The Soul Solution: Enlightening Meditations for Resolving Life's Problems

by Jonathan Parker

Overview

Revelatory answers in the search for meaning can seem to be the privilege of only the most evolved, brilliant, or blessed beings. But motivational counselor and teacher Jonathan Parker puts those answers within grasp. His step-by-step soul-solution process addresses that most profound of human quests with techniques that prompt transformational shifts. Refined over Parker’s decades of counseling experience, these meditations and self-guided practices explore fear, meaning, ego, love, abundance, and healing in ways that will connect you to your core — the soul, beyond body and mind, from which real understanding and lasting fulfillment flow. By merging with this source, you will discover the love and peace that already exist inside you, allowing negative thoughts, painful memories, and limiting patterns to dissolve easily. By doing so, you will begin to experience the soul’s limitless gifts and replace endless searching with joyful, enlightened, and empowered being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781932073539
Publisher:	New World Library
Publication date:	07/20/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	293 KB

About the Author

For over thirty years, Jonathan Parker has been a counselor, author, and creator of one of the largest libraries of audio recordings for personal enrichment and self-directed growth in the world. His unique, spiritually based methods go far beyond traditional motivational and self-help techniques, empowering others to rise to an enlightened life and develop their innate potential. His wide spectrum of programs tap the deepest reservoir of human capabilities and inspire success in achieving the highest of human potentials. His programs have touched the lives of many thousands, lifting them to achieve personal excellence and financial success, vibrant health, winning performances, and the heights of the human spirit. His recordings, workshops, and retreats offer inspiring and life-changing experiences. Jonathan lives with his wife, Jackie, in Ojai, California. Audio programs of meditations similar to those in his book The Soul Solution are available at www.jonathanparker.org.

Read an Excerpt

The Soul Solution

Enlightening Meditations for Resolving Life's Problems

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By Jonathan Parker, Nancy Carleton, Jeff Campbell

H J Kramer and New World Library

Copyright © 2011 Jonathan Parker
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-932073-53-9

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CHAPTER 1

YOUR JOURNEYtoYOUR SOUL

Your soul has an ever-expanding capacity to open and evolve, and it wants to rise to the surface and embrace your life.

In this chapter I'll introduce you to the first two of the book's meditative practices to help you connect with your soul. Over the years, I've developed a method of meditating with people in which I attune to their inner experiences to help them dissolve self-defeating patterns that create unhappiness. Anyone can use these techniques, and I always encourage people to be their own best teacher and guide. My role is simply that of a guide with some tools and resources to share.

One of the foundations of the processes in this book is energy healing, which is a method of mental and emotional clearing based on the concept that everything is energy, including all matter, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. And your soul is uniquely suited to help you with this energy healing.

THE SOUL'S INVITATION

You begin your journey into your soul by thinking about your soul and wanting to know it better. Your soul has an ever-expanding capacity to open and evolve, and it wants to rise to the surface and embrace your life.

Even more than this, your soul has an ever-expanding capacity to open to, embrace, and evolve into something more than it currently is. And it's eager to share all of its gifts with you.

Everything in the universe, from the macrocosm to the microcosm, is in a state of motion. Everything is evolving from what it is at the present moment. You arrived at where you are now through this transformational process, and you'll continue unfolding, expanding, and discovering new levels of experience into the future.

What can accessing the soul help you evolve into? We can describe some of the qualities as boundless, fulfilled, beautiful, radiant, creative, generous, optimistic, eternal, free, light, timeless, flowing, soft, playful, harmonious, gentle, grateful, receptive, warmhearted, and more. The soul is capable of bringing you into a state of total integrity, mindful of the needs of others, nonattached, and yet deeply loving and caring, with a great curiosity and desire to expand the expression of all of its qualities.

The soul expresses all these and more wonderful qualities, which continually expand and unfold, leading to more goodness, more love, more caring, more compassion, and a greater capacity to give and share everything. Other qualities include joyfulness, openness, quietude, peacefulness, happiness, awareness, purity, innocence, and a sense of completion, satisfaction, and oneness with all that is.

Language is powerful in opening us up to experiencing the depths of the soul, which is why I'm specific in describing the soul's many qualities. In meditation, it's important to spend time with each of these qualities, as this helps to reveal more of that quality in our lives. Whatever stage of spiritual evolution a person is in, the soul already has all of these qualities, but we may not experience them since most of the time we're focused on our current emotional state.

