CHAPTER 1

Spiritual Life

We are spiritual beings experiencing life in a biological bodyhere on planet earth. We are spiritual energy and that energy has itsbeginnings in the absolute energy of the universe we call GOD. God isLight, God is Energy, and God is Love. God is Spirit and those who knowGod know him by the Spirit. Religion has attempted to define God andteach about God in a myriad of ways but seldom do people ever find thetruth that sets them free in religion. Religion for the most part teachesthat we are all flawed people in need of salvation through some meansof religious codes, doctrines, rituals, formulas and systems. Religion hasfailed to help people overcome their `worthiness issues' because religionreminds them all the time that they are sinners and dirty rotten scumbagsthat need redemption. As a Jew, Muslim or Christian, you are taught thatyou are all born as a sinner and are destined to go to hell unless you gothrough some religious prescription for salvation. As a Hindu you aretaught that you are paying for bad karma through repeated reincarnationsuntil you get it right. As a Buddhist you are taught that you must gothrough 129 life-times to find enlightenment. Who the hell is right?! Theyall mean well I am sure, but the answer to who is right is found `within'and not in religious institutions. It is not to be found in books or prophets.YOU have to look within!

In the journey of life, we all at some point ask the questions thateveryone has about God. Is there a God? And if God does exist, whosereligion is right? Well, there is an Infinite Intelligence that we call God.God is Spirit and God is Light. Therefore, God is Energy. God is a not anold, bearded man who sits in heaven somewhere looking and waiting forus to mess up so he can punish us. God is a loving being who is the lifesource energy of all things. God gives life to the universe (or cosmos) thatis the result of his thoughts. These thoughts send off creative, vibrationalenergies that create the universe and all we see and cannot see. In otherwords, God created the beauty and wonder of the entire universe throughjust thinking and speaking it into creation with the power of thought!God is a loving energy that can reveal himself in a myriad of ways! Godhas and continues to communicate to us through all the energies of theuniverse. Everything God created has his energy and has the capacity tospeak to us in many ways.

When God created the universe he created contrast. There is lightand there is darkness. There is male and there is female. There is day andthere is night. God created animals and humans. He created an amazingportfolio of different colors that can be seen in all of his creation. We livein a wonderful world of contrast! No two beings are alike and no twosunsets or sunrises are alike. We all have different personalities, physicaltraits, talents, gifts, and abilities. So what does this mean? Why did Godallow this or create diversity and contrast?

God allowed contrast to create an environment whereby wecan expand and develop. I call this the Law of Opposites. When weexperience contrast of any type, good or bad, we move forward in ourdevelopment. How else can we know what is good if we don't experienceor see what we don't like? Contrast helps clarify what we like or dislikeon many levels. It promotes growth through experiencing resistance andtension. Tension can propel us forward if we allow it to. It is just like thebodybuilder who builds his body through applying tension to the musclesto promote growth. Without the tension of life we would grow flaccid andweak. Life teaches us that trials, tribulations and afflictions try us, purifyus and makes us strong! But if we resist this contrast we have a tendencyto judge and condemn others for our own troubles. We turn bitter, feelhurt, get depressed, and experience fear and hopelessness.

We then get stuck in the muck and mire of contrast. But once weembrace the contrast we can move forward. How? By using the contrastto identify what we want and don't want. For example, when you get sickand tired of being sick and tired you can summon up the energy to moveforward. You have the choice! You have the power to change your lifeand move forward!

Many Christians and religious people are waiting for some magicalmoment when they will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. Thisis far from the truth. We were sent here to experience contrast and workout our salvation through tapping into the Light and Energy of God. Thisis more than just accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. The Light andEnergy that enabled Jesus can come to you and enable you to tap into theLife Source we call God! It is being baptized into the light and energy ofGod. Flowing with God is not saying a ritualistic prayer or going throughsome church ritual. It is the process where we attune to God, tap into Godand get turned on by God. We will discuss how this happens in moredetail later in this writing.

Christianity and other religions today, for the most part, arecontorted systems of control, manipulation, domination, judgment,condemnation, rules and regulations set up by religious persons. Many ofthese religions are sincere, but they are sincerely mistaken. True religionpoints you to God and encourages you to tap into Life Source Energy or,if you like, the Spirit of Christ. Religion today has reduced God to a book,a church system, and a set of religious codes, rules and regulations thattry to pound round circles (people) into square holes. Everyone is lookedupon as lost sheep that need shepherds. They even have doctrinal policethat run around and intimidate all who stray outside the play books.This leads to corruption, frustration, division, strife and fear. Some stayand conform, while others flee for their lives. Yes, there are good, well-meaningpeople in religious systems who try to do good and be good. Iwas a sincere Pastor at one time in these very religious systems. I was asincere and had a great desire to know God and do his will. Most religiouspeople desire the same. However, sincerity is oft en mistaken. Jesus cameto cleanse the world of religion with the power of love! God is Love! Afterthousands of years of religious controversy, Jesus came to proclaim thegood news that the God of this universe is a God of love.

