Spiritual Determination

“Life is difficult but not impossible. I don’t think that any man is given a problem to solve unless it is known that he can solve that problem providing he uses courage and determination and has faith in his own abilities, his higher abilities and probably, sometimes even, in the abilities of others. I don’t think he’s given any problem that’s too great for him.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘Do Not Allow Your Basic Self To Fill Your Heart With Hate,’ 1971

We all have very difficult times in our lives. These can include health or family issues, difficult living situations, pain, loss – there are countless examples. We can find ourselves in negative situations of our own making, and sometimes through no fault of our own. This can leave us feeling unmotivated, overwhelmed, and even very hurt. All of these situations can make it difficult to focus on our spiritual lives.

It is in these times that spiritual determination can help us to progress on our spiritual journey.

“What is progress? It is change. Retrogression is change. Nothing ever stands still. It either retrogresses or progresses.”

– Dr. George King, a lecture on the 11th and 12th Blessings, 1960

If we are not actively progressing on our chosen spiritual path, or moving closer to God, we are actually moving the opposite way, we are moving away from God.

It is as if there are two spirals, or two ways that we can respond to situations in our lives – one negative and one positive.

The negative or downward spiral occurs when we allow our lower selves to guide the way. We may allow ourselves to be distracted and pulled away from the path. It can mean that we are allowing our lower selves to dictate our emotions and our decisions.

If we do allow this, we aren’t just standing still, we are actually moving backwards. What’s more, the longer we stray from the path, the more difficult it is to come back.

The positive or upward spiral finds us actively working on our spiritual selves. We start to live more spiritual and service focused lives.

We still have troubles, distractions and difficult times, but we are understanding that these are lessons for us to learn. We are able to take a step back from a situation, and instead of allowing it to have a negative affect on us, we can look at the bigger picture and try to find out what we are meant to learn, and possibly, what we could be doing differently. This can give us greater insight and we can then understand difficult times better. We understand that these are lessons for us to learn and it gives the difficult time context. Our resilience grows, our determination grows.

Dr. King believed in turning every negative situation in life into a positive one – and we can do the same.

What does it mean to be spiritually determined?

Dr. King says the following about someone on the spiritual path:

“In the early days, I found, like everyone else has always found before, that the more I practised, the more discipline I exercised over myself, the more I knew. You will not – doesn’t matter who tells you otherwise, makes no difference – you will not ever experience a mystical state, such as Cosmic Consciousness, unless you work really, really hard for it. There’s no easy way. There’s a quick way and a long way.

“The quick way is by far the most dangerous; by far the most difficult. The long way is much safer. But whichever way you take, you must work very, very, very hard. And it’s up to you: [you can] say, ‘Well, in the next life it might come, or the life afterwards it might come.’

“Or you can say, as I did, ‘It’s gonna come now. I can’t wait for the next life. Definitely not. Now it’s gonna come!’ …and work accordingly.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘Key To Your Spiritual Progress,’ 1981

The spiritual path requires discipline, otherwise we end up letting our lower selves pull us away from our path, down the negative spiral. We will all lead with the wrong foot from time to time, but the discipline and determination to stay on the spiritual path will help us to falter less.

This will feel frustrating and extremely difficult at times, but we must be determined to carry on and continue focusing on moving forward – it will be one of the greatest decisions we can make. We are not given any task that we are unable to handle, this is in fact Karmic Law.

Dr. King also said:

“Many people fall by the wayside, leave the straight and narrow road because things get difficult for them and, if they were to keep along this road for just a little while longer, many of these difficulties would be resolved.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘Do Not Allow Your Basic Self To Fill Your Heart With Hate,’ 1971

How can we become more spiritually determined?

Spiritual practices

Dr. King and the Cosmic Masters have given us numerous spiritual practices to help us through difficult times. These can give us strength, raise our consciousness, and make a real difference in our lives. You can find over 40 of these types of practices in the book Realize Your Inner Potential through the path of spiritual service – King Yoga.

One example is the chanting of mantra, or sacred sounds. This will enhance the flow of prana through our chakras. This enhanced flow can bring inspiration and a harmonization of our subtle bodies.

