In The Gentle Art of Blessing, Pierre Pradervand explains that we ourselves are never the bestower but simply the witness — and instrument — of life’s abundance and blessings. As we grow spiritually, our level of consciousness shifts in a way that allows us to become clear instruments in which Spirit blesses others through us.

If you sincerely express yourself to God in prayer, a connection develops. Even if you don’t feel the connection at first, if you keep opening your heart to God, you will likely start receiving Spirit. As you begin to experience Spirit, you may enter into higher dimensions of prayer known as spiritually conscious prayer.

Lao Tzu, a wise man who inspired Confucianism and Buddhism, taught that without the cooperation of feelings, you can’t know the soul.

Yoga practice can lead to a beautiful state called sahaj samadhi in which you are living in contact with Spirit, aware of the connection all the time, while going about the activities of your daily life.

The key to your life being a lila, a Divine play between you and God, is to distinguish between your ego and your true self.

We are souls expressing through body and mind, but too often we ignore Spirit. The necessary ingredient for becoming spiritually aware is attraction to Spirit or God.

There are liberating truths in the Lord’s Prayer which can free you from what yogis call spiritual forgetfulness, the cause of suffering. Jesus set out a simple process to help people return to spiritual awareness — leaving behind karma and a life of trial and error.

Sri Ramakrishna taught seekers to affirm that this universe is actually God’s divine play in which we each have a part. Since Spirit is manifesting and expressing everywhere, can’t God also create through you?

Being stuck in an ego state and ignoring Spirit is the cause of all our suffering according to yogis. In this ignorance of Spirit, the ego endures endless conflicts and anxieties due to the kleshas (ignorance, egotism, immoderate liking, immoderate disliking, possessiveness).

Does your personality express your ego or your soul? Too often, our personality is a false representation of our true self — a counterfeit. When we live from the soul (the spirit of God within us), our personality becomes more thoughtful, refined and lovable.