Being: Messages of Soul

By S.D. Solomon

Who am I? Where is God? Why are we here?

Human beings have asked these primal and perennial questions since immemorial times. Even before adulthood, these queries emerge from the depths of our being during early childhood. At any age, arriving at the answers proves daunting; and for many, the quest remains a life-long challenge. We can either seek to discover the answers, or we can ignore the questions as though they do not exist in our minds. The choice is our own to make; but these questions do not simply go away.

How many people even come close to discovering any of the answers? How many simply give up trying?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jun 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504332057

S.D. Solomon

S. D. Solomon is a soul-inspired essayist, poet, and songwriter. A seeker of truth, she affirms that all things in life are spiritual, and this theme resonates throughout her work. S. D. Solomon seeks to share the lessons gained from her lifelong quest to answer life’s recurrent questions. These are the questions we all ask about God, life, and self. Her spiritual journey began at the age of nine when she started to seriously ponder the questions: Who am I? Where is God? Why are we here? Well-intending adults disappointed her with what she believed were non-answers, and she vowed that she would become a discoverer of the truth and arrive at the answers for herself. She later learned that she had been in fact seeking wisdom. Many decades later, S. D. Solomon is telling the story of her spiritual journey and encouraging others to stay on their own souls’ quests. She says, “The answers that we all seek do exist, and they are available to all.”

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Copyright © 2015 S.D. Soloman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-3204-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-3206-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-3205-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015906398

Balboa Press rev. date: 06/11/2015

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Soul Is Calling

Unfoldment

In The Dark

Degeneration

I Am Mind

Fears

Help, Lord!

Spiritual First Aid

Temptation

The Christ

Human Sin

The Power Of Light

Inner-Self Discovery

The Labors Of Humans

Soul’s Quest

The Path Of Knowledge

Promises, Promises

What Ails You?

Upon The Path With Child In Tow

The Technology Age Is The Spiritual Age

Sky Gazing

My Sweet Lord, The Student Is Ready

The Guru Will Appear

Panic

The Good Shepherd, King Solomon, And Me

Faith

A Child’S Place

Guided

Dreamer

The Force

Right Friendships

A New Beginning

Choice

Right Where You Need To Be

Intuition

Getting Wisdom

Acknowledging The Dweller Within

The Way, The Truth, And The Light

Jesus

Bible Study

Ma’at

The Message

Starting Out: The Fool

Truth

The Questions From Within

Anxiety

Identity

Validation

Sacredness

Is It Really God’s Fault?

Prayer Changes Things And People Too

A Silent Prayer For The Downtown District

Spiritual Vetting

Soul Existence

Soul Evolution

Old Souls

Reincarnation Is The Opportunity Of A Lifetime

Mistaken Identity

Life Is A Stage

On Balancing

Know Thyself!

Blessings

Devotion

On Keeping An Open Mind

A Guiding Light

Be Mindful

Heart And Soul

Fourth Chakra

Your Heart Center

Being

Forgiveness

Co-Creators

Methods

Summary

DEDICATION

I am forever indebited to those who taught me: A.C.E., Metaphysician, mentor, father and friend. Mrs. Lois Carpenter, masterful and dedicated educator who helped shaped my world; and Cousin Phyllis, who gave her best. Thank you.

PREFACE

This work is a collection of seventy-three short essays and a Summary dedicated to the seeker—the spiritually minded who seeks to become enlightened in life’s so-called mysteries, particularly the perennial, lasting questions about God, self and life’s purpose. It is intended to address some of the needs of those individuals who have had little or no spiritual training and who are in search of answers. I make no claim that this book is the answer. Rather, I offer it only as a testament which I seek to share about my own journey on my path. It entails some of what I experienced and learned from my own perspective, being a seeker of knowledge and wisdom myself.

Being: Messages of Soul is intended mainly to encourage and inspire the seeker in his or her personal search. It touches on topics and basic spiritual principles that might be of interest.

