THE HIEROPHANT CHRONICLE

What are prayers? To pray means to convey a request to God. Those who believe that there is no God, can still pray to the higher power in who they have belief. But to say that there is no God, makes us feel very lonely at times. At times of crisis, who will you approach? Your friends might have left you. Your family might have deserted you. Who is left? There is God.

What is the first effect of prayer? The first effect is that we at least begin believing that someone who can help us, is listening to us. That gives a great support. Because you no longer feel very helpless or lonely. You have got a friend who is all powerful and who can help you. With prayer we call for that help. The deeper the prayer, the earlier the help arrives. A prayer made in total faith can do wonders. But it all boils down to faith. And faith is a matter of individual belief. No science can comment about faith.

We send good wishes when some one falls sick or for someone who is facing tough times. How do prayers help in that situation? Here we are not making a selfish prayer, but asking for help for some one else. Collective prayers will surely reach God, and he will surely respond to them in his own way. His way may be different than our way, but respond he will. There is no doubt about that. This again is a matter of personal faith.

Imagine a man dying of cancer and family left with no hope. If every member of the family prays at that time, that member will also not feel very helpless and hope will always remain. Without prayers, all hope is lost. Wishing Good Luck, wishing for earlier recovery and inspiring a friend are all ways to connect with the higher power. Such wishes and prayers never go waste. Call God, and request him to help, the help will arrive if your prayer is made with faith and is heart felt.

To continue the story of the heart apologizes is offered. As a victim of a recent stroke I am thankful to be doing well. 

First is our natural instinct, where happiness is momentary and is confined for the time being to the object only. Heart is happy when it hears a sweet melody or views a good sight. It is confined to that moment and is then forgotten. A beautiful sight touches the heart and sweet music refreshes it. It stays for some time only. If these sights are unpleasant the heart is repelled.

The second level of the heart is when it begins to seek the happiness for others, in which it feels lies his happiness also. He tries to work for others, to give inspiration to others, towards a more meaningful life. He goes a little beyond his own self .Self-centeredness begins to melt. Here there is the power to think, to argue and to give lessons to others. He wants to build a structure on the foundation of his thoughts and ideas. for example by writing poems, essays and novels. We have Kabir, Meera, Tulsi to sing and inspire us in Hindi literature. We have similar writers in other literatures also. The great sages with their pious thoughts rose to give us, The Ramayan and The Gita. These all had put their thoughts of their hearts. The same can be said about great artists, architects and sculptures, who had put their hearts into their creations. They all try to lift us up and speak to the hearts of others through their creations.

The third level of the heart is when together with its own happiness, it seeks the happiness of others also. The sight of suffering seems to hurt him. It wants to lend its helping hand if one wants him. If one is drowning, he jumps to take him out. It is a heart that finds happiness in the motto "Live and help others to live". Such a heart refuses to look for its own interest only. It is a heart that finds great joy in bringing a ray of hope to the distressed. It wants that if he eats, he should help others also to eat. If it is happy, he should create a similar world of happiness for others. If he rises, he must help others to rise and not cut their throats.

The fourth level of the heart is the highest type which links itself with the Lord. It is the spiritual heart. It cannot bear the sight of suffering. It feels the misery, the misfortune and the pain of others. To make my point clear, I would like to cite an incident in the life of Swami Dayansnd Sarswati.Once a farmer was beating brutally an ox., because it could not pull the cart which had got struck into the mesh. Swami felt the pain of every blow on his body and could not control himself. He came up, stopped the man from beating the ox. He then took the rod of the cart on his shoulders and pulled the cart out of the mud applying all the force at his command. Such a heart feels a bliss in living for others. It is a spiritual heart. It is a heart that feels the pain of others.

This is the highest level of a heart. This is a heart that joins itself to God. It sees God everywhere and in everyone, all woven in one thread of love and understanding. The Lord is all round and the heart opens itself to visualize this truth and be with the Lord. The heart then begins to take only one direction, the love of God, which makes it to love all, men and animals. This is the internal heart, the heart that is joined to Divinity. A new culture comes up, the culture of widening the heart and the spirit. It then follows its own vision.

