Spiritual Growth Quotes

If we have a heart to learn and a willingness to follow the example of children, their divine attributes can hold a key to unlocking our own spiritual growth. ~ Jean A. Stevens

In many ways a child has actually re-educated the parents upon arrival into their lives - when else do adults take the time to appreciate acorns or clouds? ~ Ian-Anthony Finnimore

You think the shadow is the substance. ~ Rumi

Your life purpose is not just one thing, nor just what you love to do, nor a role, nor a legacy you leave. Your life purpose is who you are 24/7. ~ Diana Dentinger

We all have the same root, and are connected...
To tap into this connectedness we must go within. ~ Summerlyn Guthrie

Somewhere along the way, there develops within the soul a yearning that can no longer be ignored, a craving for the great love affair. We feel it drawing ever closer. It is the greatest of them all. It cannot fail. It is all consuming. It is incomparable. It is the love affair with our own true nature and the source from which it comes. The desire is in all of us but, more often than not, it is ignored for other interests. We wrestle with each interest, trying to make it work, growing with each adventure until the light has grown bright enough for us to reach for it. ~ Donna Goddard

The first step toward spiritual growth is to become aware of your emotions. ~ Gary Zukav

When you find yourself in need of spiritual nourishment, it is in the opportunities to serve others that you will find the abundance you seek. ~ Steve Maraboli

The pastor who cares about the spiritual growth of his people must make God and His Word the centerpiece of his ministry. ~ Steven J. Lawson

Self restraint in speech, food, entertainment and vanity are the most essential fundamental of spiritual growth. ~ Nouman Ali Khan

My happiness is not dependent on others; it comes from within. Spiritual growth in a person is never encouraged, but it is important. I don't know why people want to judge others instead of doing their own thing. I firmly feel that I don't need to follow or live according to other people's rules. I like living life the way I want to. ~ Sonu Nigam

Spiritual development requires the freedom to connect with different parts of reality in order to understand them more fully. The more you're able to explore, the more connections you can form, and the greater your spiritual growth will be. When you feel a strong desire to connect with something in your reality, listen to your intuitive guidance, and make the connection. ~ Steve Pavlina

In ordinary perception, the senses send an overwhelming flood of information to the brain, which the brain then filters down to a trickle it can manage for the purpose of survival in a highly competitive world. Man has become so rational, so utilitarian, that the trickle becomes most pale and thin. It is efficient, for mere survival, but it screens out the most wondrous parts of man's potential experience without his even knowing it. We're shut off from our own world. Primitive man once experienced the rich and sparkling flood of the senses fully. Children experience it for a few months-until "normal" training, conditioning, close the doors on this other world, usually for good. Somehow, the drugs opened these ancient doors. And through them modern man may at last go, and rediscover his divine birthright ... ~ Tom Wolfe

Those who listen with their hearts will begin to see patterns everywhere. ~ Grace-Naomi

Or some people may yearn for riches, not for money's sake but in order to send their children to college or provide themselves with the freedom and time for study and reflection which are necessary for their own spiritual growth. It is not power or money that such people love; it is humanity. ~ M. Scott Peck

Attaining bliss can take lifetimes, or one can simply choose to experience it in their deepest dreams. Sleep well my friend, as dreams are vehicles that can quickly take you to the awareness that you call Nirvana ~ Gary Hopkins

Love sticks around even when it has a lot to put up with. ~ Chip Ingram

At a certain point I left my spiritual teacher because I began to see the limitations of my teacher, who was a very powerful occultist, but who I thought was, to some extent, limiting others in their spiritual growth. ~ Frederick Lenz

God has such gladness every time he sees from heaven that a sinner is praying to Him with all his heart, as a mother has when she sees the first smile on her baby's face. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

As we Christians strive to be more influenced by God's kingdom than by this world, we're reminded we will sometimes slip, but 'if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9). ~ Van Harden

If we continue to focus solely on the sinner/saint duality in our person and conduct, while ignoring the raging opposition between the Pharisee and the child, spiritual growth will come to an abrupt standstill. ~ Brennan Manning

