SPIRITUAL COUNSEL

UNRAVELLING THE JOURNEY OF LIFE

How we choose to view life is relative to the individual. Some are very clinical in their view of life, very logic driven. Some prefer view a more mystical view of life. Many people simply are looking for something to hide behind, while others seek means to courageously face their fears and weaknesses, the only way to evolve. Whatever life counsel we seek, if it is wise, must take into account all of these things, because they are all a part of who we are and how we experience life. I follow a lineage of teaching which has been described as practical spirituality. This means that everything we learn must ultimately serve our humanness. It must serve our ability to be people with our feet firmly planted on the earth, not people living in some cosmic fantasy we will never be able to connect to our families, friends, or communities.

I am not an academic. My experience is all life based. Life has asked me to pass through tremendous highs and lows in order to speak to them as sincerely as possible, and all of these experiences life has given me in large doses in order to respect that not all of our successes, nor disasters, are fleeting things. Many of them have cycles that go on for years. Everything has a beginning middle and an end and this is something I often speak to with students and clients.

Another facet of my lineage is that we speak to life, but we speak to the mystical nature of life only as it is relevant. That is as a means to perhaps decipher something that can only be answered from a purely spiritual perspective. My path is very Eastern influenced, and does not allow me to ask people to accept any messiahs, bow or not bow to anything. Truth and wisdom is what it is. We all find it in our own time and that wisdom must ultimately serve us in living a healthier and wiser life.

So. what do we talk about? Whatever you need to talk about. The purpose of my practice is ultimately to help people connect to, nourish, and listen to their higher self. It is our on going challenge, a life long project. Yet,, at some point, we have to give our selves permission to do such a thing. Our higher self is stored in a seed of sorts that sits in all of us. Like a seed, we must nourish and allow to grow. All seeds must pass through darkness and shadow, and they remain rooted in all the of shadows they evolve from, a very zen notion. Yet it is absolutely true, and so we are never escaping life, we are just evolving in our relationship to shadow.

Some things speak to us better than others. Some may connect more with a professional therapist, some, a minister at church. Maybe an app or AI response? We find our mentors, the people we resonate with. We look for people who have no interest in towering over us. The best of us wants honesty, regardless of how inspiring or uncomfortable that may be.

To this. I am an option, here serve others as best I can through the experiences I have been given over the many decades of my life. On my journey, like anyone else, I have found that discovering the best of us is never something we can fully do on our own. It is just the way it is. Maybe half at best. Regardless of your path, or journey, I hope you find your mentors and counsel in the shape and form that best serve you. It is all an immense challenge, but our evolution is always worth the effort, As I say, what else are we going to do?

Life has very specific things we all must address that often lead us into a more spiritual view, or ask us to expand how we see life in order to overcome our inner conflicts. At the top of this list are our phases. adolescence, mid life, and late midlife. Each of these requires some sort of rebirth, and depending on the person, that may lead us very close to what we were, or it may take us through a powerful transformation that requires great courage on our behalf to realize the rewards of that process. Understanding how to navigate phases of growth, regression and transformation or change, are central to our spiritual understanding. Our most powerful spiritual understanding will not come as a result of gods and deities, or magic and mysticism, but simply by paying attention to the nature of life, the natural cause and affect of being human.

What else can gravitate us to counsel? Forgiveness is a big thing in terms of personal evolution. None of us designed the way life works, the adversities we face or the pasts we have been given. Proper spiritual counsel should come with big bucket of humility to face the realities that are a part of all of our lives. Sometimes we just need permission to see life for the bittersweet mess it can be, and have permission to be humbled in whatever challenge or state of brokenness we may be in.


At the center of whatever we could call our spiritual journey, whether we recognize that or not, it is the ability to recognize and follow a path of real love, a path of the heart. For some this comes quickly, while for others this is a long arduous journey just to get a clue what that is. Our hearts open and close. We ask a lot of them. It seems the world, or somebody in the world, is always there at every turn, to test our hearts. To try to make them question their wisdom and purpose. This is life. It is an immense art to learn how to properly live from our hearts. As a spiritual counselor it is part of my role to remind people this is always possible, given time, patience, humility, courage, and wisdom.



Lastly, money. We all worry about money. Few people do not worry about money. There is no answer to money other than that it is just part of the game of life. It is one of those things that forges us and defines us in how we navigate life and give our selves value. I have found that you cannot teach anyone how to make money. That seems to follow destiny to a large degree. But we can create a healthy view of money that allows us to traverse the ebbs and flows of debt and prosperity that pass through our lives in way that nourishes our wisdom, even if we are under duress. I am always a cheerleader for life and for the pursuit of wisdom. These are things that reveal our best path forward and then money just does what it does.

COSTS

In terms of my costs, I offer counsel on a donation basis, and often counsel free of charge for those who may be financially challenged, or perhaps like to contribute after they find value in a given thing, which is completely understandable. I do have bills to pay, a roof to keep over my head, not to mention visions of funding more effective ways to work with others, so I humbly ask that if you are in a position to donate, and if you find value in my practice, that you give what you can. I have worked with many people we have spent a small fortune on therapists who did them no good. Still, there is no pressure to donate, our focus is on life and well being, and we go from there.

A little side note: I am currently accepting donations from students to create a proper place of practice. A calming environment for individuals and small groups. Places are powerful things when it comes to healing and disconnecting from our stress and challenges. If you have spent some time with me and would like to be a part of that vision, you can visit theorangeengine.com/oe_vision.html.