Losing My Religion: Breaking Down Your Walls to Release What's Inside

By Ria Barna

We all own a very special key. It is the key that unlocks all that we are and all that we could ever want and dream of wanting. Access to this key is so simple, yet we make it so hard. This key is always there, waiting for us to use it to unlock our treasure chest and to release the power within it. We all want so badly to be the winner of the big lottery, but little do we know we already are the winner. We think winning the lottery will give us the power to do what we want with our lives. If we only knew that all the power is already within us.
They say that in the last days the hearts of many men will fail because of fear. Our hearts fail every time we make a decision based in fear, instead of believing to trust what is in our hearts. Our heart is each and everyones very own treasure chest that is open every time we choose to believe what is in it. Now if the key to all our happiness is in our treasure chest, which lies within our heart, wouldnt it make sense that our number one priority in life would be to discover our heart and what lies within it?
Every time we make a decision aligned with our heart, we tap into our power and release a potent and invisible energy into the world. This energy in turn orchestrates the universe to reflect back into our lives that ultimately leads us to fulfill our purpose.
We must believe that all of lifes experiences, situations, and relationships are there to take us on a great journey. A journey that creates opportunities for self-discovery and that promotes self-growth and awareness. One experience of life is death. However, it is not death in the physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. It is dying to who we thought we were and dying to what we thought we believed and to how we defined ourselves. A lot of what we thought really isnt even our own thoughts. They are actually thoughts we adopted from others. They are thoughts and beliefs imposed on us by others, beginning right down to when we were babies. In this process to self-discovery, we must cut off the junk we gathered in life that are not our own in order to become in alignment to who we are.
God is the very essence of lifethe life within us and the life outside us. As we continue the path of self-discovery, happiness is sure to follow. The compass that should aid us in our journey is called bliss. Following our bliss is the key to what is in your heart and ultimately to be one with God. The key to our fulfillment in life is not to create separation between who God is and who we are. We are one with God. We are cocreators with God, and we have the power to create whatever we want.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 31, 2008
• ISBN: 9781465328359

Ria Barna

Ria is a passionate believer in the goodness of life, against any odds. She is a powerful advocate for individual expression and true freedom. She strives to be a truer expression of the God within herself and to share her love and trust of life with all. She is a native Vermonter and resides there with her family, enjoying the vast beauty Vermont has to offer.

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Copyright © 2008 by Ria Barna.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Heaven on Earth

Chapter 1

The Key to Becoming All You are Meant to Be

Chapter 2

Relationships and God

Chapter 3

The Power of Duality

Chapter 4

God’s Sense of Humor

Chapter 5

Empowerment through Prayer

Chapter 6

God Speaks

Chapter 7

To Sacrifice Is to Gain

Chapter 8

Suffering

Chapter 9

Shedding Judgment

Chapter 10

Staying in the Flow of Trust

Chapter 11

Empowerment through Expression

Chapter 12

Thank You!

Closing

Turning the Key

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all my family and to ALL that have crossed my path on the journey of life, especially all of the earth angels that have come to my aid.

Thank you, sweetie, for believing in me and what I have to share of myself and helping to make it all possible. And of course, for our little sunshine that has shed so much light in our life.

Thank you, Mother Mary, for all the beautiful signs of encouragement and reassurance along my path.

And thank you, U2, for Where the Streets Have No Name!

Introduction

Heaven on Earth

When I first decided to share my experience and knowledge of God, another word for the power we own, I didn’t quite know where to begin. I didn’t know what my focus should be. It all seemed pretty basic to me. I even doubted if it was worth written word. It wasn’t like anyone hasn’t shared the same information in the past. But like Deepak Chopra says in his book entitled The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, everyone has their own unique and individual expression that no one else can duplicate. It is what makes us special and unique. The world would not be the same without it. So I decided to trust that. I wouldn’t let the fear of criticism stop me. Luckily, I also had someone who believed in me deeply, my husband. He kept encouraging me even though the material I wanted to share wasn’t his forte, or at least the expression of it wasn’t. Life has a way of delivering us loving encouragement in time of need. The life we perceive on the outside is simply working in unison of what we are within. You can say it’s a reflection of us trying to help us on our journey of self-discovery.

I will start at the beginning of my journey, my search for God, which ultimately led me to myself. I remember as a child, say around nine or ten years of age, of being so scared of what the world seem to behold. It was the first time I was exposed to death and feared it. There was a program on TV about a famous man who died and his funeral. I don’t remember any of the details other than I had the realization that I too would experience that someday. I was very moved, saddened, and frightened. The threat of a third world war also haunted me. I was so afraid of life ending. I could see the beauty of what it could be and couldn’t understand how God could let it end. I would overhear conversations about the threat of nuclear warfare between the United States and the Soviet Union. I couldn’t understand why two countries would want to do that to each other. What we hear from parents, television, and the news as a child has an exaggerated impact on us. I remember hearing an airplane outside of my home and wondering if it was going to drop a bomb on us. I lived in Vermont, and the likelihood of that happening was pretty rare. I was afraid of a world in constant threat of being destroyed. I was too afraid and embarrassed to discuss my fear with my parents. I lived with this for a long time. I even remember being in the waiting room of a doctor’s office and looking at a book and thinking to myself, This could be the last time I turn the pages of a book. The last time I look at a book. I tried to absorb every page in order to appreciate it. I would pray at night to God. I would pray for peace. I was taught that Jesus would come again. I prayed that it would be a peaceful coming. I begged God to let heaven come and that I may live to be part of it.

