How do you measure spiritual progress?

Progress is a movement toward a goal or an assumed higher stage.  Progress is perceived or not perceived, measurable or immeasurable to the human mind.  Instant progress is illusion to the mind yet, this does not mean instant evolution or awakening is impossible.  If what you seek is already here, then the revelation can be instantaneous and you need not go anywhere.

For the mind, no short-cuts  exist to self-mastery. It is all about effort and struggle.   Consider the phrase, ‘As the elevator to your destination is out of order, you are encouraged to take the stairs.’

From another perspective, life is spirit, not matter. The spiritual is not quantifiable. You feel the way.   Any sense of movement is more than spatial. It is successive in its own way.   So, you become what you perceive yourself to be by way of your choices. That is universal law of polarity. Imagine a magnet. How does it feel? Notice conditions and relations you attract. Each thought has implications.

Reflect on school days.  You may think of courses you wished were over before they started. Your mind may still continue this trend as it wanders to job prospects and thinks about promotion before you get the skills. The mind focuses on the future.  It hijacks your attention, triggers stress and impatience.   

On another level, speed has nothing to do with spiritual progress.  As you step outside conditioning, you realize the universe shapes your conditions based on how it feels the vibration of your progress.

The time sensed in the heart is only about one thing: how long it takes to be a vibrational match with what you desire.  This reality is all about energy.  As you evolve to be more open to receiving of the flow and go with it, you raise awareness, sense conditions and inner power differently. The universe resonates as you reach milestones.  What manifests tells its own story. Read between the chapters.

In essence, the human mind judges progress based on physical aspects and its logic.  The human mind is unaware of spiritual considerations or does not ascertain energy flow within. Where is your focus of attention? Notice how more than one thing is going on and you choose how and what to see. 

Neale Donald Walsch & 3 Ways to develop faith

Neale Donald Walsch inspires me.  His life story goes from experiences he describes as "misdirected," to being homeless and penniless.  Then, he mysteriously reconnected with the creator, began writing books, and completely transformed as a spiritual soundboard.  The Conversations with God movie trailer is worth watching.  Also invite you to watch the film here.

The words and stories he shares are profound, yet also very simple.  They invite increasing self-reflection so that you can uncover yourself by listening more closely to your inner voice, intuition, and all that lies beneath programming that begins before birth. I update this post to add Eloise King's inspiring interview entitled Conversations with Neale Donald Walsh about God and other things (2016) which I highly-recommend.

One of the subjects Neale explores in his books is the power of faith.  He recognizes how hard it can seem to shift to believe in what you don't initially believe.  This brings us face-to-face with our own resistance.  Ask yourself when in your life you notice your own resistance, when you are willing to shift your mindset to believe something your ego resists? How do you nurture faith and trust in the unknown and unseen? 

As author of many heart-warming books such as the Conversations with God Series, Neale Donald Walsch observes faith as an acquired trait but trust is innate. He feels anyone can develop faith, and apply it at will.  Yet, we must develop faith in ourselves before being able to have faith in things outside or seemingly separate from ourselves.  Seeing through our own self-created illusion of separation is part of the process of awakening or expanding into more of our untapped potential. Imagine how it feels to tune into unlimited being. COuld you imagine the nature of such magnificence?

We develop faith at least 3 ways:

1) By noticing you can (in passively observing others).

2) By experiencing you can (sensing it, perhaps unexpectedly).

3) By deciding you will (with conscious intent).

You can also decide developing faith in yourself, in whatever you choose to work on, is a 3-step process.  You may hear about another person's miracle or apparent good fortune.  You may raise your awareness of what is possible and discen you are experiencing blessings.  You may also decide that you can expect good things and nothing else.  

In essence, we each develop faith our own way.  You may skip some of the above steps, change the order or, simply discipline yourself to believe (or not) for your own reasons. 

Notice the signs

Signs are messengers that offer a glimpse into your future. They provide insight into your current self and conditions. Signs offer clues about how you feel where you are and where you're heading.  They are subtle hints about how to lead a more balanced, harmonious life. If you aren't where you wish to be, what do you read from signs?

You may experience from a dream about a prospective business partnership and see the mask of your prospective partner is revealed. If you feel uneasy about what you see, and this remains when you awaken, your intuition may send you warning vibes and you may rethink your choice. Years after such a dream, a person I know looked back and recognized her own prophecy. Be pleased about foresight.  You notice signs on so many levels, yet do you really pay attention?

Reflect on the sort of people you keep running into. What does this reveal about your state of mind? You may encounter homeless people looking for shelter, gypsies panhandling or, stray animals wandering about salivating at your lunch. Everything is a sign pointing to how you feel.  

Each of us develops conditioned beliefs about what we can and can't do. You may be told you're clumsy, you're inept or that you won't ever realize what someone else considers foolish dreams. Yet, your own thoughts actually project into what you perceive and hear all around you. The people you run into or seem to meet at random will in fact result from deepset beliefs in your unconscious mind. That is, if you were criticized and chose to believe it, your whole life will seem to reinforce it.  Notice what happens as you recongize the power to change how you feel.

So, are you noticing happy, smiling, healthy people who inspire you or, do you only see people who complain and alienate you in some way? How do you feel about what you attract? Others also attract you into their lives so to open the door of their hearts and learn valuable lessons.  If you say you desire more of anything, you perpetuate the illusion of dissatisfaction.

Whenever enters your life is nothing unless you judge it. The time you sense elapses between that moment and any imagined future permits you to decide how to respond. How do you feel? Notice the signs all around and within you. Everything points to the love that is always present.