Donna Goddard, author of twenty spiritual books, shares her love for the Divine and the world with a large international audience and has a strong social media presence. She began her private practice in spiritual healing and counselling in 2005 and is available in person and online.
Donna Goddard, author of twenty spiritual books, shares her love for the Divine and the world with a large international audience and has a strong social media presence. She began her private practice in spiritual healing and counselling in 2005 and is available in person and online. Donna lives in beautiful rural Victoria (1 hour north of Melbourne CBD).
Question: What are three things that you know about life for sure?
Donna Goddard:
It is often in the utter despair of humanness that we become willing to consider deeply spiritual answers. Spiritual truth irretrievably alters our way of seeing reality and our ability to heal both ourselves and other people. Most spiritual awakening is due to a total disappointment in the human condition to provide any sense of substantial happiness. It is a blessing in disguise. Our greatest need is for the love and assurance that spiritual understanding brings. If it were not for the common experience of human lovelessness and limitation, we would not be driven to seek a higher love.
In my early twenties, my spiritual teacher told me that I was going through the dark night of the soul. He assured me that it would lift, and I would be surprised at how happy I would be. Everything he told me, I soaked in desperately. This period was the crucible of vital and foundational importance in developing my spiritual understanding.
“You have to understand that you are not here to get love,” my teacher said. “You are here to manifest non-conditional goodness, for God’s sake. You are here for God. If you are devoted to that idea, you will not be disturbed by what other people believe. You will never feel unloved if you know that that’s not what you are here for. We are all here for God and are to manifest non-personal, nonconditional benevolence with no strings attached. Love is its own reward. You don’t have to worry about what you are getting or not getting. You are here for God. That’s the bottom line. Once you learn to live this way, you will never be vulnerable to other people.”
To understand this is to understand the love of being loving. It radically changes us. People, in and of themselves, cannot give us happiness. Activities, in and of themselves, cannot give us happiness. At a certain stage of development, one releases all the attachments to people and activities as a source of happiness. In so doing, one finds a more subtle way of being present in the world. One becomes a loving presence, a centre for Divine grace. Once again, people and activities are enjoyed. Much more so. However, there is no craving or desire to get something, no expectation that the person or activity can fulfil us. One brings something—the love of God.
From The Love of Being Loving