Being is a reminder to the reader to seek wisdom. Within each person resides a very personal, ever ready and wise Inner-Guide. Attaining wisdom requires the attunement of one’s mind with this guide, which is the soul. Through this personal, individualized soul we are connected to the universal All Soul, which is God, of which we are all progeny and offspring. Wisdom can be found by seeking the answers to the complex, perennial (inner) questions of life with the confidence that the answers do exist, and by spending time alone to reflect upon the abounding nature around us as well as one’s own inner nature. With patience, in time and in degrees, wisdom may be found by all.

Namaste—I salute the divine in you!

S. D. Solomon

April 21, 2014

SOUL IS CALLING

When a child or adult wonders, Who am I? Why am I here? Where is God? or What is the meaning of life? it is in response to the soul’s calling. Our souls are always inviting us on the mystical path—the Path of Firsthand Knowledge.

The thirst for personal knowledge of God and spiritual truth is not something fanciful. It could be said that such knowledge is the ultimate desire. I grew up crying my eyes out in private because I couldn’t find the answers to all the questions I had about God. I wanted more than anything else in the whole wide world to find God and know him. My deep yearning was excruciating, and I often wondered why I wanted something that seemed so impossible to attain. By writing about my own spiritual experiences and the things that I have learned, I hope that someone else who may be going through a similar experience of bewilderment and self-doubt will benefit by reading Being: Messages of Soul.

Some people associate spirituality with having one’s head in the clouds. I went through a brief period like that, feeling spiritually dreamy. By the time I entered my twenties, I felt like I was drifting aimlessly upon life’s tides, but I grew out of it. I learned that there are no utopias, that life is 60:40, that the odds must be stacked higher. I had no other choice than to evolve out of my dream state and get down to the business of living life and doing what was required of me.

I soon discovered that that is what spirituality is about—becoming, being, and doing. Everything in existence is spiritual: every particle, every atom, every thought, every being—everything. Spirit is the essence of all things and all being. Every experience is an expression of the spiritual. While the gift of imagination has its place—it is, after all, one of our many spiritual gifts—spirituality is reality based. It isn’t about wishing, dreaming, and fantasizing. The spiritual seeker must be anchored in earth-life reality, or may otherwise become lost between dimensions.

Life is work, and spirituality isn’t any different. That the path of the seeker can be very arduous is no overstatement. The spiritual path is worth undertaking, but know that on this wonderful and practical path, even the seemingly ordinary experiences are no longer ordinary.

The path gets easier, then difficult again. For me, every time I reached a plateau where I felt I had found some answers and figured out my life, just a little way down the path I found myself back at what seemed like square one. I was floundering once again in an all too familiar state of ignorance and confusion, in which the only one thing I knew was that I didn’t really know anything at all. The journey on the Path of Firsthand Knowledge is an upward climb. It is not different or separate from the rest of our life experiences. This spiritual path is life itself.

On the spiritual journey, there are times when we may feel discouraged and overwhelmed by the challenge of getting to that point of awareness where we think we should be in our spiritual development. I certainly have felt that way. We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves, however. It takes time to figure out the many things we need or want to know about life and God. And that is why it is necessary to learn spiritual laws and principles. They are the true golden rules and keys to life. The earlier in life we obtain these keys or learn these rules, the sooner we can begin to benefit from daily life and the less we should suffer.

From a child up through adulthood I used to feel very anxious to get the answers to life’s mysteries but I have come to realize that truth-seeking is a long and beautiful journey. I wasted so much energy feeling anxious when I could have been enjoying the journey. I have learned that life is about arriving at answers, not merely getting them. Arriving at spiritual truths or answers is a gradual, ongoing process, while getting them suggests immediacy. I have learned to be content and in ecstasy at ever stage in my spiritual development. Though I still work tirelessly to discover the answers I am seeking, I am now also willing to wait patiently as I grow in spiritual awareness. It takes time to develop that certain confidence in our own process, and I have learned that at the moment when we are ready, and only then, the answers we are seeking do come to us. To quote the great 13th-century Sufi mystic poet, Rumi what you seek is seeking you. As sincere seekers our learning to be gradual, but certain. The answers indeed will find us. No longer do I believe that I must know everything all at once.

