“There are three things that will endure–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13: 13, Christian Biblical verse.)
A religious man once approached me, deeply concerned about his destiny after death. He asked, “How do I get into Heaven?” Without hesitation, divine spirit spoke through me, offering a simple yet profound answer: “Live as though you are already a resident of Heaven.”
This article is not meant to teach you how to earn a place in Heaven but to remind you that you are already part of Heaven and can never truly be separate from it. You are among the Heavens—the many houses of God. Your current location is one of many variations and destinations, each designed to help us grow in consciousness and evolve spiritually. One must simply ask the right question: “How do I raise my consciousness to experience Heaven where I am right now?”
Acts of unconditional love
In the summer of 2003, five months before my awakening, I heard an inner voice during prayer urging me to start practicing love. The message left me confused. At the time, I genuinely believed I was already practicing love. My family described me as loving and considerate, and my friends and co-workers seemed to think highly of me. I took pride in being a kind and supportive person, convinced I was already living a life guided by love.
But as I reflected on that message, I realized my understanding of love was limited. It was reserved for those within my circle—people I knew, liked, and felt comfortable around. This realization was humbling. I had to confront the truth: I wasn’t as loving or as kind as I had imagined myself to be. My love was conditional, and it stopped at the borders of familiarity. That voice was calling me to expand my heart beyond those boundaries and embrace a deeper, more universal form of love.
Sure, I would pray for world peace and felt deeply moved by the injustices faced by others. My heart ached for those starving in impoverished countries, and I made an effort to be courteous to strangers. Yet, I would walk past a homeless man on the busy streets of downtown Washington, D.C., without offering him any money when he asked. I justified this by thinking I needed my money for the metro or gas for my car. I also assumed he wouldn’t use the money for food but for alcohol or drugs—passing judgment without truly knowing his circumstances.
Looking back, I realize that sometimes people are placed in our path to teach us a lesson. How could I claim to care about those suffering in distant lands while ignoring the man in need right in front of me? At the time, my faith as a devout Christian didn’t seem to matter. What mattered was my failure to recognize that we are all connected, that we are all One. From Heaven’s perspective, divine unity is the ultimate truth.
Today, I strive to listen to my inner voice when it nudges me to help others. When guided by divine spirit, your judgment becomes clear. You learn when to extend a helping hand and when to allow someone to learn their own lesson. Still, there are moments when we feel an undeniable pull to assist someone who asks for help, yet we ignore it. This is when we fail to listen to our divine spirit.
Giving doesn’t always have to be monetary. It can be as simple as offering kind words, sending positive thoughts, or wishing someone well. Even when we can’t provide financial assistance, we can choose compassion over avoidance, replacing thoughts like “get a job” or “I can’t help you right now” with a genuine acknowledgment of their humanity. True giving is guided by love and an open heart.
The practice of unconditional love proved to be the most challenging aspect of my spiritual growth. It required me to let go of negative thoughts and judgments about others. It demanded forgiveness—true, heartfelt forgiveness. Imagine how difficult that was when someone cut me off on the highway, bumped into me on the sidewalk without so much as a “pardon me,” or treated me rudely for no “apparent” reason. Every interaction felt like a test of my resolve.
What I ultimately realized was that this practice wasn’t about others; it was about me. It was about how I perceived people and responded to them. Would I react to rudeness with anger or bitterness? Would I mentally curse someone for their inconsideration? Would I engage in a petty power struggle on a crowded highway, or could I choose to let it go, sending light and love instead? This journey taught me that people are more than their outward actions. Even those who seem unkind or hurtful are divine souls who have simply lost touch with their connection to Source. When I began to see their light instead of their darkness, everything changed.
Negative thoughts, I learned, harm us in ways we often fail to realize. They drain us spiritually, mentally, and physically, eroding our health and vitality. Harboring negativity toward others reflects back into our own lives, manifesting as challenges that teach us hard lessons about our outlook. Letting go of animosity, especially toward those who treated me poorly, was no easy task. At first, I struggled, holding onto an “eye for an eye” mindset that only deepened my pain. It wasn’t unconditional love; it was conditional tolerance.
When I finally committed to unconditional love—releasing all negative thoughts and forgiving others fully—my life began to transform. Old wounds, both emotional and physical, started to heal. Forgiving others also allowed me to forgive myself, lifting a heavy burden I hadn’t realized I was carrying. My body felt lighter, my stress decreased, and I noticed a profound shift in my interactions. People treated me with more kindness, and long-standing personal struggles began to dissolve.
As my outlook on life shifted and I let go of gossip, complaints, and irritability, I noticed some of my co-workers began to feel uneasy around me. They weren’t used to my newfound peace of mind and positive attitude. During lunch breaks, they often vented about the job, the boss, or random encounters on the street—habits I recognized because I had once done the same. Like them, I had been trapped in a cycle of projecting my inner frustrations outward, expressing them as hostility toward others. But this behavior never solved anything. It only kept me stuck in a negative mindset, preventing me from healing and finding wholeness. By constantly focusing on what was “broken,” I was unknowingly shaping a broken reality for myself.
In contrast, embracing a positive attitude proved to be deeply healing and nurturing. Over time, as I stayed consistent in my approach, my co-workers began to adjust to the “new me.” Curiosity replaced their initial discomfort, and they started asking me about my perspective and practices. To my surprise and joy, many of them eventually began incorporating these positive changes into their own lives.
