Most people in the world are led, at least to a certain degree, by forces external from themselves. We are led by a number of influences, including the media, government, work, people, routine habits and whatever environment draws our attention. We might assume that upon tiring of one or more influential aspects of the world that we can just turn our head, close our eyes and no longer make it part of our reality. Unfortunately, things are not that simple. Even after erasing some unpleasant sight or other scenario that we no longer wish to associate with our individual reality, the forces of exposure are still very much present in our mind. When no longer in the range of our sights, they are implanted in our memories and through the seductive forces of sensationalism, become quite difficult to uproot. In certain respects and while sometimes not being consciously aware of it, we are slaves to these forces because they pose a persuasive barrier to pursuing individual creativity. Let’s face it. When you spend the majority of time watching television, the screen molds and heavily influences your reality.

This is where the building of spirituality comes into play and learning to lead oneself through the reconditioning of individual reality. We encourage independent thinking, creativity and leadership through a unified collaboration with what we might call a 'sparkling pool of greater potential.' Your greater potential lies within yourself...always. Individual creativity and leadership long to emerge along with numerous other attributes you never knew you had. It is all found in your spirit.

The material contained herein provides guidance for you to educate yourself about the nature of your individual spirit. Perhaps more important, the emergence of your individual spirituality can help you to lead yourself. We’ll say that again.

The emergence of your individual spirituality
can help you to lead yourself.

Have you ever wondered how the great spiritual leaders accomplished what they did? How did Mahatma Gandhi manage to continuously pursue his efforts to free the people of India against the enormous pressure exerted on him by the British? How did he manage to follow a strict regiment of non-aggression when being heavily aggressed against? How did he manage to influence his millions of followers to do the same? How did Mother Teresa manage to carry on day after day caring for the sick and dying? What gave her the strength to accomplish this service to her fellow brethren when most others would have quit? How did Martin Luther King manage to plow through criticism and resistance while pursuing racial equality, a basic premise for spirituality? How did Jesus manage to endure the trials and tribulations of showing people the way to God? Such a simple concept, yet met with opposition that defies common logic. Their secret, as in any example of great spiritual leadership, lies in a deep and everlasting bond of trust with the spirit of God residing within them. It is a profound and immoveable commitment that what you are doing is not only morally and ethically sound, but carries much greater implications.

The Spirit of God resides within you too. The Spirit of God resides within everyone. Have you ever had a deep desire to emulate a great person, a great leader, yet dismissed it as fantasy because you never thought yourself worthy enough to achieve in like manner? Well, you can ascend to heights of greatness, but first it is necessary to redefine or perhaps scale back your perception of greatness. What is greatness...really? Greatness can be, but is not necessarily achieving something that puts you in the history books, makes you a celebrity, or you are simply considered great in the eyes of others. Whether greatness is known or unknown by others is irrelevant because, greatness, in the truest sense of the word, is achieved within one’s own spirit. The deeper the connection and sense of awareness with the spirit the more certain the bond of trust and the greater one’s potential becomes. This is an inevitable principle. The greater the spirit, the more expansive the mind and all things are accomplished through a combination of the two. Such is the relationship between you and God.

People think very highly of saints. Some are worshiped with all sincerity. The world is in need of a new breed of saints. Anyone has the potential ability to attain sainthood. That is of course, if sainthood is the icon with which you wish to identify. It is important to understand that the true saint does not consider him or herself as such. Rather, he or she engages in participatory action in compassion and humbleness. In other words, he or she simply goes about the work needing to be done with all diligence while, at the same time, tossing aside distractions, deterrence and all road blocks confronted on the path while attempting to carry out the work. The saint does what needs to be done for the betterment of him or herself which reflects on others and the greater community.

The world community is in need of great leaders and it all begins with you. You have what it takes, that much is certain. We don’t need any more leaders who hold the values of wealth, power, exploitation and domination at the expense of others above all else. We don’t need any more leaders who pay us lip service by saying one thing and doing another. We don’t need any more leaders who have dishonest intentions and act irresponsibly toward the environment. We don’t need any more leaders who can be bought or bribed through endless deals, operate in total secrecy behind closed doors, or serve the interest of corporations rather than the people for whom they were elected.

The world needs leaders who lead with moral, ethical and spiritual ideological values. We need leaders who not only say they support such ideological values, but demonstrate the sincerity of those values with positive action. We need leaders who are honest and accept responsibility for their actions. We need leaders who encourage independent thinking and action for bettering the world and the environment.

There are plenty of concerned citizens working right now to save the children, feed and house the impoverished, restore wetlands, planting trees, rescuing animals and saving endangered friends of the oceans, to name just a few examples of service work in the spirit of compassion. Many of these unknown 'saints' are performing these services in a volunteer capacity. In other words, they are 'doing' of their own free will because of an internal drive of what needs to be done. These people are being led by their own sense of compassion for securing and bettering the greater good. These people are leaders in saintly fashion and we need many more to join the ranks and get their hands dirty.

Civilizations have risen and fallen numerous times throughout history. Civilizations have fallen because of greed, hoarded wealth, abuse of power and the exploitation and domination of resources, people and animals. While these are the obvious reasons for why civilizations crumble, they are secondary. The main reasons why civilizations crumble go unnoticed and unrealized. The reason why civilizations crumble is because the lack of spiritual values is overlooked time and time again. Sure, a few awakened historians find the true causes of a downfall, but it seems as though the same mistakes are continually repeated.

In case you haven’t noticed, the people of the earth are headed down the path of destruction again. The signs are very obvious. If you don’t see them, then you are not in touch with your spirituality because the spirit inspires self-awareness and awareness of what is going on around you. In fact, the world is in a serious crisis and is in great need of seriously minded leaders who hold spiritual ideologies above all else. When spiritual ideologies are the priority, all else falls into place. Moral and ethical values, equal rights and social justice, not just for people, but animals and the environment become the established norm. This is so because unification, cooperation and harmonious interaction are all by-products of spirituality. The spirit loves life.