Be willing to forego all perceptions of gain, desire, or profit and thereby be willing to be of selfless service to life in all its expressions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Desire is the fuel of our ego. Desire is the catalyst to our perceptions.<\/p>\n
From an early age we seek to possess those things which soothe our needs. It could begin as a teething ring, nipple, favorite blanket, or toy which we desire so we can sleep. As we grow and mature, we develop \u201ctastes\u201d for new things from electronics to vehicles, clothing to makeup, sports to hobbies, education to religious doctrines, and so much more.<\/p>\n
Across all media platforms we are inundated with pitches which appeal to some facet of our ego. They show us how to appear younger or older; how a product will make you look like a certain person or group of people; how having a product can socially elevate us above the people we are working with; how a degree from some particular institution will promote you faster in the workplace; how some drug will be able to enhance your libido and draw the opposite sex to you; how\u2026<\/p>\n
Each one of these appeals to the ego are based upon the perception which we have crafted about how our life should appear. This crafted life is all about the narcissistic yearnings we seek to feed.<\/p>\n
Spiritual life is intentional. As this tool claims, one must \u201cbe willing.\u201d I understand that willingness is also a characteristic of the worldly egoic life, however, spiritual willingness is directed not to the needs of the self as much as to the needs of others.<\/p>\n
In the worldly egoic life there is the perception that one must not have any possessions, no titles, and no financial resources to live the spiritual life. Walking the spiritual path means not allowing possessions, titles, and resources to be attached to you. Recognizing how these are merely expressions of the self-gratification of our ego is the first step on the spiritual journey.<\/p>\n
Selfless service is only capable when your actions aren\u2019t dictated by how it will make you feel or appear to others. The saying, \u201cIt\u2019s not about you, it\u2019s about Him,\u201d is the vanguard of those who live a spirit-filled life.<\/p>\n
As simple as this tool is it is also the most subtle to implement. It demands a rigorous assessment from us towards all our thoughts and actions. It\u2019s easy to do \u201cgood\u201d works for people once or twice a year but doing it every moment of every day requires an inner strength and belief which caters to others first and foremost. This strength is developed as the ego dies to its agenda of self-exaltation.<\/p>\n
Start today asking yourself if what your doing benefits you first or someone else first. You\u2019ll know exactly what path you\u2019re on by your answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The spiritual daily life will be one of the least pleasant undertakings if you think you are going to accomplish it with the same thinking that you use to carry out other tasks during your day. In the book \u201cTranscending … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"1","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"2","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"3","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"3","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"default","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4,6,5],"class_list":["post-2605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-18","tag-grace","tag-mike-hillebrecht","tag-teaching"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ITDy-G1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2597,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/20\/spiritual-tools-part-six\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":0},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part Six","author":"mike","date":"December 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I stated in the last posting about the spiritual tool of forgiveness and how it is the heaviest tool to wield. Much of the focus on that tool was dealing with how your ego in its groping for dominance is willing to risk being ignorant on a matter in an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2590,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/16\/spiritual-tools-part-five\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":1},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part Five","author":"mike","date":"December 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Whether you realize it or not, everyone is on a journey towards spiritual enlightenment. Many travel the path intentionally, while others only experience it when they cross over with their last breath. For those of us who are serious about reaching for all that we can spiritually achieve in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2578,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/12\/spiritual-tools-part-three\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":2},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part Three","author":"mike","date":"December 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In this post I am going to piggy-back on something I wrote from the previous post. The reason has to do with what the third spiritual tool is as defined by David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. in his book \u201cTranscending the Levels of Consciousness.\u201d Spiritual Tool #3 Presume no actual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2584,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/16\/spiritual-tools-part-four\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":3},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part Four","author":"mike","date":"December 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. in his book \u201cTranscending the Levels of Consciousness\u201d has described what he calls spiritual tools which any devotee can employ to transcend into spiritual enlightenment. As I have shown in the past few posts there is a simplicity to the use of these tools, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2612,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/26\/spiritual-tools-part-eight\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":4},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part Eight","author":"mike","date":"December 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re drawing to the end of the spiritual tools described in the book \u201cTranscending the Levels of Consciousness\u201d by David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. So far, I\u2019ve written about kindness, reverence, asking for knowledge, looking with intention, forgiveness, humility, and selfless service. Each of these tools, as I have stated,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2565,"url":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/10\/spiritual-tools-part-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":2605,"position":5},"title":"Spiritual Tools \u2013 Part One","author":"mike","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the next few writings, I am going to be commenting on some materials which I have been reading for some time now, the genesis of which can be found in the book entitled \u201cTranscending the Levels of Consciousness\u201d by David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. I\u2019m not going to explain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2606,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions\/2606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"hand](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=135%2C135\")
<\/p>\n