How to Activate Your Spiritual Power: Simplicity :

All of us know people we consider spiritual, and deep down, we recognize a spiritual side in ourselves. Hardly anyone exists who hasn't prayed at one time or another, or wondered if everything does indeed happen for a reason. But it's also true that spirituality is assumed to be impractical, other-worldly, and metaphysical. God doesn't enter into your career plans if you are like most people. But in the Eastern spiritual tradition, spirituality is about consciousness. The more aware you are, the closer you come to your spiritual core.

It does damage to life to enforce a separation between body, mind, and spirit. Let's look at this in the simplest terms. The brain, a physical organ, registers activity with every experience. Besides mental activity, which obviously has a correlation in the brain, no spiritual experience can register without brain activity also. Many insights branch out from this single insight, that body, mind, and spirit are in union. But as a taste of new possibilities, let's consider how spiritual values can be brought in from the cold to support your life in practical terms.

One of the advantages of the Eastern wisdom traditions is that you don't have to wait years for a sudden burst of light that brings inner transformation. Every step of the journey supports your daily life. How? First, there is increased simplicity. As a divine attribute simplicity doesn't spring to mind, but in reality this is one of spirit's most powerful qualities.

In your own life, increased simplicity would have the following effects:

1. -- Life no longer looks so complicated.
2. -- Purpose and meaning replace random chance.
3. - Conflicted inner emotions are resolved.
4. - Problems move closer to solutions.
5. -- Everyday life becomes less of a struggle.
6. -- You develop a clear view of who you are and why you are here.

It's unpredictable, looking from person to person, which of these things will happen first and to what degree. But all are a product of expanded awareness--that's the key, not prayer, worship, or acting spiritual. What seems impossible or mysterious in outer life, starts to be manageable, because in place of constricted awareness, which gives rise to narrow vision, confusion, and conflict, your inner landscape is open and clear. Only then can you arrive at the level of the solution. otherwise, you are stuck at the level of the problem, which is always overwhelmed by complications.

If you could be aware of the source of the mind, which is pure consciousness, you'd see that no problem arises without a solution being automatically linked with it—the two arise together. It's a simple design, but we add complications by not realizing that the design exists. We are blind-sided by life, which over time is why the mind contains so much fear, insecurity, anger, doubt and inner conflict. It takes a conscious effort to go beyond constricted awareness, but there are many tools to help you once you make this a primary goal.

-- Meditation and other contemplative practices

- Stress management

- Positive lifestyle changes

- Addressing the source of toxic emotions and toxic relationships

- Associating with others who are sincerely on the path.

- Reading scriptures from various spiritual traditions.

- Honest self-examination.

- Addressing depression.

- Finding sources of inspiration and optimism.

As you can see, an entire lifestyle can be designed around expanded awareness. If you approach body, mind, and spirit as a single dynamic feedback loop, what comes out depends on what goes in. The input that promotes constricted awareness is fatigue, toxicity, stress, anxiety, life situations that make you feel insecure, low self-esteem, financial difficulties, depression, traumas that leave lasting wounds, and old conditioning from the past. This sounds like a forbidding menu of things you must unravel to simplify your life. But expanded awareness can do it for you. Even if you had no interest in making a God connection, the everyday self can't grow and evolve without addressing these concerns.

Life doesn't take care of itself, and yet paradoxically, that's the mystery of expanded awareness. It opens doorways and windows to a higher reality in which life does take care of itself. If spirit, soul, and God aren’t appealing words, think of this as a journey to your true self. The proposition is that the true self gives you access to the kind of simplicity that erases life's difficulties. It takes time and attention, but the good news is that improvement is steady and continual. In essence I've outlined what in India is called Dharma, the path of awakening your life is designed to take, and which is also the simplest path if you are fully aware. If you're intrigued, this is all described in detail in my book, The Future of God, yet even the brief sketch given here can be the spark that changes your entire attitude about whether spirit is far more useful than you supposed.

Deepak Chopra MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Clinical Professor UCSD Medical School, researcher, Neurology and Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The World Post and The Huffington Post global internet survey ranked Chopra #17 influential thinker in the world and #1 in Medicine. Chopra is the author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His latest books are Super Genes co-authored with Rudolph Tanzi, PhD and Quantum Healing (Revised and Updated): Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. www.deepakchopra.com