Spirituality is my passion - always was. What I defined as „spiritual“ changed over time though. When I was a teenager and started my journey, Reiki and Energy work was my „Spirituality“. After that Advaita Vedanta entered my life and from then on, this was my path for many years.
Interesting enough, all this was still centered around the idea, that I was a body or that I had to get rid of the identification with the body to „get to“ spirit. Everything that was not physical, was therefore spiritual for me, and since I secretly believed, that I was a body, I automatically saw it as a hindrance. I know, that many people see it this way too.
Only with deeper study of A Course in Miracles I realized, that spirituality has nothing whatsoever to do with the body and the world of form.
It is to realize that what „I am“ is no form at all - not even a soul or an energy (since energy is also just a subtler part of form).
The deepest longing
What I experienced over these many years and what showed up in different „forms“ as „spirituality“ had one thing behind it and I was not even aware of it. It’s a deep longing for the Divine - for God - and to rest in this Peace and Love beyond any understanding.
It’s the longing to come home, to be at home beyond time and space.
Again this longing showed itself as seeking in different subtle forms over the years - may you call it the search for enlightenment, for love, wisdom or Oneness.
As ACIM teaches, that „there is nothing so blinding as perception of form“, this is also the case of „spiritual form“. There are endless techniques and methods, that want to teach you how to be more spiritual or enlightened.
So the temptation with any of this teachings is, to get stuck on the form it takes. Even knowing perfectly well, that we shouldn’t get lost in focusing on the finger that points to the moon instead of the moon itself, it happens all the time.
What is much more interesting, is the longing itself.
And then for the first time, I experienced it in its purest expression:
as a silent whisper of the Divine - the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The Call: „Come home. I’m here.“
So what I realized was, that this longing to be one with the Divine, is the language the Holy Spirit speaks in. It’s silent, so you have to be very attentive to hear it. It does not rush or push you - it also doesn’t shout at you. It’s just a very gentle pull - an invitation to come home.
There is a nice quote in A Course in Miracles, that the ego always speaks first and always is wrong. This is why we don’t hear „The Call“.
It’s important to know, that you don’t have to react on it. There is nothing you have to do with it - just listen.
You don’t need any method or technique for that...
The most beautiful thing is, that The Call is always there. It’s even there, when your ego is doing its continuous chattering. So in other words, it’s also there, when you are listening to the voice of your ego.
Sometimes it can be hard to hear it, especially when you think that it speaks the same language as your ego does.
When someone tells you - like Jesus in A Course in Miracles - that you always have a choice to which voice you want to listen, and you don’t know how „the other voice“ sounds like, it can be difficult.
So I’m here trying to explain to you here, what you have to listen for. The challenge is, that I’m doing this with words and words are the domain of the ego. So we have to treat lightly into this new territory.
When you are trying to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice, the best way to start is to look for this deeper inner longing I described above. Most of times, it will show up as a feeling, that reminds you of the place you have never left.
Embedded in silence, it is saying: „Come home. I am here.“
Come into the arms of the beloved… Come into the arms of Peace…
Letting you be drawn home by „The Call“
Once you feel this gentle pull by the Divine, the ego will kick in and tell you what you need to do next. It will even try to use „spiritual teachings“ as a means to follow its advice instead of just listening.
You may have read about different teachings how to be more loving or forgiving and the ego will repeat them to you and tell you your next steps.
It will force you to meditate and do all kinds of spiritual exercises, to make this a perfect connection. If you fail in doing that, you will feel guilty for failing. Please be aware, that this is an expected result since it’s the goal of the ego to prove its importance to you and to make you feel guilty. This is the only job the ego got. Instead, here is the other option, ACIM tells us:
Never approach the holy instant after you have tried to remove all fear and hatred from your mind. That is ITS function. Never attempt to overlook your guilt before you ask the Holy Spirit's help. That is HIS function. Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness to let Him remove all fear and hatred, and to be forgiven. T-18.V.2.
The „Holy Instant“ in this quote is the moment you hear The Call and start to listen. So this is telling us, that it’s NOT our job to remove fear and hatred from our minds! Also, we should not try to forgive (= ending judgment) by ourselves. This is crucial to remember!
It says that it is HIS function and with „his“ Jesus means the voice of the Holy Spirit, or as I named it above: „The (silent) Call“.
It only needs „a little willingness“ to listen - that’s all.
This explains, how important it is to not fall into the ego's trap of trying to do becoming One, Love or Peace. Listening is wholly passive.
It’s like falling in love with the voice of the Holy Spirit - falling in love with peace and stillness. You will be drawn to it all by itself. You also don’t think about how you can love your beloved more, right? It’s absolutely natural.
It’s also totally natural to fall in love with the Holy Spirit. It is in our mind - since there is only one Mind - and as I said, it’s always there.
To sum it up, my recommendation is, not to look as much at the form your spirituality takes, but to the deeper calling itself. We all have a right mind, where the Holy Spirit whispers to us to come home. We only are so used to listen to our ego’s voice, that we overhear the silent call of the Holy Spirit, since for the ego, „The Call“ is literally nothing!
Once you feel this gentle pull, let it lead you. Give all your judgments to this voice. The Call will devour them and remove them from your perception, since this is His job and He does it with a kind and loving perfection. Remember, that this has to feel easy and the moment you have the feeling that you failed, rest assured, that this is only the ego’s voice you are hearing. The Call will never leave you feeling guilty or like a failure.
So your success is certain - it only needs little willingness to listen.
Love and Blessings,
Atmos 🕊
Posted from my blog https://atmos.black/hearing-the-call-of-the-divine/