Lighting the way for others to find Spiritual Enlightenment - here on Earth.
Elder's Path
With Gary
Spiritual Awareness


In our last article I mentioned that a good topic to explore would be spiritual awareness.  Citing
Wikapedia, ‘spiritual’ means: of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul. ‘Awareness’ means: the state or level
of consciousness where sense data can be observed by an observer.  The awareness of one type of idea
naturally fosters the awareness of another idea (important, will discuss later).  So putting it together, I
perceive it to say that it is our state of consciousness of our spirit or the spirit of others, animals, objects,
earth, the universe, God.

So what does this all mean?  Hmm… First, do we actually believe that we have a spirit? And if so, where
did it come from?  How does it communicate with us?  Are we it?  Is it separate from us?  Is it connected
to God?  Is there a God?  

Well, I think to actually get into a discussion about spiritual awareness, we have to at least acknowledge
that there is an original consciousness that is the core of everything that we experience and are aware of.  
Shall we call this God or Spirit for practical purposes?  I’m not sure it really matters which name we
attach, as long as we can conclude that there is this consciousness.

So, now that we’ve figured that out, we can move onto the discussion of how we become aware of this
spiritual aspect.  Here’s where it get’s fun!  Everyone seems to be on their own level of understanding and
perceiving what God is and where they are in the matrix of it all.  Lots of people turn to religion to try to
understand their spiritual side of themselves.  And some turn away from the religion they were born into
to discover their spiritual selves.  Meanwhile, there are many who are simply just very spiritual and don’t
subscribe to any particular religion, but instead go intuitively down their path allowing in the beliefs that
fit them for that particular moment in their lives and discarding those that no longer fit.  All of this is
perfect and works well for many people.

But what if we still are feeling unsatisfied and thirst for a stronger understanding of the All that is?  How
do we open ourselves up to our natural flow of spiritual awareness?  There are many ways that we can do
this and lots and lots of books that will point the way for you.  Where to start???  My first
recommendation is, if you don’t already, meditate at least once daily.  Nothing fancy needed, just relax in a
straight chair, connect to the earth with your awareness and allow your mind to become still.  As you sit,
gently allow your thoughts to turn to becoming aware of the ‘you’ sitting in your chair.  Notice any
thoughts that ‘you’ are having, any emotions.  This is your soul, your spirit that you are now in, the
conscious observer.  After this, allow your awareness to drift back from this soul and into The
Consciousness, God, Spirit.  Become One with All that is and feel the only feeling that truly is-Love.  Stay
in this as long as you can and notice how it feels.  After awhile, allow yourself to come back into your own
spirit (which you never actually left, just your awareness shifted) and then into your body.  Upon opening
your eyes, how is your awareness different than when you first sat down?  Make notes!

With practice, you will be able to slip into this state more and more naturally until it seems like you are
not aware of doing it. (Careful while driving!!!)  As you become aware of this Oneness in different areas of
your life, notice how things begin to change for you.  How does it affect relationships with people you
like? Those you dislike? Do animals act differently around you?  Can you bring yourself into this state
when frustrated or irritated? (Again, careful while driving!)

So, let’s think about this a bit.  We have discovered how it feels and what it is like to be One with All,
with God.  What does this mean?  Does it mean that we are separate from God and that we can connect
when we remember to?  Does it mean that we are separate from everything else and that we are only at
one when we perceive to be?  Oh, this is really getting fun now!!!

First, let’s think for a moment about what it means to be One with God.  It is a feeling of total
connection, of an all knowing.  Is your awareness at that moment outside of God?  No, it is OF God.  
You are not an outside component.  You ARE God!!!  I know, many are still resistant to this thought, but
many are beginning to ‘get’ it.  This may help you: think of a car.  When you own a car, you refer to it as
‘my car’, right?  Most people don’t sit around thinking that they have 4 wheels, tires, an engine, doors,
windows, seats, mirrors, etc.  It is an ‘awareness’ of a car.  It is All that.  Whole.  Sometimes your
awareness of it is focused upon one part of it more than the whole, such as when you have a flat tire.  But
there is still a deeper awareness that the car is whole, it is a car.  Can you see how this connects to our
understanding of ourselves being a part of that car (God) and yet our focus at times must be on a tire
(relationship, job, etc)?  This can be taken further and bigger when we consider our relationship with the
earth.  The earth is the car and the humans the parts.  The solar system the car and the planets the parts.  
You see, it is our perception, our level of awareness that allows us to realize our oneness.  Our Oneness is
our True Awareness!  

So now I bet you’re thinking, why do we ever have to focus upon the parts when our true state is
Oneness?  That is a good question and we’ll talk about that another time.  Just kidding!  Here is how I
perceive it at my level of awareness.  I believe that we come to this earth, experience a lowering of our
vibrational rate to learn and grow as spirits.  We agree upon coming here that we will forget the oneness
for a time so that we can grow through the stuff that we need to grow through in order to remember that
we are all one.  Why?  Now that IS another topic.  I don’t know that I could cover all of my thoughts on
that in this one due to space.

But I would like to cover a little more here.  We talked about our oneness with God, and it usually feels
right to people when they think of the possibility of oneness with other people.  But how does spiritual
awareness come into play when we think of animals, insects, the smallest living creatures, and amoebas?  
Do they have spirits?  Is the consciousness a part of them?  How about a tree?  Have you heard that
scientists did an experiment with trees and found that when they cut a tree in the woods, they measured
what could be perceived as anxiety levels in surrounding trees in the form of energy output when that tree
was cut?  So how does this pertain to rocks?  Sand?  A building?  Crystals?  Does everything have a spirit?  
The Native American Indians think so.  And why is this?  When you meditate, assuming you have tried
the one I described, and you feel the oneness, the knowing that all is connected and perfect, is there not
that consciousness running through the core of everything?  Even your thoughts?

One last thing, as I could go on forever, (and maybe I will someday!) I would like to go back to the
beginning where wikapedia described awareness. The second sentence states: The awareness of one type of
idea naturally fosters the awareness of another idea.  Is this an awesome statement from them or
WHAT??? I am seeing this in two different ways at the moment.  First, we have to think about the things
we think about.  Carefully choose your thoughts.  Notice if they are becoming a runaway train off of the
path you are choosing.  If so, bring yourself back to the oneness awareness.  Choose only those thoughts
that serve you. (I know, easy to do in your own space away from the world!).  But continue to practice
this.  Realize the importance in the statement that your ideas will naturally foster the awareness of another
idea.  This is not only your awareness, but includes those around you, and ripples out, never ending.  It
includes everything because everything is a part of the consciousness, is in fact the consciousness.  How
would you like to appear in the face of God?  That is not a fear statement, it is a Love statement.  Who are
you, really?  Are your thoughts in alignment with You, God?

One other thing, and I promise to be finished this week!  Will it ever end?  Are we going to have
consciousness forever?  Will God always be?  It would seem that we will continue to grow, that by design
the universe will continue to expand, God will continue to expand when we remember that ‘one idea will
naturally foster the awareness of another idea’.
God is continuously aware of another idea because of the last one.  Yes, we are.
Until the next time, live, love, laugh, play nice with each other.  Remember that we are all the
consciousness, and above all bring the light through to all to help raise all into our true awareness, our
spiritual awareness.