But the heart is very unstable, changing at the slightest provocation. One minute it may raise itself but then it is slung into the mud again the next minute. So an important issue before us is how to make it stable.Then,the other question is how to make it rise from one level to another. It runs so fast that it is very difficult to control it, even more difficult than the course of a wind. This was what Arjun felt and so he asked The Lord:-

The Lord says that in reality it is very difficult to control the heart, more than it is to control the force and direction of the wind. But there is no problem that does not have a solution. And what Lord Krishna says is really inspiring:-
Abhyasen tu Kauntai vairagyain chi a grihayte
It means that heart can be controlled by practice and renunciation. It is the practice for something high ,something ideal. If the heart runs away from it do not be disappointed, try to turn it back, do it every time it tries to go off. This is practice. It is quite natural for bad thoughts to overcome the good ones every now and then. But to turn away from them, always remembering the Lord, is practice. Gradually the bad thoughts will leave the heart. The heart has to be its own guard. What may look impossible in the beginning, by a spirit of dedication and determination, you can achieve your end.

.Practice and determination will work wonders towards a direction of which you and others may be proud of .Whenever there is a turn towards the ugly, turn it towards the good. Practice this. .Remember your determination to succeed in your mission by constant practice will take you on the right path. Sometimes you may go astray, do not worry, continue your practice, try again and again. Do not forget that failures are the pillars of success. There is nothing higher than a heart which is determined to achieve its end, even though it looked impossible in the beginning .

This in it self is "tapestry" You heart then is your major responsibility. It is the most powerful part of your body. You have a duty towards it. Your "Tapestry" Is to control your heart, to give it a right direction, a meaningful direction. If you can make your heart, not to waver, with the blow of the breeze of lust and passion, your senses will be pleased and you will be intellectually elevated. The desire to live for others will enable you to do noble tasks. And finally practicing, you will feel the presence of God within your heart. This feeling will always inspire you to love one and all

So lift your heart, call the Lord to help you in your noble journey. If you have intentions that are good, He will definitely come forward to help you to walk on the path of righteousness Remember He comes to those who call Him and look to Him to move forward in His mission of love and understanding. It is hard to beat a person who never gives up but moves on and on?

The heart swells you up. Again, the heart sinks you down. Feelings of elation or depression, that of joys and sorrows spring out of it. If the heart upbeats at times, it sinks low on other occasions. You are impelled and elated by feelings for the welfare of the nation, for the love of humanity, but often you go down with feelings of hatred, jealousy and revenge. With positive feelings, you are apt to rise high but negative emotions hurl you to the ground and you are buried with shame and disgrace. As the thoughts are in the heart, so is the man. It is the feelings that grow up in the heart that constitute the personality of an individual take the example of Shivaji. His father worked under the mogul emperor. However, his mother never allowed her son to bow down before the moguls. Instead, she filled her son’s heart with the love for the country and Hindu dharma. As Shivaji grew up, he conquered many mogul fortresses. Nevertheless, the mother desired that he should defeat the moguls by conquering the strongest fortress of Toran. In addition, Shivaji after conquering this fortress went to his mother for her blessings and putting the sword down on her feet, asked what more she wanted from him. The reply of the mother is to be noted here. She said your body is mine, and I do not need your money, I only ask for your heart, a heart that will ever cling to my ideal.

