Sharon Janis

Spirituality goes deep into the heart of every matter and extends far beyond the physical world of matter. Understanding what spiritual principles are (and aren't), can help to improve your life, empower your mind, and nourish your soul. Whether you’re looking for happiness, inner peace, or supreme enlightenment, no knowledge can propel you to achieve your personal goals and provide as effective a plan for living as does spiritual knowledge.

The following exercise can help you to rise above the illusions of your own life-movie by giving you a way to practice controlling your levels of absorption in the illusions of a theatrical movie. Some religious and spiritual traditions guide you to withdraw from the world and to hide yourself in a cave or go to a mountaintop where you can escape the illusions of life.

Here are ten lines that may sound spiritual on the surface, but could have other not-so-spiritual meanings. Laughing at the foibles of yourselves and others is part of the cosmic joke, and spiritual efforts don’t get exempted!“I am detached from all material possessions!”This line may really mean “I’m flat broke and don’t have a penny to my name!

Life brings a variety of pleasant and challenging experiences: One day everything goes smoothly, but another day is filled with obstacles. One time you are showered with good fortune, but another time you’re dragged down by misfortune. You may feel constricted by your past, fearful for the future, or hopeful about a new possibility.

Spiritual images are invocations of the divine presence and reminders of the symbolic ideals for which they stand. Although some religions frown upon worshipping idols or forms, others find this practice to be a powerful way to communicate with God on a tangible, personal level. The following figures show several spiritual images and objects that devotees from different traditions may choose to include on their altars or in other areas of their home or work environment.

From a spiritual perspective, small efforts can be as significant as larger ones. Whether you’re cleaning up a piece of garbage from the park, selecting a spiritual book to read, or picking up your child from school, your level of spiritual awareness and intention determines the spiritual significance of your actions.

Without a deeper understanding of the relationship between the individual soul and the universal soul, your use of metaphysical and spiritual laws of manifestation could be but a step away from cheap parlor tricks that may amaze your friends, but also reduce you to being somewhat of a karmic thief. Adding more positive images and affirmations to your thoughts is great; however, you don’t want to slip into thinking that you’re going to use metaphysical principles to “put one over” on your destiny or to sneakily overturn God’s will.

Affirmations are statements you make to yourself — declarations of what you wish to be. Affirmations have been used for many centuries, such as in the form of mantras or prayers, mainly because they tend to work. Of course, it is important that you present your affirmations with the right words. Positive affirmations allow you to consciously activate and elevate principles such as love, selfless service, creative expression, truth, generosity, prosperity, faith, surrender, and divine guidance in your life.

Karma is a natural law. Karma is the currency of your life. With the currency of karmic actions, you purchase and create all your life experiences — good, bad, pleasant, and unpleasant. Karma is the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words, and deeds. According to the theory of karma, you have a cupboard filled with karmas: personal karmas, cultural karmas, and karmas that involve the entire human race.