Basic Divine Guidance

 

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Sometimes people, who sincerely want to follow the divine plan, think to themselves: “Life would be so much easier if the Great Ones told me what to do on a daily basis.  I wonder why they don’t?  It would be easy enough for them to do.”  The reason is a simple, yet profound one.  If our Arisen Friends told us what to do each step of the way, we would never learn to follow our hearts!  And Pearl explained that one of the most important aspects of attaining mastery is learning to follow our hearts.  So it is out of their infinite love for us that they give us guidelines and hints, and then allow us to feel things out for ourselves.

 

 Pearl and Jerry’s life was a remarkable example of naturally following this kind of dependable, heartfelt, divine guidance.  They would make their calls to their Higher Self - their I AM Presence and the Ascended Host to guide their footsteps.  Then by simply staying relaxed, living from their hearts, and just being themselves, they usually found that they were in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, in order for the Divine Plan to unfold perfectly.  In fact, this straightforward, natural way of childlike trusting and living had become so ingrained in them that they were oftentimes completely unaware of the divine process at work.  And as is so often the case it would not be until years later that the perfection of it all would become apparent to them.  Looking back over their lives, they would notice that even during the confusing times when the way seemed dark and uncertain, the transcendent protection and assistance of their Higher Self, (their Atma, I AM Presence, Christ Self, Buddhic Self, Luminous Self or whatever we prefer to call it) and our Ascended Friends had been there.  They simply had not recognized it at the time.

 

The Heart is the Door

 

When Pearl received guidance to take some particular action, or move to a different location, it generally happened in a most natural way.  While on some occasions she would receive a seemingly impressive form of sacred prompting, such as an inner voice, or vision, more often than not it simply took the form of a peaceful, uplifting feeling within her heart.  But most importantly, regardless of whatever other form of spiritual direction may have been operating, she always experienced this serene, pure, heartfelt feeling which confirmed the rightness of the decision or intended action.  Each one of us can learn to tune into this same type of guidance whenever we have important decisions to make and are unsure of the correct course of action.

 

In fact, almost all of us, including agnostics and atheists, have experienced divine inner promptings sometime in our lives.  It occurred at those times when we just “felt” or “knew” that we should do a certain thing.  Maybe it was selecting a particular trade or profession; choosing to go to a certain college; deciding whom we would marry; or something else of great importance.  We somehow just knew it was the right thing to do, and as we followed through with this prompting, everything worked out fine.  That “inner feeling” or “knowing” was divine guidance, and when we were obedient to it, everything worked out well.  Conversely, we probably have all had the experience where we “felt” or “knew” that we should not take a certain course of action.  We just had a very bad feeling about it.  But for some reason we went ahead and did it anyway; everything went wrong; and we were absolutely miserable.  Amidst the resulting chaos we found ourselves thinking, “I knew I shouldn’t have done it.  It didn’t feel right.  Why was I so foolish?”  This feeling or “inner knowing,” which tried to prompt us to do the right thing, or prevent us from making a serious mistake, was nothing less than divine guidance.  Each of us has had this kind of guidance in our lives, but often we have not recognized it for what it really is.  We usually have received it when a particular decision was so important that our I AM Presence and our Arisen Friends poured on enough extra power so that we would be sure not to miss the prompting.

 

Divine Radios

 

The amazing thing about this form of “inner knowing” is that it is present in our lives on a daily basis!  We usually fail to recognize it however, because it acts so gently.  It is similar to tuning into a radio station, but not hearing it very clearly because there is too much static.  Our Ascended Sisters and Brothers explain that each one of us is actually like a divine radio.  And the worries, anxieties, selfish desires, and restless “human mind” are the static.  Unfortunately, this “static” is usually so loud and distracting that we are unable to tune into the soft, gentle feeling that our Divine Mother is expanding in our hearts.  Sai Baba calls this static “our monkey mind” because it causes our minds to be as restless and jumpy as a little monkey.  But fortunately, as we apply the Laws of the Arisen Ones, we gradually become more and more poised and serene within ourselves over the passing months and years.  This in turn, little by little, reduces the volume of the static.  Thus, through much trial and error, we are improving our ability to feel our Creator’s heartfelt desire expanding within us.  Pearl always cautioned us that as we go through this learning process, it is essential to be patient with ourselves.  With a twinkle in her eye, she used to say: “No one becomes a Master overnight – it takes two nights!”

