I also mentioned that when you consciously seek ways to teach and grow your spiritual self, you are what I call a spiritual seeker.

Now let’s consider what a spiritual seeker is looking for.

In the introduction to Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker, I mention that “in order to satisfy our innate spiritual hunger, we choose many pathways and support systems on our journey back home to the Divine Source.”

One of the struggles with this journey is where to look, where to go, what to choose to make sure we find resources that are helpful and worthwhile.

That is why the spiritual allegories in this book include some of the best information and inspiration from my background and experience in spirituality.

“I have selected for you clear, concise, effective, and transforming wisdom. These stories present options for you to experiment with or to include in your own spirituality. They introduce you to:
• meditation, centering prayer, and contemplative stillness;
• reconciliation, forgiveness, and solidarity;
• owning and affirming your inner Divine Spark;
• serving with wise boundaries and good self-care;
• growing your inner child and befriending your shadow self; and
• practicing clear insight and self-empowerment.”

As you can see, these “pathways” are all invitations to become more aware of ourselves as:
• spiritual beings connected to a Divine Source
• part of a larger spiritual family with whom we learn patience, forgiveness, kindness, and sharing
• beings who need to practice loving care for ourselves before we can give it to others
• beings who need to nurture and be responsible for our own joy and happiness.

When we are walking those pathways, we are seeking more of who we are as spiritual beings. We are allowing ourselves to grow and to understand by experience what godliness is like.

And yes, there are times when we feel right with the program and we know exactly what’s going on.

And then there are times when we can’t figure out how we lost our way and got so far from our spiritual core.

The important thing to remember is to pick yourself up and get back on the path. We all take detours and dead-ends now and then. But all of us have a yearning inside that gets us back on the path and keeps us moving toward our destination.

Our task is not to try to shut down that yearning with alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling or any other type of addictive behavior. Our task is to recognize that the unquenchable desire deep down inside of us is our spiritual homing device.

Tune in and start trekking on home.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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And yet, here comes Hurricane Gustav barreling into the Gulf of Mexico. (photo courtesy of nasa)

But what exactly did you ask for – something more than you have now, something bigger, more powerful?

So what are you wanting, wishing, and waiting for – something that will make you feel strong, assertive, and in charge?

Every thought we think, we put out “there” in the Universe. Every desire we fixate on, is out “there” with even more energy behind it. Many of us have no clue as to how powerful we really are, especially when large masses of people and whole cultures are focused on the same outcomes of bigger, stronger, more powerful and bring it right now.

There comes a time when what we are asking for does show up, but not necessarily in the way we intended.

Maybe something got lost in the process from thought to manifestation. Or a whole lot of people don’t really understand the law of attraction. Makes no difference what the reason was, the reality is here on our doorstep.

We unknowingly amplified the law of attraction into a horrendous whirlwind of energy. And now that’s it coming our way, what can we do to change its essence or course of action?

Here are three ways to tone down the power of a hurricane:

• Command and demand the power to decrease.
Go into your meditation place, your inner sacred space, and there connect with Spirit. Address whatever Person or Power you reverence as your Divine Source. Ask this Benevolent Being or Power to command and demand in the name of Love that this hurricane reduce its power, its force and rampant destruction.

• Transmute the energy to benevolence.
Then ask this Benevolent Being or Power to transmute the energy of the hurricane to benevolence and healing. Imagine, see, hear the winds becoming still, the waters becoming calm, a gentle aura of light and love spreading out over the cities, ports, landscapes. Hold the feeling and the image of “all is well” and trust that you are being heard.

• Acknowledge your part in creating the problem and choose to be part of the solution.
Become aware of how your thinking and wanting might have added to the escalation of this tropical storm. Choose to look at where you can scale back on your materialism and put more focus on your spiritual growth. Step out of this experience with a better understanding of how your energy is a part of all that happens around the world.

It is never to late to hold the light in a time of darkness. Awareness and love are the only tools that can turn anything around, even hurricanes.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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You are an immortal, brilliant and loving soul trying to understand what it is like to live on this planet.

