Core Spiritual Principles

Golden Key Number 15--Desire For God-Realization
This golden key has been my total commitment to achieving liberation and being of service. The Eastern religions talk about giving up desire. The ideal of life isn't to give up desire, but rather to have only higher-self desire. My all-consuming desire in life has been to attain God-realization, liberation and ascension, and to be of service. I have been completely on fire for these and only these. I have been so completely focused in this direction that I have not allowed my lower self to steer me away. I have sought to strengthen the Christ quality of being focused and maintaining that focus. In Eastern religion this is called following your dharma. I have followed my dharma like a drowning man wants air.
This spiritual fire, in combination with owning my personal power and practicing unconditional love, has cultivated in me the unceasing quality of enthusiasm--which is so pervasive in my personality and my books. I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and might, and I am not afraid to demonstrate this. Underlying all of this is my commitment, which I have fortified with an untold number of spiritual vows. I hold onto these vows as my own personal tablets of creation. My personal commitment is not just for planetary ascension, but for complete cosmic ascension for myself and all of my brothers and sisters.

Golden Key Number 16--Devotion To God
This key has been love for God and love for the masters. This sometimes has been referred to as devotion. I think my greatest inspiration for this quality has come from the incomparable Paramahansa Yogananda. Devotion and purity pervade and shine forth from this great soul. This is true of Sai Baba as well. Devotion in essence is love of God and God's creation. All love begins with love of God. Jesus summed up the whole law with, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and might, and love thy neighbor as thyself."
One can give devotion without giving away one's power, and this is important. Djwhal Khul told me that the masters feel and appreciate my love for them. Love for God and the masters has been the keynote of my life. God is my only interest. Beware of false Gods and hence idol worship. Some of these false Gods are money, sexuality, power, fame and romantic relationships. Examine your life with devastating honesty and see if you are putting anything before God. If you are, forgive yourself and make the appropriate attitudinal correction.

Golden Key Number 17--A Thirst For Spiritual Knowledge And Wisdom
The next golden key has been my incredible thirst for spiritual knowledge and wisdom. I am sure most of you reading this book can relate to this. I never was interested in filling my mind with meaningless facts. However, anything relating to divine knowledge and my service has driven me with an insatiable thirst. Spiritual reading has had an enormous effect on my life. Spiritual reading in combination with meditation, prayer, journal writing, self inquiry, affirmations, visualizations, repeating the names of God, and devotional music all have had an enormous impact on my life. These have been my basic sadhana or spiritual practice.

Surrender and Detachment

Golden Key Number 18--Surrendering To God's Will And Giving Thanks In All Situations
This golden key for me has been learning to look at everything that happens in life as lessons, challenges, opportunities to grow and--most of all--as spiritual tests. Look at everything that happens as a gift, and bless every person and situation. This attitude is quite foreign to the ego, but it is one of the real keys to developing inner peace. To everything that would happen in life I would say, "Not my will but thine, oh Lord. Thank you for this lesson." This simple attitude has had a revolutionary effect upon my life. You can surrender to God and still retain your personal power. They are not mutually exclusive. The idea is to do both simultaneously. It works. Try it.

Golden Key Number 19--Having Preferences Rather Than Attachments
The next golden key has been the attitude of having preferences rather than attachments. Buddha stated in his four noble truths that all suffering comes from one's attachments. During one period of my life, my health--and, at times, my physical existence--were seriously in jeopardy. I have called that period my "Job initiation." During that time I had to let go of all attachments or I would have been unable to find inner peace.
Letting go of attachments is one of the tests of the fourth initiation, which is the initiation of renunciation. It is very important in life to have preferences--even strong preferences. But attachments keep you unhappy, fearful and off-center. The difference is that with preferences you are happy whichever way a situation turns out; but with attachments and expectations you lose your inner peace if things don't go the way you had wanted. This attitude has had an enormous effect on my life.

Golden Key Number 20--Divine Indifference
This golden key is the cultivation of the quality of divine indifference This is a quality of being the witness, objective, detached, but yet still involved. It is the difference between sympathy and compassion. In sympathy you take on the other person's stuff. Compassion retains boundaries, and a healthy psychological immune system. An effective person and leader must have this quality. This allows one to respond to life instead of reacting.

Self-Inquiry and Getting Right with Yourself

Golden Key Number 21--Get Right With Yourself First
This golden key has been the understanding that the most important relationships in my life are, first, my relationship with myself and, second, my relationship with God. If I am not right with myself then I will not be right with anything in my life including God. Get right in these two relationships first and all other relationships will come into divine order. Before we are ready to serve others we need to self-actualize. There are many people who are trying to serve from a place of not being right with self and right with God. It is noble that they want to be of service, but they would be better off getting right with themselves first.

Golden Key Number 22--True Self-Worth Comes From God
The next golden key relates to self-worth. The key insight here is that true self-worth comes from God. It is our spiritual inheritance. Can a son or daughter of God be unworthy? Self-worth is enhanced by focusing on your victories instead of your defeats. It also is very important to compare yourself only with yourself. Do not compare yourself with others, for each of us carries within us a special puzzle piece of God's plan.

Golden Key Number 23--Commitment To Self Inquiry And Monitoring One's Thoughts




This golden key has been an unflinching commitment to self-inquiry. I see self inquiry as the commitment to monitoring one's thoughts and being spiritually vigilant at all times. This means never going on automatic pilot. This also means not allowing any fear-thought, or any other thought that is not of God to enter one's mind. This spiritual practice is so important that Sai Baba says it is 75% of the spiritual path. It is the practice of recognizing that there are no neutral thoughts. All thoughts are either from the higher self or from the ego. It is the ego which fears, for the higher self knows that it is eternal. It is up to each one of us to choose whom we will serve.

Golden Key Number 24--Examination Of One's Motives
This key has been the intense examination on my part of my motives. This is something I would recommend that all lightworkers do in a thorough and honest manner. The negative ego is very tricky as we all know. In the deepest recesses of our subconscious mind, what is it that truly motivates us to do what we are doing? It takes great courage to fully examine this. To truly realize God and move into the highest levels of leadership, the conscious and subconscious minds must be cleansed of the impurities of the ego: selfishness, narcissism, lower-self desire, hedonism and materialism. The study of motives in the field of psychology needs much more focus than it has been given to date.