Only See Inside Of Me

The Nature of the Flame within your Heart

Let us explore the nature of the flame within your heart. If you ever feel a warmth in your heart, a feeling of peace, love, joy, or elation, then you are being touched by the indwelling Spirit, the Presence of Divine Beingness, the very Sacred Flame which has been enkindled within your heart.

You may feel this upwelling Spirit while you are in prayer or worship, or while quietly meditating, or other devotional activities. You may feel it while walking down the sidewalk or strolling through a park, simply enjoying nature's beauty. You may be doing household chores, or you may feel it for no logical reason whatsoever, which may be quite often. You cannot limit how or when it will come. The burning flame is always present, but you do not feel it always. However, through various disciplines and meditative practices, it may become more regular, because this way you are becoming more receptive and awake to its reality. The yearning heart through such devotional practices will readily increase by its own nature of unfoldment. After such regular practices and centering into God's Presence, experiencing the Sacred Flame in the heart will become a common occurrence. Soon you will have only to think about the Sacred Flame burning within in order to feel its warmth, its bright glow deep inside your soul.

Normally, it is after countless times of practicing meditation and certain spiritual exercises that will prepare the unfolding soul and allow for such automatic responses. However, when it comes up unexpectedly and spontaneously, such times would be opportune for you to enter meditation and focus on the upwelling flame within, to go more deeply into the blossoming experience. Also realize that your efforts are essentially putting you in the right place at the right time, because these experiences always come due to God's grace. Your efforts may demonstrate faith in God and a particular process, which opens the door so that divine grace will do the rest. To illustrate, if you are a sun-bather, you can't do this indoors. You have to take the effort to leave your house, drive to the beach, and then you relax and lay out in the sun; because the sunlight does the rest of the work. You brought yourself to the right place, and the right time, during the daytime, beneath the bright sun. This gives you an idea how most meditative practices operate, and then you patiently await the results.

If you're spiritual sight has been opening, you may even see the Sacred Flame from time to time, often unexpectedly. When this occurs as an illuminatory experience, of which you may encounter several times on your path, you are beholding the indwelling Light of Christ. This is experienced not only in the heart but on many levels of your being. Let it be known here that this is a genuine visual experience, a gift of Light, but explaining the details of exactly what this looks like would be erroneous. For one reason, these mystical experiences are usually different for each person, for it is a spiritual fact that everyone experiences life differently; likewise, every aspirant experiences spirituality somewhat differently. Another reason is that giving explicit details as to what a particular spiritual experience should look like would only plant premature seeds into your subconscious, and this will only create false experiences. This is why many mystical schools hold certain spiritual secrets from its beginning students, until they are ready for the next level. This may seem like a paradox, because it is true that the truth must be revealed to all, although this process is an eventuality, for not all are ready.

Only the pure of heart and mind and soul can begin receiving the sublime Truth of God, and on this path that begins with the Purgative Way. However, your journey through all levels of the threefold Mystical Path will eventually bring you to this Truth, which shall set you free. Once you have gone through the purging and purify process, this prepares you for the next level, the Illuminative Way, and as you continue unfolding spiritually, the next level should be retroactive, the Unitive Way, the realization and experience of the God-being within. The early contemplative mystics have walked this particular journey, for it is in reality the path of Initiation, found in many of the ancient and modern Mystery Schools alike. Aligned with these three "ways" or levels of Mysticism are the spiritual initiations of Baptism, Illumination, and Self-Realization.

You may have experienced the Sacred Heart of the Master Jesus Christ, and countless aspirants on this path have indeed witnessed this. This is an initiation of the most profound nature, in which one can experience the Sacred Flame in one form or another. Once again, each individual experiences such sacred occurrences somewhat differently, for each one is unique, and yet all people are born from the One Spirit of God. This is a paradox we will attempt to explain. To use a common example, there is one light, yet when placing a prism before it, the light refracts into seven main colors. Of course there are innumerable sub-colors, hues and shades throughout Creation that we can observe. Likewise, the Universal Divine Beingness of God manifests in an infinite myriad of ways throughout the whole Creation, whether this is through the mineral, plant, animal, or human kingdoms, and even the celestial life-waves and such levels many people do not see or comprehend yet. Hence, in like manner, each human being is a unique facet and expression from the one Creator, and yet all human beings together are one mankind. We are like the infinitesimal rays that emanate from the one Sun. Or we are like snowflakes; no two are identical.