The soul already possesses the state of being that's all anyone could desire. Thus, when we connect with the soul, we make it possible to bring everything we could possibly want into our everyday experience, while at the same time dissolving everything that we don't want.

In a real sense, we're already connected with our soul, and so we can know and feel the connection whenever we're attracted to anything that's beautiful, profound, creative, loving, peaceful, and fulfilling, whether in our interactions with other people, in our activities, or in nature. This aspect of the soul is reflected in the relentless pursuit of perfection often found among scientists, musicians, artists, athletes, writers, actors, and all others who seek to attain a high potential. So, in truth, the soul is present in human experience even when it isn't overtly recognized or acknowledged.

As we integrate the soul more deeply — and more consciously — into everyday life, more of the soul's qualities have an opportunity to emerge naturally. The challenge we often face in allowing the soul to become more present in our lives comes from how we choose to face the struggles and issues of our lives. Do we merge more deeply into the soul and fill each circumstance with the soul's presence, or do we give greater energy to the illusion of separation in order to preserve the costumes and identities we've assumed in life?

If we make a conscious decision to cultivate and integrate deepening soul realizations, we contribute to the evolution of our relationship with our emotions, our philosophy, our perceptions, our judgments, our reactions, and our spiritual state. As we discover more of the soul, we become empowered with dignity, integrity, and virtue. The soul exerts a comprehensive presence.

Although the soul certainly includes a transcendent aspect, connecting to it isn't just an escape into blissful transcendence. The soul is capable of being eminently practical. Part of the process of merging with the soul is recognizing that we're evolving beings. The soul knows what our own personal next step of evolution needs to be. Part of that evolution is the awareness that we're indeed transcendent beings, connected with and an aspect of the divine Source that created us. While each of us experiences our soul to different degrees, we can all experience our soul more deeply.

This may sound a bit overwhelming, but it isn't really — because your soul is your greatest resource, and it can help you take whatever the appropriate next step is for you as an individual. Your soul can bring oneness, wholeness, and completion to all areas and issues you may be facing. It has access to anything you're ready to accept and allow yourself to receive.

Our lives are part of a much larger continuum than our few decades on earth. As we understand this, we open ourselves up to the high calling and noble journey of cooperating and joining with our soul in its evolution.

You can learn to connect with your soul through meditation, and it gets easier the more you practice it. The more you apply yourself, the more you'll improve and the more benefits you'll enjoy. Don't be discouraged if at first you have only limited awareness of your soul. In my own case, I grew into an awareness of the soul and higher consciousness gradually, over time, as I persisted in my efforts. Ongoing practice and persistence are the key.

The first guided meditation, below, will take you on a journey to meet your soul. However, reading a guided meditation is different from listening to it, so it's important to follow a few basic tips: First and foremost, slow down your reading. Some people find it works best if they first read through a meditation at a normal speed to get a sense of it, then go back and, in a relaxed state, read through it very slowly. Keep in mind that the intention is to experience each moment fully. Consider pausing for a few moments at the end of each sentence to really take in the experience, and then pause a bit longer at the end of each paragraph.

What you'll get out of each meditation will increase the more time you take to experience it.

MEDITATION

Journey to Meet Your Soul

To download a free recording of the author reading this meditation, use the code "SoulFilledHeart" at www.JonathanParker.org

Let's begin the journey to your soul. First, select a stretch of time when you won't be disturbed and don't have anything else to do. Silence the phone, and take care of anything else that might interrupt your meditation. Then sit or lie down as comfortably as possible.

When you're ready and settled, start with a comfortable, deep breath in through your nose. Hold this breath for just an instant before letting it gently out through your mouth. You'll notice that this starts a relaxation in your body, which enables you to begin letting go of the outer world so that you can put your attention on your inner world.

To help relax your face, separate your teeth slightly, and notice how your body relaxes a little more.

As you inhale, imagine you're breathing in golden light through the top of your head. Allow that light to filter into every muscle, organ, and nerve from the top of your head down to the tip of your toes. Breathe this light into every cell of your body.

Do this for two minutes, and put your attention on the light in the center of your chest, in what is known as the heart and soul center. Imagine a sphere of light like a miniature sun about the size of a baseball radiating golden light from your chest all through you and around you.

Keep breathing the light into your heart and soul center, as you continue relaxing and sending love to your heart and body. Allow yourself to deepen the process into your entire body.

Now tune in to the following statements, gently attuning them to your heart and soul rather than mentally analyzing them. Simply allow yourself to merge with the words and experience each statement within.

Say to your heart:

I send you all the love of my soul.

Say to your body:

I embrace you with all the love of my heart and soul.

Continue breathing in pure love and golden light. Fill your entire chest area with a radiantly glowing presence of golden light.

Allow the soul's love to merge into every muscle and nerve and to fill every cell. Allow this love to become part of every atom and molecule of your being. Sense the soul's love relaxing you and bringing a healing glow to your whole body, which spreads the radiant love outward all around you.

If there are any disturbances, distractions, or issues on your mind, say to yourself:

I ask the light of my soul to fill all my thoughts and feelings about these situations.

I send all my thoughts, memories, and feelings the pure light and blessings of my soul.

Allow your breath to be free and gentle. Feel a relaxed presence as you welcome the peaceful soul presence. Say to yourself:

I place my heart in the presence of my enlightened soul so that all may be healed.

I am willing to acknowledge my past and release it into the embrace of my soul.

I allow the source of love to embrace my heart.

I acknowledge the divine soul presence within me.

These statements are like prayers and intentions. They are requests of the deepest core of your soul, where all goodness dwells. You'll naturally and automatically receive a healing answer to your requests and intentions. Allow yourself to deepen into the feelings of receiving the love, light, and healing that live in your heart.

Allow yourself to receive the peace, gentleness, and love. Say yes to receiving peace, love, and healing, and ask them to deepen within you. Feel your heart saying:

I can trust my soul.

I can trust this process.

I can reach freedom, awakening, and enlightened states.

Each of these statements is a request and a prayer as well as an acknowledgment. Say to yourself:

I acknowledge my soul and the divine presence within me, and I open to receive infinite love and peace.

I welcome all the qualities of goodness of my soul, and I allow them to rest in my heart.

Drink in the soul's qualities, and say yes with thanksgiving. Let yourself deepen into these peaceful feelings. If you sense any tightening, questioning, or holding, bring the fullness of your request to the resistance. Say:

I surrender, release, and dissolve all my need for any resistance.

I surrender my heart to the fullness of the divine presence.

Beloved presence of divine love, help me to receive your presence more fully into my heart.

Follow your feelings, and whatever your experience is, return to your heart center and repeat:

I feel my soul deeply in my heart.

This helps to bring the soul and the divine presence to the place of need, and whatever is not an essential expression of the goodness of your soul will wash away and dissolve. Repeat this statement several times slowly, gently, and reverently:

I feel my soul deeply in my heart.

Deep in your heart, sense the presence of peace, love, and light that's being extended to you and that's emerging. You may see something visually, or you may experience the presence more emotionally or kinesthetically. Sometimes you may sense a deepening of peace and love, and other times you may simply feel relaxed.

Whatever you're experiencing, know that it's right for you. There's no wrong way to do this. Allow yourself to deepen into your inner space and discover the gifts that are there for you. The key is to keep asking to open more deeply to receive the beauty, love, and light that are already awaiting you.

Continue requesting to open more deeply and acknowledging the soul deeply in your heart for as long as seems appropriate. When you're ready to conclude this meditation, take a deep breath, express gratitude, and fully connect with your body and surroundings. Slowly bring yourself back to being fully alert and aware.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SOUL BETTER

Every time you practice the Journey to Meet Your Soul meditation, you'll have an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your soul. In the next guided meditation, you'll begin to get a sense of just how deep you can go as you get to know your soul better.

Remember that your willingness to practice these meditations over time increases your capacity to grow and evolve in relationship with your soul. Chapter 3 offers some additional guidance about creating an effective, soul-oriented meditation practice. As you experience the various meditations in the book and repeat them over time, remember that they build upon one another. As you continue with this practice, healing and an enlightened radiance will begin filling your life every day.

Also, note that several sentences in the following meditation use the word God, but feel free to substitute whatever word feels most comfortable for you to describe God or the creative heart of the universe. Other possibilities include Source, the Creator, Nature, the Tao, Higher Power, and so on.

MEDITATION

Deepening into the Soul Presence

Arrange yourself as comfortably as possible for this meditation. Pick a place and time when you won't be disturbed. Silence the phone, and take care of anything else that might interrupt your meditation.

When you're ready, start with a gentle yet deep breath in through your nose. Hold this breath for just an instant before letting it slowly out through your mouth. You'll notice that this starts a relaxation in your mind and body.

Say to yourself:

I feel the deep peace of my soul.

Repeat this sentence a few times with the intention of moving more deeply into peace each time. Say to yourself:

I open to receive the peace of God and my soul.

Repeat this sentence a few more times with the intention of moving more deeply into peace each time:

I open to receive the peace of God and my soul.

Another soul quality is the certainty of being beloved by the Creator and Source of all. This means a feeling of knowing you're loved and you are love. A fullness, comfort, and warmth come with this awareness. Say to yourself:

I feel deep love in my soul.

I open to receive the deep love of God and my soul.

The soul has a wonderful lightness, purity, and softness. Notice how you're now able to hold much more softly any issues that may have seemed strong and dominant, and how the feelings of lightness and spaciousness replace any struggle. Say these words to yourself:

I feel the lightness and purity of my soul.

I open to receive the lightness and deep purity of my soul.

When the soul is present, you'll sense a wonderful feeling of expansion, freedom, and connection with all creation. Sometimes that feeling is like floating on a cloud without a care in the world. Sometimes it feels wonderful, liberating, and blissful. These are some of the qualities that form the backdrop of what you experience when you integrate the soul into your daily experience.

Say these words to yourself:

I feel the freedom and expansion of my soul.

I open to receive the deep oneness with God and my soul.

I feel my soul deeply in my heart.

I feel deep, divine presence in my heart.

Deeper and deeper.

The soul has many other wonderful qualities, such as beauty, stillness, gratefulness, creativity, fun, happiness, caring, fulfillment, and so much more. Your soul is your personal resource for everything you could ever want or imagine. When someone triggers a reaction in you, such as judgment, anger, fear, or depression, the way back to peace is through reconnecting with your soul. The key is to let go of the need for your reaction or judgment and to open to receive your soul.

Say to yourself:

I merge into the pure light of my soul.

I bathe in the light of my soul.

I merge into the light of my soul.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Soul Solution by Jonathan Parker, Nancy Carleton, Jeff Campbell. Copyright © 2011 Jonathan Parker. Excerpted by permission of H J Kramer and New World Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments,
Preface,
Introduction: Discovering the Soul,
Part One Developing a Relationship with Your Soul,
1. Your Journey to Your Soul,
2. The Secret of the Mirror Universe,
3. The Five-Phase Process of Soul Meditation,
4. Getting to Know the Qualities of Your Soul Center,
Part Two Moving Beyond Fear and the Ego,
5. The Soul Solution,
6. The Fear Factor,
7. The End of the Ego,
8. The Death of Fear,
Part Three The Soul-Solution Guide to Healing and Enlightenment,
9. What Does Your Soul Want?,
10. Healing with Soul Presence,
11. HEAL: Health, Enlightenment, Abundance, Love,
12. Deep Love and the Soul Process,
13. Healing Your Inner Child,
14. The Soul's Gift of Enlightenment,
Conclusion: The Light of the Soul,
About the Author,

Editorial Reviews

“Illumined by direct experience, Jonathan Parker takes us on a deep exploration of the soul, demonstrating a remarkable convergence with the profound spiritual states of consciousness reported across centuries and cultures.”
— Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Spiritual Liberation

“Clearly written, with engaging meditations...Jonathan Parker has created this step-by-step guide to ‘accessing the power of grace’ in order to connect with our divine natures and receive the gifts that are stored there.”
— Anna Jedrziewski, New Age Retailer

“Deep within each individual is a source of wisdom that can help us lead a fulfilled, joyful life. Jonathan Parker’s The Soul Solution is a practical guide to accessing this glorious dimension in our desire to lead a meaningful existence.”
— Larry Dossey, MD, author of The Power of Premonitions and Healing Words

From the Publisher