AndyBaker

Join Date 06/2004

Spiritual Evolution

I read the following in a book called ‘The Future of Love’ by Daphne Rose Kingma. I thought it was good stuff, and wanted to share it:

"Evolution is a process of growth. Not just to make sure that we will survive, but to move us to higher and higher levels in every area of our existence. This means not just breaking through our physical limitations by flying to Mars, breaking Olympic records, or extending our life spans, but also emotional clearing and spiritual expansion.

As we evolve, our awareness expands and we are able to see, have feelings about, respond to and ‘know’ other people and things. At its furthest reaches, our consciousness becomes what is spoken of as "enlightenment", a fully knowing awareness of people, creatures and things in all times and worlds. Most of us will not reach this level of awareness, but all of us are on the path that is moving toward it. We are all at a different place on that path. Some of us are still struggling just to get acquainted with ourselves. Others are further advanced, know themselves and our place in the cosmos.

Spiritual consciousness is a unique kind of awareness in which we absolutely comprehend that we are far more than ordinary people living ordinary lives. We are, in fact, eternal spirits who have stepped into life with a grand and specific purpose – to evolve spiritually, to garner wisdom from the adventure, and ultimately, to return to love. We come into life with open hearts, but the process of living leaves them scarred and encrusted by the time we reach adulthood. We expose our hearts in all their brokenness, yet wherever we are on the path, we are constantly offered the opportunity to return to our innocence – to the state of spiritual consciousness, which is pure love. Constantly we are offered the opportunity to find our inner-ground - the "Kingdom of God within", which is our link to Heaven whilst on earth, and where we can find refuge, safety and security. God, our Creator, is love, which means we are never alone, we are loved unconditionally, and we are always, always safe.

" . . . Once our present growing pains and misty perceptions are transcended, we will have gained strength and a wisdom that we had never before possessed. Something within will have developed, and we will see and understand the purpose of the ordeal. We will be illuminated about what has been occurring and we will finally see that a pattern beyond our conventional perception was there, quietly operating, all the time. After the ordeal, chaos, and surrender, comes transformation. The person, the situation – the species – will have changed forever. We will have learned the meaning of love. And love, the nature of our Home, is where we came from, and to which we will return."

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I read the following in a book called ‘The Future of Love’ by Daphne Rose Kingma

It's actually a book about relationships. The section I quoted is a bit about the bigger picture, where Kingma adopts the same principles (except for the bit about God), as she does throughout the rest of the book about relationships.

For those who are interested in a bit of inner growth - especially in relationships - it's an excellent book.

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Spiritual consciousness is a unique kind of awareness in which we absolutely comprehend that we are far more than ordinary people living ordinary lives.

Firstly, what's wrong with being ordinary? Almost all of us are, by definition, and without choice in the matter. The extra-ordinary is the exception - and exceptions can only be recognised as such against a background that is overwhelmingly ordinary.

Constantly we are offered the opportunity to find our inner-ground - the "Kingdom of God within", which is our link to Heaven whilst on earth, and where we can find refuge, safety and security. God, our Creator, is love, which means we are never alone, we are loved unconditionally, and we are always, always safe.

Secondly, in what way are we safe? We are not physically safe. The least accidental eventuality (to say nothing of the malice of others and the perversity of the universe in general)can end our lives.

We are not emotionally safe, since its the common experience of life that family, friends, school, siblings, employment, unemployment, sexual precocity, sexual celibacy, sex in any form whatever, are all sources (along with countless others) of the general fuckedupedness of things, of the angst and despair that characterizes modern life, as well as the febrile enthusiams which pass nowadays for joy.

We are not spiritually safe, because the spirituality of this time is characterized by indeterminacy, incoherence, and overwhelming confusion.

" . . . Once our present growing pains and misty perceptions are transcended, we will have gained strength and a wisdom that we had never before possessed. Something within will have developed, and we will see and understand the purpose of the ordeal. We will be illuminated about what has been occurring and we will finally see that a pattern beyond our conventional perception was there, quietly operating, all the time. After the ordeal, chaos, and surrender, comes transformation. The person, the situation – the species – will have changed forever.

Like the serfs of medieval europe, who were to be rewarded for faithfully suffering the misery of their existence in this world by bliss in another to come, this Romantic psychobabble, as devoid of intellectual rigor as it is possessed of a loathsome sentimentality, promises bread and water today to be rewarded by cake and beer tomorrow - when, of course, we have all become sufficiently 'enlightened'.

The only Enlightenment that the West has ever aspired to and has still not achieved is liberation from dualistic, self-serving, pretensious nonsense such as this. The 'enlightenment' of the East is ultimate oblivion, the reabsorption of the spirit into some 'super-spirit'. The Enlightment of the West is the 'spiritualizing' of the Rational Intellect in opposition to the messy contingencies of physical embodiment and physical limitation. A project which foundered on the very irrationality demonstrated in this post.

After the ordeal, chaos, and surrender, comes transformation. The person, the situation – the species – will have changed forever. We will have learned the meaning of love. And love, the nature of our Home, is where we came from, and to which we will return.

The only long term change ahead of humanity is its own extinction. An extinction which is inevitable because everything that comes into the world eventually departs it. As to our 'home' being 'love', perhaps you could tell me what love might look like in our present situation. And no I don't mean love for spouse, parent, child, sibling, nation or god - I mean love as the ancient philosophers understood it, as a unifying principle applicable to all in virtue of a shared (and common, or ordinary) humanity.