 

Our Heart versus Our Solar Plexus

 

Is it possible to increase our sensitivity and discernment so that we can receive clearer and more timely divine guidance?  Of course it is!  But before explaining this method we need to learn the difference between our GOD inspired “Divine Mind” and the psychic-astrally influenced “human mind” which get us into so much trouble.  Likewise, we must also learn to tell the difference between the sacred loving feelings which flow from our heart – our “divine feeling world,” and the fear based self-destructive “human emotions” emanating from our solar plexus – the world of our “human emotions.”  This is because these fear based selfish “lower thoughts and emotions” are the cause of all our problems in life.  Fortunately, spiritual thoughts and feelings are the cure for them.  In fact, they are the only cure.  These sacred feelings of peace, kindness, courage, sweetness, forbearance, compassion, mercy, and selfless love, flow from our hearts.  Likewise, deep, heartfelt understanding, wisdom, and confidence flow from the activity of Divine Mind.  This latter activity of lofty, sacred inspiration is focused on subtle levels within and around the chakra (a focus of spiritual energy) in the center our heads and we can attune to it only when our hearts are full of love and devotion.  Naturally the source of these uplifting, life-giving thoughts and feelings is our Higher Self, (our I AM Presence, Atma, Christ Self, Buddhic Self, or whatever we prefer to call it), which is the true Source of all good things.  On the other hand, the Great Ones tell us that the fear based self-destructive feelings of self-pity, jealousy, selfishness, irritation, feistiness, self-justification, and so on, usually enter our consciousness through our solar plexus.  And the cunning craftiness of the “lower mind,” along with the thoughts of intellectual scheming, egoistic pride, self-justification, impatience, self-condemnation, and so on, generally come through the subtle energy field focused within and around our spleen.  Of course these various dark, egotistical emotions and thoughts, are instigated by the demonic, astral thought-forms and discarnate entities who project these sinister suggestions into the energy fields surrounding our solar plexus and spleen.  Saint Germain explains it this way:

 

 The release of emotion through the solar plexus, or the cunning planning through the activity of the spleen in the lower mental world, has nothing whatsoever to do with the divine nature in man, but is wholly the activity of the beast of the human, which is the negative aspect of the individual.  Only by shutting those off and raising the pure energy which many times has been directed to these centers, can the individual be free from the tremendous wheel of cause and effect, free from birth and rebirth, free from inharmony and destruction of every sort.  By raising the consciousness and energy away from these three lower centers [the lower chakras] into the three highest centers, making them one with the fourth and highest center – that is, the pineal gland – the individual will become one with himself and the Ascension will take place, for he will merge into the Higher Mental Body and will no longer be subject to any human limitation whatsoever.1 

 

Doorways in Consciousness

 

Thus, our mental worlds and our feeling worlds are like doorways.  We can either open them to sacred inspiration or open them to dark, destructive astral influences.  The key that determines which influence comes into our worlds is simply our attention.  It is no wonder that Sai Baba and the Great Ones say that learning to govern our attention is one of the most important secrets to success on the spiritual path.  If throughout the day we often turn our attention to our I AM Presence – our Atma; are occupying our minds with lofty ideas, and our feelings with pure desires, and are engaging ourselves in constructive activities, then we will naturally be peaceful, happy heart-centered outpourings of spiritual inspiration.  But, if instead we are preoccupied with emotional cravings, or fearful thoughts, and spend our time in selfish or discordant activities, then we will be wide open to the miserable psychic energies and suggestions coming through the activity of the solar plexus and the spleen.

 

These destructive astral-psychic forces are especially dangerous when they mimic divine promptings, feelings, and energies.  In fact, it is precisely because of this deliberate misrepresentation by the dark side, when it pretends to be the “light side,” that Pearl warned us to be very careful when trying to “feel out” our inner direction.  Thus, for our own protection, we must be able to know the difference between the psychic suggestions, and true inspiration.  This is a task that requires not only patience, but above all, humbleness and purity of heart, mind and motive.

 

With this in Mind let us begin

outlining the Basic Method

for Tuning into Divine Guidance.

