Listening to Divine Intuition...

“If a man can realize his divine nature with the help of an image, would it be right to call that a sin? Nor, even when he has passed that stage, should he call it an error. [...] man is not traveling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. To him all the religions from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realize the Infinite, each determined by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of these marks a stage of progress; and every soul is a young eagle soaring higher and higher, gathering more and more strength till it reaches the Glorious Sun.”

Swami Vivekananda

     Being the only one in my immediate family that practices any kind of spiritual discipline on a daily basis can be a lonely road. Although I try to share my spiritual feelings with my husband and children, I can't help but feel that my words are falling on deaf ears....it is mostly my two teenagers who lack hearing. My husband is such a good soul, but has struggled a good deal of his life sharing his spiritual feelings outwardly...He holds his spiritual aspirations to be a very personal and private journey. It has taken me some time to realize that my spiritual path does not have to mirror that of my loved ones and vice versa. It brings to mind the beautiful words of Rumi: Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. 

     Just this morning, a brilliant idea popped into my mind. I just love when those little thoughts of inspiration arise like sparks of divine intuition! I am learning to give heed to these little messages from the Beloved. A dear teacher of mine taught me that we should never ignore those messages, no matter how insignificant they may seem. The Cosmic energies of the universe are constantly working in our lives and if we open ourselves up to them we will become more aware of their influences. When we become more aware of our Oneness with everything around us our mundane life begins to transform from the ordinary to the extraordinary. 

     So to get back to that brilliant idea...I read the above quote from Vivekananda and it got me thinking about how we are all Divine Souls, who are trying to find our way back to our Creator, even if we do not outwardly realize it, that includes my husband and children. So I broached the idea with my husband that once a week it would be nice if we could sit down with our children and each of us share something of spiritual significance. This could be anything such as a personal experience, a scripture quote, a song or mantra, just to name a few. It is also important that each member of the family feel love and respect from each other in sharing. We will end with a yummy dessert prepared by me:) My husband thought this was a fantastic idea! So we are going to start this little spiritual venture tomorrow evening. It may take the teenagers a few times to adjust to this, I do expect some apathy and nonchalance, but anything is possible...after all I have no doubt this idea was inspired....I will do well to listen up! 

Jai Mata Di,

Nirvani