Even now, I feel kind of embarrassed of how ridiculous this might seem to you as the reader. Sharing this with you also brings tears to my eyes to think that a child would have to experience such fear. I know there are children in this world that experience fear in a very real way every day of their life. They experience seeing their own family murdered. Even though I did not experience this reality, my fear was very much real.

I believe Jesus is coming and working through me, and all of us who remain open, as a channel in bringing about heaven on earth in a very real way. I believe Jesus is a master that came to teach us to reclaim our power. It has taken thirty-nine years of working on me through life experiences to shed old beliefs in order to be open to receiving what I am to share. I am so thankful for that frightened ten-year-old girl who put me on the path that I was to follow, the path in search of truth and self-discovery.

What I’ve come to share with you is not rocket science. I am no brain that speaks scientific lingo. I’m simply a spirit living in the human body that wants nothing more than to be all God intended, which means to simply discover the power I hold within. I want for you the same that I want for myself, to break down the walls and to hold the inside. To come to the realization of all that we are and all that we can be in order for all of us to create our very own heaven on earth. Even Jesus said the time is now. We need only but believe. Well you know what? The time is now, and I sure do believe! It’s our openness and perception of life that brings it forth. It is breaking free of old conditioning and taking back our power. It is taking responsibility to create the life we want. It is all within our power. We already own heaven; we simply need to adjust our sight in order to see it.

Some definitions of heaven are an eternal state of communion with God, everlasting bliss, any place of complete bliss and delight in peace. As we discover the God within us and accept ourselves as that power, we will develop a direct line of communication with God, an eternal state of communion. We are not separate from God, He is not a separate entity, we are one with God. When we put forth effort into self-discovery, who we really are, this will create an alignment to God, our power within. And in doing so, this will bring about a deeper peace, which will be reflected to us through our life. Hence, we will have created a life that is a direct reflection of our own individuality and desires. Heaven, therefore, will not look the same for everybody, other than our underlying peace and joy with the life we live. We will all still be connected to each other through energy, but in a way that is beneficial for all. It is like if you take a great piece of art, a painting for example, and break it down into many pieces, each piece is beautiful in itself and is not the same as the other pieces, but when brought together they create an even greater piece of work.

In order to enter the kingdom of God, which already exists within us, we must be like a child. A young child is filled with trust, curiosity, wonder, and belief. A child approaches life from an open heart. He or she does not know judgment, lack of abundance, fear, jealousy, or sin. He does not question being provided for. A child is in awe at the world around him. He is enthusiastic in learning about his world. If we could only continue the mentality of a child, the trust, the openheartedness, the innocence, we would not need to break free of all of the crap we accumulate through life only to get back to where we started, but as the old saying goes, We know not who we are until we know who we are not.

The kingdom of God, heaven, should be simple to attain. We make it more complex. It already exists. We simply need to break free from worldly conditioning and expectations that we accumulate in adulthood. This conditioning blinds us from seeing what truly can be. Start now by trusting with the heart of a child even if you don’t see anything change for a long time; simply believe all is possible. Belief in itself will release energy with the eternal blessings. Simply believe life is good, life is abundant, and life always has our best interests at heart. Your life may undergo catastrophic upheaval along the way. That too is good. It is a tearing down of things that no longer serve you on your new path. It is like God tearing down the Tower of Babel or destroying a city not built in his name. The same is with us, we must tear down the life we built that is not a reflection of who we are in order to build a life that is in alignment with our heart. In his name simply means from the heart with love and pure intent. When we build a life with the wrong intent, even though it may be what we were taught but not what or who we truly are in the heart, then it’s not of God. It is not representing our true nature or individuality.

For one man to choose the path to be a lawyer may be of the heart, but for another man to be a lawyer it may be out of obligation to fulfill a parent’s desire. It’s not what we do in life; it is why we do it. To enter the kingdom of God does not require religious laws and regulations. Religions are created as guides to help those who need direction. Hopefully religion leads us to question and seek deeper who we are, to seek truth. As a young adult, I would question a lot of Catholic teachings. Some teachings guided me to become closer to God, yet some I questioned the truth of because they didn’t sit peacefully within me. In questioning who God was, I received answers. My answers did not come through religion but through the spirit within me.

Religion, if not approached properly, can cause separateness, self-righteousness, judgment, and fear. We need to shed all that. Ironically, in order to come into our truth and our power,