For many of us on a spiritual path we go back and forth between separate states of consciousness and divine states.
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All human beings have a variety of core needs. We all need to feel loved. The desire for love can drive our behavior in all areas of our lives.

Another basic need humans strive toward is freedom. On one level we seek the freedom from different emotional painful states of consciousness. We look for freedom from fear, and we create many strategies to feel safe. The tricky side of this is that the part of us that experiences ourselves as separate from the divine will never feel safe. And all means to find safety usually create more pain and suffering.

In Medicine for the Earth I wrote about Jack Schwarz, who was able to heal his wounds while being tortured by the Nazis. He was able to achieve a state of oneness with the universe in which there was no way to hurt him. While Jack Schwarz was in this state he could not be in an egoic state feeling fear. The state of oneness had to be complete for such a miraculous act to occur.

For many of us on a spiritual path we go back and forth between separate states of consciousness and divine states. The mind comes in and tells us what we should fear. Then our spirit, which is divine, comes in and says fear is an illusion for as a spirit we cannot die or be hurt. We waver back and forth. True freedom comes when we can be released from this wavering back and forth. One key is for us to choose spiritual practices that we feel passionate about committing to that will lead us to a deeper state of experiencing a state of oneness. This of course is a work in progress.

The key is finding balance, for we do have egos that experience ourselves as separate. And yet as we experience our spiritual light and oneness all things are possible.

To continue our journey toward freedom, we must keep surrendering our egoic desires to the divine within. I use the words "to continue our journey" for we have been on this journey whether we have been conscious of it or not. Walking on a spiritual path means walking toward freedom. True freedom lives within.

We don't always know what our soul's journey has in store for us. But there are so many opportunities we are not exploring as we try to control our destiny. To surrender our destiny to our divine light brings us to truly manifesting what will create true joy, wealth and health on all levels.

We are all going through an initiation. The planet is going through an initiation and we cannot separate ourselves from the whole. An initiation is an experience that takes us from the past and brings us to a new place in life that we have never experienced before.

Initiations demand us to discover new ways of thinking and making new choices that we have never tried before. What we have used in the past will no longer work.

For years we have been watching organizations, whether they are business, religious or spiritual, starting to be challenged in maintaining power and their hold over us. Organizations give us "manuals" of how to live our lives and also how to solve different problems.

One reason organizations are so challenged today is because the "manuals" for how to operate in life are outdated. We have the download of the true "manual" and "operating instructions" inside of us.

The goal of spiritual paths is to bring us in touch with our own divinity and creative genius. All of us have the same creative potential. To believe that only some people have the answers will not move us into creating a healthy planet. Of course we all bring through different answers on different levels as we all express our unique gifts and talents. We all bring through aspects of divinity like a diamond has different facets that come together to shine brilliant and dazzling light.

When we begin to surrender our destiny to the divine within we begin to manifest a new path in our lives. When we truly honor the unique gifts, talents and strengths that we came into the world with we truly add strength to our global community. As we continue forward on working with spiritual tools we move toward a greater sense of freedom.

What is needed right now is for us to start to act with spontaneity. For if we watch what life is bringing to us the energy that is manifesting in our lives is unexpected. The ego fears the unexpected. It is our spirit that meets the energy of the unexpected with a sense of wonder and spontaneity.

Here are a couple of ways to work as we begin to welcome in the new year. This month I would like to ask you to list qualities of the creator or creative forces of the universe you would like to emulate. Pick at least one quality and to find different ways to manifest this quality into your life and into the world.

Come up with your own unique way of problem-solving. If you work with clients, go within and ask for a way of working that you have never tried before. If you are dealing with a challenge in your own life, go within and ask for a completely new way to meet the challenge that life has brought to you as an opportunity for growth.

Throw away "old life manuals" and "operating instructions." They have been incredibly useful and have provided you with a solid foundation that has brought you to where you are right now. Reach within for new instructions. You will be in complete awe of what you are shown. The new that is revealed to you holds the promise of new life, joy, wealth and health beyond anything your egoic mind can come up with.

Sandra Ingerman, M.A., is the author of eight books, including "Soul Retrieval," "Medicine for the Earth," "Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner's Guide," "How to Heal Toxic Thoughts," "How to Thrive in Changing Times" and "Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation." Sandra teaches workshops internationally on shamanic journeying, healing and reversing environmental pollution using spiritual methods. Sandra is a licensed marriage and family therapist, a professional mental health counselor and a board-certified expert on traumatic stress. To order Sandra's books and to read her blog, visit her on Red Room or at sandraingerman.com.

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