A Journey to Higher Connection

By Dr. Michael Sharon

Did you ever dream of having a more rewarding life? Do you aspire for a better job, happier relationships or better health? Do you wish you had more control of your circumstances? Did you know that your thoughts are creating your life moment by moment? Do you realize that you are entitled to have your most cherished desires? Do you know that you are always being led to your higher good by a loving universe?

Following decades of trudging his spiritual path, Dr. Sharon describes in this inspiring and uplifting guide the keys to happiness, love, health and success: how to turn obstacles into assets; how to develop self-love and self-confidence. This life-manual will show you how to become the person you always wanted to be, by linking to a Power much greater than yourself and making the Law of Attraction work for you, rather than against you. You will eventually come to realize that you can create your higher potential by linking to your Source, the Power of all Creation.

Don't you think you deserve more in your life than what you already have? Then open this book and read on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley
• Release date: Feb 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370459261

Dr. Michael Sharon

As a nutritional consultant, Dr. Michael Sharon has been striving for many years to propound the benefits of wholesome, optimal nutrition, and advise people and organisations on ways to promote health and well-being through his books, lectures and private consultations. In this book, he describes the importance of a positive state of mind as the ultimate way to health, happiness and prosperity, by introducing you to your spiritual identity, leading you to discover your innate power and awaken you to your higher potential. Also from Dr. Michael Sharon (in Carlton Books editions): Complete Nutrition – How to Live in Total Health The Complete Guide to Nutrients

Book preview

About the Author

As a nutritional consultant, Dr. Michael Sharon has been striving for many years to propound the benefits of wholesome, optimal nutrition, and advise people and organisations on ways to promote health and well-being through his books, lectures and private consultations. In this book, he describes the importance of a positive state of mind as the ultimate way to health, happiness and prosperity, by introducing you to your spiritual identity, leading you to discover your innate power and awaken you to your higher potential.

Also from Dr. Michael Sharon (in Carlton Books editions):

Complete Nutrition – How to Live in Total Health

The Complete Guide to Nutrients

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Dedications

To anyone of us who is possibly... finally... ready to heed the call of Grace and discover their divine legacy of perpetual happiness and a fulfilling life.

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A Journey to Higher Connection

Published by Austin Macauley at Smashwords

Copyright 2018, Michael Sharon

The right of Michael Sharon Irving to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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A CIP catalogue record for this title is

Available from the British Library.

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www.austinmacauley.com

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A Journey to Higher Connection, 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

ISBN 9781787103269 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781787103276 (E-Book)

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First Published in 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers.LTD/

CGC-33-01, 25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf, London E14 5LQ

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Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. The way of the Psalmist

Chapter 2. Your spiritual identity

Chapter 3. You are your own creator – Create your prosperity

Chapter 4. Create your own happiness – Live with joy

Chapter 5. Living in love

Chapter 6. Self-love versus egoism

Chapter 7. Letting go of fear

Chapter 8. Healing from within – The healing mind

Chapter 9. Loving relationships

Chapter 10. Gratitude and appreciation

Chapter 11. Claim your power

Chapter 12. Recognising life’s purpose

Chapter 13. Welcoming change

Chapter 14. Dare to want, and you’ll want for nothing

Chapter 15. Allowing to be led

Epilogue

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May you discover the way to your Source,

the oneness of the whole,

and the wholeness of the one.

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Hidden away in the inner nature of the real man is the law of his life and some day he will discover it and consciously make use of it. He will heal himself, make himself happy and prosperous, and will live in an entirely different world for he will have discovered that life is from within and not from without.

‘Spiritual Laws’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Preface

You are what you eat, drink, and think, is the opening statement of my first book: Complete Nutrition – How to live in total health. After almost two decades since it was first published, and now in its seventh edition, I feel it is time to share with my readers the lessons I learned in the school of life, along my own growth path. Although in university I was educated to believe that many scourges of humanity can be resolved by proper food choices and nutritional supplements, I now feel that, as important as a wholesome diet can be, a positive mental diet is even more important, because our thoughts create our reality. Our spiritual diet determines, to a great extent, our life’s experiences. It determines our health, our happiness, our prosperity, and even affects our longevity.

A newly published study conducted in the University of Geneva, with six thousand volunteers aged between forty-one and ninety-six, for over thirty years, found that people who think they are healthy live longer. Surprisingly, just keeping in mind a perception of health proved to be the most important indicator of a person’s well-being, ranking above all other factors, including whether people took medication, had many friends, or even smoked.

