return to "Prescription for Living"

this post is to follow up on the previous post about the book i'm reading called "Prescription for Living" that discusses the true nature of ourselves as a spiritual being.  the previous posts pointed out that the reason that so many humans are unhappy and not content is that we aren't living according to the laws that govern ourselves as spiritual beings and we are therefore in conflict.  now in the book comes the parts that discuss the solutions.  in this chapter, "The Road to Happiness', Ruhiyyah states that changing our inner life requires us to do a few essential things; learn to love God, learn to have faith in God an in our own souls, learn to pray and learn to live differently.  the reason we need to do these things is because they are based on laws "as great and as sound as gravity or the principles governing the activity of atoms and stars".  we should love God because His Love does us the greatest good.  she describes that God's Love is the only completely unselfish love because it is His nature to love and because He does not need anything from us in return, is self-subsisting.  she urges us to realize that God's love is constantly shining down on us and that we only must "remove the insulations we have built up around ourselves and let that supreme light sink into us and nourish our souls".  she states that is nearly impossible for us to not respond to such a force.  she goes on to talk about the importance of faith---that it is the most essential for our success in life.  she states that faith can best be understood by its results.  sometimes faith is based on a conscience knowledge and sometimes on intuition.  she gives the example of a scientist:  she knows certain facts, she believes that beyond these known facts there are other hidden facts, it is this belief that makes it so that she strives and perseveres to reveal these unknown facts, the force that drives her towards this new breakthrough is her certitude, her faith.  same with intuitive conviction, if one is convinced that they can do something, and believes with all their heart, then they will succeed in doing it, "the moment you believe you can do something, power seems to stream into you; the moment you believe you cannot do it, you seem to be drained of the force necessary to do it".  Ruhiyyah says that although belief is a strong force, it does have its limitations, but what would happen if you "hitched your faith to an inexhaustible source of power?"  she states that this source of power is God, if we have faith in Him, then he will give us access to His powers, "to a reasonable extent" and that this is what is meant in the Bible quote as follows, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  Ruhiyyah says that these aren't just nice ideas but are actually based on very powerful spiritual laws, that faith is like a magnet attracting power as a bright diamond catches the light of the sun.  she goes on to explain that if we believe that god WILL help us, we are "laying down a pipeline through which strength, healing, inspiration, whatever it may be, can flow into us".  this requires effort and a real belief and faith that we will be assisted.  now, i don't know about y'all, but there have definitely been times that i prayed to God for something and it didn't turn out the way that i wanted.  there are many reasons for this, i'm sure, but what i think about the most is the fact that while supplicating to God, am i really full of faith and believe with 100% of my being?  probably not.  this ability to believe with all your heart and soul in something that will be done is probably one of those things that takes a lifetime to practice to be remotely good at, for the majority of us anyway.  anyone have any thoughts or examples, quotes from any other belief system or personal experience to add or shed light on this subject?  if so, please comment below.

next time, i'll write about what Ruhiyyah says about praying and changing the way one lives.  bye bye.