A Mystic Journey

A Mystic believes in spiritual truths beyond the intellect and seeks for unity, through direct contemplation, with the divine.

Please join me, Cheryl A Chatfield, on a spiritual journey to explore inspiring books by and about classic and contemporary mystics and personal challenges along the way.

Recent Post:

Introduction to “Transcending the Divide: A Spiritual Approach to Our Social Unrest”

In reading this, you are already on your spiritual path. The challenge, however, is to go deeper and commit to allowing your faith to be stronger with more conviction. This series of 5 posts “Transcending the Divide: A Spiritual Approach to Our Social Unrest” focuses on finding personal peace and changing ourselves, not others. 

Our job is not to criticize but to concentrate within, while we let people be themselves and continue on their own journey. This is not a discussion about what others should do or about any social activism on our part. 

A recent reading of Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov’s The Seeds of Happiness (1957) affected me deeply. Perhaps, as often happens, we hear the right message at the right time. Aivanhov continues to inspire me to honor my truth and speak that wisdom. He is a tough teacher, not allowing excuses for our actions. I am no longer willing to make excuses for myself or any of us. We must become who, in our hearts, we know we are. Now is the time to heal, which is the only way to impact the health of the earth.

“Inner peace develops when we bring our spiritual experiences into our daily lives.” David Bennett in A Voice As Old As Time

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and everyone in our family, our society, our entire society will benefit from our peace.” Thich Nhat Hanh in Peace is Every Step

So much of the news and social media bombarding us each day is negative, which is why we must raise our thoughts higher and see the bigger picture, not get caught in the rampant emotions of the day. I am not suggesting that any social responsibility or awareness is unimportant because, of course, climate change, anger, violence, war, racist behavior, LGBTQ discrimination, pandemics, immigration, natural disasters, and financial worries are all significant. No path, however, can be successful without the additional step of looking inward.

This and the next four posts in the series “Transcending the Divide: A Spiritual Approach to Social Unrest” present what to do internally to begin that process. 

These Four Actions are necessary:

I. Release Insecurity

II. Accept Responsibility

III. Find Balance

IV. Create the Future

These spiritual actions have been inspired by both the mystics discussed in this Blog and the Seven Cosmic Principles discussed in my book Do It Yourself Guide to Spirituality: Seven Simple Steps (2011).

Years ago, I read about Seven Cosmic Principles in The Secret Doctrine of The Rosicrucians (1918, reprinted 1967). The Rosicrucians did not create these Principles; they simply compiled ancient beliefs. I am not a Rosicrucian nor affiliated with that organization, but I have studied and written about these Universal Laws for over thirty years. At this critical juncture in history, we can no longer ignore the Cosmic Principles that govern our lives and the universe.

Each of the Seven Cosmic Principles can be traced back to the beginning of known time, to the earliest philosophies and beliefs, reflecting ideas from the Hermatists of Alexandria, Plato, the Gnostics, ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and the Sumerians. Records place the origin of these Principles at least as far back as 3000 BCE.

The Seven Cosmic Principles

1. Connection

We are all connected. The smallest atom and the largest galactic unit are governed by the same rules. We are part of everything and everything is part of us. 

2. Law and Order

There is order in the universe, a cause and effect, a reaction to every action. Nothing happens by chance. 

3. Change

The Universe vibrates, and we vibrate. Science teaches this rule that applies to everything in the universe. Transition is a normal part of life.

4. Pattern

Seasons change; tides rise and fall; day turns to night; we sleep, we wake. Our lives and the world have a recurring pattern with limits.

5. Cycles

The pattern governing our lives moves in a circle that spirals upward. We progress.

6. Balance

Everything has its opposite. There is polarity in the world and in the universe. Our power is in the center, not the extremes.

7. Creation

Life is creation. Sex attraction unites the masculine and feminine characteristics within us. 

These 7 wisdoms, the Cosmic Principles, somewhat diminished and forgotten, yet never abandoned in the passage of time, continue today. They are related to the 4 required actions:

I. Release Insecurity

II. Accept Responsibility

III. Find Balance

IV. Create the Future

Each of these will be addressed in detail in the next 4 posts. Below is a brief summary of that information. 

I. Release Insecurity

All are connected. We are part of everything around us, and everything is part of us. This is the 1st Cosmic Principle: Connection. We are never separate, never alone but included in something larger than ourselves. With this simple understanding, we can see that each and every action we take affects everyone. No matter how large or small, every activity matters.

