In the Sky World of Higher Vision and Wisdom are Spiritual Guides and Guardians, ready to help us with guidance and healing, and in our work of service. If we are ready to listen, we can communicate with and receive from these Guides and Helpers. If we are ready, they can share with us their wisdom and lead us towards our own illumination and the expression of our inherent spiritual potentials.
The Great Spirit and Wisdom is already within our souls, yet we may need some guidance or a catalyst to help us realize more of the wisdom and love within us, and to lead us into the Way of Harmony. Guides seek to lead us towards the Spirit of Love and Wisdom, but remember that all of the Spirit Guides are reflections of the One Great Spirit, of which you are also a reflection. We see or hear these Guides as individual presences, but always remember that both they and we are in the Great Spirit of Love Wisdom, so all love and wisdom ultimately comes from the One Great Spirit.
These Guides are the wise Elders and Teachers, who have already walked the Earth-Path but are now helping life from the Wisdom Lodge of the invisible Spirit-world, the Sky-world. They are now part of the Great-Spirit Mind of Love-Wisdom. These Guides are our ancestors, who achieved harmony and balance within their own being and with the circle of Life. They are the great Medicine Teachers and Wise Ones, who realized the heart of the Spiritual Sun and became illuminated with Its Light.
Some of these Teachers from the Wisdom Lodge may decide to be reborn again in the world, in order to teach and serve the next generation. But then, as they grow up in a new body and in a new world, they have to gradually remember and re-activate their soul wisdom, with help from wisdom teachers already here.
Sometimes when a Guide is contacted or speaking to us, we might recognize who this was previously on Earth; but this is not necessary, and it's not really all too important. Remember also that the actual guidance, visions and teachings, are what’s important, rather than the name of the Guide or seeing the Guide. Even just feeling the presence of Guidance, or just knowing that a spiritual presence is here to guide, protect and heal you, is more important than names or seeing figures.
The feeling of the Spirit Guide presence will help build your inner connection and attunement with the Spirit Teacher. So begin by feeling the presence of the Spirit Guide, who is here for you, who cares about you and wants to help lead you along your own path to self-knowledge, self-wholeness and service to Life. Once you know this feeling of the presence, then listen for the Voice of Truth and the guidance given.
If you wish to make contact with a Spiritual Guide, then begin by coming into your own self-honesty and your own natural knowing in the heart. Then, open your heart and mind, in humility, and make a sincere prayer for further guidance along the way and towards illumination. Your prayer, your humility, and your wish must be sincere and clearly known. As you ask or pray for guidance and the presence of Spirit, know in faith that the sincerity of your prayer is heard in the spiritual world.
Then become open and receptive to spiritual presence and help. Begin to feel the spiritual presence. When you have the feeling of this greater presence close to you, and feel yourself in the energy of this presence, then you have received contact and you know the presence is here with you. You will feel the love, the protection and care from this presence, and you will know it is right and good by the feelings of peace, joy, and being loved.
If you do not feel good and nurtured by this presence, or if you feel uncomfortable or out of balance by this, then you should return to your own inner centeredness or to your groundedness, because if it doesn't feel right then its best to start over, or maybe you are not ready in this moment and need to center yourself first. Always remember that you don't need to accept any kind of inner contact, unless it feels to be right and good. Keep re-affirming your intention and prayer for the highest guidance, highest presence, highest vibration, and for a real inner Teacher of Love Wisdom. This will protect you from lesser spirits and lead you to contact with your highest Spiritual Guide.
When do make contact with what definitely feels right, good and healing, then allow this presence to balance and harmonize your emotional body, and become more and more in attunement with the spiritual vibrations of this presence. Release any held emotional stress or turbulence through the out breath. Once you have released emotional stuff, you may feel as though you are raised into this spiritual presence, or you may feel the presence infusing your mind and body with higher love and healing. This is all part of your own spiritual healing and attunement with the higher vibrations.
