An excerpt from ‘Quite Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
By a New Way of Living
To proceed by a new and living way is to make a fresh resolve to live according to the principles of truth as we are now beginning to understand them.
This gradual appreciation of what we have been gleaning about spiritual life, needs to be thoroughly woven into the very fabric of our being, to transform over time, the way we respond to the daily challenges we face on all levels of our experience.
Authentic faith is neither blind nor idealistic, for it is linked indissolubly to a higher principle now activated in our consciousness. Meaningful change can only occur with the introduction of this higher element, which penetrates in its potency any uplifting ideas we have already received that stem from truth.
We will now need to try and live by the light of any such inspiring thoughts that have deeply struck us. Then we will have made these pointers truly our own and they will sustain us unfailingly as we traverse any rough terrain on the spiritual journey still to come.
Words that flow from Truth remind us of its beauty – and take us swiftly back to the source of wisdom within ourselves. It is only there in the conscious source of life where we find our true being, that our persistent doubts and painful regrets can ever find final resolution.
The past – by the very definition of that word – is always well and truly over by the time we recall it, but that of course does not mean that we have nothing left to learn in the present moment from what has gone before.
We have all made mistakes and have done or said things we bitterly regret, and those thoughts and actions have left traces in mind and body. Such residues have a powerful momentum and continue to influence our behaviour in sometimes incomprehensible ways. Our past behaviour patterns need to become more clearly apparent to us, if the process of healing is to properly commence.
Having absorbed spiritual instructions and taken them to heart, we can bring to bear upon the pains of the past this higher healing principle that comes from deep awareness of the inner laws that govern spiritual awakening. In this way, residues from past errors gradually dissolve and we are set free from our age-old burdens, as inner wounds begin to heal.
We may have passed through many rites of passage along the way and these hard times need to emerge from memory into the light of our conscious awareness, as we reflect deeply upon the complex factors that have shaped our past life.
The task of understanding and eliminating past physical and emotional trauma is an important stage of spiritual practice we should not evade – and need not fear. Nevertheless, it does need to be attended to with resolute courage and a quiet dignity – and the necessary strength to accomplish it will always be forthcoming if we trust that this will indeed be so.
Conflict resolution will enable us to untangle knots in relationships that have brought forth great pain, and although this can often be an arduous process, it is one that yields peace, together with the hope that this difficult work will prove possible for us – notwithstanding our prior misgiving.
Quiet Courage of the Inner Light
An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.
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