 

Intuning

 

The first step in discerning one’s own inner guidance is simply learning to relax.  It is only when we are calm and serene that we can tap into the sacred feelings that emanate from the still, quiet place within our hearts, as well as the activity of Divine Mind focused within the energy fields of our heart and head.  We can achieve this peaceful, alert consciousness most easily by simply opening our hearts in grateful adoration to our I AM Presence – our Atma – within and above us.  This is nothing more than the sacred use of the Law of our Attention: whatever we place our attention upon, we become one with it; wherever our attention is – there we are.  This is what Brother Bill did when he thought he was walking on ice when he was really walking on water.  In his case, he was in such a raised consciousness that his sincere assumption that he could walk across the surface of the pond (thinking it was solid ice), manifested the ability to do so (even though it was now liquid water).  In short, we become that upon which we place our attention!  So of course, if we want to become serene and calm we need to go to the source of serenity and since the only source of any divine quality is the I AM Presence, that is where we need to direct our attention.  And it is helpful to remember that even though the I AM Presence is about twelve to fifty feet above us, our heart is the doorway to this transcendent Sacred Presence!  So by staying in that quiet place within our heart area, and turning our attention in loving, grateful adoration to the I AM Presence above us, we can effortlessly open the door to peace and happiness.

 

Once we take a few moments to do this, we can then say something like: “I AM the Presence of GOD filling me with the perfect feeling, so that I make the perfect divine choices.  Oh Beloved I AM Presence, open the doors that need to be opened in my life; close the doors that need to be closed; and send me through those open doors.”  We might want to make this call three or four times very sincerely and then go back to cleaning the house, helping the kids, mowing the lawn, or whatever else we may be doing.  It is a good idea to repeat the call several times throughout the day, and also in the succeeding days, weeks, months, or however long it takes.  As a result, a feeling will gradually begin to grow within our hearts as to what is the best course of action.  It will usually be a soft, peaceful, happy feeling, and as we think about implementing it, it will have a gentle, relaxing effect on the mind, body, and emotions.

 

The next step – as we begin to implement the decision ­ requires us to stay aware of how we are feeling inside.  Are we still at peace and serene, or are we getting slightly nervous, tense, or excited?  If we are at peace, it is generally a good sign.  If we are excited, nervous, tense, or have “a sinking feeling” in the solar plexus, it is usually a sign that we probably did not take enough time to really listen to the feeling of our hearts.  Instead, we more than likely “jumped to conclusions” based on excitement, selfish desires, the subtle arguments of the “human mind,” or various emotional trepidations.  As one might guess, it is important to be humble, honest, and patient with ourselves because it often takes a while, with some trial and error, to “feel out” the best course of action for any given situation.  Pearly always stressed that learning spiritual discernment is a gradual process.  Likewise, our Ascended Friends encourage us not to get discouraged if we sometimes make mistakes, or are seemingly unable to get a clear feeling about what to do.  Just like everything else in our spiritual growth it takes practice.  And as we apply these teachings over the years ahead, without fanaticism, we will gradually become more adept and confident in our ability to feel our Mother-Father GOD’s desire gently expanding in our hearts.  Also, there is no need to compare ourselves to others, especially to those who are constantly claiming to be getting “pure divine guidance,” because oftentimes these kinds of people are frequently being fooled by psychic-astral forces.  The people who are getting fairly accurate divine guidance are usually humble and do not talk about it, but even they need to be careful because it is so easy to get fooled.

 

Spiritual Common Sense

 

Another essential aspect of divine guidance is the use of “spiritual common sense.”  We have spent hundreds of physical embodiments gradually acquiring divine wisdom and one aspect of it is what we call “common sense.”  This is quite different from the egoistic arguing of our fear based “lower mind” or “human intellect.”  Our “human intellect” is nothing more than a computer that has been poorly programmed with a mixture of inadequate information and a distorted accumulation of prejudices, stubbornness, cultural conditioning, and sneaky astral suggestions which ultimately end up leading us astray.  As the Great Divine Director says:

 

You see what a dreary thing the human mind is of itself, a computer that has been programmed, nothing more than what, through the five senses it has stored, sorted, and rearranged – and not even that very well, has it?  And, yet, it is that very accumulation, that that very [human] mind with all its arrogance and pride, which keeps you from finding your own Real Self, Divine Mind – the “I AM THAT I AM.”  For it is only by Divine Mind, That Actual Living GOD “Presence” that dwells within and above every Individual – a Being as tangible to Us in Our Octave as you are to each other in your Octave that anything new, creative, or anything of the Light ever comes to Earth, and into the minds, hearts and worlds of individuals everywhere.2 

 

At this point we might ask, “But, if it is possible to tune into genuine divine guidance, why is using common sense so important?”  The answer is an illuminating one.  If we are serene inside, it can be relatively easy to feel the difference between an authentic divine prompting coming from our hearts, and a pseudo-divine psychic suggestion coming from the solar plexus.  But when our feelings are excited, nervous, or filled with self-importance, then a false astral prompting can more easily fool us.  This is because when there is discord in our feelings, a psychic-astral influence can enter our emotional world through our solar plexus.  And once it begins whirling in our now excited, “feeling-emotional world,” the “fake divine feeling” now seems to be everywhere – including in our heart area!