As this proceeds, you might now begin to hear wisdom and guidance from the spirit presence. An image of the Guide may appear to you, as well, but this is not so important and we should not become attached to any glamor of who is our great guide, and what he or she looks like. If appearances and names become too important, then true wisdom takes a back seat to glamor, and one might then attract lesser spirits. Most important is the presence of love, the healing presence, the protecting presence, and the guiding presence.
The guidance or vision given will necessarily depend on what exactly one needs at the time, and will depend on what we exactly ask for, or the particular question we hold in mind. What we receive will also depend on our own self-acquired illumination and the stage of our soul evolution, and it will also depend on our particular ability to serve and on how we might possibly make use of this guidance in our creative expression. Any guidance proceeds under the spiritual law that we only receive what we need, what we deserve, and according to how we might make use of any given knowledge.
Actively ask for help or guidance, then be in a receptive state to listen. The asking and the listening are both important; or the seeking and the receptiveness. This is the balance needed. There must always be an asking and an openness for guidance, according to the law of free-will and individual evolution. Nothing can be given without asking and a willing receptivity to listen and consider what is given. Wisdom teachings are never forced upon anyone. A basic and fundamental part of the whole process of inner guidance is our inner prayer or our asking for help, and the power of this depends on its sincerity. So the first step is prayer and asking for help. Then secondly we need to be receptive and quietly listen within for the voice and vision of Guidance.
Many people ask or pray for guidance, that they may be led to the right or best path in life. But few people realize that guidance is already being given. The Voice of Truth and Guidance is continuous within you, in each moment. You're just not listening, or maybe it’s not what you want to hear. Truth and Guidance is continually being voiced within the heart. But are you listening and receptive to this?
Therefore, in meditation or in inner silence, listen for this inner guidance that is already being voiced in your heart, which is to do with your very next step in understanding and in practical work. Then, further guidance will be given, after you hear what is already being given. Thus, first one step and then the next. Because if the present step is neglected, then the next steps cannot be revealed. Therefore, we must first listen to the inner guidance which is already being voiced within us.
The truth is already being whispered from within your heart. Are you listening? We need to make a commitment to listen, to hear, and to accept the truth and guidance that is given.
Sometimes the logic of the head cannot understand the logic of the heart, but wisdom and truth is first known in the heart. The head is meant to understand the wisdom of the heart, but if the head argues with the heart and dismisses the feelings of the heart, then there is inner conflict. The heart is meant to lead, and the head is meant to understand. Follow the heart, because the True and Beautiful Way is revealed through the heart. If you get confused or unsure about things, then listen deeper in the heart.
So, with this right attitude of inner listening, we can receive greater guidance and wisdom from inner spiritual Teachers and Guides. Guides and guidance will come to us, if we ask. But first we need to be in an attitude of listening to the guidance and wisdom that is already within us.
Conditioned thinking, emotional habits, and ego-desires are the primary obstacles that hold one back from true freedom in Wisdom-Mind. Thoughts and desires are powers within us, powers to be respected; but these need to be tempered with wisdom and love, and respect for the greater Whole. So, we make a distinction between the higher-greater wisdom mind, and the lower-limited desire mind (or conditioned mind).
In Native Teachings desire is not essentially negative, nor is it an intrinsic evil. There is nothing necessarily wrong or bad about desire or desire-mind. It is natural that we have desires, such as desire for food, survival, enjoyment, respect and success. Yet, some desires can become excessive, over-demanding, or over-bearing. Desire is fundamentally natural to all beings, yet our desires may not always be wise or conducive to goodness and beauty in the world. We don’t try to kill desire, but we do look at it with the wisdom of discernment.
We hold many different desires. Some harmonize along with each other, while others clash. Without any discerning wisdom, our mixed bag of desires create self-conflict. Each desire is like just one person in a tribe. We can respect each desire, just like respecting each person; but we cannot allow just one person, or one desire, to rule over all others in the tribe or to create disharmony in the whole. We cannot let a few desires decide the future for the whole tribe. The good of the whole and of all our natural relations must always be of greater importance than just any one person or any one desire.
