Death & Rebirth

In honor of Easter Sunday, I felt inspired to do a blog on death and rebirth…the two continuums on our journey to reaching a state of peace, love, and joy (shifting out of ego and into spirit).  Each time we fall prey to ego, it is necessary to metaphysically die to that illusion in order to awaken in spirit (truth).  Ego leads us to a state of suffering on some level, whether it is through fear, unworthiness, anger, or feeling discontent.  Spirit, on the other hand, leads us out of all suffering and places us in a state of contentment (peace, love, and joy).  Our ability to experience the comfort and peace that spirit provides is based in our ability to consistently dispel the illusions (suffering) that ego produces.   Ego’s only goal is to keep us from knowing truth (that we are meant to live in a state of peace, love, and joy).  I have come to see that the way to move from suffering (illusion) to peace (truth) is through Humility and Forgiveness (of self and others).

Using humility and forgiveness to continuously shift out of ego and into spirit has opened me to a spiritual awakening.  It has led me to the depth of my being, such that I could begin to express myself from an infinite supply of love.  Instead of acting from a predetermined protocol (ego’s rigid structure), my actions are now moved by spirit.  I listen for where and what I am being guided to do (versus blindly/unconsciously acting from old conditioning).  I allow what is supposed to come, to come (instead of trying to control the outcome).  In letting go of the fear that surrounds the desire to control, life has become more exciting.  Instead of constantly trying to fill in the blanks of the unknown, I am excited to live in the mystery of its unfolding.  Instead of being driven by fear of the unknown, I have surrendered to it, trusting that a higher intelligence (God/intuition) is guiding me.  Restlessness had turned to peace.  It has opened me to living on the cusp of non-being and being, such that I can connect to Divine guidance and bring it forth.  I have surrendered my will to God’s will for me and ask that He be the guiding force in my awareness.  I have come to see that anything else is to live a false version of the life I was intended to live.

As a way of staying open to this awakened state, I enter situations with the awareness that I choose to be of spirit.  However, even with this awareness, ego still sneaks up on me.  For this reason, I know that I have to be vigilant.  I have to consistently assess my thoughts and behaviors from the perspective of ego versus spirit and use the tools of forgiveness and humility to move between the two.  I share this as a way of encouraging you to do the same.  Assessing ordinary experiences, from this perspective, has the power to have a significant influence on one’s conscious awakening (that has been and continues to be my journey).

When  we become comfortable with the process of death and rebirth (dying to our false self in order to awaken to our authentic self), the process becomes easier.  We more easily and readily open ourselves to turning to forgiveness and humility each time ego catches us off guard.  With discipline and consistency, a snowball effect begins to occur.  Before long, the cumulative effect of these small shifts in awareness begin to have a significant impact on our spiritual awakening.

I am a firm believer in using everyday experiences as a way of identifying when ego is intruding on our awareness.  In catching these intrusions, we keep ego from derailing us from aligning with the life that we are meant to live.  We keep ego from impacting our ability to have an authentic encounter with life.  The objective assessment of everyday experiences offers us a chance to die to ego’s influences, such that we are able to awaken in the arms of spirit.  In the video blog below, I share a recent experience, where I had to do this.  Again, I share this with you as a way of encouraging you to do the same.  I believe that it can have a tremendous impact on your life (at least it has on mine).

Click here to watch the video.

Happy Easter & Always Shine Brightly!

Shanna