It is important and necessary that we develope the confidence that we already have inside of us everything we need. The source of all things is in the universe, in God, of whom we are a part. No one needs to know everything at once nor at all. Rather than anxiously trying to know everything there is to know in life, we can tell ourselves, I will learn what I need to know, and proceed to work with patience toward that goal. I owe this wisdom to a great Master teacher, A.C.E. whom I had the honor of meeting on my journey long ago.

If we are to progress successfully on our spiritual journeys, the attitudes of devotion, love and surrender are prerequisites. Because the spiritual path is so challenging, it can be tempting to want to give up the search for truth. Many times I asked myself why I couldn’t just be like everyone else and be satisfied with an ordinary life. All around me my peers were enjoying life’s pleasures while I was obsessed with pondering and pining for deeper meanings. I can laugh at myself now, but then I used to fret and cry out of frustration.

There is a song from the 1970s by the popular music band Earth, Wind and Fire that says that you need devotion. It is a beautiful and inspiring song that reflects upon the benefits of having a sense of (spiritual) devotion in life. Human beings do need devotion as much as we need knowledge because we suffer for lack of either of these. No matter how hopeless our cause may seem, it is impossible to give up when we are devoted to something higher, greater and more real than any problem we may encounter in life. We need devotion to the Source of all. The quality of the music (and other forms of entertainment) we are exposed to can influence us beyond the time that we are tuned in to them. I am eternally grateful to artists whose work is to inspire as much as to entertain.

While it is important to dedicatedly seek spiritual truths and not lose hope of ever finding them, we must also take care not to overlook those magnificent truths engendered from our ordinary, mundane experiences. That omnipotent Spirit permeates all beings, places, and things makes it possible for anyone or anything, however seemingly insignificant, to be used by the universe to reveal truth to us. Thus, every experience or exchange between people is spiritual by nature. In essence, all have value and worth (and spirit). Even a so-called bum can be used by spirit to impart a lesson in wisdom to you or I. All have soul-essence which is the cord that binds every person and thing in nature together. Without an awareness of and surrender to the universality or unification of spirit, we love less and our lives are lived ignorantly, carelessly, perhaps even recklessly. Surrendering or trusting the universe to provide the truths we seek through whomever, whatever and wherever it will is a great leap of faith. When we have gotten all the experiences we need wherever we presently find ourselves, the path we have exhausted diverges, and a new reality emerges. Our reality shifts because our consciousness shifts. We experience life according to the quality or vibration of our consciousness: thoughts, attitudes, feelings and beliefs. It is important to be sincere and maintaining a right and harmless intent towards others. Embodying these traits, in whatever places or conditions in which we are enacting our lives in the present moment, clears inner-space for our spirituality to bloom. We should make ourselves right on the inside, so that we can be ready to receive the truths or any of the other good thing we want in our lives. Know that not everything we undertake or undergo presently (or previously) is solely for the benefit of this one lifetime. Each being is immortal, infinite, never-ending, ever-evolving soul. Our future selves are certain to benefit from our present earth journey just as we are presently benefiting from past ones despite that we do not recall. Though we desire the answers to those perennial questions that we began asking as very young children, it isn’t just the answers that are important. The questions of Who am I? Why am I here? Where is God? and What is the meaning of life? are of themselves the keys to unlocking life’s mysteries. Understanding this, let us therefore press on our journey now, ever evolving with the confidence that yes, the answers do exist and attaining them is possible.

UNFOLDMENT

Everything in nature has its process. The spiritual, unseen life also has its process and everything is spirit. Even a flower has a spiritual life. And like the unfolding of a flower, we too experience the unfolding of our lives and souls. Analogous to the unfolding of flower petals, we don’t necessarily observe our soul’s unfolding as it is happening to us. All growth is gradual, this includes spiritually. In all aspects of our development we are continually becoming. Gradually, degree by degree and stage by stage, we evolve into who we are.