Jesus wanted the world to know that the energy of God is Love.All that Jesus did was to help us see the true character of God in a sea ofcontrast! In the midst of all the religious conflict, political conflict, familyconflict, spiritual conflict, mental conflict and physical conflict, Jesuscame to give us new life by sharing the power of God with us all. Jesusovercame all the diseases of the world and promised that we could dolikewise. In fact, Jesus said we would even do greater works than him!

By living in this world, we are all bouncing around in a sea ofcontrast. It is here we can find life by allowing the contrast to expandour spirits, minds and bodies to mature, grow and experience true blissand happiness that comes from bouncing off the unhappy things weencounter in this world. What makes you happy is a clue to understandingwhat is right or wrong. We are not talking about doing bad things thathurt or harm others; we are talking about true joy and happiness thatcomes from experiencing good things. God is love and true happinessand joy are in harmony with the beauty and truths of God.

So how do we overcome and experience the bliss of God or theLife-Source of the Universe? I believe everyone, deep down, wants toexperience the reality of God. But he is not found in a religion, a church,or a religious system. Most religion and religious systems do not pointpeople to God; they call people to `their' way of thinking. Religions say:Come to my tent, embrace my faith, accept my dogmas, obey my system,buy my products, and pay my bills. In return, they promise heaven andin some religious circles they promise some kind of reward. To reject`their' faith always results in some form of punishment that leads you tobe cast into Hell.

`True' religion always points you to God. It never points you to asystem of rules and regulations. The essence and energy of God is foundwithin! The first step to knowing God and experiencing Life SourceEnergy is to seek him inwardly. So many people look for God in all thewrong ways and places. I know I have. In fact, I wore myself to a frazzletrying to find God in churches, ministries, books, and everywhere butwithin. I finally came to the end of my rope. I still wanted to know Godand learn more about the truth, but churches and religious systemswere not leading me to him. This is when I started crying out to God. Ishowed God my frustration and let him know just how I felt about allthat I had encountered. I told God that if I was to believe anything, hewould have to show me directly. Otherwise, I wanted off the religiousmerry-go-round.

After this prayer, God showed up and began downloading all kindsof wonderful things to me that deep down inside, I always knew. IT wasthere all the time! I had been looking for love in all the wrong places!What did I learn? Well first, this handbook is all about my transformation.Everything I have written is what I have learned from God so far, and it ismy desire that IT will help you get inspired enough to cry out to God also!I promise that if you seek you will find! So the first thing you need to dois seek God by looking inward and by getting real with him. Tell God howyou feel. Then, ask him to open up the universe to you and expect Godto answer your prayers. He will! Stop looking outward and look inward!

Second, spend time in prayer and meditation. Prayer is simply talkingwith God. There are many tools out there in the form of books, CD's, andother downloads that can assist you in prayer. Ask God to lead you totools that will help you. But for now, just get alone with God and prayany way you like. God is not interested in ritual or religious form; hewill honor your simple conversations with him. Then, learn to meditate.Meditation is the process of relaxing the mind and body so that youcan tap into the Life-Source Energy God that flows inwardly from theuniverse. Mediation is where the magic begins! This writing will notcover all the wonderful ways we can tune in, but decide now that youwill start praying and meditating. An easy thing to do would be to justpray and talk with God just like you would anyone for 5-15 minutes a day.Then just sit or lay down with your spine as straight as possible, and justconcentrate on breathing and nothing else. Calm the mind, relax yourbody, and just enjoy the peace for 15 minutes.

Third, you might want to seek the fellowship of like-minded peoplewho, like you, are on a similar journey. There are a lot more people likeus than you think. And when you tell God and the universe you want tofind these people, they will show up!

Fourth, I encourage you to set aside all your belief systems and askGod to reprogram you with the knowledge of the universe. Don't allowyourself to feel guilty about changing your belief systems. When wechange into a person of God's love, we can do no wrong! Love wouldnever harm or hurt anyone on purpose. It would not violate anotherperson in anyway. Just love God, love yourself and love others. Ask Godto show you his heart and mind and he will! In light of this, don't becritical of yourself and others. Forgive yourself and forgive others. Allowpeople to be who they are and release any anger, bitterness, strife, hatred,division, discouragement, or negative emotion. When it shows up, justlet it go. Use it to move you in the opposite direction. Negative emotionsserve as warning systems that things are not right. When we recognizethe negativity, we can decide to move away from it. So use the negativeto thrust you forward!