If you wish to grow in spirit, feed on the spiritual food, the HOLY WORD. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Science and Spirituality are two sides of the same coin and we cannot separate one from the other. Science is trying to find the truth in an objective or physical manner where as spirituality tries it subjectively or metaphysically. ~ Thomas Vazhakunnathu

Our mothers are racked with the pains of our physical birth; we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth. ~ Mary Antin

We see what we need to see,but we must remain open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.Progression of the spirit is the key to happiness,no matter where we are in the universe.One must develop one's soul and the spirit must grow,but we must seek growth.No one is going to force it upon us.A soul can remain a seed for as long as it wishes.It is entirely up to you. ~ Sheri Meshal

All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned. The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study. ~ Isidore Of Seville

The world is dominated by those who ascend into the higher powers in the spiritual realms ~ Bernard Kelvin Clive

Things do not happen to us ... They happen because of us ~ Gary Hopkins

Nothing changes everything. ~ Jonathan Marcus

Whether it is in your work, or your relationships, or your food choices, or your interaction with any part of nature, or anything that you think, speak, or do, mindfulness has the power to align you with expressing your highest Self, for your personal and our collective highest good.
Via mindfulness we can make the choices today, that will pre-pave the desired outcomes for all of our tomorrows. Via mindfulness we put ourselves in the flow of life, where life is no longer a series of "good" and "bad" moments, but about living with ease, contentment, wellbeing, and inner peace. Ultimately mindfulness requires action, with the first step being to make mindfulness a priority in your life. ~ Evita Ochel

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE
MY LIFE ON CRAIGSLIST

Stars and Cards Never Lie

Date: 2011-04-1, 9:17PM EST

Reply to: [email protected]

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Chapter 1
Four Cookies and a Funeral



Yesterday I went on Craigslist and hired a Tarot reader to tell me whether I was in any danger of losing my job. I wasn't really worried because last week, an astrologer I'd also found on Craigslist, had told me there was no major movement in the sixth house, which is the area of my chart that governs work. But just in case, I met with the Tarot card reader who told me everything was going to be okay.
Today I got canned. ~ Alexandra Ares

When a bully is held accountable for his actions, his future actions will change. Bad behavior only continues for those who allow it. ~ Gary Hopkins

Serious spiritual practice is more than serene walks in the woods, lit candles and incense.

You have to be committed.

You have to be willing to enter into your own darkness and transcend it. ~ Maria Erving

The only thing better than a happy Heart is a clear mind to keep it pumping. Cleanse yourself from within and you're bound to win. ~ Stabley Victor Paskavich

Feed your soul; books, places, people, anything. That helps it grow. ~ M.L. Shanahan

The only person we have the right or the power to forgive is ourselves. For everything else there is the Art of Acceptance. ~ Rebecca O'Dwyer Centred Woman

Do your best. Then, surrender to the Divine Will. And of course, chill. Things work as they will. ~ Fakeer Ishavardas

Jesus calls us to his rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. ~ A.W. Tozer

Heartbreak makes us stronger; it's an opportunity for spiritual growth. How can you understand someone else's pain if you have not yourself suffered? ~ Sandra Cisneros

Each stage of your life
is like petals of a flower...
unfolding and opening until it comes to full bloom...You will blossom and then you die...But know that this is not your ending. ~ Summerlyn Guthrie

There is great beauty in the notion of desire. Each of us is a child of the desire of our parents for each other. We are creatures of desire because we are creations of desire. The human heart discovers its most touching music when desire and love inform each other. When we love, we leave our separate solitudes and come toward union, where we complement each other. It is this ancient desire in every heart to discover and come home to its lost other half that awakens and activates its capacity for love and belonging. There are certain things that can happen to us only in solitude, and every life needs a rhythm of solitude in order to experience this. However, the experience of self-discovery, psychological integration, and spiritual growth can happen to us only when our desire draws us out of our shells and toward the precarious and life-giving sanctuary of another heart. ~ John O'Donohue

True love heals and affects spiritual growth. If we do not grow because of someone else's love, it's generally because it is a counterfeit form of love. ~ John Bradshaw

Many become popular because they speak and write with a reductionist style that brings the complex and disturbing down into canned formulas of what spiritual growth is supposedly all about. Dozens of such New Age authors could bring their works together into one large volume entitled, "How To Become Aware of the Depths of Your Being Without Disturbing the Routine of Your Comfortable Lifestyle. ~ Lew Paz

As I stood behind you, I sensed that God was telling me to pay for your groceries, so I did. Simple as that. ~ Clare De Graaf

There is a very fine line (almost transparent), between cordiality and hypocrisy--knowing to distinguish them is a gift of Gods. ~ Efrat Cybulkiewicz

Connecting with the wilderness allows us to live in the flow of a meaningful, joyful life. Embracing this state of connectedness or oneness with other living beings including animals, as opposed to feeling an "otherness" or "separateness" brings a sense of harmony and enables us to be at peace with oneself and the world. ~ Sylvia Dolson

When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become Master of the Self. A gradual process, this is often tied to loss and to love. ~ Susan Barbara Apollon

The ripple that travels across water does not begin on its own. In order to create positive change one must act upon the intention. Creating a new idea is simple, but is just the beginning. Manifesting an idea into our perceived reality, the physical world, requires action to begin and diligence to maintain, just like any habit that already exists ~ Gary Hopkins

Peace is possible, and it will take a miracle. ~ Robyn Short

Rethink Your Success Mindset: At the end of your life, the only things that really matter ... are matters of your heart. ~ Tony Dovale

Most of us plateau when we lose the tension between where we are and where we ought to be. ~ John Gardiner

He who can see his own mistake can become absolute supreme Self (Parmatma)! ~ Dada Bhagwan

Evolution is the gradual development and stratification of progressive series of wholes, stretching from the inorganic beginnings to the highest level of spiritual creation. ~ Jan Smuts

When you have experienced the depth of your inner self, the idea of enlightenment is no longer a goal to strive towards, but rather an attitude to maintain. ~ Gary Hopkins

Spiritual growth depends on two things: first a willingness to live according to the Word of God; second, a willingness to take whatever consequences emerge as a result. ~ Sinclair B. Ferguson

Faith changes us - faith in something intrinsically good, something other than ourselves, something bigger than ourselves. ~ Donna Goddard

When we feel deeply drawn to someone, we cathect them; that is, we invest feelings or emotion in them. That process of investment wherein a loved one becomes important to us is called "cathexis". I his book Peck rightly emphasizes that most of us "confuse cathecting with loving." We all know how often individuals of cathecting insist that they love the other person even if they are hurting of neglecting them. Since their feiling is that of cathexis, they insist that what they feel is love.
When we understand love as the will to nurture our own and another's spiritual growth, it becomes clear that we cannot claim to love if we are hurtful and abusive. ~ Bell Hooks

God's discipline has nothing to do with rejection but more to do with refinement. ~ Gary Rohrmayer

Motive lies behind action. It is the root of behaviour and attitude, the fuel we need to progress from desire to achievement. In our humanity we are driven to survive, and to be loved makes the living worthwhile. ~ Sarah Tun

For years, I believed that God had been in motion on rare occasions and during biblical times, but I didn't understand that God never stops working on my behalf. ~ Jeff Leake

Imagine the presence of one who deeply loves you and is powerful enough to deal with the things you fear. It turns fear into confidence. But, like all spiritual growth, this change only comes with practice. It comes when you say, "Amen - I believe" when you hear or read the promises of God. It comes through meditation on God's words. It comes when the cross of Jesus Christ assures you that God is faithful. These words to the fearful are so important that Jesus makes them his final words on earth: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). The resurrection is God's answer to fear. Jesus is alive. RESPONSE ~ Edward T. Welch

For students who have not been required to confess that it is easier to learn theology then live it, it is tempting to think maturity is more a matter of knowing in a matter of living ~ Paul David Tripp

