I had never heard the term “spiritual shortcut,” until a few years ago.
Also known as “spiritual bypassing,” it just means taking spiritual action without taking any physical action.
At first this didn’t make sense to me, because wasn’t it the spiritual action that made us more spiritual?
But imagine that you wanted to plan a birthday party for someone you loved. And so you briefly visualize this party in your imagination:
Would you serve food, or just snacks?
Would the balloons and streamers be blue or purple?
Would the birthday cake be red velvet or vanilla?
Would you invite just family, or friends too?
Would it be in the afternoon, or evening?
Imagine that you visualized this party with total clarity to the point where you felt happy and excited just thinking about it.
What would you do next? Create a vision board? Carry a crystal? Say an affirmation about how it was the best birthday party that ever happened on this planet, ever?
Maybe you would (I’d carry the crystal, for sure LOL). But would you stop there? Chances are you’d make a list of things that you needed to purchase, and you’d do some shopping. You’d make a list of attendees, pick a date, and send out invitations. And there’s probably even more to do.
So this is why I believe that spiritual shortcuts can keep us stuck.
First off, you are already a spiritual being. In fact, on a soul level you are already in a state of perfect awareness and have the awareness of your perfect wholeness.
But your soul created this human life for a new experience; it’s really kind of a game – to call forth your divinity through your humanity, and all the things you can do in this life.
Now when you create the image of your “birthday party” in your imagination, you’ve made a blueprint. But without your participation in your physical life, that birthday party will stay in your imagination.
It’s your physical actions; your choices, responses, and the way you participate with life that anchors your happy outcome into your life. Once it’s anchored in, its manifestation in your life becomes highly probable.
So, as you’ve made all those plans for this birthday party, and purchased food, decorations, and sent out the invitations; all of that physical preparation (activity) made way for your happy outcome to become a physical event in your life.
Yes, our spiritual life matters. But it’s our physical life (and all our activity) that opens the way for our spiritual self to express into our physical world. ??And to be of service; to be the heart and hands of God in this world, it’s not enough to sit home on our comfy meditation pillow and send out good vibes (though do that too). We have to be participating with Life, and interacting with the world. ??
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said: ?You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.
Because that’s how our soul gets to have all the new experiences IT desires.
This used to be hard for me. It felt like I was working really hard, and yet not getting to where I wanted to be as fast as my peers were. And in some cases, I was much better at doing what I did than they were! Yet they were still getting the attention and accolades.
I felt sullen and envious every time they celebrated a success.
I finally realized that this was very poor energy management on my part, and that I would never experience my own success while I was busy channeling all that sullenness and envy!
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I’ve had to face rejection so many times, I’ve lost count.
I’ve watched people attending my talks cross their arms, and roll their eyes at me.
I even recently met someone I believed was a potential student tell me they wished their previous teacher would teach the class I’m teaching – they just loved him so much, and did I know how he was doing? Did I know if he’d be back?
And I used to respond to these situations by trying to become a little different – more like a person who those people wouldn’t reject.
“Thank You Universe for the good that’s on ITS way!”
One of the most powerful tenants of the New Thought metaphysics philosophy is the importance of having faith that our good is on its way, even when the appearance of that good is absent from our physical life.
Sometimes it can be hard to believe that something good is on its way, especially if we are experiencing something really difficult.
If we are in pain, it can be hard to imagine that wholeness is already ours.
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The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Rumi
I spent a good part of my adult life waiting; waiting for support, guidance, improvements, help, or relief. I’ve waited for my husband to read my mind, my kids to do chores I haven’t asked them to do, and my friends to call me out of the blue. I’ve waited for my sister to help me with the burden of caregiving to my mom. I’ve waited to be invited to sing, speak, and teach. I’ve waited to be appreciated, recognized, and acknowledged.
I’ve done a lot of waiting.
And I used to believe this was the way things were done.
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