Awakened Hearts

The Gifts of Experience

Holding Our Spiritual Focus

Message #8

Now this is one issue that I have struggled with, for well I guess, most of my life.  As I have stated in a previous article I am a recently awakened person.  Since that occurred, keeping my focus on the true spiritual path on an everyday basis seems to be more challenging.  Some of the reasons for this situation relate to the increased attention paid to a newly awakened individual by, as God calls them, “the children of the lesser gods” or the “shadow riders”.  Or you could refer to them as the “dark side” which I believe is the same as the absence of Light.  Now we can’t blame all that we think about on the shadow riders but I believe it makes up a noteworthy part of it.  We also have to give credit to our unrestrained free expression.  I know God gave us free expression, but I also know that He would prefer we use good judgment when we utilize it.

I have a past where I did things that I wish now I had never got caught up in.  What I don’t know is how much of it was due to pre-birth agreement or how much of it was my own free expression.  Regardless of what the reason is, I know that I must put it behind me and forget about the past and move forward.  I learned from the experiences and I sincerely desire not to repeat them in this lifetime and in future incarnations.  I suspect there are many readers out there who have similar situations.  We all must leave the past in the past.

But a problem arises when the shadow riders sneak in and plant thoughts and images into your conscious mind when you become weary and unfocused and/or become embroiled in the illusions of everyday life.  I have read that the shadow riders can only implant images and thoughts that have actually occurred in the past and do not have the ability to create new ideas and thoughts to implant into our conscious minds.  Many of the shadow rider intrusions relate to those actions of long ago.  At least I believe that my understanding of this situation is correct.

So how do we combat these intrusions into our thoughts?  My belief, first and foremost, is to learn to recognize the intrusion quickly and then deal with it and stop it.  Think about the last time you thought of a situation that caused you some distress.  Maybe an argument with another person or some product that you bought that you weren’t satisfied with.  You mull it over in your mind and pretty soon you are recreating the situation with thoughts of how you would have liked to have handled it.  You could be directing thoughts that aren’t that charitable to the person or the company that made the product or provided the service.   As you really get wound up, your blood pressure rises and your agitation increases.  You keep this scenario going until it runs its course.  And the shadow riders are sitting on the sidelines smugly laughing at your expense.

Now what have you accomplished?  Let’s review for a moment.  How many negative thoughts were generated and sent out into the universe?  A substantial amount depending how long the mental rant lasted.  And keep in mind that any new negative thoughts that you added to the situation are now fodder for the shadow riders to use against you in the future.  Am I casting stones at the readers?  Absolutely not!!  I struggle with this daily!  But I can hope and believe I am getting better at recognizing it when it starts so that I can stop myself.

So how do you stop the intrusion?  This is a really good question that I have worked with for a long time.  I can only relate what sometimes seems to work for me.  I stop the negative thought with trying to remember a time when there were positive events going on where friendship or love was in the air.  But it isn’t easy, especially when you are in that in between state of sleeping and fully awake.  Then as I wake up I place my sight on something on the wall and think about it until the negative intrusion dissipates.

Another time when we seem to be susceptible to shadow rider implanted thoughts and images is when we are in that state between wakefulness and being asleep.  Then what has worked for me is to imagine myself being in a transparent cylinder.  The cylinder extends far into the ground and goes upward into the heavens.  The cylinder is filled with golden light that swirls around me and through me.  Then I make a statement that the only thoughts, images and positive streamers that can enter the cylinder must come from entities that are of The Jesus The Christ Consciousness.  Furthermore that images, thoughts and dark streamers from the shadow riders cannot penetrate the walls of the cylinder.  I ask for protection.  Immediately the shadow riders seem to leave me and go off in search of another target.  I find that I must remember to do this every night.  I also need to remember to start performing this activity at the start of every day.  My wife, Kaye, creates a view of extremely white light to focus on and ask for protection while she sleeps.  And such is how we learn to change the little things in our lives to make our present lives better.

There are other actions that can help to maintain focus.  The best one that I have found is to take the time to consistently read books and materials on web sites that allow you to gain spiritual knowledge.  It doesn’t seem to make a difference as to the quantity of the material you read, as it does to read consistently.  Sometimes it is only a chapter or two and then sometimes it is only a page or two.  It is just to keep you attached to the spiritual.  Rereading the God Books that were written by David and Celest has helped me considerably to maintain my focus.  When you drift away from reading and learning, and we all do, it is easier to wander off of the path we want to be taking.

But how do you keep focus at the end of a hard workday while you watch the evening news with the full complement of news spewed forth by the media?  Well that isn’t really easy unless you have the constant ability to look behind what is being broadcast to see what hidden agenda is being displayed for the unenlightened.  Then you process what you have just viewed and discard that which does not fit into the truth you live by.  This is much easier said than done but is worth the effort.

My wife and I have been retired over six years and this lifestyle has given us the opportunity to learn and grow spiritually.  I remember how hard it was to make the time to read while I was in the workforce because I was what you would call a workaholic.  More reading and learning during those years would have benefitted me greatly but it is what it is.  We all have a moment in our life plans where we are prodded to make changes and take a different path.

Now have you ever had one of those days when you feel off?  You may be reading, browsing the internet or just plain doing nothing.  You get a feeling of doubt that you truly are an awakened personality.  You begin to feel the lack of confidence that you really can do something to help the world.  I get that feeling occasionally and then I struggle writing these articles and wonder if I can really get across a message that will make a difference for someone.  The idea for this paragraph was developed after reading a book written by one of the presenters at the Transformation 2012 conference in Pagosa Springs.  While reading this book, it dawned on me that this feeling of doubt must be another intrusion into my intellect by the “shadow riders”.  I have been told that these articles do strike a chord with some readers and therefore the “shadow riders” would like nothing better than to get me to stop.  Could it be that just by reading a book about the author’s experiences on his spiritual path brought this sudden realization to me?  I believe it did.  And that realization further supports my statement earlier that you have to stay committed to reading and learning and growing in your spiritual understanding and evolvement.  I had only been reading for a few minutes, but the author’s message seemed to ground me to see what was happening.  Maybe, maybe not, but that is what “came” to me and I felt I needed to write this paragraph.

Years and years ago I used to ask for help in all aspects of my life, both business career and everyday life.  I would ask God and the folks on the other side to help me get over some hurdle or solve some problem for me and for others that I was concerned about.  When the situation hit a critical mass I would really beg for assistance.  I did not know then that the perplexing issue could have been something that was a part of my life plan or just something that my free expression got me into.  It could have been something that I just needed to experience and learn from.  Now days I don’t ask for help as much as I used to and one day I wondered why I didn’t.  It seemed to come to me, that I could, and was actually doing more looking inside of me for assistance and not depending on God to do things for me.  Now maybe it’s the reading I have recently done that has led me to understand that we all have the ability to do anything of value we seriously desire for ourselves and for the greater good.  Now I know that help from God and my guides and teachers continues to come to me, but I believe I have to take the initiative and start trying to solve the issue myself.

At times life seems to really be a struggle.  But then there are many more times when we realize that we really do enjoy being here.  We are doing what we came here for and that is to help the world.  Regardless of what is happening from day to day, we asked God or God asked us to be here during these times, and I for one am very thankful that I am here.

Until next time, Phil

The Gifts of Experience / www.awakenedhearts.com

.