The same that is said of desire can also be said of habits and conditioning, for these are not necessarily bad or harmful. There are good habits, like the habit of cleaning up after oneself. There could also be good kinds of conditionings that we receive from education; as for example, respecting elders and sacred space.
Yet as with desire, habits and conditioning should be distinguished from wisdom. They may have some wisdom, but not necessarily.
Desire is essentially natural, but each desire is always limited in its perspective. Each desire sees its own particular aim and nothing else. It's like a narrow focus or like an arrow pointing in just one direction, to its own particular aim. Wisdom, on the other hand, provides a greater perspective. Desire-mind is based on habit and is always limited in its perspective; whereas Wisdom comes from a greater perspective. Thus, wisdom can guide one’s life-direction from a wider perspective, rather than letting each little desire or each habit, as it arises, lead one’s life.
Wisdom upholds the good of the whole, of all relations, without being partial to any one desire over all others. Wisdom is about wholeness, relatedness, and collective good. This includes you and me, but not to the exclusion of everyone else. This also includes our desires, for wisdom takes each desire into consideration, but wisdom does not necessarily agree with all desires – if they conflict with the greater needs of the Whole.
Thus, wisdom and desire may sometimes be at odds. Desire will want wisdom to uphold the desire. But true wisdom may be different and may not agree with desire. So a distinction is made between desire-mind and wisdom-mind, and sometimes we have to choose between the path of desire and the path of wisdom. And if you choose one path, you may need to give up the other. Yet, not all desires necessarily conflict with wisdom. Natural and non-excessive desires can be in harmony with wisdom.
Also, when we desire wisdom, our desires become more in line with wisdom. This is the highest form of desire-mind, the desire for Wisdom and Guidance. Higher desire can be helpful in meditations. Whereas, the chatter and energies of lower desires are disruptive to spiritual meditations and inner journeys. When our higher desire for wisdom, guidance, and spiritual attunement is forgotten, then lower kinds of desires often emerge.
If the mind is observed during the process of meditation, you might discover that your mind is often loosing control and taking a journey that is guided by one desire-thought after another, rather than guided by higher wisdom. You may observe that you are being guided or even controlled by different desires and desire-based thoughts, which take possession of the mind and compete for attention. One might be so used to this, that it isn't even normally noticed. It is only in the quiet of meditation, that one notices how uncontrollably impulsive the mind can be.
The remedy for this is to keep returning to the higher intention of journeying in Wisdom Mind. Return awareness to the breath, and begin again to surrender the thinking desire-mind, surrendering ordinary thinking and impulsive desires. Give up every thought or desire that makes you forget your higher intention. Let go of all thinking and all desires, and just focus on having a clear and open mind, receptive to higher Wisdom, Vision, and Guidance.
So the first step in meditation is get in control of oneself, rather than be controlled by wandering thoughts or desires. Then, come into a receptive attitude of mind and heart. Do not allow habitual trains of thought to control your spirit intention and spoil the meditation. If lower desires and thoughts do arise, then just say hello, giving it a moment of attention and acknowledgment, then tell it that you have something more important to do, which is to achieve silence and peace, and to receive spiritual guidance. Then, simply leave those thoughts behind or just let them go.
So, generally, we need to let go of our emotions and our usual self-dialogues of thought, in order for our meditation, our journey, or our quest for contacting Guides, to be effective. It's hard to go on an inner spiritual journey, have visions, or listen to inner guidance, if our current mind and emotions are taking us on their little journey, or if they are so consuming of our attention that we cannot possibly hear anything from Guides or inner guidance.
This is not to say that all of those thoughts and emotions are always worthless or unimportant, because it could be that what arises from our lower mind may be something in need of resolution or in need of an answer. Yet maybe you can find this resolution or this answer from quiet meditation or from inner wisdom.
Thus, whatever arises from lower-mind can either be let go of or be brought into Wisdom-Mind for resolution or guidance. So either let it go as an irrelevant obstacle, or let inner wisdom and guidance solve the conflict-at-hand. Either way, the lower-mind should not be allowed to control or lead the meditation, for the very essential purpose of spiritual meditation is toward the aim of listening to guidance or to an inner Guide.
