“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.” — Rabindranath Tagore
In today’s meditation, we explore the nature of our higher self. We have been looking at belief as a way to reach our inner reality. As we step into the light of our true self, we realize that pure awareness is a state of true knowledge. It is not a belief; it is a knowing. Our true self is not a particular kind of knowledge; it is “knowingness” itself. This state is the gift of living from your core beliefs. This is the fulfillment of becoming what you believe.
Living from our true self, we transcend belief; we shine with the light of our essential nature: truth, happiness, and love.
“Belief is truth held in the mind; faith is a fire in the heart.”— Joseph Fort Newton
Today’s meditation reminds us that our guiding light in life is our true self. This silent presence of awareness is the light of truth that always shines. As we learn to think, speak, and act from our true self, we build a genuine, dynamic, and loving self. This is our truth, this is our Being.
We don’t have to do anything extraordinary to live this truth. It is simple, adaptable, and intelligent, and it is accessible to you right now.
“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” ― Kahlil Gibran
In today’s meditation, we explore how faith heals by expanding our awareness and revealing all the possibilities within our soul. Here we understand the soul by our direct experience, not as something we learn about secondhand. The soul is our true self; it is the quiet “experiencer” within, the presence of awareness that understands what you are reading right now.
This experience of the soul is who we are – it is our wholeness. The soul is the source of our joy, truth, beauty, and infinite potential. When we live from this level of life, we are immediately connected to and supported by other souls. We heal and are healed in return.
“If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” ― Thich Nat Hanh
Sharing and expressing the same core beliefs as others brings with it a fellowship of the heart, and this bond of companionship makes our life journey more rewarding and enjoyable. Our spiritual growth is amplified when we connect to others in a group that shares our goals.
This is the Indian concept of Satsang, which refers to people coming together based upon a shared truth to uplift and transform themselves. Finding and participating in such groups gives you more than strength and companionship; it provides an expanded version of your own spiritual self.
“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa
In today’s meditation, we look at the unifying power of faith. We have developed an understanding of faith as the shared value of our core beliefs. This experience of faith is felt as love in our hearts. To live our faith is to live as a loving person. That means our life is directed from our loving center, our true self. We do this by finding situations around us where our love can make a difference, and then extending ourselves in acts of love. These acts are done without any thought of receiving something in return. However, this heart-to-heart connection always brings countless benefits to both the giver and receiver.
“Believe what you believe and it will be, believe what others believe and they will consume you!” ― Stanley Victor Paskavich
The maturation of the core beliefs we share with others is called faith. In today’s meditation, we discover how faith, operating from the level of our expanded awareness, creates a new reality. This kind of faith is not necessarily a religiously devotional faith. Rather, it is the collective movement and influence of peacefulness from the experience of the unity of spirit.
When we live the personal reality of peace, we become peacemakers. Our individual energy then aligns with the realities of other peacemakers, generating a wave of goodness throughout the world. This is how the phenomenon of faith within our awareness joins with others and becomes a great agency of transformation that creates a new, peaceful reality.
“Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary.” ― Dan Brown
Today’s meditation is about finding the common purpose and vision in humanity’s beliefs. This is how we can overcome the divisiveness of conflicting and hostile beliefs. Instead of remaining stuck in an “us versus them” mentality, we replace that with the belief that all humanity is one spiritual family. On the level of our spiritual identity, we are all equal.
When we know the truth of our shared humanity from our innermost Being, then our connection to the human family becomes a source of joy, love, and peace.
“One person with a belief is equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.” ― John Stuart Mill
Today’s meditation is about using your personal power. However, personal power is not about changing the world around you. It is about the power to change the world within you. This means that as we open our awareness to our core beliefs and true self, we organize, clarify, and reconfigure our internal life so that our thoughts and actions have meaning and bring a feeling of fulfillment.
The true self imbues our beliefs with the personal power that can achieve our goals with the least effort and a minimum of obstacles and confusion.
“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”― Swami Vivekananda
Yesterday, we learned how to heal self-judgment by connecting to our wholeness. Today’s meditation shows us how this integration of the separate self progresses into self-love and self-compassion. We might think that self-love involves adopting a positive attitude toward ourselves, but positive attitudes cannot bring true self-compassion. Real love and compassion are simply the presence of pure awareness awake to itself. When we are living in the present moment, we are open and accepting, not resisting or grasping. That presence of consciousness is your true self, and that is real self-compassion.
“Man is what he believes.” ― Anton Chekhov
In today’s meditation, we look at how to heal self-judgment. Self-judgment is the compromised belief that gives rise to feelings of guilt, shame, self-criticism, and self-recrimination. Self-judgment happens when one part of our divided self judges another part of us. Instead of our self functioning as an integrated whole, it fights and resists itself.
This leaves us feeling divided, depleted, and unhappy – the opposite of our core belief “I am fulfilled.” To heal this self-judgment, we can return to the wholeness of our true self. And in the midst of activity, we can also heal it by asking ourselves what we really want. In that answer, we move away from self-blame and toward the inner fulfillment we truly desire.
“With faith you let go. You trust. Whereas with belief you cling.” ― Yann Martel
Fulfillment is the only response from our environment that shows us we are living from our core beliefs. If we feel anxious, insecure, and fearful, that means there are still obstacles and limitations in our beliefs. In today’s meditation, we look at the core belief “I am safe and trusting,” and see how we can remove the obstacles and limitations around this belief without strain or effort.
When we meditate, we contact the quiet, secure, and peaceful nature of our self. This conscious contact exposes the false sense of separation that compromises our beliefs. This exposure automatically dissolves the obstacles and boundaries around the belief.