Removing toxicity from your life is essential to maintaining a peaceful state of mind and an overall quality of health. This purging can and should include any detrimental habits, including negative, controlling, and abusive people. Once you start living an empowered lifestyle that supports your own higher balance, you will find it to be an easy transition from the negative to the positive in every aspect of your life ~ Gary Hopkins

Spiritual growth is not about climbing a mountain, getting better, and therefore needing Christ less and less. Spiritual growth is about discovering more and bigger caverns of need into which more and more of Christ's grace can flow. ~ Tullian Tchividjian

The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. ~ M. Scott Peck

When you choose self-love, you are reclaiming your awareness of your own power, which raises your vibrational energy and contributes to your healing. ~ Susan Barbara Apollon

Negativity is a debilitating disease. It is a slow and painful way to experience life. It attacks the immune system, creates anxiety, and can lead to loneliness and depression. Finding your inner harmony is the quickest way to alleviate the methodical destruction of this dark energy ~ Gary Hopkins

Your real personality identity is not an option, it is the foundation for your happiness and health. ~ Diana Dentinger

The main difference between twin flames and soul mates is the fact that in a twin flame relationship you will be continuously challenged to grow, shed your ego, and awaken. While soul mates are loving companions, twin flames are the fires that burn through our fears, shadows and limiting beliefs. ~ Aletheia Luna

Maybe it's because spiritual growth and vibrant faith in God don't happen in isolation, but under pressure. ~ Lynn Austin

Often, your lessons will not come easily. Suffering has always been a vehicle for deep spiritual growth. Those who have endured great suffering are generally the ones who evolve into great beings. Those who have been deeply hurt by life are generally the ones who can feel the pain of others in a heartbeat. Those who have endured adversity become humbled by life, and as a result, are more open, compassionate and real. We may not like suffering when it visits us, but it serves us so very well: it cracks the shell that covers our hearts and empties us of the lies we have clung to about who we are, why we are here and how this remarkable world of ours really functions. Once emptied, we can be refilled with all that is good, noble and true. Troubles can transform, if we choose to allow them to do so. As Joseph Campbell ~ Robin S. Sharma

Even professing Christians, by and large, devote to their spiritual growth and well-being a tiny fraction of the time they devote to their body, and it is even tinier fraction if we include what they worry about. ~ Dallas Willard

Personal development and spiritual growth happens when you begin to laugh at yourself, accept your mistakes and embrace your flaws. ~ Germany Kent

If you'd told me even a year before ... that I'd wind up whispering my sins in the confessional or on my knees saying the rosary, I would've laughed myself cockeyed. More likely pastime?Pole dancer. International spy. Drug mule. Assassin.
I drive under a sky black as graphite to meet my new spiritual director ... a bulky Franciscan nun named Sister Margaret, patiently going blind behind fish-tank glasses that magnify her eyes like goggles. ~ Mary Karr

They tore Joseph coat of many colors as evidence of his death and dreams but God brought together his life for his People, to prepare them posterity ~ Ikechukwu Joseph

In my heart is rooted in lovelessness and thanklessness ... By contrast, every truly holy act, including even the inner desire to be holy, springs out of the love and worship that He has placed in my heart. ~ Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

When indeed it is in God we live, and move, and have our being. We cannot draw a breath without his help. ~ Jonathan Edwards

The mission of Jesus Christ should reside within all of our hearts: to love one another and to expand his gospel, furthering the Kingdom of God. ~ Kimberly L. Willis

Sometimes that which you have never lost is the hardest to find. ~ Iva Kenaz

Since the tapestry of all time has already been woven, everything I could ever want to happen in my life already exists in that infinite, nonphysical plane. My only task is to expand my earthly self enough to let it into this realm. So if there's something I desire, the idea isn't to go out and get it, but to expand my own consciousness to allow universal energy to bring it into my reality here. ~ Anita Moorjani

One of the most painful stages in the twin flame relationship is that of the "runner and chaser" dynamic. After the initial stages of ecstatic union and fairy-tale partnership, things start to heat up. Egos begin to clash, core wounds, insecurities, and traumas are rubbed raw, and shadow selves lash out. As a result, it's inevitable that almost every twin flame relationship will battle through drama and dysfunction at first. ~ Aletheia Luna