Incidentally, if you can do that you will also have answered what it is you mean when you refer to 'our home'.

Personally, I know I'm homeless. And that's just fine with me.

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Hi Emperor, thanks for your reply.

Firstly, what's wrong with being ordinary? Almost all of us are, by definition, and without choice in the matter.

There’s nothing wrong with being ordinary. I hadn’t implied that there was. It's true that all of us are ordinary, from a certain point of view.

The extra-ordinary is the exception - and exceptions can only be recognised as such against a background that is overwhelmingly ordinary

That’s so true. From the perspective of our earthly, finite personalities, the concept that we are spiritual beings – “eternal spirits who have stepped into life with a grand and specific purpose”, and who will continue to experience life after death – is indeed “extra-ordinary”. In other words, against the backdrop of our mundane earthly existence, the reality of a Heavenly Estate, (you don’t believe in Heaven, I take it?), is extra-ordinary.

Secondly, in what way are we safe? We are not physically safe.

That’s true. Physically, we’re very insecure.

We are not emotionally safe, since its the common experience of life that family, friends, school, siblings, employment, unemployment, sexual precocity, sexual celibacy, sex in any form whatever, are all sources (along with countless others) of the general fuckedupedness of things,

It depends on our level of spiritual growth. The more our attitudes and paradigms of reality are aligned with deeper spiritual truths, (and this 'alignment' is a natural by-product of spiritual growth, as is a heightened awareness), then the more emotionally stable we will be. Yet as long as we believe that our security lies in anything of this world, then as you say, we’re not emotionally safe at all.

We are not spiritually safe, because the spirituality of this time is characterized by indeterminacy, incoherence, and overwhelming confusion.

That depends on the individual and on their level of spiritual growth and awareness. The human race as a whole, and as a ‘global consciousness’, isn’t particularly secure in its spirituality because we haven’t evolved enough yet. But that’s okay, there’s simply room for growth.

in what way are we safe?

We’re safe in the sense that life is eternal. God’s compassionate embrace underlies our existence, and our earthly existence isn’t the be all and end all of life. (You may feel that I ought to be saying “I believe” before these sentences. But I don’t feel inclined to.)

The only Enlightenment that the West has ever aspired to and has still not achieved is liberation from dualistic . . .

Dualism is somewhat misguided, because it ignores the ‘Oneness’ and interrelatedness of reality. Kingma herself says, “Union is the sense that we’re all in this together, not just as people who are trying to keep the planet from dying off before our grandchildren inherent it, but the awareness that we are all interconnected . It is in our souls that we are joined and partake of a common spiritual substance. . . . The agenda of the soul, then, is to move us from focused individual awareness to a melting diffused awareness of our truly unified state.”

I’m sure this is what Jesus was talking about when he said (to the Father): “I pray that they may be one, just as you and I are one. … May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one … in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them.” (John 17.11, 21, 23)

The 'enlightenment' of the East is ultimate oblivion, the reabsorption of the spirit into some 'super-spirit'.

I've learned that when deeper principles of Eastern and Western wisdom are merged, the full picture of ultimate reality can be disclosed. I believe that both are right, and that somewhere down the line of our eternal journey, we will have a choice whether to be absorbed by God and to become One with our Source, or whether to carry on evolving as an individual spiritual being. (This principle of absorption transcends Western belief, so I don’t expect many people in here to agree with it.)

The only long term change ahead of humanity is its own extinction. An extinction which is inevitable because everything that comes into the world eventually departs it.

That’s very true from a certain point of view. If you believe that upon our departure we cease to exist entirely, then that’s your personal model of the world. Whether that model of the world is aligned with ‘what is so’, is another matter.

As to our 'home' being 'love', perhaps you could tell me what love might look like in our present situation. And no I don't mean love for spouse, parent, child, sibling, nation or god - I mean love as the ancient philosophers understood it, as a unifying principle applicable to all in virtue of a shared (and common, or ordinary) humanity.

We are ‘Home’ when we are fully aware of the all-encompassing and compassionate embrace of God. We’re actually always at Home, even whilst living on earth, (at least a part of us is, because the Kingdom of God is within.) But the difference between our being in Heaven and on earth is that in the afterlife our perspective is different. With no ‘veil’ to obscure our consciousness, we become more aware of the nature of the bigger picture.

what it is you mean when you refer to 'our home'.

Home is our Heavenly estate.

Personally, I know I'm homeless. And that's just fine with me.

That’s good. As long as we’re at peace with our model of the world, that’s what really counts. But keep an open mind, because there might be room for growth. It’s not bad news, this life lark.

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The more our attitudes and paradigms of reality are aligned with deeper spiritual truths, (and this 'alignment' is a natural by-product of spiritual growth, as is a heightened awareness),

I forgot to mention inner strength and spiritual muscle, which are also by-products of spiritual growth. Those who are spiritually mature can remain unperturbed in the face of calamity, and can experience inner peace regardless of external conditions. The degree to which we can do this depends on our level of growth.

The Enlightment of the West is the 'spiritualizing' of the Rational Intellect in opposition to the messy contingencies of physical embodiment and physical limitation

Enlightenment, to me, is a high(er) degree of awareness of 'what is so', especially in context with the bigger picture and our place in it.

(You may feel that I ought to be saying “I believe” before these sentences. But I don’t feel inclined to.)

I wasn't being arrogant there, Emperor. I'm psychic, you see, so I'm cheating. I don't expect you to believe that, and I don't feel the need to defend myself. I'm just telling it the way it is, just as you are from your point of view.

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