I decided to write this book after many years of plodding along the tortuous path of evolution, trying to make sense of things that seemed senseless, attempting to find out whether there was any meaning to my trials and tribulations. It is strange how sometimes life takes us by surprise. Twenty years ago, while going through an intense personal crisis, feeling dispirited and forlorn, a friend invited me to an introductory session of Transcendental Meditation, in which spiritual books were on offer. This was a turning point. I started meditating and reading self-help books, looking for answers to my predicaments, which seemed to floor me. Eventually, one fine day, I was hit by an epiphany. I suddenly realised the futility of trying to sort out overwhelming problems on my own. It dawned on me that I needed an all-powerful ally, who could help me overcome any obstacle, and resolve any difficulty. That was when I discovered the missing link: it was the disconnection from my Source. I did not realise that life is a human-divine co-creation. This means that you do what you can, and God does what you can’t. It is only when we interfere, and try to do God’s part, that we mess things up. The idea of reading the hymns of the Psalms came up. Perusing it helped me to gradually establish a higher connection to my Source.

In my scientific education, I was trained to think rationally, in formal frames and structures, and accept only what can be proven according to pre-set research protocols, such as double-blind studies. As a result, I developed a scientific tunnel vision. Anecdotal evidence was unacceptable, even if it felt right within. No wonder that, when I graduated, I considered only my rationale as the ultimate wisdom. I did not trust my intuition enough to act on it, since it often didn’t make sense to my intellect, and anyway, I did not have the guts to act on its urges. Logic felt safer. In other words, I did not trust my divine part and, consequently, lived to regret the consequences.

For many years, I did not know what self-love meant. I confused it with egoism. I thought that other people were more important. I was constantly validating others before myself. I did not know how to really assert myself confidently, because I was unaware of my spiritual identity. No wonder I was drifting through life’s events, making compromising decisions, only to end up in disappointment. It took me many years to accept the idea that I am lovable, just by virtue of my existence! I don’t have to go out of my way to endear myself to others. I am lovely because I am a beloved child of God. Eventually I realised that, in order to make my life work, to prosper, to become happier, and to be of service to others, I must change my attitudes. I must accept the overwhelming idea that the Power of All Creation, which lovingly sustains the whole universe, is inherent in me.

The universe operates in a system of duality. It functions in a framework of contrasting opposites. Nothing stands on its own. Everything has its flip-side, like good and bad, love and hate, war and peace. These conflicting opposites are also reflected in our personality. Our consciousness, much like a car battery, has two radical poles, positive and negative, which we refer to as Higher Consciousness and Lower Consciousness. One arises from the higher, loving emotions of the heart, while the other emanates from the lower, non-loving incitements of the ego. These contrasting attributes are present within each one of us. Spiritual growth is about using love to refine ourselves from unloving impurities. You grow by cultivating self-love as an overriding emotion, because, if you don’t love yourself, how can you love others? Just by increasing love, you upgrade your non-loving flaws into loving virtues. The following illustration lists some common attributes of our consciousness. Can you spot the ones which you act out more frequently? Can you identify which unloving roles you would like to tone down? Do you know which loving emotions you want to promote?

Higher: Lower

Love: Hate

Faith: Fear

Truth: Lies

Honesty: Dishonesty

Acceptance: Criticism

Friendliness: Unfriendliness

Forgiveness: Condemnation

Graciousness: Jealousy

Modesty: Ego Trips

Humility: Pride

Patience: Edginess

Self-assertion: Self-deprecation

Prosperity awareness: Scarcity concerns

Salubrious practices: Harmful addictions

Healthy diet, exercise, meditation:Smoking, drinking, drugs

Humility and compassion: Conceit and aggression

To eliminate the darkness of your lower consciousness, you don’t have to resent it, push it away, or trample on it. The more you hate it, the stronger it gets. Just shine it away with your loving light. As Carl Jung once said: One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

By deepening my divine connection, I was also growing to higher levels of self-love and self-confidence. As I reconnected to my inner Source, I gradually started to sense that the Kingdom of God was within me. I realised I was not alone in this world. I felt that I was lovingly taken care of by my Heavenly Father. This helped dissipate fears and insecurities.

Over time, my concepts started changing. I did not feel forlorn any more. I could subtly discern a higher plan unfolding in my life, giving me a sense of direction and purpose, leading me to transcend and ascend, making way where there was no way. I started to notice amazing little occurrences that defied explanation. Setbacks opened up unexpected opportunities. Eventually, I got the courage to take the leap of faith and surrender to my higher good – that is, let God run my life. I finally realised that I suffered because I resisted the call of Grace and tried to run my life on my own. I could now identify with the lyrics of Amazing Grace: I once was lost, but now I’m found.

