An enlightened soul

 An enlightened soul is not one to whom truth has been revealed, but one who has summoned it; and not just when they've been driven by pain, but when life's seas were as calm as glass.

Some ask what an enlightened soul is, but exact definitions vary, but the general idea is the same: that an enlightened person is someone who has had a spiritual, emotional, and psychological awakening of some kind. ... The qualities of an enlightened soul are primarily positive. The enlightened soul is:

·    happy and joyful.

·    peaceful and serene.

·    loving, kind, genuinely cares about other people, regardless of whether they care about him/her.

·    is not self-centred,

·    is emotionally stable because he no longer has an ego that needs validation for its existence.

·    is patient and understanding.

·    humble.

·    insightful and open-minded.

·    a beacon of great inner strength.

·    is a leader.

·    is mindful of his health -- physical, mental,         and emotional.

·    never forgetful of how they achieved enlightenment.

·     curious and willing to continue learning

Some ideas to help get rid of stress

1. Read uplifting books. Spend time each day reading a book that encourages and inspires you. It can be biographical, fiction or non fiction. Check the library, they often have an inspirational section.
2. Meditate for 15 minutes a day. This can be prayer, but it does not have to be. Take time to center yourself and meditate on a thought, phrase, or image. This will help you connect to your deeper self.
3. Quite your mind through meditation. Allow your thoughts to flow freely. Not judging them, not holding on to them, just let them flow.
4. Think positive. Positive thinking uplifts the spirit and lightens the soul. It allows your inner person to breathe without the weight and stresses of the world.
5. Be thankful. Spend a few moments each day reciting what you are thankful for. It can be material things or even people. If they are people, take a moment and write them a note letting them know why you are thankful for them.
6. Develop tolerance. Not everything can be the way you like it. Learning to tolerate the tough times allows you to enjoy the good times even more.
7. Be patient. Both with yourself and with others. Spirituality is a journey and will take time. Everyone is on a different path and going at a different speed. Let things come to you.
8. Learn your strengths and amplify them. Find out what you are really good at and do it even more. The more you do it the stronger you will get. Accentuate your best quality, do not down play it!
9. Find your spiritual passion. What is it that your spirit hunger for? Is it peace? Helping others? Contentment? Whatever it is, search for what drives you and seek to fulfill it.
10. Accept your spiritual side. Do not let the world take your spirit away. We are all spiritual beings, accept that part of you and begin to explore it.
11. Journal. Take time every day or every other day to write down your thoughts and dreams. Make the journal your own, you decide how to write and when to do so.
12. Pray. A spiritual connection with a greater spirit can help guide you through the uncertainties of life. It is also a great way of relieving stress and giving things over that you have no control over.

Spring is wonderful

Spring is wonderful,  I walk almost every day. My walks take me along the Fraser River and usually there are not many people walking when I am out and about. On my walks I have time to think and to watch the world as it unfolds in my tiny universe. Over the next few weeks the leaves will start to bloom again, the grass will grow as May flowers spring from the April showers.


As I walk I enjoy watching the river start to climb up the dyke as the winter snow start to melt; flooding is an issue in many parts of the world but flooding has not happened along the banks of the Fraser n the lowermainland for a long time. The flowers along the river banks will slowly open to the bring beauty back to the desolate browns that have been in my vision for the winter.


There will be more activity on the river as the booms and the tugs move along the wood to the mills and the fish start to come back to spawn. The system of life or the cycle of life continues. Spring is my second favourite time of the year. Fall is my favourite. Spring brings hope of renewal and energy while Fall brings the joy of harvest and the promise of a new day.

To grow spiritually is to search for meaning

To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.

Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianism, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives. Whether we believe that life’s meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm. Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to---a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.

To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.

Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.

Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible.

Spiritual Growth: the Spiritual Challenge of Modern Times

To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives?

To grow spiritually is to look inward.

Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.

To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.

Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual. Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing one’s full potential is to self-actualize.

Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.

Creativity and other thoughts

In the past few days I have been drawn to a number of readings that focus on spirituality, creativity and the science behind both. Is the universe trying to tell me something, those who believe in the concept that we are can control what happens to our us through our thoughts would say yes. I am a believer in the idea that what and how we think translates to actions and those actions affect those around us either in a positive (hopefully) or a negative way. I am not a believer in the concept that we control what happens to us and the law of attraction that seems to be making the rounds in peoples thinking. Karma, I was told does not come into play until your next life, for those who believe in this concept.

Creativity is another theme that I have been drawn towards over the last few days and I find this theme interesting. Can  one learn to be creative, according to Jeffery Baumgarnter who is the editor of Report 103 a monthly newsletter on creativity, imagination and innovation in business, and whose personal website is http://www.ungodly.com/, you can learn.

Jeffery talks about the seven steps of Creative Problem Solving:

1.  Clarify and identify the problem
2.  Research the problem
3.  Formulate creative challenges
4. Generate ideas
5. Combine and evaluate the ideas
6. Draw up an action plane
7. Do it! (ie. implement the ideas)

I think he has an interesting approach to problem solving, but I am not sure if it is an approach to creative problem solving. Creativity happens, I find when I least expect it, creative ideas come from the right brain and for me that process is not as logical or sequential as laid out above. The idea of having a method for solving problems is a great idea, but I am not sure if the left brain approach is the best way to bring out full creativity.

Albert Einstein, Da Vinci and Edison all were creative thinkers, but I suspect that their most creative ideas leapt out for them, and were not part of a formal process. These people were focused on particular problems and I suspect thought about the problems, dreamt about the problems and mulled their thoughts around and then the right brain, which had a solution was able to have the left brain listen to and translate the idea so that others could use the idea.

I believe we can be creative if we listen to the right side of our brains more often

Every day is a blessing

One of the people I work with said to me this morning that everyday that she is breathing is a good day, and laughed. I have been very lucky in my life to have met and worked with some wonderful people who have had to overcome many illnesses. Many of these people believe that having a good attitude helped them survive and defeat the illness that they faced. I believe they are partially correct, attitude is an important part of how we deal with life.

I counsel that we cannot control how others behave, all we can do is control how we react to the behaviour. However, if one is sick, or tired, or depressed then our ability to control our own reactions are limited. I have a friend who believes that balance is one of the four (Spirituality, Health, Relationships and Work) important aspects of life. Easy to say, hard to do, I am not a spiritual person, so I find it hard to work that aspect into the balance that I seek. I strive to balance, relationships, health, and work so perhaps I am not a square, but a triangle. I think the ideal of spirituality residing outside of one's self is interesting but not relevant to many of my generation. I believe that if one should seek spirituality within, by the way we see ourselves and how we interact with others and our environment. Many of us are on the phenomenal plane and in the pursuit of pleasure, but the pursuit of pleasure sometimes brings pain. Maybe we should be searching for Bliss.

The Buddhist quote for the day: On the phenomenal plane we seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain. On the noumenal plane we know the absence of both - which is Bliss. - Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei...