Awaken the Spirit Within: 10 Steps to Ignite Your Life and Fulfill Your Divine Purpose Hardcover - 2013 - 1st Edition

Excerpt

Let’s get right to it--to fulfill your purpose in life all you need to do is just be yourself and start shining.

Really.

If you think that’s just a load of New Age hooey, well then consider this--maybe you don’t know who or what you really are. The truth is, most of us don’t know what we’re made of. So let’s start there.

In my first book, Spirited, I explained to readers that you fulfill your life’s purpose by being the highest expression of yourself, and when your actions, words, and thoughts are kind, gentle, gracious, and loving, you’re doing just that. While I still maintain and know this to be true, further clarification may be in order. Allow me: When your actions, words, and thoughts are kind, gentle, gracious, and loving, you’re expressing your divinity, your God-spark within, and that is your purpose in life. Yes, we’re only a few pages in and I’ve already dropped G‑O‑D into the conversation.

Let me explain what God means to me, and before I do I want to be very clear on two points. First, God is just the word I use to identify something that you may have another perfectly good word for--Source, Higher Power, Creator, and the Universe are popular alternates. And secondly, it’s not my intention to challenge or validate your particular belief system, but only to share the messages and insight that Spirit has passed on to me. Remember, I’m just the messenger.

For the fifteen years that I’ve served as a medium between this world and the next, what Spirit has clairvoyantly, clairsentiently, clairaudiently, and claircognizantly impressed upon me is that God is pure, unconditional loving energy. What I’ve personally experienced, believe, and now know to be true is that God is the highest vibrational energy that exists in the universe. God is the source of all energy. And since everything that you can think of is made up of energy that never dies but simply changes form, then I bet you can see where I’m headed here--you and me, each and every one of us on Earth, are, in our simplest form, energetic extensions of God. In other words: a chip off the old block.

What spirits, those who have died a physical death on Earth and crossed over to the higher, brighter spiritual realms, confirm for me on a daily basis is that we are each living, walking, talking, and breathing manifestations of God. We’re all packaged differently, but our insides--our spirits--are made of the same stuff: divine loving energy and light. I like to think of it this way--within each of us is God’s incredible and powerful DNA. Meaning you have all the qualities, all the wonderful, radiant expressions of God, already inside you.

Say what? God’s DNA--really, I’m not making this up. According to Kabbalah, the mystical branch of Judaism, ten powerful expressions, or characteristics, of God reside within, permeate, and surround each and every one of us. I’m talking about things like compassion, kindness, trust, and gratitude. Buddhists call this the “Germ of Buddhahood,” or the “Buddha-nature.” Hinduism calls this the “Atman” and Christians call this the “Holy Spirit.” However and whatever you want to call it, the principle is the same: When you express your innate divinity, God is revealed through you, as you. Kabbalists refer to this as “letting in the light,” where all ten expressions of God are awakened, lit, or ignited and man ascends the mystical Tree of Life.



An Energetic Extension of God

In your simplest form, you are pure and powerful energy and light. This energy that flows within you is called by many names. In ancient Chinese medicine, it’s called Chi. In yoga, it’s called Shakti. In the West, it’s commonly called Spirit. I often refer to it as our God-spark. All great spiritual traditions talk about spiritual energy and the energetic body; they just give them different names. Whatever the tradition, the assertion is the same--the energy and light within and throughout you is meant to flow. This is what it means to awaken the spirit within.



Throughout the pages of this book, I’ll reference the principles of many different belief systems, but I want to be clear--my definition of God has no ties to any religious affiliation. Rather, what I know to be true comes from countless insights backed by clear validations from Spirit. What Spirit has communicated to me time and time again is that there are no denominations (Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Islam, etc.) on the other side. When all is said and done, and by done I mean dead, we all end up in the same place despite our personal beliefs or philosophies in life. I call this place, this sacred space, God. I also call it home.

If you doubt, distrust, or even outright reject an all-inclusive ideology, you’re not alone. In readings, spirits often share with me their stunned realization that their path to God in life was not the way, but only a way and that truly, all paths lead home. Consider that God, metaphorically, is the center of a wheel. The spokes on the wheel represent the many unique and different paths people use to reach God, and yet each spoke is connected to the same central hub. Meaning that all religions, all paths serve a similar purpose--to connect us to and bring us closer to God. In fact, the root of the word religion means “to bind” or “to connect.” When you think about it, whether you practice Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, any other religion, or Atheism, it’s really meaningful and purposeful connection that you’re after, isn’t it? So you see, no matter what your religion or belief system, we’re all searching for and wanting the same basic stuff.

As a general rule, I try to leave theological discussions out of my work because religion has a tendency to polarize people. And yet it comes up anyway, and not from my living clients, but from the dead! What I hear nearly every day in readings with Spirit is how their faith in something bigger and beyond helped ease the deceased’s transition from life into death. In most cases, death looks, feels, and is different than what the deceased imagined it would be, but if they already believed in something in life, they readily embrace and transition into the afterlife, no problem, no question. Conversely, many spirits who died without having faith in God or something more acknowledge a complete turnaround in their belief system in death. Where in life they were plagued by doubt or skepticism, in death they clairsentiently express a feeling of overwhelming love and understanding of our divine oneness and that--spoiler alert--we don’t have to wait until our physical body dies to know and feel God.



Belief in Something More

Jennifer’s Story

“I have a young man; is he your son?” Rebecca said to my mother. Then she turned to me and said, “I’m getting the sense he’s your brother. He’s front and center and coming through really strong.” Those were the first words Rebecca said to us in our first reading with her, in March 2007, and what welcome words they were after nearly five years of grief and unanswered questions.

My brother Jeff died suddenly, unexpectedly, and tragically at age thirty-four. His death and its aftermath had left us hoping and searching for a reputable psychic medium for years. When we finally met Rebecca, we were unsure what to really expect. We didn’t fully comprehend the enormity of it at the time, even after it was over, but that day changed our lives and understanding of life and death forever.

After Jeff’s death, we turned to God and churches for answers. But at the same time, we struggled to truly believe in a God that would allow such a tragedy to take place. We struggled not just because this tragedy happened in our family, but also because many happen around the world every day to people of all ages and stations in life. When Jeff told us through Rebecca that we needed to put our trust in God, we were somewhat stunned and confused, since he had gone to church in life but was not a fervently religious person. He said we needed to be reminded of that frequently and that the best way to do so was to look at U.S. coins for a simple reminder--“In God We Trust,”--and that he would send them often as “signs” that he is around us. Moreover, he admitted that when he died, he didn’t really believe in God or an afterlife. Now he knew differently.

This message from the spirit world may sound small, but it was a huge leap for us and our understanding of what lies beyond this earthly life. It took time for us to turn our thinking around this way, but five years beyond that day we don’t question the existence of God anymore or life after this life. Our understanding of life and death has been altered irrevocably, leading to an awareness of spiritual matters that we never thought possible. We went from a place of deep grief, pain, and fear to a place of greater love.



In a reading with a young woman, her father in spirit identified himself to me and clairvoyantly showed me a rosary and a Buddha, while clairsentiently impressing me with an overwhelming feeling of unity, peace, connection, and oneness. I said to my client, “Was your dad a Catholic? Is there something going on in your life right now with conflicting religions, because Dad is telling me that where he is now--it’s all one.” My client gasped, and then told me that her father, who’d been a devout Catholic, had died not long after she’d gotten engaged to a Buddhist. He’d struggled with accepting his daughter’s interfaith marriage. I said, “Well, he’s saying that none of that matters now. He wants you to know he blesses the marriage.”

I know I’m not breaking any big ground here. The idea that we’re all connected and created in God’s image is nothing new. Look no further than Genesis 1:27 in the Old Testament for one of the more celebrated references. And anyway, the popular Teilhard de Chardin adage that “we’re all spiritual beings having a human experience,” and not the other way around, might be something you’ve believed all along, or at least entertained as possibly true. But let me ask you this--what if you knew it to be true? What would it be like to feel, to experience this knowing way down, deep inside? Would it change how you felt about yourself and your life? Would it change how you felt about other people?

Before you think on this too long, let me go ahead and answer the question for you: The knowledge that you are an energetic extension of God’s powerful energy, love, and light has the potential to change everything about your life because knowing this truth about yourself and then acting on it is your purpose in life.



Finding Comfort in Oneness

The knowledge that we are each an energetic extension and expression of God, the most powerful energy force in the universe, is something I regularly share with my clients. To be expected, reactions to this news are mixed. Some embrace it with enthusiasm, while others express disappointment at the suggestion that God isn’t something supreme and separate, ruling from above. One client expressed her vulnerability this way: “Believing in an all-powerful something that’s outside of me that I can depend on and pray to gives me great comfort on days when I don’t feel all that powerful on my own.”

If you’re feeling this way, too, take a moment and liken God to a magnificent and powerful fire, burning bright and with radiant intensity. Now consider that you were born from this fire, so within you burns a similar flame, only on a scale much smaller and not quite as bright. A God-spark, if you will.

The very purpose of awakening is to grow your divine radiance. As your fire begins to grow bigger and brighter, your connection to God’s fiery intensity grows with it. In this respect, God is both outside of and within you. Get it?



Yes. It’s that simple.

What Spirit has conveyed to me for more than a decade now is that our purpose, that elusive thing that all commencement speeches hint at but don’t explain, is to show up every day and express and extend our divine radiance to the people and world around us. The question is: How?

By simply being you.

Easier said than done. And can you guess why?



MIND CONTROL

I receive valuable information, truths, and insights from enlightened spiritual beings not only through my heightened sensitivity and clairs, but also via my daily meditations and dreams. Meditation works like magic to lighten and heighten my energy, allowing me to move past the boundaries of this world and tap into the higher energies of the spirit world. Dreams can work in a similar way. Did you know that when we’re dreaming our spirits regularly leave our physical bodies and travel to the other side, where we meet up with other people who are similarly dreaming? This is called astral travel and it may sound crazy, but I’ve experienced it enough times now to know it’s true. It’s not unusual for me to wake up in the morning with a very clear knowing of something I learned while my spirit was out cruising around. Often, I’m left with an unshakable image or feeling that provides insight into a situation I’ve been struggling with in my daily life or answers a question I’ve been wrestling around with in my head. Perhaps you’ve experienced the same sort of clarity after a good night’s sleep?

In a recurring dream I’ve had for years, I’m hurrying down a Jetway toward a departing plane. I’m wearing a backpack that contains everything I need for my trip, and I’m anxious to get on the plane and take my seat, except when I get to the end of the Jetway, there’s no plane. Instead, I fall in line behind a number of people waiting to take their turn jumping down a big slide. This is not the emergency slide like you see illustrated in the airplane evacuation manual. This slide is more like a gigantic waterslide, like what you’d find at an amusement park, and it descends into brilliant, almost blinding white light. When I see this slide, I’m suddenly filled with excitement and joy, and I can hardly wait to take my turn. When I get to the front of the line, I take one deep breath and jump down the chute. When I enter the light, my spirit slips into my physical body and I am born.

Media reviews

"Rebecca Rosen is a talented and authentic medium. In her new book, Awaken the Spirit Within, Rebecca helps readers reconnect with their inner guidance system. This book is a empowering guide to your genuine truth, authentic power, and sustainable peace." Gabrielle Bernstein, New York Times bestselling author of May Cause Miracles

"This book is extremely inspirational and will free you if you're feeling stuck in any area of your life.  It awakens the truth that we all have inside of us and will help you live a healthy happy life filled with love." -- Vanna White, co-host of Wheel of Fortune

"Awaken the Spirit Within is a magnificent effort to give a hand up to everyone who wants to enrich their spiritual life. Rebecca gives practical steps to increase your intuition, better understand the universe and how you relate to it, and even, how to connect with the other side. I love this book and am so thankful to have read it!" -- Catherine Bach, actress

"A very pragmatic friend of ours first told us about Rebecca Rosen.  His experience was so profound, he wanted everyone to know about her work.  I booked an appointment right away and eagerly awaited our session.  When the day finally came and I had my reading with Rebecca, the main theme that came through for me was that as my life is changing gears, I need to get clarity about what I want this next phase to look like.  Only then would I be able to manifest what I want.  I think at some point we all realize that what we want is to be an expression of God’s love and light.  This book gives tools how to do that.  Thanks Rebecca!" -- Cindy Crawford

"After attending several of Rebecca Rosens's group readings, and then having one of my own, I would read any book Rebecca wrote and listen to anything she has to say. She is mind blowingly connected to things which I can't explain, and it thrills me beyond imagination.  I read Awaken The Spirit on my birthday recently, and it is a gift that keeps on giving. Don't miss out on the experience of knowing what she knows. We are lucky to have her as a teacher." -- Nancy Lee Grahn, actress