Introduction

There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.

- Albert Einstein

Ever since I was a curious teenager, wondering about the meaning of life and the nature of the universe, I have been asking myself what it means to be spiritual. For almost thirty years, I have read various self-help books and religious texts, pondered their meaning and relevance to people today, and talked to hundreds of people from all walks of life about their beliefs and why they hold them.

At the age of eleven I attended a Christian outdoor adventure camp where I was introduced to the idea of accepting Jesus into my heart. We had a "Word of God hour" each day and that wonderful feeling of belief built inside me. I attended camp for two summers and each time the belief faded only a couple of weeks after returning home. Everyday life took over. The faith wasn't gone, but it wasn't powerful enough to have much influence on my daily actions.

At the age of sixteen I was introduced to two concepts: the magic of belief and the power of positive thinking. It was then I realized that I had a choice about how to include spirituality into my life. It was a different way of understanding the power of faith.

The link between the magic of belief and the religious experience I had had earlier at adventure camp was the shared conviction that something bigger and more powerful than us actually exists, whether or not we call it God. Both promoted living according to the law of attraction (also known as the law of cause and effect - the reason for the golden rule). These common links became the basis for my explorations into spirituality.

I was raised a Christian, a Catholic in particular, but, like many, became disenchanted with church doctrines that seemed out of step with the realities of the Western world today. Other people around me seemed to feel the same way. Some of my friends and associates were attracted to the non-violence of Eastern religions, some became atheists, some discovered pagan earth-based religions such as those found in North American Native traditions and Wicca, and some simply let their faith slip away.

Eager to find a spirituality that worked for me, I explored the whole gamut of options. I discovered that many people felt their religion was the only true form of spirituality, but I couldn't accept that only one religion had all the right answers and that if I didn't pick that one, I would be condemned.

Why should I have to accept one faith over another? If I accepted one faith, why did I have to accept to all of its tenets? If biblical stories could be handed down orally and written down hundreds of years later and then rewritten by scribes to suit the times they lived in, couldn't that be considered evidence that religion is meant to shift and evolve as its messages are shared and passed on? With my own belief, why could I not do something similar?

Spirituality is a personal journey. In his book The Masks of God, Joseph Campbell relates one of Ramakrishna's stories. The following section in particular rings true to me:

God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with wholehearted devotion.
[italics added]

I discovered early that I could adapt rather than adopt a system of spiritual beliefs and build a spirituality that works for me. This realization opened up a whole new world for me, and a thousand new questions flooded my mind. How are the different faiths similar? How could I find a spirituality that fit me? After discovering that many religions embrace a concept I refer to as the law of attraction (discussed in detail later in this chapter) I began to look for other common denominators.

This booklet shares with you my spiritual discoveries and what I have come to believe. It is also meant to promote discussion and promote belief in our ability to find a very personal god in our everyday lives.

What does belief mean to you? Throughout history belief has been seen as a magic tool. Many books have been written about the magic of belief, including the Bible, the Qur'an, the Torah, and many modern self-help books.

God doesn't make religion; humans do. God exists. We exist. We grow closer as we devote ourselves to Spirit. I believe that we can choose our own path. It really doesn't matter which religion we belong to or even if our beliefs are not part of any recognized religion - as long as whatever form of spirituality we choose takes us in the same direction: toward God.

It is only when we follow the way of humans rather than the way of God that we become lost. We are fully capable of connecting and being in sync with God's way through our gifts of intellect and emotion.

That same belief, or faith, that links us to the magic of God and the universe has also been the catalyst for war after war and argument after argument. Many people have been enslaved, tortured, and slaughtered because of differences in belief. Many religions build their foundations on the differences between good and evil. But belief itself can be both good and evil. The same belief that allows people to achieve their most elusive dreams can also become a reason to kill.

We are living in a global environment, more so now than ever before. Why can't different religions work together to build heaven on earth rather than fighting to create hell on earth?

Swirl explores common denominators of different religions to bring different forms of spirituality together and show that all humans are basically good and have access to infinite love and intelligence. It shares a realistic possibility that each of us is an embodied spirit on a path of evolution. We are born, we die, and we go on to be reborn and live again. Through science and some of the ideas shared in this book, we may soon be able to prove the existence of reincarnation.

After reading this booklet you will understand why, with faith, all things are possible. You will find a new definition for the Holy Spirit, and you will discover more similarities between religions than you probably see now. You may see reincarnation in a different light. All of this will hopefully encourage you to begin exploring new concepts of spirituality for yourself so your belief can grow enough to achieve whatever you truly want.

Most importantly, you will understand why each one of us is personally responsible for everything we attract into our lives and how we can change what we attract for the better.