    How much can we speak about a heart whose glories are tremendous? It has a magical power beyond words. In whichever direction it swings, it forces one to work. Good feelings raise the person to the heights while bad feelings push him to the ground. Anger, lust vengeance, jealousy and hatred can pull down a person, while love, compassion and understanding can raise him high… All these feelings, good or bad, take birth only in the heart. It is a place that is pure, a place where God resides.
   We are born with a heart that is pure. Then gradually as we grow up it begins to gather dust. Unpleasant ideas and thoughts crop up. We more than often fail in choosing a right direction, though it becomes a primary duty on our part to control the heart and put it on the right path. Here I am reminded of an instance in the life of Shriven Kumar. He had a feeling of devotion for his blind old parents. On their request he took them both on a pilgrimage. Ill-treatment given to his parents by his wife further pushed Shriven Kumar’s heart to take them away. His heart was happy that he was on a noble mission, to serve his parents. He went around to some places, when all of a sudden his heart took a strange turn. He was overtaken by a feeling of disgust. What was he doing? Only he was ruining his life. Those were the days for him to enjoy. He was young. He had a wife who loved him and he had lovely children. He should be spending time with them. Youth meant pleasure. He ran away fast, listening to this voice of the heart, immediately putting down the scale on which he carried the parents, as he feared that he might not change his decision.Running, he got tired. He happened to see a group of men and women who were being addressed by a yogi. He also sat down there to take breath as he was panting. The yogi was trying to elaborate and explain the episode of Gnash, who circled round his parents and felt that he had traversed the whole world .Lord Shankar was then trying to explain to Kartiki and others present there that Gnash was absolutely right , because one cannot achieve anything more in this world than by serving the old parents. Shravan Kumar got a big jolt on hearing this. He got highly annoyed with the feelings of his heart that tempted him to leave his parents. He ran back to the place where he had left his parents. He took the rod of the scale on which the parents sat and went on to the pilgrimage with greater joy and satisfaction.

As the heart is, so is the man.

For thousands of years of our world’s tradition, majority always rules. The common people decide and the few are left behind. From the crucifixion of Christ on the cross to the election of most of today’s world’s leaders in their presidency, it’s always the majority of votes that becomes the cause. The good choice is the choice of the common people. But can we indeed rely on the choice of the common people? Well, to answer that question, I have enumerated some facts that describe the common people.

Fact 1: Lying is common to people.
Fact 2: Majority of the people crave for money and fame.
Fact 3: Majority of the people are proud    .
Fact 4: The common people lack patience.
Fact 5: True love is rare to common people.
Fact 6: Wisdom is uncommon to people.

Those facts are facts and we can’t deny them. However, I am not concluding that the common choice is always a bad choice. Sometimes, the common choice makes a right choice especially when it is directed or influenced by few extraordinary people. Nevertheless, greatness and good virtue are only found on few people and reliability is not absolute on the majority of the people.

We all need decisions to change or continue our lives. A good decision will bring us success while a bad decision might bring us tragedy. In making a decision, it’s very important for us to know what is a right or a wrong decision. Most people follow the common decision while some people go into unusual decision. If we will base on the hidden truth behind the people mouths, majority of them would chose money and fame rather than love. Most humans will choose easiness rather than difficulties. They would choose pride rather than humility.

Life is a decision to make. It is a gate to enter and a way to walk. There are two kinds of decision a person can choose. These are the hard decision and the easy decision. In most cases, the hard decisions are the right decisions, but these are not chosen by most people because of their hardships. Most people like ease and hate sacrifices. That’s why they don’t succeed in their lives. One example of a hard decision is to love truly. True love is full of sufferings and sacrifices. Because of these, most people avoid true love. They avoid love to avoid pains. But what they don’t realize is that they are avoiding the greatness and righteousness of life. Difficulty makes life a real life and true love makes life a great life.

In life, there are also two kinds of gates we must choose to get in. There is a wide gate that most people enter because of its effortlessness and convenience. There is also a narrow gate which only few enter because of its difficulties and sacrifices. The wide gate offers convenience, fortune and fame. In the wide gate there are almost no rules and laws to be followed. You can just lie, boast and you can just wear a false face in the wide gate. It’s such a majestic and decorative gate. It’s colorful like casinos and night clubs. That is why many people are attractive and enters in the wide gate.