 

That is one of the reasons why our Arisen Sisters and Brothers stress the importance of having a tranquil, humble, sweet disposition at all times.  It is also why it is so helpful to balance this activity of “feeling things out” with using “spiritual common sense.”  Sometimes we may pick up a destructive idea or desire from the emotional world and “feel” that it is a prompting.  But by using common sense we can recognize the deceit, take corrective action, and save ourselves the pain and suffering that comes from being misled by an astral thought-form or discarnate human being.

 

Avoiding Internal Arguments

 

Here is another helpful point.  While we are carefully feeling and thinking our way through these decisions, we want to avoid the intellectual process of arguing back and forth with ourselves between our different options.  It is all right to calmly examine our choices, but we do not want to get ourselves all tied up in a knot over it.  This is because this internal arguing causes tension and stress within us which in turn prevents us from remaining serene enough to be aware of our I AM Presence’s desire expanding within our hearts.  So the safest, surest way to thoughtfully feel our way through these things is by staying calm and serene inside.  Then we will be more likely to receive the correct feeling within the heart.  And GOD’s true promptings that come through our hearts are never wrong.  The trick of course is discerning between our heartfelt divine feelings, and the sneaky emotional suggestions of the astral-psychic realm coming through the solar plexus.  This is why Pearl warned that no matter how dramatic the “guidance” seems to be, whether it is a dazzling golden vision, or an inner voice of great, loving authority – never obey it if it does not feel right in the heart.  And do not be afraid of taking plenty of time to feel it out.  As has been mentioned, this is because the sinister influences in the psychic realm can even duplicate the seemingly more impressive kinds of inner communication.  Since this is an extremely important and fairly complex topic, additional insights on discerning the difference between genuine divine experiences and pseudo-spiritual experiences will be shared in a later chapter.

 

Uncertainty

 

Sometimes when we are trying to determine the correct course of action, even though we have sincerely made many calls, and have been steadfast in our application, we still do not seem to be able to feel or know for certain the best thing to do.  Usually this is because we are too anxious or worried.  In these cases, if we have no choice but to make a decision of one kind or another, it is best to make our calls and then go forward and just do the best we can.  Pearl referred to this process as “doing something about doing something.”  Often, as we start moving forward, whether it is simply beginning to make plans, or actually starting to implement the plans we have already made, we are now able to feel whether or not we are on track.  Sometimes we simply need to move into action in order for enough divine energy to be released through our feeling worlds in order for our I AM Presence to be able to show us whether or not we are heading in the right direction.  And of course there will often be those times when, even after moving into action, we will not be sure if we are really doing the divine thing.  This is perfectly all right and is a natural part of the process.  That is one of the reasons why we need to be patient with ourselves.  Patience is of vital importance, because otherwise we may start to “seek manifestation,” and we certainly do not want to do that!  Gradually, with practice, we will usually be able to tune into GOD’s plans - at least for the important things - and not go too far astray.

 

Of course, if there is not a pressing need to make a decision, often the best thing is to simply make the call and then turn our attention to other things.  Then in the right way and at the best time our Higher Self (our I AM Presence, our Atma), will either fill us with the correct feeling, or as is commonly the case, everything will simply work out on its own.

 

Pearls of Wisdom

for

Divine Guidance

 

· Relax.

 

· Make the call and/or pray for clarity.

 

· Patiently, feel it out in the heart, over a generous period of time.

 

· Balance our feelings with spiritual common sense.

 

· Call for clarity.

 

· “Do something about doing something.”

 

· How does it feel?

 

· Adjust our plans accordingly.

 

· Continue to make the call as we patiently and carefully, “keep on keeping on.”

 

· If we are really confused – either do nothing; or just do the best we can and do not worry about it.

 

· It becomes easier to recognize the gentle divine feelings of our hearts as the years go by.

 

· It is better to use common sense than to follow astral promptings.

 

· Be happy!

 

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Please click here to go to "Advanced Divine Guidance".

 

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Copyright 2019 Bill Gaum All Rights Reserved