And why would you ever come here? Why would you want to get yourself tangled up in making a living, heartbreaking relationships, struggling day in and day out to make ends meet?

Because you are a seeker! Every soul wants to be more like the godliness that they see in the Creator of All That Is. Since many of the spiritual realms don’t offer such fantastic opportunities for learning as we have here on our planet, there is usually a waiting line to come here.

And you are one of the lucky ones! But do you consciously know that?

Here are some ways to tell if you are aware of yourself as a spiritual being:
• You have gotten beyond the ego mind and the materialism of many of our cultures. You can feel your spiritual essence and you know that YOU are not what you do or what you have.

• You are drawn to meditation and times of focused, inner stillness.

• You have moments of awareness in which the world seems to be brand new – as if you were seeing something in it that you never saw before.

• You sense a deeper spiritual essence in others no matter what they look like or how they act.

After you gain this awareness of yourself as a spiritual being, then you consciously seek ways to teach and grow your spiritual self. That’s what I call a spiritual seeker.

And what is a spiritual seeker looking for? Watch for Part II later this week.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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On the way, we stopped at a waterfront children’s park.

After grandma was settled in with the youngsters, the rest of us headed on over to the conference site.

But I took the park along with me. I allowed myself to take it all in.

The squeals and shouts of happy children having a fun time! The cool breeze coming across the blue water. The green canvas of lawn anchored with maples, oaks, and ash trees. Patches of pink and red flowers in full bloom.

I allowed myself to see it, hear it, and feel it.

Now I have the experience filed away in my cellular memory! Any time I want, I can close my eyes and recreate the sights and sounds of this park setting.

No matter the time of the day or the season of the year, I’ve got flowers in bloom, green grass and trees.

No matter what’s going on in my life, I’ve got a gentle place to go to in my imagination.

Over and over again, I can own this experience just as deep and rich as the first time.

Over and over again, I can make it last.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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Some others become experts in wildlife and habitat issues.

You’ll find them volunteering to be tutors for struggling students.

They’re learning china painting and making porcelain collector dolls. They’re turning bowls on a lathe and weaving baskets.

They are giving each of us a priceless lesson – grow your Inner Child.

“Your Inner Child is your birth right, a treasure inside of you, and needs to be protected and savored all through life.” (Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker)

Your Inner Child is your innocence and joy, freedom and creativity. Your Inner Child is the part of you that loved life and couldn’t wait to see what each new day would bring.

Unfortunately, for many of us, we were told to grow up and get with it in such a way that we stopped growing our Inner Child. Sometime ago, we put aside our pencils and stopped writing poetry. We put all the crayons in the box and never drew another picture. Our struggling genius was not appreciated and we didn’t practice music or dance anymore.

As our retired teachers show us, it’s never too late to get in touch with your secret desires and your passionate dreams. Here are few ways to get started:

1. Remember what it’s like to play. Observe children in a world of their own. Notice how involved they are and oblivious to what anyone else is going to think or say about what they are doing.

2. Remember what you loved to do as a child. Were you the one bandaging up all the pets in the neighborhood? Were you the chef with make-believe food and special orders for all your friends? Were you in finger-paints up to your elbows? Were you riding the wild horses out on the Great Plains?

3. Connect with your memories. As you remember your childhood play times, what still makes your heart race? What are you still passionate about right now? What have you always wanted to be or do if only you had the time and the money?

4. Take the first step. Every journey begins with the first step. Look up information on the internet to see where you could be trained to be a wildlife rehabilitator or an assistant at the local animal clinic. Find the nearest tech institute with cooking or art classes. Consider a vacation on a ranch out west.

You get the idea! Put the fun back into your life! No matter what age you are, your Inner Child can always use some growing time!

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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They are the only ones who can tell you how to have it all without having to pay for it.

Do you want to feel stress free and less anxious? No problem!

Do you want to feel like you’ve got enough? Sure, can do that!

Do you want to feel prepared for whatever comes your way? Yes, that’s possible!

