Living a Spiritualized Life: Transformational Bridges to Our Inner Universe

By Amanda Riley

Living a Spiritualized Life: Transformational Bridges to Our Inner Universe offers metaphysical guidance on how you can transcend negative habits, addictions, and other discordant behaviors. It provides transformational spiritual bridges to your inner universe as it moves you through profound inner changes leading from fear to love.

These bridges to a deeper spiritual awareness include the following:
Taking responsibility
Practicing forgiveness
Expressing gratitude
Setting intentions
Choosing happiness
Surrendering and allowing
Demonstrating willingness
Accepting what arises

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504368698

Amanda Riley

Amanda Riley currently heads a private spiritual counseling, teaching, and healing practice. She is an ordained metaphysical minister, addiction counselor, Reiki master teacher, is a dedicated student of A Course in Miracles and The Way of Mastery, and holds a master’s degree in counseling. She offers a unique perspective based on thirty-three years of freedom from addictions, made possible through a commitment to her spiritual path. Rev. Riley resides in Southern California with her husband and their two dogs. See InnerPathBridges.org for more information.

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Copyright © 2016 Amanda Riley.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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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: 978-1-5043-6868-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-6869-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918034

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/05/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

Addiction

Willingness

From Separation to Oneness

Acceptance

Taking Responsibility

Self-Discovery

Forgiveness

Surrender, Allowance, Humility and Trust

Fear vs Love

Living on Purpose and with Intention

Gratitude

Happiness

Relationships

Consciousness

Epilogue

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.

~A Course in Miracles: T21In.1:7

Bridge: Ultimately, our bridge to Love is our Higher Self—that which is always connected to our Source.

Living a Spiritualized Life is about healing our minds, emotions, and spirit through a power greater than our small, physical selves—through an inner strength beyond anything of this world. This Higher Power is not associated with religious theology. It is, instead, a spiritual (spirit in action) or metaphysical concept that transcends, and yet, is underneath the physical reality. This spiritual perspective is a way of experiencing the power of life. I sometimes call this power: Source, Inner Guide, Higher Power, Goddess, Love, Spirit, Christ Consciousness, Divine Essence, Creator, Buddha, Life Force, Presence, Universe, Higher Self, Ultimate Being, and sometimes God. It does not care what we call it as it is formless, egoless, and ultimately nameless. As the chapters move you forward, you will note these labels being used interchangeably to describe the powerful, loving, guiding essence that is always present in us, and as us when we are open to experience its peace and to spiritualize our life.

As you read this material, try and disencumber yourself from preconceived ideas about what Source is and experience it instead. Eventually, you will probably be comfortable calling it by one or more of the above names, or one of your own; but, try not to get attached to a name and miss the experience. Names are just symbols that point to something, but they are not that to which they are pointing. A map of Nevada has a symbol for Lake Mead on it, but you cannot stand on the map’s symbol and expect to get wet in Lake Mead. We, unfortunately but necessarily, feel compelled to label everything while in physical form in order to communicate with others, but we must remember that labels can create a new set of problems if we forget that words are just symbols.

Metaphysically, God does not have any form. The Creator does not sit in judgment of the world. God is not an authority figure. God is Love. Spirit transcends the world. The Divine Essence is all there is in a spiritual sense. Goddess is peace. Source is the fabric of the Life Force. God is what powers the wind and causes a seed to grow. Source is what lives through us. God is literally everything we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. It is also everything without visible form—everything we cannot see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.

Viewing our world from a spiritual or metaphysical perspective allows the totality of what is present to become apparent and assists us in our quest to experience our Self as part of the inherent interconnectedness of all things. It facilitates recognition of our wholeness and then, as we expand our horizons, it helps us see our Self as an integral piece of the Oneness—and ultimately as the Oneness itself. In this approach to consciousness, we discover that we are the creator of our reality, and are not separate from, nor the victim of, anything or anyone.

This Spiritual perspective can be applied to any subject. The current application, and the focus of this book, directs the process towards the healing of addictions, habits, and other discordant thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is for anyone who is not at peace. It uncovers the wholeness and well-being that is present in all of us and, therefore, makes addictive behaviors and other forms of unhappiness undesirable and unnecessary.

This perspective is not interested in integrating false selves or reframing trauma, but focuses rather on the One that is beyond all the parts. It recognizes and leads to experiences that move us into the underlying unity. It looks at the metaphysics of who we are; it looks at the deeper meaning of life. It explores the never-changing, and yet constantly expanding, world of Divine reality. It is a process of spiritual awareness rather than an addiction recovery technique.

