This repeats a lesson that we have already learned – that we cannot progress by staying the same. We have also learned another important lesson, that we have no choice but to progress. So the result is our meditation mirrors our life; our meditation experience must change, must evolve for us to be progressing, just as in our life.

The important words here are inspiration and enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is the precursor to inspiration and with inspiration we can achieve anything.

Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as a reality-in your own mind.- Bruce Lee

Once you know that there is something you really want to do, then teach your mind to become enthusiastic about it.

Realise that your heart is the home of real wisdom, real truth inside you. It is the place you get creative insights and scientific breakthroughs from, the mind does not know anything to be true for sure, it just believes what you repeat over and over with conviction. So if you mentally associate meditation with great outcomes in your life - you will feel happier, more at peace, more in love etc and also associate not meditating with bad outcomes - anxiety, stress, worry etc than very simply you will train your mind to develop enthusiasm for meditation.

To generate enthusiasm lift yourself emotionally every time you think about meditation, smile to yourself, maybe even dance a little (inwardly if you like - your soul will already be dancing), remember a time where you realised some of the lasting benefits of your meditation. Once you have enthusiasm, then inspiration is easy.

Most of us think inspiration is a fleeting kind of quality that comes to us as a sort of accident of fate or we are ‘lucky’ or we are having a ‘good day’. Or perhaps a huge crisis in our life was the catalyst for us getting very focused and centred about resolving our difficulties and in that way we developed inspiration to make a change. Some artists or poets or songwriters sometimes speak of being in great pain before they can get inspiration. But it is not pain they want, it is the focus to be able to get past the noise of the mind to the creative centre of the heart. You might recognize the same sort of understanding we previously had for our ‘Aah’ or our ‘heart’ moments. We had previously thought that we had no control of our ‘Aah’ moments – they just came when fate chose. We have come to realize that with practice, we can increase the frequency of our ‘heart’ moments at our choosing.

If the going is real easy, beware, you may be headed down hill. - unknown

So it is with inspiration. We can choose to find inspiration. With practice we can become very good at it. Around us and inside us all of the time there is infinite inspiration, but we need to believe that we can tap into it.

It is a limitless, boundless energy that from the spiritual point of view is entirely quantifiable. It is the precursor to all action.

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.- Henry J. Kaiser

So how do we tap into it? How do we develop inspiration in our spiritual lives?

Once again the simple answer is the wisest!

Let’s go back to class 5 for a moment – learning to learn.

1. We have the awareness and willingness to make a committed decision to have more inspiration in our life. (That’s great we’re 80% of the way there)

2. We need to believe that we have the potential to receive inspiration. Let’s make sure we understand that this is just a spiritual quality like any other, it is all around us in infinite measure in this heaven we call the earth. Empower yourself with the understanding that any moment you choose can be filled with inspiration.

3. Finally we need to perform the action of receiving inspiration.

a) Simply open your heart and receive.

                                                -Try a meditation where you breathe in enthusiasm and inspiration and breathe out lethargy and procrastination.

                                                -Put yourself into nature and allow yourself to receive the fountain of inspiration that is the nature energy.

b) Recognise inspiration catalysts.

                                                - Seek out inspiring books.

                                                - Talk to inspiring people.

                                                - Get back to nature and receive its inspiration. Visualise yourself without limitation.

c) Recognise inspiration drains.

                                                - Not acting on your inspirational revelations, ignoring the messages of your heart.

                                                - Your negative attitudes. Observe yourself at your work. for example, and try changing your attitude to being grateful for opportunities, seeing the inspirational people around you and lifting your enthusiasm.

                                                - Uninspiring people.

d) Direct your inspiration. If you are trying to find inspiration for your meditation, then direct it to that. ‘I need more inspiration for my meditation, let me be filled with inspiration for my meditation’ But don’t make it just a pleasant wish, make a determined decision to receive inspiration. Really believe that you have the potential to receive infinite inspiration. (see the exercise below)

                                                e) Allow yourself to be guided and directed by inspiration. Remember it is the precursor to all action, so if you have really received inspiration, you will find yourself ‘acting’. Welcome it and don’t fear change, this is what we are here for.

4. After receiving inspiration – monitor your internal dialog. Assimilate and reflect upon the inspiration you have been offered and ACT! If you don’t feel it was very successful, act anyway. You might want to write a poem or a song, feel it being directed by the inspiration you have just received.

5. Get ready to go back step 3 again by empowering yourself with the success of this action.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult - Seneca

Exercise 19 - Enthusiasm and inspiration