Connecting with the Bliss of Life:
Powerful Lessons for Living a Peaceful and Happy Life by Former Navy SEAL David Michael Ferruolo
Book Review by Marie-Claire Wilson
The author, a former Navy SEAL, gives us a
spiritual guide that is very simple yet very compelling. David M.
Ferruolo elaborates on the most important theme of all times by naming the
four spiritual objectives which we all strive for:
* There is a way to live in peace and harmony every day and every moment.
* You could be in a peaceful, serene state of mind, regardless of
circumstances.
* Connecting with the bliss of life is a choice you can make right now.
* There really is a better way to live.
Doesn’t this sound great? But how can we do this in our everyday,
real-world lives? Don’t those four objectives essentially boil down to
the age-old questions - indeed, the age old QUESTS - for wisdom sought
by philosophers down through the ages right on up to present day, ordinary
people seeking to live in harmony and with less stress in our modern
times?
Wouldn’t we all like to know how to accomplish those four objectives
listed above? Well, we can. Ferruolo takes us by the hand with his book
and covers every angle in a direct manner. He covers those objectives in
22 chapters with mantra-like titles that alone are almost enough to steer
us where we want to go: Some of the chapter’s titles are introduced below;
Many of these concepts sound familiar to us and most make perfect sense.
Of course, love and family matter, meditation reduces stress, and we
should all strive to be the best that we can be. What is different about
this book is the author’s style and the way that he validates what we
already know, along with giving practical advice about how to stay on that
blissful path.
The author calls his chapters “lessons,” but I did not sense a scolding
tone that is too often familiar with this subject. He gives us the
information, the tools, and he guides us in such a positive way that I
immediately want to follow his advice. His whole tone is positive, and
his goal is to give us these tools to turn our own powers into positive
and productive directions for our own lives. With such tools, elegantly
simple yet complex, we can take back our personal freedom, which we feel
has been compromised by situations and events beyond our control. We can
take back control of our own lives. The central tool is to diminish,
little by little, our selfish ego.
The author uses the terms centripetal and centrifugal for an example of
selfishness versus bliss. Our selfishness traps us in a centripetal whirl.
Centripetal is defined as moving toward the center, and in this sense, as
centering ourselves more and more on our selfish ego, blinding us to the
possibilities of life, and imprisoning us. We move more and more into a
smaller and tighter “universe” that is only of our own making, of our own
perceptions. This imprisons us and makes us feels powerless.
Yet when we use the tools the author gives us, we CAN break free. We can
turn ourselves around and begin to act, not react. We can reclaim our
power. We can take back our freedom. We can become strong on the inside
and act in concert with the outside forces. We can move in an
increasingly centrifugal direction - an outward progression from a central
axis and toward the Divine and bliss.
Progressing toward the Divine also involves our thinking processes. Our
thoughts are energy! Energy from our thoughts directs all parts of our
lives, including our actions, our reactions, our bodily functions - and it
infuses our very soul. So by redirecting our thinking and getting our
mental plane pointed in the positive direction, we can begin to change our
attitudes, our ideas, and our feelings toward the positive.
Our thoughts as actions, directed toward the positive and therefore,
toward the Divine, are really the key to clearing the space so that we can
allow those feelings of joy, happiness, and a love of life. We will
automatically begin to change our lives for the better as we change our
attitudes. In turn, this will have a positive effect on the circumstances
around us and the events that affect us. All of those things seemed out of
our control before we began to work on our thinking and our attitude.
Even though we have free will, we are to some degree, subject to destiny,
to the greater forces of the Universe and of this Earth. Until we get our
selfish ego in the true perspective, we will always feel inferior. But as
we progress spiritually toward the positive, we will feel more and more
part of this greater power, and more and more joyful about life. And we
all have the capacity to channel nature and the forces of the Universe
toward our positive spiritual evolution.
There is no cause without effect. So why
not contribute to the most positive causes, and so to contribute to the
most positive effects? We can apply this cosmic law directly to our own
personal lives. What we make of our lives does not come from an exterior
source; it comes from within us. Here is a positive application of our
free will: to dig deeply enough inside of ourselves and go to our own
source, that inner Divine spark that is in all of us. This book gives us a
good plan to accomplish this.
Here are some of my favorite excerpts from the book. From the chapter,
“Clean Up Your Life,” the author writes: “Being blissful does not mean
ignoring or becoming unaware of the circumstances and situations around
you. It means being more in touch with yourself and active in your
decisions when you respond to your surroundings. To walk the path of
bliss is to adopt an attitude of taking care of the little things, which
need to be done as they arise. It also means knowing when not to do
something when your plate is already full. Your list of things to do will
never be complete, so concentrate on the things at hand that you can have
an effect on.”
Another excerpt that I liked is in the chapter, “Be Yourself,” where the
author writes: “You are incredibly powerful when you choose to be
yourself and let your uniqueness show. Within each of us is a powerful
and creative individual, with much to offer the world. We are all
different. We all have different ideas and concepts of the Universe and
the world around us. That is part of the beauty of the self, its
separateness and differences from others. Just imagine how the world
would be if everyone were the same - dressed the same, thought the same,
liked the same things, had the same desires and goals. What a boring
world we would live in [in that case].”
Thus, perception is everything. It begins with how we perceive
ourselves. Did you realize that changing your self-perceptions, and
putting aside selfish ego, can change so much in our lives and all around
us? This is the victory that is within reach of each one of us!
No one has to live life blindly or carelessly. No one has to live life
always dominated by an indifferent and cold-hearted destiny. Ferruolo has
laid out the path to happiness for us. All we have to do is grab onto our
courage and to work on ourselves, to develop ourselves, to make progress
within ourselves. Then we can joyfully stride into our considerable
personal power, intellectual and moral, having learned to apply our mighty
spiritual forces in more positive and productive ways.
“Connecting with the Bliss of Life” is a book that leaves me with a
distinct message: NOW is the time to begin loving our lives. It is up to
US to make our lives blissful so that we can love living. It is well
within our capacity to do so, RIGHT NOW. And finally, prolonging the
bliss in our lives is what makes our passage in this physical body and
through this physical world one that evolves us all the more on a
spiritual level.
This spiritual guide book is straightforward and accessible even to
the beginner. I highly recommend it and I believe that when you read it,
you will get as much pleasure and wisdom out of it as I did. Enjoy!
Marie-Claire
Wilson, author of the Spiritual Tarot: The Keys to the Divine Temple, is a
bilingual writer and poet. She has been a practicing medium for 28 years
using direct clairvoyance, the Tarot, numerology and palmistry. For an
appointment face-to-face or phone readings call: 404.847.7330
www.Marie-Claire.tv