-educating fear-based thoughts is an essential step in emotional and spiritual transformation. Emotional development is the most challenging phase of spiritual growth as many thoughts are unconscious.
“…when you are in doubt you are depressed, and when you are experiencing truth, you feel happy. Truth must always make you happy – even unpleasant truth. All my friends on the path have experienced how they must occasionally encounter unflattering or unpleasant aspects of themselves. But when desire for the truth within becomes greater than all else, this unpleasant truth will always strengthen and bring happiness. By the same token, if you observe your feelings closely, you will find that untruth, pleasant as it may seem at the moment, never gives you real peace, for deep down your higher self always has the correct answer and you must feel it. This truth will never depress you.”
Remember, developing a clear, inner channel to your spiritual mind takes time, patience, and perseverance. Exercises are provided after each law to embody and experience them in a deep and personal way. Take the time you need for reflection, and most importantly, enjoy your path to spiritual enlightenment!