But how can one know the difference between higher guidance and the lower-mind possibly posing as guidance? There is this possibility of self-deception, but there are ways to tell the difference. First of all though, the best approach to being guided by Wisdom, rather than desire, is to continually aspire towards Wisdom, and to continually leave behind little desires. Secondly, you can know in your heart what is truth. Your heart can recognize truth from deception.
Thirdly, the desire-mind or habit-mind will tend to take our awareness for a ride which will not be in the present moment. Remember that desire-mind is always habitual, so it will tend to take you out of the present moment. Whereas, true guidance comes in a present-moment consciousness and one feels to be in charge. However, if one goes off on a kind of dream journey, and loses oneself in this, then this could be an indirect way for guidance to come, in the same way as dreams, so one should consider whatever happens in these dreams as significant.
Besides there being possible deceptions from your lower mind or from desires, there is also the possible problem of being misled by 'lower spirits'. People who have an interest in spiritual mediumship or in channeling the deceased are most prone to this problem. The main problem with lower spirits is not that they are bad spirits or trying to deceive; rather, the problem is that lower spirits (and many who are deceased) believe they are helping, even if they might not be. Lower spirits are usually convinced about the wisdom of what they tell you, so they are unaware if they are misleading or deceiving you. This is similar in our regular life; many people want to give guidance and tell you what they believe is true, but we cannot just simply believe what anyone says is true.
So as a helpful principle, don't just be simply open-minded to anything, like whatever voice or images come to you. It is true that openness, receptivity and trust are important elements in wisdom-guidance meditations; but one also needs to have a definite intention and discernment to reach the highest wisdom possible. Always aspire to be in contact with your own highest Wisdom-Guide, and do not settle for less. And always remember that you have the inherent power to be free from all deceptions and from all spirits lesser wise than yourself.
Many people have visions of spirit-helpers or feel their presence. But if this becomes a glamour, or if the ego feels important because of this, then one tends to attract lesser spirits and become open to spiritual delusion. Lesser spirits tend to clothe themselves in glamour, and appeal to our self-importance. So, in our meditations and journeys through the Spirit-world, aspire towards the highest and brightest illumination of spiritual wisdom, and not merely get caught up in glamors.
The test of any guidance or teaching is to be honest that it makes sense to you and vibrates as truth within your heart, and that it has some useful relevance to your spiritual path.
The struggle through delusion and glamor is part of everyone’s spiritual path, so the spiritual warrior perseveres intently along the higher path to greater truth and illumination. The greater challenge of the warrior is with oneself. Our desires, glamours and self-importance are barriers to Truth. So the spiritual warrior breaks through the barriers of false desire and self-deception, and journeys with inner strength and perseverance toward the rising sun of Higher Illumination.
We are given wisdom according to what we deserve by our own efforts in understanding, and we attract energies and vibrations according to our own vibration of love and aspiration towards the Truth. We can make large leaps along the way, and receive new inspiring insights and visions, but only as we persevere towards greater illumination of understanding. If we stop our search for truth, and content ourselves in believing that we now know it all, then we are destroying the possibility of greater illumination and of becoming evermore closer to Great Spirit Wisdom.
If you wish to make contact with a Spiritual Guide, then begin by coming into your own self-honesty and your own natural knowing in the heart. Then, open your heart and mind, in humility, and make a sincere prayer for further guidance along the way and toward illumination. Your prayer, your humility, and your wish must be sincere and clearly known. As you ask or pray for guidance and presence of Spirit, know in faith that your prayer is heard in the spiritual world, according to its sincerity. Now become open and receptive to spiritual presence and help. Knowing you want it. Knowing you need it.
Feel the spiritual presence above and in back of you. When you have the feeling of this greater presence close to you, and feel yourself in the energy of this presence. Know you have received contact. Know the presence is with you. Feel the love, the protection, and the care from this presence. Your spiritual helper or guide, and Great Spirit, is now here for you. The Great Spirit, or the Spirit Guide, is like a trustworthy counselor or friend, who is here for you, who cares for you, and who loves you and wants to guide you in a way in which you can express your inherent potentials and serve life as well.
