Lee L. Jampolsky - Walking Through Walls: Practical Spirituality for an Impractical World

Copyright 2005 by Lee Jampolsky.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except brief excerpts for the purpose of review, without written permission of the publisher.

CELESTIAL ARTS
PO Box 7123
Berkeley, CA 94707
www.tenspeed.com

Distributed in Australia by Simon & Schuster Australia, in Canada by Ten Speed Press Canada, in New Zealand by Southern Publishers Group, in South Africa by Real Books, and in the United Kingdom and Europe by Airlift Book Company.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the publisher

eISBN: 978-0-307-79498-7

v3.1

For Robin Dawn

To know one is loved transforms a once insurmountable wall
into little more than a thin veil.
Thank you for this gift.

Though there are usually many people to acknowledge in each of my books, in actuality this particular book had a small circle. I think this is because the content is so close to my heart. This book came into being because those at Celestial Arts, especially Veronica Randall and Jo Ann Deck, believed in the material. It has been a joy to work with you both. As always, those closest to me have inspired me, so a special thanks to my daughters Jalena and Alexandra, and to my partner Robin.

T HE L ANGUAGE OF S PIRITUALITY

T HIS BOOK WILL TAKE YOU on a spiritual journey by way of the written word. Though words are effective tools, they have their limitations. One being that, depending on your cultural background, and life experience, spiritual language can be read as religious dogma. At the onset I want to address this, and explain my use of the terms God, Spirit, and Higher Power, which I have chosen for no other reason than they reflect my own inner dialogue. None of these words promote a singular or closed belief system. Rather, all point to the common thread that runs through all spiritual traditions and religions: That there is a power greater than ourselves that lovingly guides us on our path through life. I refer to the state of awareness when we are in line with this power as God-centered thinking, and when we are not, as fear-based thinking. I use the term ego not in the Freudian sense, rather I define it as the part of the mind that is fearful because it believes it is separate from God and the rest of humanity. The ego and fear-based thinking are synonymous.

F OREWORD

T HOMAS M ERTON ONCE WROTE , There is no way to tell people that they are walking around shining like the sun. Perhaps it is simply that I like a challenge, so I am going to give it a try. I have written this book to show you, or at least to plant the seed within you, that you are already shining like the sun. All you need are a few essential tools to help you along a spiritual path toward happiness and success, however you define them.

Though we may wish to believe that disadvantaged circumstances, lack of opportunity, or plain bad luck are what get in the way of our success and happiness, the walls that we come up against in life are almost always made with, or reinforced by, our own thoughts.

Because I am a psychologist, you may conclude my next suggestion will be, All you need to do is change your thinking in order to achieve more success and live a happier life. While I have found such uplifting thoughts to be helpful, I also find them incomplete. Positive thinking can certainly create a happier atmosphere in which to live your life, but I am interested in more. Much more. I want for you and for myself the deeply profound joy, peace, and success that come from the discovery of purpose, meaning, significance, faith, service, and love.

If you find yourself even periodically unhappy in your personal relationships, in your work and your home, you may believe that God and spiritual fulfillment are nowhere to be found anymore. Dont worry. This is where I began, and it is the place from which most people begin their spiritual journey. All that is necessary right now is the thought that maybe, just maybe, God has not left you all alone and isolated in a harsh and bewildering world. At this moment, just the tiniest spark of hope is more than enough.

Throughout my personal journey and in my previous work as a psychologist, I found that the issue of trust in a power greater than myself had to be addressed before any significant or meaningful change could occur. The truth about my own life, which has had its share of health, relationship, and career challenges, can be summed up in one statement:

W HENEVER I OVERCOME AN OBSTACLE AND LEARN A SPIRITUAL LESSON IN THE PROCESS , I DO SO BECAUSE I HAVE DECIDED TO PUT G OD IN CHARGE AND FOLLOW H IS DIRECTION .