Developing Spiritual Attitude. Part 2

Surrender your Need for Peace and Serenity

If it's complete peace of mind you are after, you are on the wrong planet. Having the right spiritual attitude is not so much about striving to maintain a state of peaceful bliss as much as raising your heart frequency to embrace yourself when confronting a difficult situation. Peace of mind is more apt to come after the successful resolution of a problem, meeting a challenge with an enlightened perspective and realizing that the challenges are there to evolve you. Life lessons can be uncomfortable and messy. True peace comes first through self-acceptance and pushing through anything that is uncomfortable with spiritual strength.

Defend the Right to Give – Love Is Not a Crime

At the same supermarket next day, I was handed a coupon for a dollar off a pound of coffee along with my change. With a smile on my face, I offered it to the next person in line and told her if she didn't want it I would just leave it at the side of the counter for another customer. Before she could answer, the clerk said, "Give it back to me." She snatched the coupon out of my hand and said that she had to throw it away. It was store policy that if I didn't want it, it goes in the trash. In a culture where the simple act thoughtfulness and generosity is policed by policies of greed, it is no wonder so many hold back from giving. Frankly, I was so shocked by the experience I was tongue-tied. If I had my druthers, I would have made her fish the coupon out of the trash and taken it outside the store to give to the next person I saw.

Remind Yourself Compassion Is the "Law of the Land"

An even more dramatic confrontation, this time with a dispassionate cruel heart, happened the week before. A developmentally disabled young woman about the age of 20 seeing that I had a package of Oreos in my basket at the supermarket, stopped me and said, "I want some Oreos too, but I don't have any money." She was as innocent as innocent can be, having the intelligence of an eight-year-old. I told her to go down the aisle and get herself a package and she came back with only a snack size pack consisting of 4 Oreos. While we stood in line, she compared her size package with mine and changed her mind thinking she could have a larger package because I was so nice. She said, "I want one of those", pointing to my package. By then we were standing in front of the clerk and I was ready to pay for my purchases. When I told the girl to get a big package, the clerk scowled and yelled at the girl, "No, you can't have a big package." She ran out of the store. With my hands on my hips, I confronted the clerk, "If I want to fill my basket with packages of Oreos and give them to her, it is my prerogative." I pointed out that she was developmentally disabled and hungry. The clerk proceeded to lay down the "law of the land" as dispassionately as anyone could. "I don't care that she is disabled", he said. "She shouldn't be here pestering customers and begging for food."

Flex Your Love Muscle

Although, I was tempted in both situations to silently chant "Om" and say prayers of forgiveness, I knew something greater was being asked of me. I had to ask myself, "What is the great lesson here and what is being asked of me?" Spiritual mastery requires we understand the lessons and opportunities that are being presented. We must recognize our places of spiritual weakness and that often we are being called to exert spiritual strength in order to make a difference, especially when confronted with the "love-police". My task was to defend my right to give and be an example of compassion, generosity and love. The best way to accomplish that was to confront someone whose disdain for the impoverished and disabled needed a confrontational tone to humble his arrogant soul.









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