The roots of addiction and other manifestations of discord, like dysfunctional relationships and materialism, arise out of the search for happiness outside of our Self. Lasting fulfillment, however, must always come from within our Self. When we continually long for something to complete us—when we continually reach for that thing outside of us that we think will make us happy—we will continually hit our heads against the proverbial brick wall, and eventually we will develop a mental, emotional, and spiritual sickness at our very core.

This sickness includes a belief that we are separate from Source. This belief is all-pervasive and powerful and it keeps the spiral of addiction, and other dysfunctional behaviors, flowing. Breaking the cycle means we must forge a new path, one that includes Source—one where we awaken to the reality that we are one with Source.

There are many paths to God. For illustrative purposes when trying to grasp the concept of a ‘path to God’, it might be helpful to imagine a huge mountain with a very broad base, broad enough for everyone currently on this planet to stand side-by-side on the ground in front of it. Then, imagine that there are meadows, trees, rivers, creeks, caves, animals, plants, rocks, and precipices scattered around the mountain. Imagine also that God resides at the very peak of this expansive mountain, but is, at the same time, also the mountain itself. And finally, imagine that this mountain has 7.4 billion paths—one for every human being currently alive—and each path leads to the peak and to Source. On some parts of the journey up the mountain, there might be wind, snow, and hungry wild life; and on others, languid sunshine, bunnies, and deer. The ‘path’ is our life, and we will ultimately discover that the path itself is God.

For the adventuresome and those who like to think independently, the idea that we each have a unique journey might be exciting. It is perhaps not so welcome and positive for those less secure individuals who want to follow behind someone else as they trudge up the path. The challenge in following someone else’s footsteps is that they might slip and fall backwards more times than we would have by ourselves, and so we would suffer unnecessarily; this leader might give up half way up the mountain, taking away our motivation along with theirs. On the other hand, others can encourage us, provide inspiration, and point out possible pit falls. Either way, it is impossible to have the exact same experiences as someone else; so in essence, everyone’s path is distinctive and solitary. Sometimes we follow, sometimes we lead, and sometimes we are alone on our path.

We might or might not decide to follow various spiritual and/or religious teachers as we journey towards the peak. Whether we like it or not, and whether we recognize it or not, we most certainly will be taught by everyone we encounter in our lifetime—if we remain open and teachable. Relationships with other humans, animals, plants, God, and the earth are what provide the grist for our life stories, for a meaningful life search, and for our ultimate spiritual success. They are what give depth to life and teach compassion.

These relationships are also what provide opportunities for forgiveness, as A Course in Miracles (ACIM) defines the process of forgiveness. Imagine a situation arising where an unpleasant emotion becomes present within you. Maybe someone’s behavior made you angry. With forgiveness, there are two choices in this situation. You can choose to see the person as either extending Love or asking for Love and help. Either way, the forgiveness principle directs us to respond with Love if we want our inside experience to be peaceful and positive. Without forgiveness, our reaction to situations is often fearful and judgmental, making our experience negative and discordant.

Responding with Love, rather than fear, is perhaps backwards from our normal reaction pattern. Judgment and blame, which result from fear, are habitual responses, and they keep us from seeing our own responsibility in the situations we encounter. When we accept responsibility for a situation, including our anger, we can change our perception and our experience. Even though we may not be responsible for what arises on our path, we are always responsible for our thoughts and responses to it.

For me personally, the metaphysical perspective has taken me from a sense of powerlessness and despair to a growing sense of Love and peace. Throughout these chapters, I use my personal journey through addiction recovery and the healing of my story as an example of how powerlessness and confusion appear in all our lives. When we change our mind, we change our behavior and when we respond from our hearts, we change our experience. I use my errors and periods of stagnation—as well as my successes and growth periods—to illustrate how our Higher Self can use all our thoughts, beliefs, and actions to help us find our way Home.

The principles, I use—for example, acceptance—are not strictly spiritual principles but my focus when I discuss them is on the spiritual bridges they provide. They align us with the highest principles and act as bridges to Source. Try to be open minded and come to the discussion of each principle like a child who has not been conditioned by the egoic aspects of life. See them through fresh eyes—eyes of wonder, curiosity, and innocence. They are gateway principles to a spiritual recognition and resonance—or the awareness of another dimension of reality—that is based on non-duality and Love. They help us to experience positive facets of our sojourn here in this 3rd dimensional reality. They are bridges between our small, ego centric self and function as our Higher Self as we connect to the Creator. They are tools to foster a connection to a Higher Power.

