Wellness: Notes on My Spiritual Journey

By Larry Villoso

Indeed, before anyone fully understands the path to enlightenment, one must experience dying. Not physical dying but the spiritual form of giving up the ego, whims, pride.

It is this concept of dying to oneself that Larry Villoso has explored and nurtured in his personal quest for spiritual enlightenment. For what is important for any person travelling the path towards spiritual awareness is the willingness to welcome the light into his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jun 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483646596

Larry Villoso

Larry speaks with a sense of authority on the subject that he constantly loves, lives, and ‘dies’ for. The path of his own enlightenment may not have been easy all the time, but the gifts of his meditations and affirmations manifest in his life now. Step into his beautiful house filled with crystals and many objects on spiritual journey and feel Larry’s essence of being a father, a master, a friend, a fellow traveller. He says that in order to attract love, one should fill himself with the energies of love. See him live the same ideals he preaches and feel the love that abounds in his family. He kisses his wife and kids and hugs them warmly every time he goes home from an out-of-town meditation. He welcomes most visitors with big hugs and laughter. Wellness is his first book. Larry hopes to write more books on spirituality and to mount his own photo exhibit in the future.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Larry Villoso.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The copyright owner, in turn, wishes to acknowledge the books and or authors whose words he may have directly quoted in writing the notes to chronicle his spiritual journey. These notes would have been included in the final manuscript and it is unfortunate that he no longer remembers their names and or book titles. He disavows any ill intent should such similarities with other published works occurs.

Rev. date: 06/03/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.xlibris.com.au

[e-mail]

503840

Contents

Wellness

The Spirit

The Self

Meditation The Journey Within

The Advanced State of Mind

Affirmation and Visualisation

Acknowledgements

A Letter to All My Readers

Dear friends,

This wellness book contains selected notes from my own study, insights gained from my personal experience in joining groups and organisations that teach and deal with spiritual well-being, and related topics on the mind, the body, and the inner journey.

In this book various topics on the practice of meditation and practical exercises are presented in length. Very little of the material is original to me; the majority has been handed down to us since the beginning of time—the wisdom and inspiration from the teachings of the great masters and enlightened beings that have walked the earth. They are one in saying that ‘all things and everything resolve to the self; we only need to look inside ourselves to experience the deepest and true meaning of life’. This truth has been recorded in the pages of all sacred books and scriptures, from the beginning of life to the full cycle of eternity.

In all the years since I began my inner journey, digging into these notes have deepened and expanded my experience and my enjoyment of life. The deeper I studied the subject on spirituality and well-being, the more I discovered how vast and how deep the potential for my growth is. Now, the time has come for me to compile these notes and make them into a book. It is one way that I think I can share with you the many wonderful things I have learned.

This book presents more on the subject of connecting to our inner selves through meditation. I believe that the constant practice of meditation brings us into a state of well-being in all aspects of our lives. With the wealth of techniques I have included in this book, you will probably be tempted to absorb them all at once. But you will find that if you do the exercises gradually, you would sooner feel and experience their effect on you. Detachment or the losing of the ego had a profound effect on me: it has shown me what spirituality is all about.

The effect of meditation is experiential; just give yourself a chance to enjoy it. You may or may not agree with what I present in this book; my only aim is to inspire you to see the truth in yourself. I encourage you to accept into your heart only those ideas and suggestions that ring true to the deepest part of your being and to let go of any that do not. This book is just a gentle tap to reawaken in your being the teachings of love, compassion, and well-being, which lie sleeping deep within.

This book is my gift to you in love, blessings, and prosperity. This is an easy reading material with beautiful pictures for you to enjoy. As you go along, you will notice finer changes in your outlook in life, which add to your well-being. My FMS (Full Moon Society) group and other friends have been practising the teachings and the exercises in this book and are gradually earning positive results. Anyone who is called to this book is on a path of personal growth and has much to offer to humanity. You too are looking for an answer to your inner longings. May the words and wisdom in this book bring out the light that is shining within you.

Love and light,

Larry Villoso

Wellness

Wellness

Introduction to Wellness

Wellness is a state of well-being. It is the harmonious and balanced condition in the four major areas of life: love, health, wealth, and success. It is not just an absence of illness but an improved quality of life from the choices we make to enhance physical, mental, and spiritual health. We all want to live healthy, fulfilled, happy lives and realise our potential in the society we live in. But with the current trends in lifestyle and the insecurities surrounding us, we get carried away and forget our salient responsibilities to ourselves and others. We seem to lose track of the importance of our well-being; we do not know where and how to start living the life we want. To be well is a personal commitment to life in which the steps we choose will lead us through the process of self-discovery. Wellness, wholeness, and healing are the most natural states of being, where we have a complete sense of harmony within and without. It is about making the right and best choices that we feel good about in every area of our life.