Yoga breathing, also known as pranayama, is another effective way to draw prana into yourself through deep breathing techniques. Dr. King stated that:

“No shallow breather can be a deep thinker. If you breathe shallowly you can never have glorious visualisation or glorious visions. Relatively speaking, the deeper your breath, the more controlled your thoughts.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘The Power of Creative Thinking’, 1961

Both of these practices bring peace to you and apart from having a great subtle effect on your bodies, they can also calm and quiet the mind. By practicing these, we will open ourselves up to inspiration. Inspiration that can give us strength, or even at times, solutions to our problems. This strength and inspiration can help us fight through difficult times, see the problems more clearly, and continue on the upward spiral.

Personal Prayer

In Dr. King’s lecture on ‘The Secret of Personal Prayer‘, he says that there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help and guidance, particularly if you are asking for help to carry on along your spiritual path.

In the lecture he gives specific directions on how to do this properly, and he states that if we do this personal prayer practice:

“You will have confidence, you will have determination, you will have courage, you will have fortitude, you will have better health, be it mental or physical health which we all need.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘The Secret of Personal Prayer‘, 1981

He goes on to say that if we do this practice each day for a month:

“In thirty days you would not be able to recognize yourself if you applied this most holy formula.”

– Master of Yoga Dr. George King, ‘The Secret of Personal Prayer‘, 1981

The ‘Prayer for Spiritual Workers‘ is also an excellent personal prayer that can be used to give you strength in difficult times. The Master Jesus, who gave this prayer says of it:

“Say this prayer with your heart and with your Soul, when the world is cold to you – and you will be warmed. Say it when you are down – and you will be lifted. Say it when you are alone – and you will be comforted by a Presence. Say it when you fail – and you will succeed. Say it when you die – and you will live. Say it so that you may gain sufficient Power and strength to do greater things.”

– The Master Jesus

Focus on service

“Break away from your own troubles by concentrating upon the suffering of others.”
– Mars Sector 6, from The Third Freedom

The energy that we send out, comes back to us. So by helping others, we are also helping ourselves. The energy and effort that we put out, we also receive in return. While this may not be our motivation, receiving love, strength and inspiration is never a bad thing, especially when we are in need of it.

Additionally, the more we detach from our own suffering, the less we will be affected by it and then we can focus our energy on helping others. This is the path of service, breaking away from our own troubles by doing our best to help as many people as we can.

But this does not mean that we should not think about the difficulties in our lives, it means that despite having difficulties, we are not allowing the situation to consume us, and we continue to help others.

It feels good to help others, but in addition to this, we know that the Law of Karma states action and reaction are opposite and equal, as often cited in Buddhism. Or as it says in the Bible, Galatians 6:

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

We are told that we will be helped on our path of service. The Master Jesus tells us in the First of The Twelve Blessings:

“Oh workers, who in unselfish sacrifice, share the burden with your brothers, I say unto you, that even though the way be rough and long and dark, you will be helped and guided in your passage, so that you may guide and help those stumbling ones who see not the Light in the midst of Light.”

– The Master Jesus, from The First Blessing

Study spiritual teachings

The greatest gift that you can give anyone is wisdom. Wisdom is one of the things that the Cosmic Masters and Dr. King have given to us; wisdom in text and recordings that is easily accessible, and simply explained.

We are so fortunate to have such inspiring, profound and easy to understand teachings given to us by and through Dr. King. And each time we read or listen to these teachings, we can learn something new; another aspect will speak to us.

These teachings can give us greater wisdom that will allow us to see ourselves and our situations more clearly. This will give us strength and inspiration on our spiritual journeys. In fact, the very vibrations of the teachings will affect us positively – even if we don’t fully understand them.

Be determined – choose the upward spiral

We all have lessons that we need to learn, and situations that we must go through and sometimes this will be very difficult. Being spiritually determined and resilient will help us have the strength to get through tough times. We will also often be able to see our troubles more clearly, and this can make them easier to overcome. We can begin to focus on turning every negative situation into a positive one.

So next time you are in a difficult situation, or if you are in one now, take a moment to consider the advice above from Dr. King and the Cosmic Masters and think about what you can do to stay on the upward spiral.

Further Recommendations:

• ‘Your Basic Self – Your Worst Enemy‘ – by Dr. George King
• ‘Enjoy The Deep Warm Feeling Of Spiritual Accomplishment‘ – By Dr. George King

About the author
Lisa Rosser is a staff member and Programme Administrator at the European Headquarters of The Aetherius Society in London. Lisa has had a keen interest in spirituality for over 20 years. She is particularly passionate about helping others and world healing.