Spiritualizing life helps us change our mind about the world since we cannot change what arises within the world. The nature of this world is impermanent—what is born must die; what is young must get old; what is green eventually turns brown; what passes for human love, eventually turns into something else. There is no way that we can permanently change the world into one that is stable and predictable.

The world we think we see outside our mind is an illusion—a dream of lack and limitation—and what we, the dreamers, experience within the illusion is dependent on our thoughts and beliefs. If inner thoughts and beliefs are fear-based, then what we project and see with our physical eyes and hear with our physical ears will be fear-based. If, on the other hand, what we see and hear is Love-based then what we will experience will be Love-based. This is so because what we see ‘outside’ is always a reflection of what is ‘inside’ our minds. Once this concept is accepted, our life is irrevocably changed.

Knowing our experience on planet Earth to be a dream does not mean that we cannot help others who are in despair, that we cannot stop abuses when we encounter them, and that we cannot give comfort and food to the homeless and hungry. It means, instead, that when we do help others, we do so from a place of Love rather than from anger, fear, and a sense of obligation. Our purpose, in fact, is to bring Divine Love into the physical dimensions in whatever ways seem appropriate and helpful.

It can be helpful to see how others, historically, have made it to God’s peak, and in that spirit, I share pieces of my personal story as a ragged blueprint for your contemplation. My addictions, my ever-deepening spiritual expansion, and my work within the addiction recovery community originally helped me to understand the need to swap stories of success, failure, and inspiration. I recognize the persistent challenges individuals within this community have in identifying and defining a spiritual ideal to aspire towards because I, too, was once completely lost spiritually and without supportive guide posts. I did possess, however, a kernel of hope and courage, and I just kept reading spiritual guide books and listening to spiritual teachers until my own distinctive path opened up in front of my footsteps.

At the beginning of my journey, Spirit was unseen and unfelt. Eventually, it became a knowing deep within me that I am not separate from it. It is me and I am it. Along the way, I found bridges that shed light on my soul and I discovered, while trying to walk in other people’s footsteps, that a unique spiritual path exists for each one of us. The spiritual principles outlined ahead can be used by anyone who wants assistance in discovering and recognizing ‘their path’, whether they are shedding addictions or just trying to be more peaceful.

I learned about these spiritual principles from episodes within my own journey and from anecdotes from the lives of people I met along the way. But remember, you will have your own experiences. Use those of my experiences that help you and discard those that do not.

My personal story is about powerlessness, depression, fear, shame, desire, anger, pride, courage, truth, hope, acceptance, appreciation, love and peace. My story is about rising in consciousness during a lifetime on planet Earth. It is about the struggle and the flow. It is about sickness outside the soul that manifested partially as addiction, but also as emotional states such as anger and ultimately fear.

The journey, at times, seemed slow, but in fact it all happened in the blink of an eye. Sometimes the journey seemed endless and, in fact, it was and continues to be because there is no end to the unfoldment. At this point, the journey seems to be one without distance (from A Course in Miracles). Wherever I go, whatever I do, I am still present and that’s where the journey really was all along—inside myself.

And so, this book has been written as a guide book for you to carry on your journey. It is filled with spiritual bridges, certainly not an exhaustive list, but enough to get you part way up the mountain and shine light on your journey. Think of them as primers, basic approaches that can build a foundation for your commitment to seek nurturing and sustenance from the internally-dwelling Spirit rather than from the external focus on other people, places, and things.

In the end, I hope you will have discovered a spiritual path, a more holistic way to live, a way to make a connection with your Higher Self, with God. It will change who and what you are in relationship to the world you think you see outside yourself. This is a journey from separation to wholeness, and the answers will unfold within you if you listen to what arises from deep inside your soul.

So, let us go on a journey together—a journey of discovery. Let us change our minds and watch how the world we think we see outside of us changes.

I think of myself as a spiritual catalyst who is always available to provide inspiration for others who want to initiate and deepen their own exploration into Spirit. I hope this material will act as a catalyst for your growth and healing.

Welcome to the Light,

Rev. Amanda Riley

ADDICTION

Thinking about addiction from a metaphysical, or spiritual, perspective is different than viewing it from a disease or psychological model. These various viewpoints are not better or worse than each other; they are merely different perspectives. For me, the spiritual transmutation model is the one that makes the most sense, and the one that has worked for me.

We are spiritual beings, meaning that we are of Spirit; and, at the moment, a part of our spiritual being is viewing life from a physical perspective and is having physical experiences. Addictive behaviors, within this physical experience, are part of our state of being when we feel disconnected from our authentic, spiritual Self, and when we forget that we have a choice to experience Love instead of fear in every moment. When we are conscious and aware of Presence, we are not identifying with discordant thoughts, and we can recognize peace within us.