My own growth was to be reflected in my practice as a nutritional consultant. I began to notice that, after a consultation, a patient would remain sitting, looking at me as if expecting something extra, beyond nutritional advice. When I suggested a change in mental attitudes, developing faith and adopting a confident outlook on life, a patient would abruptly galvanise, and listen attentively to what I had to say. It was amazing to see how patients were using self-defeating thoughts to create disease – how many did not realise that their fears, insecurities, resentments, and grudges were causing various afflictions, from colds to hypertension, and from exhaustion to heart disease. More than nutritional deficiency symptoms, these people were demonstrating the symptoms of disconnection from their loving Source. As a result, they were deficient in the life-promoting energies of joy, love, and faith

I feel it is now time to share what I learned in my own journey. It is time to expound that self-love is the foundation of all love, that everything happens for our higher good, and that the universe works in perfect ways, whether we understand it or not. It is time to propound that life is simple; it is us who make it complicated by following the instigations of our Lower Self, instead of the inspirations of our Higher Self. It is time to learn to let go, and let God. We are not helpless pawns drifting in an ocean of uncertainty. We are led by God’s loving guidance, through which we can overcome any obstacle, rise above any difficulty. And, although pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We don’t have to suffer in order to grow. We can simply decide to find happiness in everything we do. A joyful attitude of mind is a choice which does not depend on outer circumstances. It is our basic duty to cultivate it. In the words of the Dalai Lama: The purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness.

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Chapter 1

The way of the Psalmist

The aim and purpose of human life is

the unitive knowledge of God

Aldous Huxley

It’s not what you know, but who you know, that counts. So goes the old saying, which illustrates how connections to other people, especially friends in high places, can help us sort out baffling problems, or open up new opportunities. When we are well-connected, we have clout, power, and influence. And, the larger our circle of friends, and the higher their standing, the greater our ability to sort out crisis situations and rise to higher achievements. Imagine, therefore, being connected to the Source of all connections and possibilities. Our link to God is priceless. It is the most influential connection we can ever have, through which we can overcome any problem, rise above any difficulty, and create anything we desire, bar nothing.

There is no need to go looking out for this higher connection; it is already deep within us, whether we realise it or not. An old Buddhist story tells how a young disciple asked a revered master where to look for the higher Spirit. The master replied: It is like a man riding an ox, searching for an ox. In this book, I will share my long and tortuous journey to this deep-seated connection – the focal point of God, deep within each one of us, which we so commonly disown, simply by not realising that we have it, and by refusing to believe that the Power of All cCreation is readily available to anyone who seeks it, just by opening up to connect with its spirit. It may sound strange, but it took me all these decades of soul-searching, constantly looking out for an elusive ox, only to find out that I was actually riding one.

I was first introduced to spirituality as a child. Every other Saturday, my paternal grandmother – Luna – used to host a group of elderly worshippers from her congregation for a session of Psalm reading. Everybody, including me as a seven-year-old, sat in a circle, and would take turns in reading the Psalms, from the first to the last. My granny was a very pious and spiritual lady, who ran her own charity. She explained to me that the Psalms were sacred hymns, and that reciting them released mystical powers of healing and blessing. That is, she said, why the Psalms are recited in both temples and church services. And indeed, as a child, that was what I imagined Psalms reading to be useful for: to invoke supernatural powers to bless us in some mystical way, somewhat like a magic spell.

Indeed, when I was about nine years old, my maternal grandmother, Matilda, developed a fatal kidney failure, and was being prepared for a crucial operation with slim chances of survival. I was taken to visit her in the hospital, with the instruction to sit at her bedside and read the Psalms. A couple of days later, my parents told me that she had a miraculous recovery. The surgeons found an extra kidney in her body, which enabled her to live healthily for many years to come. That, for my innocent young mind, was proof of the Psalms’ miraculous healing powers.

But, nobody in my adolescent years ever mentioned anything about the practical wisdom and guidance contained in these sacred hymns. Nobody even hinted that, apart from being a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the book of Psalms is actually a life manual, a guide to elevated awareness, and a handbook to a higher connection. No one suggested that you don’t even have to be religious to use the Psalms. I later realised, though, that, as a tool to reconnect to our Source and recognise our divine identity, the Psalms could be used both by the devout and the secular alike, regardless of any religious convictions. I found out that spiritual maturity has nothing to do with how long you have been going to church, or how meticulously you practise religious rituals. Your spiritual growth is manifested by the level of virtuous attitudes you are practising in your life.

