Beneath all that is positive runs a single stream, generating it, empowering it, sustaining it.
Because it’s universal and eternal, it’s known by many names: Source, the Universe, Spirit, the Unified Field, the Tao, and all the names by which we know our God–even when we have no concept of, or belief in, a God at all.
It doesn’t matter what we call it; our words can’t contain it anyway. We know it with our hearts, not with our minds.
It does matter, though, whether we know it. At least if we’re going to live truly rich, satisfying, meaningful lives. That’s what the science shows, and what the wisdom of the ages declares as well.
The Value of Seeking the Sacred
On the science side, the results of the studies are clear. People who seek the sacred, whether through participation and practice of an organized religion, or through a privately cultivated relationship with the Divine, are healthier, happier, more resilient human beings.
They live longer, have happier marriages, cope better with stressors, and use less alcohol and drugs.
They have a source of comfort in hard times; a source of self-esteem and self-worth, a sense of knowing they are unconditionally loved. They tap into a deeper sense of meaning, a broader picture of life, a sense of purposefulness. They’re more accepting of life’s vicissitudes and tragedies and quicker to adjust. They’re quicker to forgive.
We gravitate to it, this universal stream, because its essence infuses us. We were created from it. The more we immerse ourselves in it, the more we experience and express all that gives life zest—joy, serenity, engagement, delight, hope, compassion, gratitude and love in all its myriad forms.
Practicing Religion and Spirituality
In her book highly acclaimed book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
Religious Participation and Study
- Join or recommit to a temple, church, mosque, spiritual program or religious study group. Set a goal to attend once a week, or even daily;
- Spend 15 minutes a day reading a spiritually themed or religious book, or listening to or watching a religious or spiritual program;
- Volunteering for a faith-based charity;
- Researching various religions at the library or on the web.
Prayer
She also suggests that you develop a practice of prayer, using whatever form of communion with the divine is most comfortable or attractive for you. Then dedicate a specific period of each day to prayer—petitioning the Divine for the meeting of your own needs or those of others, giving thanks, simply “being in the presence,” reading a book of prayers or meditations—whatever feels good and right for you.
Alternately, she suggests, you may want to practice praying spontaneously throughout the day, whenever you are inspired to do so, feel a need for guidance or relief, or a desire to express gratitude and praise.
Meditation
Regular meditation is another way to find contact with the Divine, by learning to quiet your mind sufficiently to perceive its presence within you. Having sampled a wide range of techniques—and finding value in them all—I personally am now enjoying LifeFlow Meditation 2.0, a cutting edge brain entrainment offered by Project Meditation. I’ve been using it for a year with very satisfying results. Click this link to get their Free Meditation Course
Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary
You can see beauty and holiness in everything around you if you look for it, if you open your mind to perceiving it. The most ordinary object or familiar scene is part of the vast stream of creative beauty and joy. “Sanctifying day-to-day objects, experiences, and struggles” says Sonja, “takes a great deal of practice, but it’s at the heart of spirituality and its rewards.”
You can get a little hint of how this practice unfolds in my own life by reading through a few of my little posts at High on Happiness.
The Doorway to Ultimate Bliss
Regardless of the path you choose, making spirituality a central part of your life is the key to finding life’s ultimate bliss and blessing. Sadly, in our busy, hurried, demanding world, too many of us set aside religious or spiritual practices as unimportant, even irrelevant to our lives. We’re searching for the Holy Grail in all but the places where it can be found. And we suffer for it, not only individually, but collectively as well.
If you truly want to find the very best in you, to explore the best that life has to offer, decide now to make spirituality a priority part of your life. It will enrich, empower and free you as nothing else can. And that’s a promise.