When you make contact with what feels right, good and healing, then allow this presence to balance and harmonize your emotional body, and release any held emotional stress or turbulence through the out breath, allowing the substance of this stuff to settle back down into the earth compost. And become more and more in attunement with the spiritual vibrations of this presence. Once you have released the old stuff, you may feel as though you are being raised into this spiritual presence, or you may feel the presence infusing your mind and body. This is all part of your own spiritual healing and attunement with the higher vibrations. As this proceeds, you may begin to hear wisdom and guidance from the Spirit Presence. An image of the Guide may appear to you, as well, but this is not so important and we should not become attached to the glamor of who is our great guide and what does he or she look like.
Allow the feeling of spiritual love to enter into you and overflow around you. Just relax and let this presence of love and guidance come closer to you, closer to know you and be here for you. Take a step of faith and trust, and let yourself be known by Spirit and let yourself be loved. Let yourself be known and loved. Be wiling to share your honesty and sincerity with Spirit. You need to un-hide your own feelings, unhide your own honesty, and let yourself be known and truly understood by the spiritual Friend. Speak your truth. Share your heart and feelings, and sincerely ask for what you want, or sincerely ask for guidance along the Way. The spiritual Friend and Guide can be our complete confidant, if we can just trust more and allow ourself the privilege of being understood and loved and guided along our way by a spiritual presence, who knows us from the inside and who speaks to us from inside ourself.
You may think of this Presence as your own greater spiritual wisdom, or you may think of this Presence as One Who is further along the Way of Wisdom and ready to lead you toward your own Self-illumination and to a way of service in the world. Both kinds of belief are true, depending on one’s perspective, yet the key is nonetheless trust, faith, self-honesty, and an opening to love-wisdom. Then, just allow this presence to love, to heal, and to speak through you. And you will recognize the truth in your heart and in your natural intuition.
So the keys to contact and communication with one's Spirit Guide are first this unhiding of ourself and allowing ourself to be known, as we in faith and trust reveal our feelings and self-sincerity and inner wishes with this knowing and loving Presence, this Wise and Loving One, Who is here for us and only hopes to help us and heal us in the wholeness of Spirit.
This spiritual contact and communication will grow, much like a growing friendship and trust, as you allow the presence to come closer and open up your sincerity and allow yourself to be known and loved. More and more you trust and listen to the guidance and follow the Voice of truth which is recognized in the heart. And that Voice of truth will become ever stronger and evermore clear. Yet we have to really want this love and guidance in our life, and we need to develop our faith in this, and follow the Voice of truth. It begins with a humility and self-honesty that we really want and need a greater healing and guidance.
Humility and honesty is a big step, and it's the first step we must make. For as we step toward the Great Spirit and the Spirit of guidance, with self-openness and receptivity, then an opening of contact and communication can be made, and then we can be helped and healed. Then, we can more feel this presence of spiritual love and be guided by its wisdom. As we move further along the Path, we realize, more and more, the need for help. And we realize a need for a greater kind of healing, not just a healing of the physical, but a healing of the whole person. The true meaning of spiritual healing is the coming into a greater wholeness of Being, a greater wholeness of consciousness, and a greater harmony of oneself with the wholeness of life.
If we can be completely honest with ourself, we will probably know that we have a deep longing to be loved, to feel completely loved, and if we look further into ourself we might see or feel the longing to be in unity and wholeness with life. There is this pain of separateness, or feeling separate from the rest of life, or the pain of feeling confused about the truth of ourself and the purpose of life. The path to wholeness and true self-healing begins with this honesty of self. And from that honesty comes a natural aspiration for wholeness and harmony. This aspiration and sincere longing is the burning fire of our soul. When we are in touch with this, we are in touch with true prayer, the prayer of the soul. This is the fire which will purify us, and which will make a smoke signal of prayer to the spiritual world.