especially as we move past the grubbing for money and status of our early years. And even those who find earthly success soon discover that there is no end to those struggles, no top to be found, no rat-race prize, so every thoughtful person eventually sees that whatever success we might find on earth gives us nothing more than toys whose luster is going to dim as our bodies fail. No matter how rich and famous we become, we realize in the end that we have never owned anything.

The only thing that you and I can own is the powers of our eternal minds, so achieving spiritual growth while on earth is the best way to add to our permanent wealth. Achieving spiritual growth turns out to be the whole secret to human happiness. This is true for all of us, whether rich or poor and no matter how much fun we might seem to be having. Since we have not known why we were here, we have been seeking happiness in all the wrong places; but thanks to insights lately received from people we used to think were dead, our floundering is about to end. And what we are learning now about the spiritual growth that is our core human need is remarkable:

- Growing spiritually has nothing to do with religions. In fact, as you will see, religious practices can impede or even prevent spiritual growth.

- Growing spiritually is amazingly easy! You can make it a part of your daily life without much affecting your routines, and almost from the start it feels delicious. It doesn't take long to make lots of progress, so it never is too late to begin.

- Growing spiritually makes you happier. Whatever else may be going on in your life, elevating your personal spiritual energy makes coping easier. It makes everything look brighter.

Growing spiritually can bring you a much better afterlife experience. The heavens that we enter at death turn out to be a spiritual hierarchy in which those who are more developed spiritually will have much richer eternal lives. Since you are here and living this earth-life anyway, why not use whatever time you have left to make your eternal life more wonderful?