{"id":45,"date":"2015-03-17T02:36:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T02:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/?p=45"},"modified":"2015-03-17T02:36:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T02:36:19","slug":"finding-your-inner-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html","title":{"rendered":"Finding Your Inner Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\">Finding Your Inner Voice<\/p>\n<p>The way the world works is very interesting. As I stated in\u00a0a previous blog, the basic concept is As above, So below.\u00a0 We are an echo of the Cosmic Mind or Universal Spirit.\u00a0 What I find extremely fascinating is the manner in which we reflect our higher consciousness. Specifically, the manner that we find or make that connection to our higher selves. It seems to me that on the surface that contact is veiled through contradictory logic or actions.\u00a0 For example, the Hindus teach us that real thinking occurs once we completely quiet the mind. Buddhists teach a similar concept. \u00a0\u00a0Nirvana, one of the highest attainable states, is reached when one has stilled the mind so that a direct connection is made to the source. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The goal of prayer and meditation is to stop thinking. Once we quiet, what Carlos Casteneda\u2019s famous character Don Juan terms, our inner dialogue, we connect with the source of all there is.<\/p>\n<p>Christians engage in rhythmic prayer such as the rosary to quiet the mind and connect with God.\u00a0 By focusing on a repeated set of prayers, they forget to think about the mundane details of their life and they focus upon the ethereal, upon God. They use these prayers to clear their mind.\u00a0 Once again the mystery of contact is veiled through apparent contradictory action. We focus upon something so that our mind can focus upon nothing. Once our mind is cleared, we are given an opportunity\u00a0to hear our inner voice.\u00a0 The voice Christians call God. \u00a0The voice some call Jesus, or Krishna or Rama and many others refer to as the Universal Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Many modern spiritualists teach that the path to freedom manifests through a focus only upon the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh\u2019s books such as \u201cPeace is Every Breath,\u201d are wonderful examples of this concept. Ekhart Tolle also elaborates upon this concept quite well in his works.\u00a0 Paulo Coehlo, in his famous book, \u201cThe Alchemist,\u201d manifests how amazing things can occur when one focuses only upon the moment and does not cloud the mind with extraneous details.<\/p>\n<p>I challenge you to take a brief moment today &#8211; no more than five minutes. Find a way to stop your mind from the million and one thoughts that are constantly running through it.\u00a0 Either meditate, chant a mantra, say a rosary or repeat your favorite prayer.\u00a0 If you truly focus, you will find that your inner voice will emerge.\u00a0 You will know when it is your inner voice. It will be pure and sweet. Don\u2019t worry, it won\u2019t be the jagged voices \u00a0\u00a0heard by paranoid schizophrenics, it will be the constant sweet voice of God. Most likely it won\u2019t be a conversation but more of a feeling. It is a feeling you have known before and when it resonates within you, and it will resonate within your heart, it will feel like a long lost friend. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You will recognize it and you will accept it and you will enjoy your brief contact with the real you that is an integral part of this marvelous and wondrous universe. \u00a0We are all one with God and when we still our minds and feel that connection the feeling is pure ineffable joy!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finding Your Inner Voice The way the world works is very interesting. As I stated in\u00a0a previous blog, the basic concept is As above, So below.\u00a0 We are an echo of the Cosmic Mind or Universal Spirit.\u00a0 What I find extremely fascinating is the manner in which we reflect our higher consciousness. Specifically, the manner&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Finding Your Inner Voice - East Meets West<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Your Inner Voice - East Meets West\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Finding Your Inner Voice The way the world works is very interesting. As I stated in\u00a0a previous blog, the basic concept is As above, So below.\u00a0 We are an echo of the Cosmic Mind or Universal Spirit.\u00a0 What I find extremely fascinating is the manner in which we reflect our higher consciousness. Specifically, the manner&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"East Meets West\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-17T02:36:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"douglasdavis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Seekerdwd\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Finding Your Inner Voice - East Meets West","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Finding Your Inner Voice - East Meets West","og_description":"Finding Your Inner Voice The way the world works is very interesting. As I stated in\u00a0a previous blog, the basic concept is As above, So below.\u00a0 We are an echo of the Cosmic Mind or Universal Spirit.\u00a0 What I find extremely fascinating is the manner in which we reflect our higher consciousness. Specifically, the manner&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html","og_site_name":"East Meets West","article_published_time":"2015-03-17T02:36:19+00:00","author":"douglasdavis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Seekerdwd","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html","name":"Finding Your Inner Voice - East Meets West","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-03-17T02:36:19+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-17T02:36:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/#\/schema\/person\/74b0561da40967894b7244d22cfafd54"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/2015\/03\/finding-your-inner-voice.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Finding Your Inner Voice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/","name":"East Meets West","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Douglas Davis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/#\/schema\/person\/74b0561da40967894b7244d22cfafd54","name":"douglasdavis","description":"Douglas Davis is a father, husband, writer, corporate consultant and business coach. He is the author of the book. \"In My Contemplation: the Musings of a Resonance Seeker.\" He received a B.A. from the University of Illinois in English and Mass Media Communications and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Whether it is through the parameters of a business setting, spiritual setting or practical day to day living, his goal remains the same which is to help people bring out their best selves. He has recently published an e-book entitled, \"In My Contemplation\" which is available now on Amazon.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Seekerdwd"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/author\/douglasdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/584"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/eastmeetswest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}