Fifth, I encourage you to see God as a God of love! God is love! God isLove! God is Love! GOD IS LOVE! Love is patient, kind, longsuffering,good, and forgiving. Love bears all things and hopes all things. Lovenever fails. Love never gives up. God is not out to judge and condemn youto hell. There is no such thing as a 'devil's hell' where God wants to burnand torture people forever and forever! God wants to give you life moreabundantly. God wants to love on you as any parent would. Trust in thisfact. Embrace the God of love! God's love is life-force energy that carrieshis essence everywhere and in everyone. God's love is ready to nurtureyou and provide you with everything you need! Believe and receive! Seechapter eight for a study about hell.

We are spiritual life source beings who are on an exciting journey.We come to Earth as part of the adventure of becoming more aware andexpanding God and the universe in a multiplicity of ways. The expansionof God and the universe occurs every time we think new thoughts andbecome more imaginative. God designed us in his image so that we couldthink, imagine, dream, create and expand spiritually, mentally, emotionallyand physically. As we expand and produce in all these areas we cause theuniverse to expand. We are all extensions of God that have the ability toexpand, grow and multiply the abundance of ourselves and the universe.There is nothing that can stop that expansion but you individually. You havethe ability and choice to expand! We all have the ability to tap into God andfind within ourselves the resources of the universe.

This journey can be activated at anytime. All we have to do is say yes!Yes to God. Yes to expanding! All you need is the willingness to embracethe unknown and make yourself available and responsive to God. Whereyou are is where you are, and that's ok. But where you are can be a bouncingoff place to begin your journey of awareness. In the process of becomingaware we must let go of the past. Yes, we can learn from the past, but wecannot allow it to dictate who we are now. Our spiritual awakening is theprocess of understanding that we are spiritual beings of God's energy. Aswe become aware that we are part of a unified, multi-dimensional field ofGod's energy, we take the first step in our expansion.

Many people today are controlled, manipulated, and dominatedby the thoughts and trends of society, religion, politics and otherenvironmental influences. Most people go through life being a victimof these systems in one way or another. The transformation of our soulsrequires us to eliminate these influences and drop our own personalopinions. This can be painful and difficult. Change of this magnituderequires courage and willingness to go against the flow. The process oftransformation is about becoming your true self. Your true self is SourceEnergy that wants to participate in the expansion of the universe. Yourtrue self anticipates, with joyful expectation, to grow, mature, expandand be a part of the evolutionary expansion of the universe! If you wantto change the world, change yourself!

In the transformation of our souls, we need to stop allowingourselves to be controlled, manipulated, and dominated by the thoughtsand systems of mankind. We have to stop identifying with society,cultural trends, political systems, religious systems, and even friends,family and racial identities. The collective beliefs of these systems havestrong emotional attachments to our lives that may be holding us back.Is there a system you need to let go of? Are there people you need to letgo of? What is holding you back? I am not saying that all these things arenecessarily evil, but they most certainly are not profitable to the expansionand transformation process. No one person, system, or thing shouldhave dominion over you. If you ever feel like you are being manipulated,controlled, dominated or demeaned, you will know that you need tobreak the spell it has on you or wants to put on you.

Also, if you are living in any kind of guilt or are holding on to anykind of bitterness, strife, hatred, division, unforgiveness or the like, youneed to let it go now. All the failures of life are all done in ignorance. Noone in their right mind desires to live in pain and misery or to inflict painand misery. Once we are enlightened, we realize that failure is actuallythe place where we discover what works for us and what does not work.If things are not working out and your life seems to be a failure, then youare in a wonderful place.

Now, you can change your life by changing your mind. Yourpast thinking got you here and now your present thoughts can moveyou forward. Let it all go. Release yourself and release others. Forgiveyourself and forgive others, for you all did not realize what you weredoing. Just as Jesus hung on his cross and forgave his enemies, so mustyou. Jesus became an instrument of love that forgave all failure. God lovesyou and he is not holding your failures over your head or anyone else's.Embrace this love and freely offer it to all. God is love. The love of God ispure energy that embraces us all. So embrace God's love and become anagent of love. Now this does not mean that we are naive. Sometimes loverequires us to move away from people and things that are not ready forthis revelation. So relax and let go of things you have no control over. Wecan only be responsible for ourselves in life's journey.