No matter how much you have or don’t have, you can get all the emotional and spiritual benefits of having even more without having to write a check or pull out your plastic.

As Eckhart Tolle explains in A New Earth, unhappiness, stress, and grief are created by identifying with the material things, or even the people, in our lives.

It begins when we invest ourselves in the house we bought, the car we drive, or that wonderful person in our relationship. As soon as the ego labels things, people, and even opinions as “mine,” that’s when suffering begins.

Ego thinks that we can’t be whole if something happens to any of our “stuff” because it falsely believes we are our stuff. And since ego grows stronger every time we add more goodies to our stash, ego is incessantly prodding us to buy more, get new things, keep up with the trends.

Of course this is all happening on a subconscious level.

So if we want to be stress free, content and secure, we’ve got to consciously step back from all we own and get into a different mindset. To do this:

• Become the one who observes what your mind is thinking. Realize that your mind is thinking, not you. You are the one observing the chatter in your head. You are the one observing that non-stop voice pushing you around.

• Become the one who sees the tree and doesn’t label it – simply appreciates it and feels one with the life force inside of it.

• Become one with all that is – from pebbles to mountains, from leaves to trees, from raindrops to oceans. Know that in awareness, you don’t have to own any of this to enjoy it and to be renewed by its life force touching yours.

• Imagine all the greatest art ever created, all the most magnificent music ever played, all the most brilliant science ever given to this planet! With awareness and reflection, you can tap into all the energy and momentum of all that has ever been created without having to buy it at a gallery or get the best seats at the concert.

• Imagine the faces of humanity around the world – all are one in the same life force with you. Every one of them coming from and returning to the same divine Source as you are. Every one of them a friend-yet-to-meet and a companion on some part of your journey. And you don’t need a plane ticket or a cruise around the world to feel part of the whole human family. By awareness, you’re already there.

When you make a conscious attempt at any of these practices, “it becomes a window for you into the formless. There is an inner opening, however slight, into the realm of spirit…. This is the spiritual awakening.” (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.)

For those who are spiritually awake, there is no stress or anxiety. They are aware that in this moment, they have all they need. They are not in conflict with what is right now, for they realize they would not be having this experience if there wasn’t something for them to learn. And yes, they will always be taken care of by the same life force that regenerates the forest after a fire or restores the farmland after the flood.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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Most of the time our experience is to react to people and situations as they happen. And usually, our feelings are triggered by our subconscious.

If we end up in the emotional pits, we don’t have to stay there!

The good news is we can consciously walk our feelings up the scale of emotions. As Esther and Jerry Hicks explain:

“There is no thought that you cannot eventually have – just as there is no place that you cannot eventually reach from wherever you are – but you cannot instantly jump to a thought that has a vibrational frequency very different from the thoughts you are usually thinking.” (Ask and It Is Given)

So if you’re on the bottom of the scale with fear, grief, depression, despair and powerlessness, even being angry that you are in this emotional upheaval is already an improvement. You’ve just moved up five steps in the vibrational scale.

And if you were disappointed in the ways things are turning out around you, that’s even better. You’re now another five steps higher in the scale.

Just another five steps up and you’re into contentment with hopefulness just above it, optimism, and happiness close by.

Reaching for the next higher frequency and vibration is so important. Whatever frequency you are at, you will attract in people and events and results that vibrate at that same frequency.

So why not choose to be in the best feelings possible? Why not consciously take charge of how you are feeling and work your way up the scale? Why not take charge of your own experience and create a life you can love to live?

You can find the complete scale of emotions and suggestions on how to use the scale in Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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The real challenge is coming next week when I pick up an order from the organic food club. When you have to order by the case, you need to know where you’re going to put it when you get it home.

At times I think the Universe is like an endless pantry, super warehouse, or mega store! If you can envision what you want, wrap your thoughts in the best emotional energy, and detach from the outcome — then it’s sure to show up for you.

But are you ready for it? Here’s a short checklist to find out:

• Today are you just as excited and enthused about what you want as you were yesterday or last week? Have you kept up the momentum of attraction by savoring the object of desire with imaginary sights, sounds, and tastes?

