Answer: Yes. Definitely. Spiritual change is easy and hard. Some people say “it’s simple, but it’s not easy.” Many people I know participate in spiritual support that says “it works if you work it.” In Science of Mind circles, we sometimes talk about spiritual shifts as if they are instant and permanent. The truth, in my experience, lies somewhere in between.
Yes, it is possible to have an instant sweet dissolving of the old ideas, habits and patterns that have kept me stuck (I am experiencing that now in my High Mysticism class with Rev. Dr. Kathianne Lewis). And also yes, it can take work to a) experience that dissolution and b) keep it. In the 12 steps they say “we are granted a daily reprieve contingent on spiritual fitness.”
Dr. Joe Dispenza unpacks the science behind this better than anyone I know. Our habitual thoughts, beliefs, opinions and conclusions form well-worn neural pathways in our minds. Dr. Joe says something like this, if you keep thinking the same thoughts and doing the same things that you thought and did yesterday, you can just pick up your yesterday and place it on your tomorrow. You will have largely the same experience tomorrow that you did yesterday.
And while a strong mystical spiritual emotional event can instantly create a new pathway that produces new thoughts that produces new actions and experiences, those experiences can be few and far between.
When we use spiritual tools such as daily meditation, gratitude, forgiveness, affirmations and clearings, on a consistent daily basis, we can create and strengthen new neural pathways that produce different results.