Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael » personal growth

How to Live in The Now Moment – Part Two

Kristopher — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:05:07 +0000

La Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende

In part 1 of the Living in the Flow of the Now Moment Series, I gave a simple, yet powerful technique for living in the now called savoring. Most all techniques on a personal growth path or spiritual path are meant to be simple. This doesn’t mean they are always easy, but when you find yourself confused or if things seem complicated, there is a good chance that your mind has run away with you and it is time to come back to self. Here is another simple, yet powerful tool you can use to stay in the precious now moment.

I am writing this in the beautiful colonial town of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico where I have been living for two months. The first day I was here I was awestruck by all the bright colored doors and quaint cobble stone streets. Everywhere I looked I saw a picture I wanted to take with my camera. However, my camera wasn’t working. I was a little disappointed because I knew that the shear exquisiteness of the town would not impact me the way it did this first day. I knew that once I had become accustomed to what I was seeing, I would not notice it like I was now. This is because once the mind knows something, it has a tendency to not notice it like it did the first time. There is less awareness of it.

The problem with this is that when doing the same routine people tend to become mind-less instead of mind-full. How many of us have arrived at work after commuting the same streets a hundred times realizing that we don’t even remember that morning’s drive to the office? The mind is so familiar with the route it has taken many times over that it simply checks out. This checking out is another way you put yourself out of the now moment. You are simply not present. You must be present in the now moment to experience it.

After a time I decided to buy a new camera. I found one I liked and went out to the streets of San Miguel to take photos. With the help of the new camera, I consciously chose to see San Miguel anew. I again saw the many beautiful wooden doors, each with their own style and color. I saw the reflections of the light as it danced off the coble stone streets of the City after a rain. I felt a sense of excitement and appreciation for the splendor of this place so full of history and hundreds of years of creative expression from its inhabitants. I was in the Flow of the now moment.

A wonderful technique that puts you in the now moment is to find what is new in each moment. This is similar to what Buddhists call the beginner mind. In any given moment you can always find something that is new and fresh. Even if it is the same commute you have taken every day, you can find a way the light plays on the side of a building you hadn’t noticed before.

Looking at things anew, puts you in the now moment. As you focus your awareness you become alert. You become present in the moment. The more you are present in the now, the more you enter the State of Flow.

© Kristopher for Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Who is linking?
Post tags: flow state, golden flow, Growth Path, in the flow, living in the now, now moment, personal growth, San Miguel De Allende, Spiritual Path, The Flow

Make certain to check out The Golden Flow and The Law of Attraction

The Most Important Question in The World

Kristopher — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:49:01 +0000

Living Your Dreams

There is a question that if you sincerely ask, and honestly answer yourself, will propel you onto to personal growth and spiritual faster than you can imagine. It will also powerfully activate The Law of Attraction. It is a question you should ask yourself every day. It is a question you should ask whenever you have a life challenge. Ask it and you will find that you already have the solution to any of life’s problems. Best of all, you will empower yourself to create the life of your dreams.

Before I give you the question, let me ask you a couple of other questions. When you dream at night, who is dreaming? Who creates your dreams? The answer is, of course, you do. You, or an aspect of the bigger self that you are creates your dreams, and you dream them.

Along the same lines, who creates your life? Who lives your life? The answer is the same. You do. You create your life and you are the person living it, no one else. When you are ready and willing to accept this truth, your entire life dramatically changes.

This first thing that changes is that suddenly you are empowered. If you are creating your life, life no longer happens to you. You make it happen. Perhaps you are not happy with everything in your life now. Knowing you are creating even those things you are not happy with, gives you the power to change what you create, and create something you will be happy with. After all, if life just happens to you, how can you change it? You can only change it if you create it. And, you do.

The second thing that happens when you realize that, just as you create your dreams you create your life, is you take responsibility for what you are creating. So often, people blame their life on other people, on circumstances out of their control. As soon as you do this, you have just given away your power to create the life you desire.

Blame is always self-destructive as is the anger that comes out of blame. In its extreme form, blame turns to rebellion which always harms self. Many people have more or less ruined their lives by blaming their parents and going into rebellion. They then project the blame onto bigger authorities such as society and/or government and ultimately end up dropping out of life and dis-empowering themselves.

This does not mean that you should not strive to improve the world you live in. You should. And, the best way to do this is to honor self and take responsibility for the world you are creating.

The third thing that happens is, because you are taking responsibility for the life you are creating, and because you are empowering yourself to more powerfully create that life, you begin to create the life of your dreams – a life full of love, abundance, well-being, with your deepest desires fulfilled.