Throughout nature, the soul’s process is exemplified. The unfoldment of soul is a form of spiritual labor, as if giving birth to self. At the start, a soul’s unfolding may be experienced as a deep, unexplainable sadness or fear. It can result in a sense of frustration, as though some vital element is missing from one’s life and being. It is this very sense of frustration that causes many individuals to give up the spiritual quest as soon as it begins. The unknown can range in feelings of discomfort to the point of trepidation. It is a confounding feeling when we aren’t able to identify or explain what is happening within our own being. It is this stressful feeling that can cause a person who is struggling spiritually to choose the path of least resistance and give up on self or sadly, even life altogether. In mysticism, this stage is called the dark night of the soul. It is unlikely, even impossible to live a full life and have never experienced this phase of being. If only we could start out knowing that this is just a natural part of the human experience, that awareness could spare us much pain and suffering. From my own experience, I have learned that often, much of what I have suffered was due greatly to my lack of awareness and understanding, more so than from the actual events or circumstances that I was experiencing. In hindsight, I now know that how we suffer is equally, perhaps even more significant than what we suffer. I vaguely remember coming across a quote many moons ago that we suffer because we suffer, however I don’t recall the source or reference. Maybe it was in a fortune cookie, or perhaps it was Bhagwan’s Only One Sky. Lives could be saved, crimes prevented and many addictions could be prevented if people were taught about suffering. We add to our suffering because we simply do not know how to suffer.

Too often, people make the mistake of believing that the remedy to suffering is in something external: more money, more partying, imbibing alcohol or medicating—anything that may numb their emotions and make them temporarily unaware of how they are truly feeling inside. But with the exception of abusive situations, suffering is an internal matter for the most part. We shouldn’t attempt to override it through medicating and other forms of escape. Rather, what is needed is stillness, silence and going within one’s self. This is called finding one’s own soul. Reading of holy books such as the Bhagavada Gita, Holy Bible, Holy Quran, etc. are especially useful for guiding any seeker in the ways of devotion and how to live. These texts are gifts from God, the universal Intelligence for the aid and spiritual armorment of whomsoever will. It doesn’t matter which faith you may or may not espouse, these great and holy books are for the benefit of humanity. When we live as human beings first and make any religious label a secondary thing, we can benefit from any and every good book, because truth and love is the only true religion.

IN THE DARK

Today, people young and old, and from all walks of life are in need of hope. With constant news of tragedy, in the form of seemingly senseless, unprovoked, and unexplainable acts of violence, it appears that humans are losing their minds on a grand scale. It is as though people are surrendering their souls to negativity and darkness and then releasing the resultant sense of emptiness and frustration on the rest of society. We have to find the explanation for this pattern in present-day culture.

As human beings, we are always free to choose, but we must first be aware that we have choices and what those choices are. The forces of good and so-called evil in the world are ever present. We can choose to surrender to a high or positive spiritual frequency, rising above the darkness that is in us, and existing in a guiding light. Or we can slump down and be ruled by the low, negative frequencies of nature that is also in us as well as around us. Those are our choices and only we can decide which one we will choose.

With right will, we can summon the strength to make the right choices. But how can we invoke that right will when we are engulfed in a culture of medicating even the slightest feeling of imbalance or disenchantment? What do we accomplish if we get in the habit of taking drugs to fix and adjust our moods? As humans, created and not made, unlike a machine, we don’t require fixing. Conditions and situations and our actions may need to be rectified, such is life; but masking or esaping our problems is never the solution.

Human beings are supposed to go through changes. It is human to feel blue or sad sometimes. It is human to feel unfulfilled or ungratified at different points in our lives. We have to realize that life is light as well as its absence (dark), good as well as its absence (bad), up and down, etc. Life is duality, it is made up of opposites. Living well is a matter of balancing those dual or opposing energies. Suffering emotionally or in any form is a matter of balance. It is natural that we all suffer some. Whatever is the cause of our pain has to be faced, overcome, and corrected, but never,