Only the Creator of all could ingeniously create such unfathomable creatures as human beings.Within us is diversity and unity simultaneously, two poles of a vast spectrum. Although we are born into the world of diversity, it is unity each soul must learn to realize. You can observe the vast variety and uniqueness in all species of living creatures and all life-forms on Earth, for the Creator desires to express the multitudinous aspects of Infinity through the physical realm, as well as all level of existence. This manifestation of diversification is not merely found on Earth, but throughout the whole universe. As much as there is uniformity and symmetry in Creation, there also exists diversity. Hence we see this paradox of diversity in contrast to unity, a necessary reality in existence. Otherwise, this Creation would be monotonous and stagnant and inflexible.

We began discussing the reality of human uniqueness to express that spiritual experiences for each person are different because each individual is different and unique. Each one expresses, observes, perceives, and experiences life differently. Each person's personality is different. When an unfolding soul is receiving and experiencing a deeper reality of the Divine Creator, it will experience and perceive it somewhat differently than other souls, although there will be common similarities, or typical characteristics, much like the common likeness in snowflakes, yet no two are identical. Incidentally, this vast diversity of mankind has manifested in the many religions and a spiritual traditions across the world, because each person seeks God in a different way, and God allows this because of each person's uniqueness. There are many paths that lead to God.

The student on the spiritual path will begin to have various spiritual experiences, and as wonderful as they may be, he will not understand them at first, so he needs proper guidance and direction. For this reason he goes to his spiritual teacher, because this advanced soul can recognize key signs in the student's spiritual experiences and discern their exact nature. He may give the student definitions and labels which only satisfy the intellect, but a wise teacher will tell him that such labels are meaningless to the heart, for the heart goes beyond words and enters mystical experience itself. The teacher may tell the student that he is simply growing closer to the God within, that his own divine nature is expressing through him now, and that he is awakening toward Divine Beingness. The student should be told that there will be many such profound experiences, and that he must not have high expectations toward them, for some may be very subtle, and others may be more pronounced. The teacher may give the student a more advanced exercise or meditation now, which will assist him to unfold further from the point of his most recent spiritual experience. Although the student does exert some effort, it is always God's grace that opens the door for him for further spiritual growth; once again, very much like the sunbather's analogy.

If you have had any kind of mystical experience, do not try to mentally interpret it for yourself or determine what your experience means. Discuss it with your spiritual teacher. If you do not have one, seek one out. However, you can meditate upon this spiritual experience, to ascertain deeper insight involving its reality, tuning into your God-being within for further understanding. You don't want to intellectualize it, but use your intuition to discern, through meditation.

Each seeker will search various spiritual traditions or specific methods of unfoldment until he finds the one that matches his soul's needs. While he seeks for a particular mystical school or tradition, he will find the teacher that will guide him further. The God-being within will guide him to the proper path that is appropriate for him at the time, and likewise to the particular teacher who is suitable for him. Yet, each being is a path unto himself.

Sometimes you find yourself going through several different traditions or churches or groups, and the same goes for teachers, but this is just part of your journey. Searching to fit into a particular outer religious framework is not the real quest, but finding the God-being within is. Once you have found and experienced the God within, the Divine Beingness that you really are, you have found what you have been looking for, and your quest for the special group or church or religious expression that you once sought will become obsolete. Although it is important to be a part of a gathering of this spiritually-minded people to serve alongside, you will do so as an Illumined or Self-Realized being now, which means the real work has just begun. But it all starts with a serious devotion and yearning heart for the Divine.