8 Ways to Plant Spiritual Ideas Deep in Your Heart

The fundamental aim of spiritual study is to get facts and principles into the Heart's fertile ground. Ideas must get through habitual and familiar filters; otherwise, the information is diverted from having its full power. It's not how much you read or hear that counts, but how much you take in and make your own.

How can you receive knowledge deep in your core so the principles work for you in far higher ways? Here are eight proven methods that work wonders:

1. Write your own book of development. Gather pearls of wisdom as you read, listen to audio programs or attend talks. More importantly, when YOU have an insight, get it down! You'll find as years go by that the notebook you've created is filled with wisdom that has special resonance for YOU.

2. Contemplate. Picture yourself flying a glider. The tow plane lifts you. Now it's your time to soar. You pull the connection and you're on your own. The winds lift you higher and higher.

The glider is a perfect parallel to the art of contemplation. Focus on a single word, sentence, illustration or experience that matters to you. Put the spotlight of your attention on it. What's in this idea that isn't presently seen? What does the experience REALLY mean?

Then, let go of the thought. Soar in the silence. It is the silence following the focus that reveals the core. The silence takes you beyond what you already understand. Transcend the word, concept or experience and move from theory to revelation. Soar to a higher level of deep and rich understanding.

3. Read aloud. Read enthusiastically and with conviction. You may even wish to stand and gesture freely. You can imagine that you are addressing a large and attentive audience, like your own thoughts that now wish to change. Reading silently exercises your intellect, while reading aloud combines both your intellect and your power of speech.

4. Read with repetition. Take four or five pages from a good book, and read these same pages every day for a week before going on to the next four or five pages. Read them more than once, if you have the time, but at least once a day. Just before going to sleep at night is an ideal time. Something marvelous happens when you do this. Information seeps through old patterns.

I first learned of this method from Og Mandino in his classic book, "The Greatest Salesman in the World. "The benefits are enormous.

5. Be a metaphor hunter. This is wonderful fun. Simply be alert to daily life experiences, historical examples or encounters with nature that have a resemblance or connection to a spiritual principle. For example, let's say you're on a hike. You observe an old tree that has fallen into a stream. The tree is lodged but the flowing water gradually breaks it away and takes it downstream. You think with delight how the flow of Truth clears away old thinking that no longer serves your Heart.

Again, it all comes down to what you plant in your Heart. The same experience happens to two people. One seizes the experience and plants the lesson deep within, the other let's it just bounce off the old and familiar mental patterns.

6. Express the knowledge you gather. See yourself as a conduit of information, like a lake that stays pure by taking in fresh water on one side and releasing it on the other. Refuse to be a stagnant pond! Find ways in harmony with your talents and interests to live and express what you learn, even though you may sometimes be criticized. Write, speak, paint, dance, start businesses, raise healthy children. These are all ways to express spiritual knowledge in action.

7. Transform your automobile into a rolling cosmic university. So much good information is now available on audio CD. Drive time on the less crowded open roads is a great place to absorb these treasures. It doesn't all have to be spiritually focused material. Helpful ideas can be found in programs on efficiency and vocabulary, for example. In all your listening, however, don't forget the enlightening value of a quiet drive as well.

8. Make the most of group meeting opportunities. A group where sincere men and women meet to delve deeply into life's great questions can be a powerful venue for collecting more knowledge. Just be aware that not all spiritual and wisdom groups are true and healthy, and some take dreadful wrong turns. More than a few foster dependency to support the endless insecurities of the "leaders." For example, unhealthy groups pry into people's affairs. Never forget that your privacy is your sacred right and must never be sacrificed. Just because you participate in a group activity does not mean that you owe them any explanations concerning your private affairs. This prying is a sure sign of a false group.

With self-reliance, what is best and true for you has an amazing way of finding you. Groups are temporary vehicles that can be valuable, but only if there is genuine value in the group.

Use these eight methods and watch your secret garden bloom in your Heart. You'll feel joy and cheerfulness reach you at unexpected moments, and more frequently.

Thomas Russell is the author of Several eBooks, including The Power of Vertical Thinking and Seven Secrets to Light Up Your Essence. He is the host of http://www.SuperWisdom.com and the editor of the SuperWisdom E-zine, read biweekly by more than 20,000 people in 42 countries. He assists professional salespeople, entrepreneurs and home based business owners live with greater energy, creativity and spiritual insight. He has been interviewed on more than 200 radio and TV talk shows.

---

Our God of More than Enough

There is no shortage in the abundance of blessings we... Read More

Undercover Investigation

It is important and necessary that we regularly spend time... Read More

Wear the Message of Grace: A Work Weeks Devotions

As the artist and designer for Ashbach Designs, I want... Read More

What Part of Thou Shalt Not Dont You Understand?

Back in the days of the old law of Moses,... Read More

Mind Walls

Walls as a blockade seem to be an integral part... Read More

Will the Angels Abandon Us?

If we don't behave according to a specific church's doctrine,... Read More

The Hidden Cost of FREE

Are you always looking for bargains, especially something that you... Read More

What Does It Mean To Hear Gods Voice?

Excerpt from The Journey That Never Was: a guide to... Read More

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 8

Matthew 3:1-3 The Preaching of John the Baptist1 In those... Read More

Whats Missing from Your Nutritional Plan?

IS FAITH - NOT VITAMIN C WHAT'S MISSING FROM YOUR... Read More

Its Always Divine

So I met a friend recently and we went to... Read More

A Celebration of Life

As human beings it is inherent to want to self-actualize... Read More

Youre Standing Between Two Clouds

On one side there is a dark cloud. It is... Read More

Zen and Peace (The Road To Lasting Harmony)

Presently, many of us live in uncertainty. Due to the... Read More

The Power of Gods Love Can Change Your Life

Do you want victory in your life? Do you have... Read More

When Goliath Comes

One does not have to live long to realize that... Read More

Unfinished Woman

I'm at that place in life many refer to as... Read More

The Woodstock Effect: And Weve Got to Get Ourselves Back to the Garden

Woodstock, the watershed event for a generation, had a far... Read More

A People in Exile (Part 2)

Mother Nature has this uncanny tendency to turn upon herself... Read More

Spiritual Marketing

Let me say that marketing can be a corrupting experience.... Read More

Ancient Wisdom: Can it Still be Applied Today?

*Advice on living a humane and compassionate life.According to text... Read More

10 Interesting Facts about Archangel Michael

1. The name Michael means, "Who is like God". In... Read More

Master of Horoscope - Walter Mercado

Celebrities and common people all over the world are known... Read More

Why Jesus?

There are many contradictions in life and none more easily... Read More

Out of the Closet?

We may sometimes consider the difficulty that occurs with our... Read More

Answering a Soul Call

Is life challenging you to take a bigger leap? Are... Read More

Vacation Pilgrimage

I heard recently on a Christian radio station somebody talking... Read More

Losing Control

One of the most frightening things... Read More

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Military personnel at a U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Bay, Cuba... Read More

What Does Jesus Expect?

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. --ROMANS... Read More

Good News from Mars (Part 2)

Paul is led up a 512 ft. hill, Mars Hill,... Read More

What is Prayer?

Prayer from a child's simple bedtime prayer, to the prayers... Read More

Faerie Wisdom

Spirit DancerThe spirit dancer is the card of creative expression.... Read More