When our time to embark on a spiritual journey arrives, and we will know when that is, we are flooded with lightness and joy. We are full of the exhilaration that the anticipation of the goals to be reached, and the dreams to be realised, brings.
Yet sooner or later, deeply entrenched thinking patterns drain away the joy, as our minds begin to echo with, ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘where’. ‘Why am I here?’, ‘What am I doing?’, ‘Who do I think I am trying to achieve such lofty goals?’. So, our dance into the light of true awareness and joy is halted. Confusion and worry slow our steps, and we listen to a different beat of the old song of past failures and dismal experiences. We can become frantic in our anxiousness and a wall of negativity and waste thoughts begins to grow, that lead us nowhere except into the darkness of depression, gloom, and hopelessness.
Yet, within each one of us is the ability to create the thoughts that will lead us back to the lightness of being. We recognise that we are souls, spiritual beings, and that our nature is full of love and truth. We can see that the negative, wasteful thinking was created long ago as we struggled to deal with disappointment, disillusionment, abandonment, hurt, and sorrow – and that we now have the chance to return to our original way of thinking, of our true mindset.
When we understand this, then we realise that the spiritual journey is exactly that, spiritual, so our thinking has to be spiritual – positive, forward-looking, full of appreciation and enthusiasm. Determination to break down the wall of wasteful thoughts brings a disintegration of each barrier to spiritual growth. A clear, bright path lies ahead, for the mind to receive direct empowerment and guidance from God’s unlimited light.
Jim Ryan has a background in education. He is an author and a Brahma Kumaris Rajyoga teacher, based at the Global Retreat Centre, Oxford, UK.
