Alan brings a warm blend of wisdom, intimacy, humor, and vision to the spiritual path. He loves to extract spiritual lessons from the practical experiences of daily living and find beauty in the seemingly mundane. Many readers and seminar participants have reported that his teachings have brought them deep comfort, encouragement, and empowerment as they moved through a difficult or transitional phase of their life.
Alan Cohen:
Why is it so important to follow my heart?
The prompting of your heart is the voice of God guiding you to your highest good. In the ancient Egypt, when an important person died, the priests saved the heart, which they believed to be sacred, and discarded the other organs. They understood that the heart was the true seat of wisdom, not the mind. Certainly the mind is important, for God speaks through our thoughts, yet the deepest wisdom issues are not from facts or beliefs, but our inner knowing. Passion is a holy gift, illuminating the shortest route to our chosen destiny.
But if everyone just went around following their bliss, wouldn’t we live in a world of selfish people where nothing would get done?
Quite to the contrary-we’d live in a world of happy people and everything would get done. Joy, passion, and delight are God’s way of inspiring you to fulfill your soul’s purpose and serve others in the process. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. Do not stifle your light with a basket.” People who feel happy and self-fulfilled are the most creative and productive in our society and ultimately contribute to the world, spiritually and materially, far more than those who are unhappy, depressed, or doubt and second-guess themselves. Great inventors, artists, musicians, scientists, and healers follow their passion, not their fear. The best things in life come from trusting and moving with the flow of delight.
How can I find joy or follow my bliss if I feel depressed?
At the heart of the word “depressed” is the word “press”, which indicates that life is moving. Passion is a form of pressing or movement. Emotion is energy in motion. The word “press” is also at the heart of the word “express”. The quickest and surest way out of depression is to start expressing yourself. You cannot express and depress at the same time. Depression is life force turned inward against yourself, and expression is life force moving out into the world. If you start to feel depressed, do anything creative- play music, write poetry, work in your garden, dance, draw or paint anything to move your energy outward. Express your feelingsto a friend, a therapist, or in a journal. Life force is always moving, even in depression, and if you can get a handle on it and express it in ways that empower, rather than debilitate you, you are on the road to greater joy.
How does prayer or meditation or visualization fit into following my joy?
All of these important practices help us get in touch with the voice of God, which is pure joy. Philip Brooks noted, “Prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance, but the laying hold of God’s willingness”.
For many years I have started my days with time to connect with God. This practice has made a huge difference in my life and I highly recommend it. Before you do anything, align your thoughts and feelings with Spirit. Connect with the loving energy that animates you and all living things and feel how blessed you are. Open your heart in appreciation of the good in your life and send kind thoughts to everyone you can think of. Set the tone for your day and you will become a magnetic force field that draws unto you health, prosperity, love, and well-being.
Prayer should not be approached simply as a religious ritual, but a practical exercise to tap into our infinite reservoir of good, and align with universal forces to fulfill our highest purpose.
Who am I? Who are you?
You are an expression of God bubbled forth into form to discover new and wondrous aspects of yourself. It is said that “God is a flower that grew a nose to smell itself.” You are a brand new, never-before and never-again wave birthed from a vast spiritual ocean to kiss untouched shores and participate in the grand unfolding of life. You are a God in a form that is ever seeking to be a more perfect expression of divine beauty. And you are perfect even as you seek perfection.
Just as the ocean forms waves which are reabsorbed into measureless expanse, so too do we ultimately merge in spirit.
