steph53...
While personal/spiritual transformation is a very subjective
topic, there are guidelines promoted by various authorities
in various spiritual traditions.
Andrew Shugyo Bonnici, Ph.D. has a page which suggests the
following as signs of inner peace, which is synonymous with
spiritual growth in most belief systems:
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20 Experiential Signs of a Growing Inner Peace:
1) A tendency to think and act from inner trust and
spontaneity rather than from fears based on past experiences.
2) An unmistakable ability to appreciate the wisdom and
freshness of each moment.
3) A loss of interest in finding the hidden meaning
behind the words and actions of others.
4) A heightened sense of experiential, behavioral,
and social integrity.
5) A loss of interest in the religious superiority,
exclusiveness, and divisiveness.
6) A growing sense of unconditional compassion for
self and others.
7) A heartfelt willingness to be authentic and share
oneself as one truly is.
8) Increasing actions based on the mutual benefit of
self and others.
9) A diminishing of worries and mistrust in the Moment.
10) A loss of interest in argumentative ideas and
philosophical conflict.
11) A secure and growing openness to different beliefs
and life styles.
12) A frequent and overwhelming need to express inner
gratitude.
13) An ability to be serious and yet to take oneself
lightly.
14) More frequent attacks of just smiling or
uncontrollable laughter.
15) An increasing tendency to participate in the happening
of things rather than to control and make them happen.
16) An increased ability to receive the love extended by
others as well as the uncontrollable urge to express love
and joy in one's world.
17) Growing feelings of wonderment and awe about the process
of life and death.
18) The reoccurring felt experience of an Original Faith in
one's bodymindspirit and the Universe as a Whole
19) A tendency to drop egocentric self-imaging and ones
conditioned mental preoccupation with derogating, defending,
or inflating it.
20) A clear sense of belonging in the Universe while
experiencing a deep and equal empathic connectedness
with the simplest forms of nature and the vastness of
interstellar space.
© Copyright 1996 Dr. Bonnici
http://www.meditationtherapy.com/InnerPeace.html
I would say that, if you are experiencing any of the
conditions above with increased frequency, then you're
on the right track.
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And, of course, the Bible has its own version of the signs
of spiritual attainment:
"Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; is not
boastful; is not conceited; does not act improperly; is
not selfish; is not provoked; does not keep a record of
wrongs; finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in
the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things."
From the bible search enginge at Crosswalk.com:
http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=1co+13&version=csb&showtools=0
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However, there are levels upon levels of spiritual progress,
and most people take baby-steps along the way. In light of
this, a prominent spiritual teacher, Paul Solomon, once
told me "You will know that a substantial change has taken
place when you permanently cease your previous behaviors".
Paul is no longer physically present on the planet, but the
following websites may serve to further your understanding:
http://www.paulsolomon.com/index1.html
http://www.wisdomofsolomon.com/
Here is an excerpt from one of the readings Paul did when he
was alive (along the lines of an Edgar Cayce reading) from
the Wisdom of Solomon website, run by Daniel Emmanuel:
"Life is the Best Evidence that God Lives"
"We speak in words, and words by their nature are symbols.
Symbols are reflections and can only reflect the image of
truth. Those who have known truth have been reduced to
attempting to express it through words that are dead.
However, truth lives! Is living! Truth must be approached,
not as a concept, but as a living being who reveals the
living self to you. Knowing truth is knowing a friend."
"When there is a feeling of peace within you, living truth
is speaking. When you see beauty and are inspired, living
truth is speaking. When appreciation wells up within you
and causes you to know with absolute certainty that God
lives, truth is speaking. When you know that life itself
is evidence that God lives, truth has revealed itself to
you."
"That which lives is truth, for life is greater than death,
and light is more powerful than darkness. That which lives
cannot be overcome or destroyed by that which is dead. If
you want to know the truth, walk with that which lives,
that which assures and reassures life. Walk with that which
speaks of harmony, of peace, of confidence. Worry and
concern are manifestations of fear. One who worries
believes in the power of darkness, of confusion, of
destruction. He believes that darkness can somehow upset
truth or life."
Paul also taught that the ritual of Baptism is performed
by various religions for the purpose of marking the kind
of change of which you speak. It signifies that one has
been "born again" into a new sense of connection with life
on a larger scale than the previous, more egoistic one.
He clarified that simply engaging in the ritual did not,
of course, guarantee that such a change had taken place.
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And, of course, there's the matter of feedback from others
who might tell you that you seem happier, or have a certain
'glow' about you. That's always a good sign.
However, in summary, I still believe that progress is a
subjective thing, and that only you can assess that you are
moving in the direction in which you wish to go. Since we
tend to be who we are in the moment, however, it can be
difficult to assess our own progress. One of the tools to
make this easier is now commonly used in the arenas of
therapeutic and spiritual growth, and that is 'journaling'.
Journaling allows you to keep a personal record of your
thoughts, feelings, and/or the contents of your meditations
and dreams. When pursued diligently, this allows you to go
back and see how your current perspective has changed from
a month or a year ago. Many people are astonished at their
progress when viewing it in this fashion.
Here's a link to the Whole Heart site's list of journaling
links:
http://www.whole-heart.com/links.html
Searches done, via Google:
"signs of inner peace"
://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22signs+of+inner+peace%22
"online bible"
://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=online+bible
journaling
://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=journaling&btnG=Google+Search
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that the
answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog with
the researcher through the "Request for Clarification" process.
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