On the other hand, the narrow gate is full of pains. That is why only few people enter on it. These people are the ones who are god fearing, enduring and humble. They are the persons who are well disciplined and possess the virtue of honesty and kindness. We must choose the right gate for our souls. We must pass on the right way for the survival of our soul. We must belong to the few people who enter into the narrow gate. Remember that majority of the people lie and becomes proud. What we need to do is to make our selves extraordinary, extraordinary people who are straight and beyond the usual people who are proud and liars. We must become persons who are great and inherits true life and eventually inherits the kingdom of our Almighty God. Nonetheless, the choice is still yours. Where would you want to enter? The wide gate which offers effortlessness? Or the narrow gate which offers difficulties?

A letter written to my loved ones, shared with hopesand prayers that you will find the peace that is offered to all.

Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.”

“This day” may have been a glorious and marvelous with heavenly hosts praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace goodwill toward men. However, for many this day in our history 2010 is so different.

Poverty still exist but on a much larger scale, people still find It appropriate to deny Him a place, or room in their busy schedule of events. The only thing that is exactly the same is the world desperately needs a Savior!

On this day, prophecy was fulfilled. A promise kept that although it put this ordained event in an unlikely place, and is determined couple at a considerable disadvantage in their search for proper shelter, for the birth of this promised Savior. It was on schedule in the right city, and in the exact location for this glorious revelation of God in the flesh. It made news in heaven then to a few herdsmen and eventually ruffled the robe of King Herod.

Not everyone was happy on this Christmas!

For some, it is all about family and friends, wonderful meals, elaborate gifts, pushing the plastic, exhausting the green, and then beating ourselves with a guilty stick saying, “What was I thinking.”

Unfortunately, not everybody will be happy this Christmas memories will be overworked; nerves will be on edge due to things that have forced themselves on good people that have been dealt a bad hand.

Foreclosures’ and job’s will be at the top of the list, brought on by an economy that would went south rising gas prices and a jump across the board on everything needed to survive, is placed in the lap of  working men and women. For many the prospect of having a Merry Christmas is out of the question!

Regardless of our state in life we can make our Christmas both happy and meaningful remember it is about His presence and not about the present’s.

If you are not having a “Happy Holy Day, Let real happiness invaded your Christmas, come to know the one whom this season is all about.

I wish you the best and most blessed Christmas you have ever experienced, and that you enjoy heavenly peace.

Remember prayers will give you strength to pursue God’s call and follow his vision for good things He has in store for all of us. Have a Wonderful Christmas.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, 'Where are you?'" (Genesis 3:8-9)

God was accustomed to communing with Adam in the garden "in the cool of the day" (for some reason I really love that phrase). After Adam had eaten of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he was not so eager to take an afternoon stroll with God.

If we are reluctant to have a "one-on-one" conversation with our Creator, or with His Son, it is often due to similar thinking on our part. When we are "good", we are eager to be in His presence--praising, worshiping and conversing. When we are "bad", we usually are not so eager to seek Him out, nor do we really want to think about the fact that we are always with Him because of the presence of His Holy Spirit in us.

Our Great God, the "Ancient of Days" (don't you love it?) had no beginning, is everywhere-present and is all-knowing. When God came to the Garden of Eden that day, He already knew full well what had happened. When He called, "Where are you?", He wasn't really hunting Adam and Eve. He called to them knowing where they were in hiding and why. God had walked and talked with Adam on many previous occasions "in the cool of the day." (I couldn't resist again.) But this day's walk would be like no other before.

The fellowship had been broken. Adam had placed another god before his Creator. He had listened to and believed his enemy and had placed himself on the throne; in charge of his own life. There would be no more walks in the garden; no more close communion of God with Man, with few exceptions, until Jesus came. Man would have no chance for true intimacy with God until the second Adam, Jesus, came and made it possible for Man to have a restored relationship with Him.

Now that Jesus has come; now that we have accepted his sacrifice as payment for our sin condition; now that we have accepted Him as Savior and Lord, and now that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God Himself, our relationship with Him has been restored. We are the prodigal son and our Father has welcomed us back into the family. We have Jesus' promise that He will never forsake us nor leave us again. Yes, we have a restored relationship, but we may not be having true fellowship with Him unless we are sincerely seeking it.

