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Chapter One

Spiritual Problem Solving

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

Can you make a flower grow? Probably your first response is, "Such a simple thing to do. Plant a seed in some dirt, provide sunlight and water and in time a flower will emerge. The proof isthat there are millions upon millions of flowers sprouting all over the world at this moment!"

That is certainly true. However, I am inviting you to reread the question and consider who or what generates the life that makes a flower grow, because the who or what is the source of solutions to all our problems.

Who or what causes the flower seed to blossom, and the tiny embryo to become a human being? Who or what grows our finger-nails and beats our heart even as we sleep? Who or what is behind the movement of the winds, which we feel but never see? What is this force that keeps the planets in place and hurls our world through the galaxy at a breathtaking speed? These questions have been asked for as long as humans have had the ability to contemplate their existence.

Spirit is what I have chosen to call the formless, invisible energy which is the source and sustenance of life on this planet. This force, no matter the name we give it, can solve every problem that we encounter. There is a spiritual solution to every problem, we only need to learn how to access it. In this book I will explain ways that I have found to access this force. I will begin by explaining the three basic steps to finding your spiritual solutions to problems.

I first read about these steps when I immersed myself in How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, written sometime between the fourth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. These spiritual disciplines and techniques were written to enable a person to achieve the ultimate unitive knowledge of God. I will refer to this powerful collection of writings frequently, and share with you how this knowledge can be applied in your life.

I trust you will discover for yourself that these things you have come to label as problems have a ready solution available to you right now, in this moment, in that world we are calling spirit.

The First of Three Steps for Accessing Spiritual Direction

Recognition: It may appear obvious that one must first recognize something before applying it, but this is actually the most troublesome step in moving toward spiritual illumination.

Recognizing the availability of an invisible force that can be put to use in solving a problem, requires overcoming a great deal of our early training and conditioning. Have you ever thought about the limitations we experience when we identify ourselves as only a physical body in material existence?

For instance, do you believe there is only one kind of power or knowledge, which relies on your sensory or intellectual faculties to solve problems? Most of us have been taught this is true and that all of the information that has been acquired is the total inventory of options available to us. This is a conditioned attitude of nonrecognition of our divine connection to spiritual problem solving.

In this state of nonrecognition we believe that medicines, herbs, surgery, and doctors are responsible for all healing, or that improving one's financial picture involves the exclusive application of working hard, studying, interviewing, and sending out résumés. In essence, nonrecognition leads us to believe that our knowledge is limited to those kinds of phenomena, which are explainable through our sensory functions.

Patanjali described a kind of knowledge or power that is not accessed solely through the material or sensory world. Recognition that this power exists and is always available is the first step in acti-vating it. However, it is not accessed solely through the teachings of others, or through ancient writings, just as we do not dream because someone teaches or writes about dreaming. Recognizing, like dreaming, is something we access by making an inner and outer commitment to our ability to recognize.

For example, in this first step when you are faced with a problem, I suggest you create a personal affirmation such as: "I may not know exactly how to access the spiritual solution here, but I fully recognize that a spiritual solution exists." By recognition of its existence, we invite the power to be known by us.

As physical beings we can make a flower grow in the sense of the response to the question in the opening sentence of this book. But if we are thoughtful we realize that we cannot even begin to unravel the mystery of the invisible force that initiates life. Yet it is in this omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent spiritual world that we find the solutions to all our problems. This spiritual force is everywhere and in every thing and every one. When we incorporate the first step, recognition, we begin the process of accessing this all-knowingpower.

The Second of Three Steps for Accessing Spiritual Direction

Realization: We discover that knowledge achieved by realization is of a much higher order than intellectual reasoning.

This is not an exercise in intellectual reasoning. In this step we go beyond recognition of a spiritual presence into the phase of realization where nothing but our own personal experience is trusted. We become an explorer in virgin territory where no one but ourselves can be. Here, only you can validate your experience.

Our desire to realize the presence is an integral part of the unexplainable dynamic that creates life. When we actively meditate on a chosen spiritual ideal or even a given personality we are expressing our desire by inviting the presence to be accessible...

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Excerpted from There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem by Wayne W. Dyer
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