Curiosity at first, at least that’s what I would have called it then. Now I would call it serendipity.

I’m unsure how I came across Michael Singer’s work, but I somehow wound up with a copy of his best-selling book, “The Untethered Soul”. One passage that resonated with me was this one, it’s from Chapter 2, which is titled “Your Inner Roommate”

If you would like to meet your roommate, just try to sit inside yourself for a while in complete solitude and silence. You have the right; it’s your inner Domain. But instead of finding silence, you’re going to listen to incessant chatter

“Why am I doing this? I have more important things to do. This is a waste

 of time. There’s nobody here but me. What’s all this about?”

Right on cue, there’s your roommate. You may have a clear intention to be quiet inside, but your roommate won’t co-operate.

I was introduced to meditation in 2011 or so by Willie Horton, as part of his Psychology of Success Programme, and it started a practice I still use to this day. Combining meditation with passages like the one above allowed me to observe this inner roommate. I discovered that he was busy and chatty, and that he liked to take both sides of whatever argument he was having with himself. He was also quite anxious and fearful. More importantly, it brought me to the realisation that I am not my thoughts, that in actuality, I am the awareness of my thoughts.

I began reading material on Buddhism, especially the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. It seemed to me that the Buddha had examined the workings of the human mind and had come up with a way of “observing and correcting” it long before any Western psychiatrist had.

At that stage, you could say that I was very interested in Spirituality! I came across the “I AM” Discourses given to us by St. Germain, as well as the teachings of Archangel Michael, channelled through Ronna Vezane.

Michael Singer regularly referenced the great wisdom teachers and teachings. One book he mentioned was the Bhagavat Gita, and upon reading the Gita I felt a strong sense of resonation towards teachings, so much so that it all just made sense to me. It mentioned topics such as karma, dharma & reincarnation which are topics that Western civilisation frowns upon, but have been understood by Hinduism for thousands of years. Again, it all made sense to me.

The version of The Gita that I have read is translated by Eknath Easwaran. In the foreword he mentions the following:

The seers of Ancient India analysed the human experience to see if there was anything in it that was absolute. Their findings can be summarised in three statements, which have been called The Perennial Philosophy, because they appear in every age and civilisation

• There is an Infinite changeless reality beneath the world of change
• This same reality lies at the core of every human personality
• The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially: that is, to realise God while here on earth

 

While on the surface, The Gita may appear to be a story about a battle fought long ago in India, on closer reading, it becomes clear that the struggle in The Gita is about Self-Mastery. It is a recurring problem between the forces of light and darkness in every heart.

So, what does this have to do with “Thrive with David Barry”? I believe that we all have a Divine Nature that is available for us to explore. I believe that this exploration starts with “Self-Mastery and Self-Empowerment” – taking responsibility for all aspects of your life, your family, your career, your health, your spirituality. It involves analysing your thoughts, feelings, actions, reactions and taking responsibility for them. It’s about stopping the blame game and taking back control so you can build the life you want, not the one society told you to have. So that is what I offer you – Guidance in all areas of your life, because true spirituality doesn’t involve running away from your life, it is about embracing your life as it is, and creating the life that you want for yourself. Because “Life Coaching” that doesn’t include our Divine Nature only deals with the surface issues, and there’s so much more to life than what appears on the surface.