Before Jesus went to the cross, He drew aside in yet another garden to deal with some serious issues with the Father.

"And they came to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, 'Sit here while I go and pray.' He took Peter, James, and John with him. He told them, 'My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.' He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.' Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. 'Simon!' he said to Peter. 'Are you asleep? Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour?'" (Mark 14:32-37 NLT)

Even those closest around Him were not concerned enough to be in intimate conversation with both Jesus and God as issues of eternal importance were raised. Peter, James, and John had the opportunity to witness and perhaps to partner in prayer with Jesus in His anguish. But they slept.

You and I can return to the "garden".

We can pause during the day, draw apart, and have fellowship with the Lord. We can walk with our heavenly Father in the (yes,) "cool of the day", which can be anytime we make a decision of our will to set time aside for communion with Him.

You and I, like Peter, James, and John after the Pentecost, have the opportunity to walk with our Heavenly Father--with the Almighty Creator of the universe; our God, who is also our Jesus, our brother ("He who has seen me has seen the Father").

Reading the words of a man named A.W. Tozer, I was introduced to a concept called "Spiritual Aloneness". He wrote in his book Of God and Men, "Retire from the world each day to some private spot. Stay in the secret place til the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart, and a sense of God's presence envelopes you. Listen for the inward voice until you learn to recognize it."

Tozer, of course, is talking about retiring from the world, listening, sitting still, and being silent until you begin to recognize the voice of God in your mind and heart and all other noises are shut out. I'm reminded of Psalm 37:7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...". Psalm 4:4 says, "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still."

There's a song by--who else: Watermark--called The Purest Place. It expresses the desire of one to draw near and stay near the Lord and the request of Him to "do what it takes to keep me here in the center of Your heart". I won't write the lyrics to the entire song but make reference to only one line which struck me: "The purest place is You, my King."

Think about that. One of the attributes of our Creator is that He is everywhere-present. He is not IN some place; He IS the place! His name is "I AM". If you will, I'd suggest that you pause a moment and consider that. God is in you and you are in God. Take just a moment to experience Him right now.

The song that brought about all of this letter to me was not a song by Watermark, or even another great contemporary Christian song. This song was written in 1913 by a man named C. Austin Miles:

"I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me and He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling"

Look at the first verse. The word disclose means to open up or expose to view. In Jesus, the Son of God, the Father is disclosed to us. (Remember, "he who has seen Me..."?) God reveals His being and His nature to us when we are "in Him."

In the third verse, I reluctantly leave His side. He bids me go because I must return to the active life. Through the voice of woe--the grief, regret, and sorrow to which I am subject in the world, I hear Him calling to me. Though the night is falling, He remains with me.

And finally, in the refrain is the word tarry.

Tarry. Such a great word. It isn't used much now and hasn't been for many years. It means: to linger in expectation; to abide or stay at a place.

You know how it was when you were dating a special someone, or how it is when you are with friends and family. The day is over; it's time to go home. And yet, you "tarry". You slowly say your goodbyes, maybe even while making your way to the door; how you continue talking until you reluctantly say final goodbyes and leave.

How much more so is it with our fellowship with our Heavenly Father? We long for it to go on forever, knowing that it cannot in this life, but that we will have communion that has no end when Jesus returns.

Just as Mary discovered the right thing to do was to sit at the feet of Jesus when she had the chance instead of scurrying around as her sister, Martha, did, we can also take a few moments to be in His presence in the midst of our "scurrying."

We would all do well to remember what Jesus said to Mary's "busy" sister, "'My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it--and I won't take it away from her.'" (Luke 10)

Martha was busy, tired and upset. Sometimes, so are we. But we are told:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

God loves us more than we can imagine. He longs to spend time with you. Find that secret place; that purest place and remember, "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Tarry awhile with Him in the garden each day.

