The Way Within

To many people life is a series of ceaseless conflicts and difficulties, involving the trial of personal adjustment, and for many the spiritual path provided the only real escape from these continuous problems.

But problems of one kind or another will always cross our paths until we have come to realize their true value to us and how we may rise above them. These conflicts in life are very real and never too far from anyone. Millions spend large amounts of money, time, and effort in finding a certain elusive happiness which they hope will take them away from their difficulties and the problems they face each day.

Our problems, however, are really blessings in disguise, if we see them in their true perspective. Mystical ascension means that through facing our daily problems with insight and composure, we learn to raise our consciousness to a higher level of understanding, permitting a greater and more detached view of our daily situations so that we see how best to deal with them. Accepting the circumstances of our present life and of the universe in which we live is imperative to the mystical student. We so often try to place the responsibility for our own problems upon others blaming them for all our difficulties and for the restrictions which have been placed upon our so-called freedom.

But these problems when viewed from an ascension of consciousness, are clearly seen to be of our own making, even if by association, because we share in the karma of those around us. Once we accept the conditions of our own lives we can then more readily adjust to the lessons they try to teach.

One of the causes of many of our daily problems is the rigid and inflexible attitude we hold regarding many of our daily circumstances. The lesson of life teaches that we must learn to adjust to all events and conditions confronting us. This is not to suggest that we must bend the way the wind blows, but it does mean that by holding an open mind and a loving heart we will see all the more wisely how to act and respond in any circumstance.

We are constantly influenced by others on the material plane, and as we aspire to the mystical life and follow its teachings, we become more conscious of, and sensitive to the influence of the sufferings of others. Now, if we are inflexible and become antagonistic to these influences, which can take many forms, we will experience more problems and become more entangled in the world of material affairs.

Ascension of consciousness which comes about by mystical aspiration and the study and practice of its teachings allows us to rise above these influences. We can never be indifferent to them or be totally free from the turmoil of life, because that is our destiny in this incarnation. Our only escape is to aspire even higher in consciousness, where these influences can no longer have any power over us, so that we become not indifferent to them but impersonally detached from them. Should we try to ignore them, we will be trust back into their influence, because life is a school of discipline – a temporary school which prepares us for the real and greater life of service, and only by living life to the full, experiencing all of its problems and risking above them, can we attain mastership.

The cosmic influence always brings change in the upward spiral of evolution. We are a part of the Cosmic and must become receptive to its beneficent influences. With a flexible and open mind, and a sensitive and loving heart, we can grow in consciousness and understanding in preparation for the greater life that awaits us.

The dedicated heart opens the door to mystical revelations in its aspirations to the highest envisaged ideals. Life is the school where we learn these lessons necessary to our own individual progress and it is the arena where we give back to the world and express the love and the spiritual benediction which God has granted us.

- Extracted from the article The Way Within by Robert E. Daniels