How often do we want an external change before we internalize one? Once again, we are told that isn’t the way life happens. The hard, internal work comes first. Never easy, forever necessary. 

“A true human civilization can never be outward first and human afterward. The only way for it to be realized is for the process to happen in humans first, and for them to realize it outward as a consequence of their inner quality. Consciousness is always the creator of existence, not the other way around.” Ivan Antic in The Physics of Consciousness

To gain joy and peace, we must count on our own love and not expect it from others. As Aivanhov claims, “Unless you anchor yourself to something stable within you, you will constantly be tossed about and driven off course.” Releasing self doubt and insecurity allow us to move forward. 

“It is critical that we acknowledge the importance of inner development in the process of our spiritual growth.” Bennett

II. Accept Responsibility

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing bad happens; only the right things occur in our lives. As difficult as that is to accept at times, this is the 2nd Cosmic Principle: Law and Order. Life isn’t always the way we think or want it to be, but there is order in the universe. There is a reason for everything, even if we are unaware of it.

“All Initiates and sages know one great law on which they base their lives: the law of cause and effect. They know that sooner or later everything they do will come back to them. If what they do is good the effects will be beneficial; if it is bad…This is the law on which the wise base their lives and you should do the same.” Aivanhov

“What energy are you sending out? The universe will respond and return the same vibration back to you.” Bennett

In accepting responsibility for our actions and thoughts, we acknowledge the rules that govern our lives. The 3rd, 4th and 5th Cosmic Principles reinforce the 2nd Principle: Law and Order:

The 3rd Cosmic Principle: Change tells us that all matter vibrates. Since we are energy and all energies move and shift, change will occur no matter what we do.

The 4th Cosmic Principle: Pattern tells us that the motion in our lives is not random, as the earth rotates, planets revolve around the sun, and we sleep and wake. We can find comfort knowing there are limitations to the changes that occur.

Although our lives have limits, the 5th Cosmic Principle: Cycles shows us there is still progress. Within the boundaries of our lives, we have unlimited possibilities.

Transitions, limitations and possibilities are part of our lives as we accept responsibility for our actions and understand the 2nd Cosmic Principle: Law and Order.

III. Find Balance

There is polarity in our lives, the world and the universe. Everything has an opposite. Opposites are an aspect of the same thing; they are not separate or distinct. This is the 6th Cosmic Principle: Balance. Think of hot and cold. There is no one place where hot becomes cold; they are just varying gradations of two states blending into one another. Up and down, fast and slow, motion and rest, truth and error, belief and disbelief – all of these are examples of two opposing poles or ideas. If we travel west, we eventually reach the east. Going north, we pass the North Pole and head south.

If we are balanced, we can influence the balance on earth. When we walk in nature, we usually feel more relaxed and energized, reacting to the calm flow of the wind or the warmth of the sun. If everything is connected, as stated by the 1st Cosmic Principle, then nature is affected by us. When our lives and the world are stressful or violent, nature reacts. Climate change and natural disasters can be affected by this imbalance of extreme views or beliefs. As stated earlier, we can participate in social activism but most important is what we do to help balance the world by finding balance within.

Rather than getting locked into one end of an extreme, our goal is to find a middle ground. This isn’t about negotiating with others to find the common thread, this is about finding our own center as we maneuver a new view.

IV. Create the Future

We can create the future, and we can control the future but not the past nor the present.

“As far as our present is concerned our freedom is very limited, because the present is the consequence of a past which cannot be revised or changed. We can only endure and digest the past. But it is in our future that we are free; we have the possibility of creating whatever kind of future we want.” Aivanhov

The 7th Cosmic Principle: Creation shows that creativity is the coming together of the masculine and the feminine. On the physical level, this creates life. On the mental level, this creates ideas. On the spiritual level, this creates a higher connection.

Aivanhov reminds us that “We have no power to wipe out the past or to change the present, but we have power to create the future. God gave us this power. By the means of thought, desire, and will-power, we can do everything. If we ignore this power we can never do much to improve our situation; in fact we shall often succeed in making things worse.” 

“There is not much you can do about the present, but there is much you can do about the future.” Aivanhov

The four required actions of “Transcending the Divide: A Spiritual Approach to our Social Unrest” will be discussed in more detail in the following four posts:

I. Release Insecurity

II. Accept Responsibility

III. Find Balance

IV. Create the Future

We must grow internally and spiritually to help heal ourselves and the earth.

With faith, not fear, we succeed

Click on “A Mystic Journey: More Blog Posts” above to see the remaining posts in the Transcending the Divide series.