What would one initially think about someone who dropped out of school at the age of 16? Would there be any hope for this person? This person is Bob Hope. Comedian Bob Hope starred in over 50 movies and lived past the age of 100 years old.

Hope was born in England and his family moved to the United States when he was four. What can we say about our past? Have we let things from our past get in the way of achieving what we want and living a life we love? Where you came from is out of our control. Where you’re going is up to you.

1. Bob Hope held many odds jobs before becoming a comedian

Long before Hope became a successful comedian, he held many odd jobs selling newspapers, was a delivery boy, worked in a soda shop, a shoe salesman. Newspaper reporter and was an amateur boxer.

Many of us have had to work at odd jobs in order to make money. Working at odd jobs gives us opportunities to discover what we want and don’t want to do as a career. The skills you obtain through your experiences of working at odd jobs may prove to be valuable in your future career. For example, any job that can strengthen your communication skills is invaluable.

2. Hope took dancing lessons  Hope received on-the-job training while appearing in vaudeville. To hone his skills, he took dance lessons. Hope was such a good dancer, that he took over some dance classes to help his teachers.

Do you have a passion that you would like to expand? Do you like to write or draw, but don’t know where to start? Do you like to play a particular sport or instrument, and want to get better? There numerous classes that are offered to help those who desire to improve oneself in a particular field and topic.

3. Bob Hope was versatile Bob Hope was a successful dancer, singer and actor and comedian. Bob Hope was an enormously successful comedian. His ability to dance, sing and act very well made him a much better comedian because his options broadened on how he could entertain people.

Many of us are good at what we do in our careers. Becoming versatile could only make us better.

4. Hope entertained Military Troops from World War II to Operation Desert Storm Hope did a major service to increase morale among military personnel. For almost sixty years, Hope toured many countries to show his appreciation for the men and women of the armed services.

Is there something that you have been considering to give back to your community? Is there a charity in which you would like to raise money for them? Would you like to encourage youngsters to explore a particular career? Bob Hope was a great example of giving back to his community. Bob Hope was a great example of not settling to be great in only one area. He was a success at so many areas in entertainment. Bob Hope did not let his past dictate what he could do in his future.

“Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”

No matter how this topic is tackled, the question remains a mystery.

“Do you need to be inspired to aspire or do you need an aspiration to get inspired?”

The same holds true for the second question. Others may argue that in order to have a strong desire to achieve something, you must be inspired. On the other hand, some argue that for you to be inspired, you may need to aspire first.

This is very much like the chicken and the egg question, right? There is no definite answer. Concerning inspiration vs. aspiration, the best course of action is to discover how to get people inspired, rather than focus on which is the right answer. For some people, inspiration helps them stay motivated and become an achiever.

So, how do people get inspired?

The feeling of frustration forces some to seek inspiration. Some need to experience unpleasant circumstances to trigger an inspiration. This path may not be at all pleasant. But who says that the road to greater achievement is always smooth sailing?

Take for instance the case of an average earner. He just earns enough to make a family survive. On his way to work, he could see other people barely having three square meals a day, hardly having anything to keep them warm on a cold night, practically living on a roofless shanty with paper boards as walls. He wanted to help but can’t.

He feels helpless for he can’t do anything to alleviate their condition. This feeling of helplessness urged him to promise himself that his family will never experience extreme poverty. This feeling of frustration inspired him to aspire for a better life for himself and for his family. His fear that his family might end up like one of the economically challenged people makes him determined to do something about improving his financial stability.

Someone who is successful can be an effective source of inspiration. People tend to look up to somebody who has reached the top. They wonder how it is to be like their idol, so they set themselves on a course headed in their idol’s direction. They study their idol’s past and how he was able to overcome all adversities.

People who wish to be inspired associate with successful people. Successful people have big ambitions. Being ambitious and dreaming big dreams can keep the inspiration alive. Being ambitious is actually good as long as you do not step on other people’s toes and provides inspiration to fellow men.