Over the years, however, as I grew up in a secular society, my childhood memories of the Psalms gradually faded away. My ego took over. I became like any typical young man in Western society, concerned only with my career and my relationships, believing that it was up to me to pursue my chosen goals, be in total control of my life, and never rely on any mystical powers to guide me, or fight my battles. Divine connection seemed far-fetched. Yet, going through my fair share of ups and downs, life felt a bit precarious. Thinking I was on my own against the whole wide world made me, at times, feel somewhat vulnerable. I was therefore always on the alert to tackle any potential difficulty, and defend myself against real or imaginary threatening situations.

Vying for success and achievements always came with some apprehensions. What if I failed? What if my plans didn’t work out? But, since I was resisting my spiritual connection, unaware that I had the most powerful ally, life had to teach me the hard way, by presenting ever increasing crises and setbacks as lessons, to help me wake up. Only I first interpreted them as undeserved misfortunes, which made me suffer even more, not realising that they were blessings in disguise. I was unaware that they were strategically planned to lead me to reconnect with the Higher Power within me.

When distressed over a problem, friends used to repeat the usual clichés: Have faith, be optimistic; everything happens for a reason. But, while realising they meant well, I could not readily accept these ideas at a deeper level, because I felt totally alone and forlorn, unconnected to any Source of higher wisdom. Have faith in what? Everything happens for what reason? What good can possibly come out of this terrible mess? I did not realise that, nevertheless, divine intelligence was guiding me to sort out my problems, while opening a way to higher goals. I was definitely not alone. As the Psalmist says: Nevertheless, I am continually with thee; thou has holden me by my right hand; thy shall guide me in thy counsel, and take me to my glory. (Psalm 73:23-24). It took time, but., over time, I adopted a nevertheless attitude of mind. I became a nevertheless person.

When trudging through a predicament with no apparent way out, and still tormented by an existential angst, I would tend to visualise the worst possible case scenario, dreading a major fiasco. The idea that the Creator of the universe loved me and that my soul was an extension of His spirit, never crossed my mind. I did not realise that God was always leading me to my higher good, no matter what was going on. I was unaware of the fact that our lives’ difficulties are not just for us to sort out; our life in this world is actually a human-divine co-production. We can’t do everything on our own.

We have to do what we can, and let God do what we can’t. We have to ask, and He has to give. Many people suffer the misery that comes when trying to do God’s part by relying on their own limited human ability to fix everything, trying frantically to resolve complex issues that only His infinite wisdom can. Nor did I realise that adversities had a purpose. They were meant to alert me to my erroneous concepts, and to offer opportunities to learn much needed lessons. I had yet to read the words of Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the American psychiatrist who pioneered bereavement counselling, and researched Near-death Experiences (NDE): There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.

Eventually, I would come to realise that everything we do, and everything that happens to each one of us, has been strategically designed by a Higher Intelligence to lead us to our higher good, to steer us to evolve to a higher level of awareness. Every difficulty is a blessing in disguise. It is that sometimes, we recognise a better way forward only after following an old, flawed concept which has led us to a dead-end. That is why any change, no matter how positive, is often preceded by the painful experience of a setback or failure. We feel like we blew it. Actually, such changes can trigger an awakening in our mind to the existence of a new and better possibility. They can reveal a new direction, a better way to go, higher concepts to adopt. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Without spiritual grounding, I would think: Well, God is up there, and I am down here, and it’s up to me to deal with this issue. That was separating myself from the Source of my power. That was ignoring the call of Grace. I resisted sitting still, meditating, and listening to my inner guidance. I resisted trusting providence to provide me with fresh ideas, or create unexpected changes out of the blue to solve the problem, if only I would calm down and listen to my inner whispers. So, I had to learn the hard way. I had to go through ever increasing crises in my personal life, in order to learn to trust God and overcome fear. I had to go through times when it seemed like my world was collapsing on me, thinking: What have I done to deserve this? Sound familiar? I did not realise that it was me who actually attracted my own bad luck by thinking negatively, and that these hardships were actually meant to help me open my eyes, and reconnect me with my loving Source.

An unborn baby is connected to his mother by an umbilical cord, through which he receives everything he needs for his sustenance and growth. This is his lifeline. Similarly, we are connected by an ethereal, invisible lifeline to the Source of all life from which we came, that supplies us with what we need, both materially and spiritually, for sustenance and for growth.

Throughout our life, just as we go through successes, achievements, and triumphs, we must also go through difficulties, failures, and setbacks. Life is meant to be this way. Otherwise, how else can we develop faith? How else can we grow stronger? The Dalai Lama once said, in an interview: "Without enemies, how can we learn patience, how can we learn tolerance?" Easy life does not require faith. It does not propel us to grow. It is only in the fire of a crisis that our faith