As I mentioned earlier, this transformation was far from easy. During the first two weeks, I often felt like giving up. Eliminating negative thoughts from my mind was particularly difficult, especially in frustrating moments—like when someone “stole” my parking space. Yet, through prayer and determination, I pushed through those challenging early days. What started as a two-week effort gradually turned into five months of consistently practicing a new way of thinking.
One of the most profound changes came from breaking the habit of negative thoughts—not just about others but also about myself and my loved ones. This shift significantly transformed my perspective on life. The world began to feel like a place where love and peace were not just ideals but attainable realities, provided we change how we see one another and embrace our authentic selves. Living authentically is essential, both for ourselves and our relationships.
When we deny our truth, we live less productively, often trapped in unconscious lies. These deceptions may go unnoticed until we engage in honest self-reflection—a process that can be deeply uncomfortable but is ultimately liberating. Through self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-love, I experienced powerful growth and a heightened sense of spiritual awareness. This journey taught me that embracing our truth allows us to live with greater peace, purpose, and connection to the world around us.
Often, people who are not living in alignment with their truth project their inner misery onto others. As the saying goes, misery loves company. When this frustration is directed outward through statements like, “You made me feel this way” or “You did this to me,” it’s often a way of avoiding personal accountability and facing one’s own inner struggles.
To avoid this kind of behavior, one must take the time to examine their thoughts and emotions without projecting their issues onto others or avoiding their personal challenges. Projection can manifest in many ways—for example, someone who feels unfulfilled in their career and resents their lack of achievements might redirect that frustration into constant arguments with their spouse over trivial matters.
Understanding and accepting one’s inner self is essential for spiritual growth. Workplaces, in particular, are invaluable environments for self-reflection and personal development. They bring together people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, offering countless opportunities to learn, grow, and navigate complex interactions. The scenarios we encounter at work can serve as powerful lessons in patience, empathy, and self-awareness.
Beyond our relationships with others, however, we must prioritize cultivating a healthy and loving relationship with ourselves. True growth begins within, and only by fostering self-compassion and understanding can we fully thrive in our connections with others and the world around us.
Learn what makes you tick. Understand what shapes your identity and why you act the way you do. Reflect on why you desire certain things in life. Recognize that the words you speak into existence play a significant role in shaping your reality. Examine your actions and their consequences. Appreciate how all your relationships, even the challenging ones, contribute to your growth. There is always a silver lining.
A lack of self-awareness can lead to a loss of connection with your spirit, resulting in dysfunction in your relationships. Many people don’t truly understand who they are and unconsciously compromise their spirit out of fear, loneliness, or a pursuit of material gain. This negative energy, whether mental or emotional, can leave you feeling drained and disconnected. Reclaiming your spirit from experiences that deplete your life-force is essential for true well-being.
Practicing positivity and unconditional love became the foundation that prepared me for the next stage of my journey: connecting with the God within, my Higher Self. This profound shift brought clarity to my evolutionary path, freeing me from old, limiting views of love. It allowed me to embrace a deeper, more transformative understanding of life.
I encourage you to practice unconditional love and work on eliminating negativity from your life. Even a small effort can lead to noticeable transformations, bringing greater peace, joy, and fulfillment. While staying positive all the time isn’t easy, it becomes increasingly natural as you train your mind to focus on the bright side of life. This practice is something I strive to maintain every day, and its impact has been nothing short of life-changing.
- Love does not judge
- Love forgives
- Love is not negative
- Love does not force or control
- Love is not power struggles
- Love is never demanding or possessive
- Love makes room to allow people to be who they are
- Love is not division of people based on race, age, sexuality, gender, religion or nationality
- Love is unconditional
Heaven is not a distant place we must strive to reach—it exists all around us and within our consciousness. To experience Heaven, we must recognize that it lies within us. Through meditation and quiet reflection, where we listen to our inner voice, we can uncover this profound truth. As the Great Teacher said, “On Earth as it is in Heaven,” reminding us that we are meant to bring the kingdom of Heaven into our earthly lives. As above, so below—we are called to live as citizens of Heaven in our daily existence.
Attaining this state requires a love that transcends judgment, anger, and unforgiveness. The kingdom of Heaven is always at hand; it only takes a transformation of the heart and mind to realize it is already present. If each of us embraced this change, we could collectively create a more beautiful, harmonious world. Heaven, after all, begins within.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, Christian Biblical verse.)
The Law of Divine Oneness helps us to understand that we live in a world where everything is connected to everything else. Everything we do, say, think and believe affects others and the universe around us.
The Law of Forgiveness shows us that we cannot purify ourselves as long as we harbor negative feelings of hate, anger, intolerance and criticism towards others. It is in forgiving others that we forgive ourselves.
The Law of Right Human Relations tells us that we should have goodwill and be concerned with the welfare of others and world peace. The principle of Goodwill is the basic intention to do good will. We can will good to promote right human relations. We can use a complete thought form, built by the balanced fusion of thought, feelings, imagination/visualization, and will. There are tools that we can use to create a complete thought form: Concentration, repetitive affirmations, contemplation, creative visualization, and meditation.