Sufi teacher Adnan Sarhan wrote: If people have Spirit, they will have love and peace. If they have no Spirit, they will have suffering, strife, and conflict.

Even after many years of spiritual practice, I have found that we may still experience the suffering, strife, and conflict of human love. That is because we are both human beings and Spirit. 

The human body is our transportation in this three-dimensional material world. We can do nothing without our body. And this body has its own agenda which sometimes conflicts with the desires and intentions of Spirit.

Human beings, for example, are social creatures. They survive better in community with others. Mother nature has created mechanisms in the body to ensure that we bond with our children and our partners. The human mind and body suffer when a bond is broken. It is called grief and is programmed in the body to motivate rebonding.

The breaking of social bonds is far more complicated in humans than it is with other social animals. Animals seem better able to adjust and are not subject to the social conditioning of humans, which often hijacks successful adaption. Human can grieve for years after the loss of a significant bond. They may never bond again. They may struggle with emotions of loneliness and isolation which may impact their ability to survive and thrive.

Spiritual practice can alleviate some of the suffering of human love and human loss. Spirit teaches us patience, compassion, and wisdom. It can activate our intelligence to find creative solutions to social issues. When we connect to Spirit, we can access a vast knowledge of collective wisdom through our intuition and intelligence.  

When we chant, breathe, move slowly, or dance, we can release worry, fear, anger, and sadness. It doesn’t happen all at once. It can take years to develop the intelligence to accept what is happening in our lives. Even after years of practice, we might be surprised by the intensity of a human loss. We must give our body room to breathe.  

Spiritual practice can provide wonderful respites from suffering. It puts us in the moment where neither the past nor the future exists. However, in my experience, there is no bypassing the grief of human loss. It is a physical response that must be allowed to process. Otherwise, we can get stuck. We may think we have bypassed our grief, but I assure you there is only one way to allow healing, and that is through the process of grieving. Spirit eases the journey of grief by giving us the control to make the right adjustments from moment to moment.

Even Adnan was not free from conflict or suffering in his life, although there was little that could throw him off track. He was, however, leading a camp full of human students just learning to tame the negative self. As our teacher, he had to adjust his teaching from moment to moment according to the level of his students. Over the years, he got very good at sensing the needs and capacities of his students, allowing just enough contraction, then holding it before allowing a release. It was a wonderful rhythm which after years of practice you might sense yourself.

Oh! tonight we will dance!

I think he's going to have us whirl!

Yet even with his many years of teaching, each workshop was always new, with new students and new challenges. He met this by being in the moment and allowing spirit to guide him.

Be patient and compassionate with yourself when sometimes you lose your temper, feel deflated, or suffer anxiety. You are living in a human body. 

More often than I like to admit, I take on too many obligations. Time closes in on me while my capacities diminish. I might lose my temper. The negative self may hijack my brain for a while. That does not mean I have lost my Spirit. I have simply gotten off course and hit some turbulence. By using the various spiritual practices I have learned from Adnan, I can return to Spirit. The more spiritual work I do, the easier the return.

-- sometimes.

There is, you see, no respite from the challenges of spirit. It will often up the ante for us to grow. Maybe we will get sick, maybe we will leave our marriage, or someone will die, or a fire will consume our home. Sprit will not eliminate the challenges of human life, but it can help you navigate them with more peace and acceptance.

It is important to forgive yourself for blow-ups and sidetracks. They are part of being human. Not forgiving oneself is a more serious loss of spiritual connection than the blow-up itself. It can delay your return to spirit.

Remember, our biggest challenges to spirit are often our biggest opportunities for spiritual growth.

Balancing body and Spirit is the goal of this great human adventure and it is always a work in progress, even for the most enlightened.

Join me tomorrow, Sunday, January 26th at 8:00 am PDT or Tuesday, January 28 at 10:30 am PDT, and find peace and love in the community of others.

If you do not have access to the new Zoom link, please send me an email. 

Be brilliant,

Dr. Michelle

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death