We cannot progress by staying the same, something has to change.

Evolution and the art of change
The most powerful truth about our journey here on the earth is that we are here to evolve and grow. In fact we must - we have no choice about this. We cannot progress by staying the same.
If your bonds be not broken whilst living, what hope of deliverance in death. It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him because it has passed from the body: If He is found now. He is found then. If not, we do but go to dwell in death. - Kabir

For each step in our evolution a change is required. So let’s welcome change. We all know that change creates fear, but let’s use our fear, not be imprisoned by it. Many people are paralysed by fear, they never progress, but not us. The adrenaline, the heightened awareness fear gives us, can be transformed into determined and empowering dialog and beliefs that enable us to enact the change.

Some people are dismayed when they first begin to look at themselves truly to find lots of things they would like to change. They often are daunted by the task ahead. Don’t be! The most fantastic gift is the awareness of a change we need to make. Be thankful, most of your work is already done. Consider a model of the change cycle below...
 

During the past two classes we have discussed a higher awareness we experience when our consciousness deepens past the superficial and analytical ‘thinking’ perceptions of the mind to the intuitive experiences we perceive from the higher mind or ‘heart’.
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
But what and where is the spiritual heart? Close your eyes for a moment. With your index finger, point to yourself while saying ‘me’. Where did your finger end up? On your spiritual heart..

As you may have guessed it has nothing to do with the muscle beating away inside your chest. But what are the qualities of the heart? Intuitively, you already know. Take a look at the qualities being expressed in the following statements:

• Oh, she’s so kind and caring. She has a heart of gold!

• I love you with all my heart.

• It absolutely breaks my heart to see her suffer like that.

• Come on team! We have got to play as one unit, play with heart!

• I know this is right because I felt it right here in my heart.

• I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

• My heart is full of joy to see you all here today.

Kindness, love, sympathy, oneness, wisdom, intuition, gratitude and joy - these are the qualities of the spiritual heart. This is exactly why you are meditating on the heart. It is an infinite inner fountain from which flows every positive quality that your real self already possesses. If you walk into a room and light a candle, what happens? The light illumines the darkness. In exactly the same way, as your heart opens through meditation, the light of your soul will illumine more and more of your being.

The Meditation Lifestyle You may by now, realise that your meditation practise is helping to make meaningful, what were previously, even the most mundane moments in your life. You may have noticed that you are less likely to respond negatively to situations that previously you may have found yourself ‘reacting’ in a harmful manner without thinking.

You may also be aware that you are finding yourself more understanding and sympathetic to those around you, that you are more loving, more peaceful and that you are making your decisions with more clarity than ever before. You may have also found that you have more time, that you are more relaxed, less stressed and more in control.
When love first happens, the two individuals are giving each other energy unconsciously and unconditionally and both people feel buoyant and elated. That’s the incredible high we all call being in love. Unfortunately, once they expect this feeling to come from the other person, they cut themselves off from the energy in the universe and begin to rely even more on the energy from each other-only now there doesn’t seem to be enough.. At this point the relationship degenerates into the usual power struggle. - James Redfield -Celestine Prophecy
peaceful, blissful and wise self that is the real you. With this new found insight, you may have also expanded upon your belief in yourself, realising that ultimately, all the answers to all of your questions are inside of you.

This is the essence of real freedom. The process of letting go of our animal and human natures and expanding and growing into our divine nature. The journey of giving up the earth and embracing heaven, of finding our intimacy with the universe, of discovering the Path of the Heart.

There are many paths, but to travel the fastest we must carry the lightest load and with the most intense longing. Our spiritual lives are not measured in the years, but in the moments.

That is, it is important for us to start, and while we hear the inner voice to follow it – with all of our heart. If we ignore it, it will teach us more infrequently and its volume will be diminished. If we trust our selves, it will teach us more often and increase its volume.

Many of us have had the experience of facing this spiritual dimension before. We may have come to this very same question before. It is now time to live it, to follow the breath of infinity within our hearts, to converse silently and sacredly with our eternal friend inside us, our own highest self.

The goal, plainly, is to focus as much of our energy as possible on our divine nature. All of us know subconsciously that fulfilment in our lives comes from this cosmic spiritual energy, the love that flows in the hearts of all things. This love we experience as a gateway to the divine. It is all encompassing, all-powerful and infinitely satisfying.

As our society has externalised its search for quality of life and meaning it has tried to externalise even this energy. It has tried to position love in human terms; human relationships, romance, family, material possessions – but this love is only a tiny portion of the whole divine magnificent experience. Real love is much larger than the normal human love we all know.

Human love is nearly always conditional. “I will love you as long as you love me in return,” we will think if we do not say. Most of us have very little understanding of the vast, unconditional compassionate love that is experienced in divine love.

As James Redfield points out, it is when love is confined to the narrow boundaries of human, conditional love that it is then prone to a kind of power struggle, between competing participants. We might wonder about the euphoria we felt at the start of the relationship (where we were giving ourselves unconditionally) and blame our partner, believing that we haven’t changed – so it must be them.

Finally, you may have come to glimpse your real nature, the infinitely loving, We might try to force them to be something they can’t be. Putting it on them to be more romantic, or more loving, when what we really want is that experience of both parties giving of each other without expectation of a return.

We need to free ourselves from the binding conditional love and expand our experience into the divine, unconditional love that flows through every atom. To practise loving unconditionally (remember very few of us have experienced it) and become more conscious of that wonderful energy every second.

This increased awareness is true even of our diet. What we put into our bodies directly effects our state of mind. If we want our mind to be calm and peaceful, allowing our spiritual energy to come forward than it is helpful if the foods that we consume be nutritious and peacefully produced. Eating on the run, eating with out paying attention is not conscious. Meditation is about becoming conscious, becoming aware.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. - Albert Einstein It has been noted that meat carries with it somewhat powerfully some of the animal consciousness, while a vegetarian diet will effect the seeker in a much more limited way.

Ideally though, the food we eat should give us joy and we should offer our gratitude for what we are offered. In this way we can eat more consciously. In the end, it is one’s own happiness, peacefulness and evolution that must be the guide.