The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one. ~ M. Scott Peck

Illusion (maya) cannot enter where there is 'light' (enlightenment, awareness). Once darkness falls, illusion will enter there. The Gnani Purush can arrange for your illusion to go away permanently. ~ Dada Bhagwan

Yes. Knock and it shall be opened to you. The gift of wisdom can be found, if one wishes to search for it, and is willing to be altered by it. It is not a gift given without cost or transformation, nor one to be used lightly. ~ Faith Hunter

I'm just telling you, God permits things in our lives sometimes for reasons that we do not understand yet because of the spiritual level that we're on. We can't have any understanding of it, because we're not at a place of spiritual growth yet where we understand the deeper things of God. ~ Joyce Meyer

Very often in our culture, you are treated as though you have little spiritual capacity, as though you have no inherent power, and that people 'in the know' have to always liquidize your food in order for you to grow. But it is important that the true seeker understands that they must be open enough to be deeply challenged to awaken the living aspiration necessary for true freedom. To be free you are going to have to break out of the mold of personal conditioning, out of your cocoon. Each sincere seeker must be willing to undergo the necessary transformation from caterpillar consciousness to the butterfly of freedom! ~ Mooji

When you understand this hidden dimension of your humanity, you can empower yourself to accelerate your evolution. ~ Panache Desai

Be rooted in the word of God. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Just as a human soul that faces great difficulties also faces great opportunities for spiritual growth, so a human society that faces destruction also faces the opportunity to enter a period of renaissance. I think that, barring an accident, the wish to survive will keep us from a nuclear war. ~ Peace Pilgrim

Science has proven that subatomic particles can exist in two places at once. Since we are all made up of these particles, then this simple fact should drastically re-define every limitation that you think you have. ~ Gary Hopkins

Letting go of attachment to any way of believing or thinking has made me feel more expanded and almost transparent so that universal energy can just flow through me. ~ Anita Moorjani

The path of least resistance never gets us where we want to go. Shortcuts always end up being cul-de-sacs. The key to spiritual growth is the willingness to go out of your way for God. You will find God in uncomfortable places at inconvenient times. But if you go out of your way for God, God will go out of His way for you. Crash the party! ~ Mark Batterson

Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth ... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will
namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love. ~ M. Scott Peck

Be sure of this: when you make time for the Holy Spirit, He will make time to visit you. ~ Tiffany Domena

God expects you to have the mentality of a conqueror. See yourself as a victor in Christ Jesus, and go about life with a holy swagger! ~ Pedro Okoro

Spiritual growth is like childbirth: you dilate, then you contract, you dilate, then you contract again. as painful as it all feels, it's the necessary rhythm for reaching the ultimate goal of total openness. ~ Marianne Williamson

So we have to develop a very open loving attitude in our relationships with people. With everybody we meet, whether they are nice to us or not, we must have that initial feeling of "May you be well and happy". Just a good feeling. It doesn't mean we have to be stupid or that we can't see that some people are bad or are going to cheat us. To be non-judgemental doesn't mean that we are not discriminating. It means that we see the situation very clearly, we see clearly the kind of person before us, but we don't react with anger. We don't have to allow ourselves to be pushed around, we don't have to be doormats for others to wipe their feet on. We can be very clear about what this person's motivation is; we see it, and so can't be trapped, cheated or abused. ~ Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

When you have a command over your thoughts and how they are creating, you are the center of your creation. When you put your responsibility outside of yourself and subject yourself as a victim of the universe, you are disempowered and are going to struggle. Live life free and responsibly. Then you will align with your soul's love. It is a matter of acknowledging your power and truly living it. ~ Jason Nelson

If someone finds a flaw [shortcoming] in us, know that there is imperfection [defect] in us. However, it is a different matter if that person has a habit of talking negatively, but generally that is not the case. ~ Dada Bhagwan

I dance to the beat of the earth the memories are the lyrics I write nature leads my soul through this existence I call life. ~ Nikki Rowe