So what is the most important question you must ask yourself every day? It is this. Ask yourself “Why am I creating this?” If you ask yourself this question, and honestly look at self, you will know. You will not only know why you are creating the situation or attracting the person or that kind of relationship, you will know what it is you need to shift in self to attract something better. You will have just empowered yourself to create the life of your dreams.

© Kristopher for Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Who is linking?
Post tags: Anger, Create Your Reality, Desire, dreams, Happy Life, law of attraction, Living Your Dreams, personal growth, Rebellion, Truth

Make certain to check out The Golden Flow and The Law of Attraction

Speed Up Your Personal and Spiritual Growth Through Intent

Kristopher — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:51:50 +0000

“Setting your Intent to do your best in the life circumstances you came into and created is one of the quickest ways to liberation.”

One of the quickest ways to speed up your growth path is to harness the power of Intent. Spiritual Mastery is living in alignment to Intent. Living in alignment to Intent means your thoughts, feelings and actions are in accord to your Intent.

Intent is a powerful force that permeates all of Creation. It is spoken of in different forms of religions and growth paths. Ancient Toltecs speak of the Intent of the Nagual, for example. In Christianity the Intent of the Creator is held by the Holy Spirit. By tapping into and aligning to Intent, the power of Intent becomes available to us to speed up our personal growth and spiritual evolution.

What is Intent? Intent consists of two things – will and purpose. Will is a force that originates beyond the Soul or Dreamer. All of creation contains will. All living things have the will to live, for example. It is the gift of will that keep our bodies functioning – breathing, pumping blood and keeping itself healthy. The body does this naturally without our interference. Mentally, it would be impossible to keep track of all the functions the body does.

As humans, we are also given the free will to make choices. After a certain point, healing, growing and spiritually evolving does not occur naturally. We must choose to make it happen. We must engage our will along with our purpose and Intend to make it happen.

When people begin a spiritual path, too often they begin with the wrong Intent. Many begin a spiritual path in hopes it will relieve their pain, for example. It is true that a spiritual path leads to the ultimate freedom. Part of this freedom is the freedom from pain and suffering. However, the path to ultimate freedom inevitably has painful experiences on its way. To heal is sometimes painful. Often it is the very pain of healing that is the catharsis for spiritual growth. Choosing to move through the pain instead of trying to avoid it will lead to rapid growth.

If your sole Intent is relief from pain, you will continually try to avoid painful experiences and making healing impossible. Healing is a prerequisite for a true spiritual path. We must, at least to a substantial degree, have healed self in order to live the Divine in our daily lives. If your Intent is in its proper place – to grow and evolve spiritually, you will be more willing to go through the pain sometimes necessary to heal and grow. This doesn’t mean that a spiritual path is all about pain. It is not. There are both painful and blissful experiences as you advance on your path. Moreover, as you heal, grow and evolve you become free from emotional wounding and the pains of life.

Others embark on a spiritual path to avoid life. They don’t want to deal with making money, relationships and daily living. This too is the wrong Intent. One trait of a spiritual master is that they have dominion over self and life. Dominion is not the same as domination. What good is it if you are not able to manifest and live your spirituality in your daily life? A spiritual master has personal power. Along with personal power comes abundance and the ability to have a positive impact on the people and life around them.

Life is the playing field for developing personal power. If you find yourself avoiding people and life, you are slowing down your spiritual growth. There is a reason why you came into body – why you came into this life. If you avoid life, people and the world around you, you are not fulfilling your purpose. You cannot fully heal in solitude. You can never empower yourself around people if you avoid being near them. You will not be able to manifest your hopes, dreams and desires in life if you avoid life.

Realizing that you came into this body for a reason, that you were born to the parents you were for a reason, that you were born into the society you were for a reason, and that you were born into this timeframe for a reason, is important. Setting your Intent to do your best in the life circumstances you came into and created is one of the quickest ways to liberation. Set your Intent to embrace your life every moment of every day and you will soon find your life purpose.

Take the time to honestly look at your Intent. Refine it and remember it as you live life. As you align your daily Intent, to the bigger Intent of why you came into this lifetime, which will be aligned to the Intent of the Nagual or Creation, you have the power of heaven and earth behind you.

Each and every morning, before you start your day, find your Intent for that day. What is it you wish to heal, grow, or strengthen in self? To the best degree you are able, find your bigger purpose for coming into body, and set your Intent to align to that purpose as you live your day. As you do this consistently, you will strengthen your will and begin to harness the infinite power of Intent. You will find self and your life begin to transform in miraculous ways.

Kristopher Raphael

The Mastery of Awareness

The Toltec Mystery School

The Toltec Nagual

© Kristopher for Inspiration From Kristopher Raphael, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Who is linking?
Post tags: carlos castaneda, don juan, don miguel, four agreements, meditation, miguel ruiz, nagual, personal growth, spiritual growth, spirituality, Toltec