Wellness is not to focus solely on our creativity and to improve that one aspect of our life. It is sound and synchronised actions to attain the feeling of well-being. There are various aspects of wellness that affect the way we feel and maintain a balanced life, from the visible or the physical to the spiritual and holistic aspects.

Aspects of Wellness in the Four Areas of Our Lives

Love

27523.jpg Emotional Wellness—This is the result of a better understanding of our emotions and innermost feelings. We know what we want to feel, and we choose only the ones we need to experience. A sense of belonging is felt when we are emotionally balanced as there is a harmonious relationship between us and our family and other selves. There is intimacy and fulfilment and the willingness to serve, which makes us feel good.

27526.jpg Spiritual Wellness—This may or may not include our religious discipline or any other beliefs. This results if we have found a deeper meaning and purpose in our lives. We know ourselves and can easily handle the stressful and miserable situations that we encounter. Suffering and pain are taken as learning tools for our growth. We become stronger.

Health

27528.jpg Physical Wellness—This includes the choices we make in taking care of our physical bodies, the awareness of what and how we feed ourselves, exercise, relax, and avoid the use of addictive and harmful stuff. This also involves the responsibility to have a routine medical check-up by medical professionals.

27530.jpg Mental Wellness—This is attained when we are able to maintain our mental faculties in a sound state. We do this by engaging in creative activities to exercise the functions of our brain, to have mental challenges and cognitive stimulation. This is to avoid loss of memory and/or stagnation.

Wealth

27532.jpg Universal Wellness—This is the result of knowing our responsibilities for the benefit of the people of the world. This involves our contribution to the issues that affect the environment, to the creative competition in business, and to sharing talents and skills through universal means.

27535.jpg Property Wellness—This addresses the protection of our resources and the awareness of how we acquire and deal with possessions in honest dealing with our other selves.

Success

27537.jpg Professional Wellness—This is the feeling of contentment when we have found the balance between our work and our lives outside work. This includes the fulfilment of our ideal creativity, at the same time having quality time with our family and other loved ones.

27539.jpg Social Wellness—This tackles the issue of our relationship with the people within the area we live in. This includes family, neighbours, friends, and our other selves. This also includes how we treat animals and other living creatures, including plants. We show interest in all things around us.

Life is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and as we seek to make our lives better, we go into these cycles. It is not enough to know that we are alive; it is essential to realise how we live up to the dreams that keep us alive. Wellness is our birthright, and we have to be aware of the choices we make to attain and maintain our optimal well-being. Some tread other avenues to maintain wellness, such as practising yoga, t’ai chi, qigong, or other disciplines. Some practise the ultimate law of karma: whatever you sow shall you reap. The law of karma enhances our well-being as we are aware of the consequences of our daily activities, take responsibility, learn, and live with it.

Volumes of books and research on the other fields of wellness have been written and explained well elsewhere; this book is about spiritual wellness. I personally believe that having wellness in spirit sparks the button to enhance our mental and physical well-being. It is a continuing journey, a self-responsibility, and an inner knowingness that we are made in the image and the likeness of our Creator. We are one and the same, with the God-self within. Make your life sacred and fulfilling by harnessing the higher level of living towards a new you. This is spiritual wellness.

Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Everyday you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.

- Mary Manin Morrissey -

The Spirit

The Spirit

The Moving Force of Life

The holy trinity of our being: mind, body, spirit. It is easy to talk about the mind and the body, but talk about the spirit, and it is vaguely understood. It is not something that we can hold or touch; it is not matter that we can physically see. Instead, it is the essence of what we are, the personality of our being where our own soul resides. Spirit is the pure essence and substance of what we are—our eternal soul-self.

The words ‘spirit’ and ‘spirituality’ can have different meanings for many of us, with both negative and positive implications. In olden times, those who suffered in the hands of dogmatic, judgemental, or fundamentalist religion may feel distant from or totally reject the subject of spirit and spirituality. But to fully understand this area of our being, spirituality may not necessarily have anything to do with any philosophy or any organised religion. It need not even have to include the word ‘God’. We oftentimes associate spirituality with religious life, but many believe that spirituality is a personal issue and can be developed outside of religion. It can be useful to associate the word with our own internal self.

Spirituality has been given so many meanings—among them, a belief in a power existing in the universe that is greater than oneself, a sense of being one with all living creatures, and an awareness of the purpose and meaning of life. However and whatever words are attached to it, we can agree on one thing—that the moving force of our lives is our eternal spirit. In another context, our spirituality includes our acts of compassion, understanding, and selflessness; willing service to humanity; and the experience of inner peace and stillness within.

Your spirituality can simply be your relationship to whatever is