• Do you have plans to use what ever you “ordered” as soon as it comes? Or is this going to be one more book stacked on the pile for you to read? One more addition to your closet that just sits there? One more relationship you don’t have time to invest in?

• Do you have a place ready to put your new arrivals? Or are they going to stay in the box until you have time to rearrange the furniture or shampoo the carpeting? Have you cleared out the clutter and made room mentally and physically for that new business you want to start?

• Can you settle for less than perfect or are you rejecting all efforts for the Universe to send you a suitable substitute or a variation on the theme? Are you going to insist that everything be exactly the way you want it before it’s good enough for you?

• Are you putting all things into perspective and keeping a healthy balance? Like Suzy Orman says, “People first, then money, then things.” Are you staying out of debt and saving for your future needs?

• Are you making room in your life for learning, fun, and friends? Are you accepting the diversity and the humor the Universe may have in answering your requests?

Whether or not you know it, you are a powerful creator of your life experience. Think carefully and chose wisely. Check your ego mind and clear your victim stories. Your emotional energies and your belief systems can be either your most powerful allies or your greatest inhibitors in getting your “order” signed, sealed, and delivered.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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No wonder you come home tired, weary, and just plain worn out. You’ve been depleted by energy vampires!

Imagine that inside your heart space is a huge electrical outlet. Imagine that there are cords plugged into your outlet. Look more closely and notice they all have labels on them.

Some are the names of the people you met today who pushed your buttons, wasted your time, and in any way triggered that weary and frustrated feeling in you.

Some are the names of the things on your “to do list” that didn’t get done today! And there are also the projects and jobs that you can’t even bring yourself to look at.

That’s how energy vampires work – they plug into your energy field and suck up all your vitality.

And here’s how you unplug them!

• Imagine that you see the cords plugged into your heart space.

• See yourself reach in, unplug them one by one, and throw them away.

• Take a deep breath in and fill up all the emptiness inside of you with love, energy, and joy.

• Now reach into your heart space and put a cover over your outlets.

• Feel yourself energized and eager to get on with your life!

Do this little exercise every evening. Recharge yourself and have a good night’s sleep. Know that Divine Source has a limitless supply of love, energy, and joy for everyone to have all they need. So when you get yours, ask for and send out a generous supply to everyone in your life.

For another energy recharge exercise, see the suggestions at the end of chapter 7 in Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker.

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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But he not only talked about them, he took action. On Sunday, July 27, Jim Adkisson appointed himself judge and jury. He was so sure he was right and his way had to be the law of the land.

He not only passed judgment on the Unitarian Universalist Church and its members in Knoxville, Tennessee, he also took it upon himself to get a gun and take control of punishing them with death.

There are many times in our lives when we put the judge and jury together in the same bed, the same bath, and eat with them at the same breakfast table. We can get so stuck in our way of doing things or our righteous thinking that there is no room for a free vote or feedback from our peers.

It’s at times like this that what happened in Knoxville is a wake up call to all of us.

First, let’s ask ourselves:
• How open am I to hearing someone’s point of view?
• How tolerant am I of a different lifestyle than my own?
• How compassionate and forgiving am I to someone who is in such deep pain and woundedness to commit crimes like this against fellow human beings?

Second, let’s get proactive:
• If I need a boarder perspective on an issue, where can I get more viewpoints than those I already agree with?
• If I need some help with being non-judgmental and more tolerant, whom do I know and admire that can help me through this?
• If I’m using the Bible or my religious affiliation to point fingers and pass judgment, to exclude and condemn, what comes to mind when I ask the question: “What would Jesus do?”

Finally, these words come to mind from the song by Libby Rodrick. Here is a loving tribute to those who died and encouragement to those who were wounded. And here too, are words of hope and healing to the many souls who are stuck in the violence of their own courtroom.

“How could anyone ever tell you
you were anything less than beautiful
how could anyone ever tell you
you were less than whole.”

(“How Could Anyone Ever Tell You,” copyright by Libby Rodrick)

Janice M. Puta
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker
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