A strong desire can trigger people to get inspired and aspire for it. Again, stay within the confines of good fellowship, not hurting anybody along the way. Some people desire popularity. They aspire to be well known in society. They set their sights higher and aim to be recognized and respected.

Love is a strong motivator. There was once a man who pursued his love interest. He was able to get married to the girl of his dreams. His love for his wife motivated him to do his best in his job to provide for his growing family. Love provided the spark and nurtured his dreams to aspire for the best that life has to offer for him and his family.

Many sources of inspiration can help you in achieving success in life. Arguing about whichever comes first - whether inspiration or aspiration - is not one of them. The important thing is to find your true source of inspiration and to remain focused in the achievement of your goals.

Bob had been meditating for many years before calling me for his depression. He had been part of a spiritual community that encouraged their members to turn to God through prayer and meditation whenever they were feeling any difficult or painful feelings such as anger, hurt, anxiety, or depression. He had been taught that Spirit would transmute his feelings for him and bring him the peace he sought.
Yet Bob was depressed. “I have faithfully practiced what I’ve had been taught, so why am I still depressed? What am I doing wrong?”
Bob was suffering from what is called “spiritual bypass.”Spiritual bypass occurs when people use their spiritual practice as a way to avoid dealing with and taking responsibility for their feelings. Anything that is used to avoid feeling and taking responsibility for feelings becomes an addiction – whether it is alcohol, drugs, food, TV, work, gambling, spending, shopping, anger, withdrawal…and meditation. If, when a difficult or painful feeling comes up, you immediately
go into meditation in the hopes of blissing out and getting rid of the feeling, you may be addicted to spirituality.
It all depends on what your intent is when you are meditating. People can meditate for two totally different reasons: to avoid pain or to learn about love.
If you are meditating to connect with yourself and your spiritual Guidance in order to learn more about loving yourself and others, then meditation is a good
 way to get out of your head and into your heart. It is a good way to connect with a loving part of yourself so that you can welcome and embrace your painful feelings and learn what you may be doing or thinking that is causing your own pain.
When your intent is to be loving to yourself and take responsibility for your own feelings, then meditation can help you become centered and compassionate enough to do an inner exploration with your feeling self.
However, if you are using meditation to bliss out and avoid your pain, you are using your spirituality addictively. You are using your spirituality to bypass learning about and taking responsibility for your feelings.
This is what Bob was doing. Because he was avoiding learning from his feelings, he was continuing to think and behave in ways toward himself and others that caused him to feel depressed. Then, instead of exploring what he was doing that was causing his feeling self, his inner child, to feel depressed, he was meditating to try to get rid of the feelings.
In his talk with me, Bob discovered that he was constantly either ignoring his inner child – his feeling self – or he was in self-judgment. The combination of ignoring himself – which he did primarily through meditation – and judging himself resulted in his inner child feeling unloved, unimportant, and unseen.
Bob saw that if he treated his actual children in the way he treated himself – ignoring their feelings and constantly judging them – they would also feel badly and maybe depressed. But Bob did attend to his actual children’s feelings and needs. It was his own that he was ignoring and judging.
Bob realized that he was treating himself the way his parents had treated him. He was a much better parent to his children than his parents had been with him, but he was parenting his own inner child in the way he had been parented.
He was not only treating himself the way he had been treated, he was treating himself the way his parents had treated themselves. As a result, he was not being a good role model for his children of personal responsibility for his own feelings, just as his parents had been a poor role model for him.
In the course of working with me, Bob learned the Inner Bonding process that we teach. He learned to welcome his painful feelings during meditation. He learned to quiet the self-judgmental part of himself and to treat himself with caring and respect.
He learned to take loving action in his own behalf so that his inner child no longer felt abandoned by him. It was the inner abandonment that was causing his depression. He discovered that his depression was actually a gift – a way his inner child was letting him know that he was not being loving to himself. With practice, Bob learned to take loving care of himself and his depression disappeared. Now his meditation practice was no longer a spiritual bypass.