The Holy Trinity of Living
By Annalisa Corti
There are so many books and articles filled with tips, strategies, and paradigms on how to evolve or find personal happiness and success. The 5-minute-a-day fix-it-all solutions usually turn out to be great sprinters, though disappointing in the long marathon of life. Evolution, happiness and success – by the Law of Attraction – can be ours instantaneously if the right energetic and spiritual alignments are in place. However, most people are deeply entrenched in their own prejudices, judgments (of both self and others), and – the greatest evil of all – expectations, that a few years or lifetimes are usually needed. This, though, would not make a bestseller. Think of how marketable a title like “Spend the rest of your life trying to evolve” would be.
The three core concepts of holy living presented to Neale Donald Walsh in Conversation with God, book 2: awareness, honesty, and responsibility, are amongst one of the most accessible and easily integrated of the many approaches to personal and spiritual growth researched and studied. Here comes the disclaimer, implementing these concepts in your daily routines requires initial discipline, a yearning of the heart, and much longer than five minutes.
Awareness simply means that we become and remain awake and conscious of each inner and outer moment. We are so grounded in our breath and our remembrance of our Spiritual nature that nothing slips by us. We stay connected to our feelings, and our body’s messages, tapping into their wisdom before we speak or do anything. We observe what happens around us and through eyes filled with Love we observe / interpret / and respond. We know exactly how our words and actions may impact the person, animal, or plant next to us. Thanks to this knowledge we aim to be truthful to our heart but also kind to theirs, for nothing constructive for our soul will come out of causing pain. Ultimately, awareness means staying plugged into the here-and-now remembering Who We Are each second of each day and knowing Who We Want to Be through every word or action.
Honesty means living in Truth. We learn to speak the truth to ourselves about who we are, what we want, where we are going. Through inner truthfulness comes forgiveness and tolerance for ourselves, as our faults and vulnerabilities are discovered and loved. Once we have grasped the truth within, we learn to tell others only truthful things about ourselves. This telling-the-truth process eventually fills us with self-love, because we stop playing judges and surrender our true selves to the world. Eventually our language and tone will evolve too. We will recognize ourselves speaking with a new gentleness. We will then be able to convey the truth to others about themselves in a way that is palatable by them. Our truthful words should always contribute to someone’s personal journey and evolution. While people are responsible for the interpretation of our message, we are responsible for its content, intention and delivery. The challenge thus lies in first creating inner truthfulness and then cultivating the ability to bring it outside in the way that matches your idea of Who You Are and Who You Want to Be. Honesty means letting go of our fears and needs, trusting that living and speaking our purest truth will liberate us from our ego, bringing us closer to Who We Really Are.
Responsibility means that we do not hide behind any type of excuse. Being aware and honest, it will be impossible for us to say “I did not know”, “I thought it did not matter”, and so on. We are creators of each moment of every day, as well as each interpretation of each moment of every day. Trying to be the highest version of ourselves makes us responsible for behaving or delivering information in a way that truly reflects our God nature. There is no longer a margin of ignorance behind which we can hide unscathed. If we stay aware, we are always in the knowing. If we are in the knowing, it means we live in the truth, thus our responsibility in every action, word, thought, emotion becomes unmistakable and undeniable. Embracing responsibility is an opportunity to lift ourselves up to our God-nature without holding back.
It becomes evident how abiding to these three guidelines makes life a lot more authentic. There is little margin for scapegoating, shortcutting, and excuses. In fact, God makes it quite clear to Neale that there isn’t any. We are invited to stay rooted in our Spiritual nature, present in it, undressed by the truth and uplifted by our ownership of it.
Knowing and speaking the truth at all times is the most liberating and invigorating habit to learn. I have personally tested time and time again that if: 1) I know how I truly feel about an issue, 2) convey my feelings / opinion / insight respecting my truth but also speaking with love and kindness, 3) the listener usually receives the message without feeling aggressed thus does not become defensive but rather collaborative.
The three concepts – if we yearn to grow closer to Who We Really Are – are great basic guidelines that can be used by anyone. All they require is a genuine desire to be happy, some discipline, and a sponsor or a friend who can encourage us along in the toughest moments when our ego pays a visit. Getting started on the journey is often the most difficult task, as we are limited by our own expectations and judgments. Still, if our heart is craving for purpose and happiness, there are some basic things that we can do:
– Take just 5 minutes a day to monitor – follow your breath. Start slowly, without expecting to pursue one hour of contemplative prayer or meditation. Know that you have the entire eternity at your disposal. You will increase the length of your practice naturally as you feel ready. Be mindful though to never skip the 5 minute-practice, even if you are terribly busy. Always end your daily practice with a gratitude prayer, thanking God for all that you are and that you have. This practice fosters awareness of your inner universe. As your practice increases in time and in depth, your awareness will expand outwards. – Begin practicing honesty with yourself by always asking how you feel about any given situation / question / opportunity. Do not focus so much on the answers. Train your mind to regularly tune into your heart throughout the day welcoming whatever feelings arise. Initially, this will slow down your response-time. Do not worry, in just a few days, the process will speed up without compromising your inner clarity. – Every time something seems to be going in a way that you dislike, gently remind yourself: “I created this moment; there must be an opportunity or a message for me here. What can it be?” In the beginning, the goal is not to focus so much on getting an answer, rather on serenely accepting that you are the only one responsible for the interpretation of every minute.
When we do manage to look inward and connect to our true feelings, possibilities open before our eyes. The clarity we receive when we live our own life in awareness, honesty and responsibility, is tremendously powerful in springing us forward towards happiness and fulfillment.
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Annalisa lives in Florence, Italy, is an Academic Professor, licensed Naturopath and Spiritual Counselor. She is trained in TCM, Spagyric Medicine, Psychosomatic Diagnosis, Mindfulness Meditation, and Reiki. She is writing her first book on applied spirituality and enjoys writing articles for the heart and soul.