When we feel incomplete within ourselves, we attach our Self to other people, substances, and/or activities hoping that we will find completion and safety outside of our Self. We think someone or something is going to make us happy because we think we are not whole. Habitual patterns and addiction occur within the physical realm when we are unwilling to let go of something that is no longer helpful, nurturing, or beneficial. We attach to something and our identity becomes closely allied with this something outside our Self; this is when fear takes over our lives. When this happens, we ‘do’ instead of ‘be’, and we remain on the emotional roller coaster ride of addiction which can seem never ending.

We forget that we can choose in any given moment to be happy. We forget that when we tap into the loving Presence that is always available, fear and discontent fall away. We forget that in this physical realm:

• Everything is impermanent;

• Willingness opens channels to Higher Power;

• Acceptance of each moment is a healing choice;

• Happiness does not depend on what is happening outside;

• Compassion and Love flow through us from Source;

• We can set intentions and manifest what we wish to experience;

• Intuitive/inner guidance is always available;

• Beliefs and attitudes are keys to experiences;

• We have a responsibility to our Self, but we also have choices;

• Living consciously and mindfully helps to create peace and serenity;

• Gratitude opens up the ability to receive the Universe’s abundance;

• Our purpose is to remember and be our true Self and to bring Love into our physical experience;

• Our Source is limitless, and we are connected to it;

• The belief in this dream is weakened as we break free of habitual patterns and move into full consciousness;

• Surrendering control to God is freedom;

• There are only two choices: fear and Love;

• Forgiveness transcends appearances; and

• Meditation, visualizations, and prayer calm the mind.

Religions sometimes view addictions as sinful, shameful, or indicative of a person with a low moral character; this is a stance with which I disagree wholeheartedly. It is part of what needs to be healed within the egoic thought system. Also, one root of addiction is a belief that we need something else before we can be happy and that belief also needs healing. The spiritual mind and heart are where healing should be focused.

Addiction Beliefs

Incidentally, in the material that follows, addiction to alcohol, drugs, pornography, hoarding, social networking, sex, gambling, money, power, sugar, food in general, body image, constant striving for approval and love, pathological feelings of unworthiness, compulsive gossiping, workaholism, etc. have all been lumped into the same container for the purpose of discussing spiritual solutions to addiction challenges. I recognize that these addictions are complex (volumes have been written about most of them from a scientific perspective), but from a spiritual perspective, the primary cause is the belief that we think we are disconnected from our Source, and the primary solution is the recognition that disconnection to Source is impossible. There are other commonalities among these various addictive patterns as well.

For instance, if we engage in an addictive behavior, we probably have a belief that something outside our Self will make us happy if we could only find it. We, therefore, keep engaging in the addictive behavior as we chase the illusive happiness that seems to be right around the corner in the next horse race, the next beer, the next puff on a pipe, the next girl or boyfriend, the next job, the next million dollars, or the next piece of chocolate cake. We might also think that happiness will come in the form of being right, gaining control, winning approval, or becoming worthy in the eyes of other people. When our outside search doesn’t work, we seek the object of our addiction to relieve our pain or to increase our sense of well-being.

If our addiction is gambling, we perhaps think that happiness, in the form of wealth, excitement, and maybe order, will come from flipping over the next card or throwing the dice one more time; and so we go further in debt to finance the ‘relief’ from poverty, boredom, and chaos.

If our addiction is alcohol or other drugs, we might think that happiness, in the form of courage and contentment, will come from the next drink or the next drug; and so we have another shot of whiskey or inject another dose of heroin in hopes of finding ‘relief’ from failure, chaos, and despair.

If our addiction is sex, we might think that happiness will come from sexual masturbation or intercourse with another human being; and so we seek ‘relief’ from physical craving with the next orgasm. We sometimes seek the psychological and emotional benefits of taking risks as well.

If our addiction is sugar, or food in general, our projected feeling of well-being or peace appears to come from the next bite of food or the next sugar rush. What comes instead is remorse, guilt, and unwanted weight and other health problems.

If our addiction is compulsive buying, we seek relief by buying one more doll, one more book, one more dress or one more pair of shoes. What comes instead is remorse, guilt, and disappointment.

In other words, when we engage in an addictive behavior, we do not feel whole and complete without something added from the outside to fill us up and provide the finishing touches. We lack peace, and we do not feel safe without outside substances, activities, or people. We believe something is lacking in us. We attach to other people,