Inner strength is the ability that prevents us from being corrupted by powers such as knowledge, information, sensation and opportunity. Without inner strength we will be drawn only to experiences that bring us pleasure and run from those that cause us pain. The journey will change from one that once sought truth and freedom, to one that seeks only to satisfy the senses. The path becomes a path of addiction rather than a path of truth.

The path of truth is a path that actively seeks truth. It is not about increasing and feeding our illusions. It is about purifying the mind and our perceptions to seeing through those illusions.

Spirit is not limited to only existing in pleasure – it exists everywhere and in everything.

Enlightenment is not confined only to feeling powerful, spiritual or expansive. It is about truth –the truth that “light” exists in all things.

Our definition of spirit, empowerment, unconditional love and truth becomes extremely limited when we isolate their existence to only a few select experiences and emotions. This is not truth. It is illusion.

Purification is training the mind to understand this truth, and it is strength that allows us to stay on our path when we are beset on all sides by sensory temptations.

The vigilance required for purification is not about denying pleasure or pain, it is about purifying regardless of the perception of pleasure or pain. When the attachment to these elements within the mind is purified, the experience of suffering, craving and aversion diminishes and is released.

This is the aspect that has corrupted many masters to be. It is no exaggeration that the path to truth has claimed the mental corpses of many who have started out with a firm and resolute vision, but then when illusions of power beckoned, the craving was too much and they gave in to their sensory reactions and impulses.

Each time we buckle under to illusion, we are creating obstacles and blocks to truth.

Inner strength may be moved or swayed, but always returns to the true path.

When we look at ourselves and say “only this is spiritual and all that is not,” then we are looking for a spirituality that is conditional and that does not understand oneness. This path is actively choosing ignorance over understanding.

Understanding is about seeing separation and then working out ways to perceive unity.

Choosing ignorance is about seeing separation and then working out ways to justify that separation.

These are the very reasons why we believe that people who are different are wrong. These are the very reasons why we believe that enlightenment must occur anywhere but here and now.

Strength is what keeps us here and now.

Without strength we flit from one craving to another like a puppet – completely unable to control our reactions. This is the path to self-corruption. It is the path that seeks more separation instead of unity, oneness and understanding.

It is only when we are strong that we can look the puppet master in the eye and not be swayed in the least. This is the strength that allows us to stay resolute on a path of truth.

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