“If we allow ourselves to follow a path of evolving consciousness as individuals, in response perhaps to some deep yearning for peace and happiness and for a greater freedom from the afflictions of disconnection and distress and disease, sooner or later it will have a profound impact on our relationships with each other and on the society and world we inhabit. It has to.

“Peace and happiness are not commodities to be acquired or conferred but qualities that are embodied and lived. They can only be embodied and lived in practice, not merely by the enunciation of principles, however lofty. Thus, here at home, we have seen all those who were originally excluded by law and social mores from participating in and benefitting from the declaration of inalienable rights of freedom and self-governance ‘for all,’ by fits and starts and through tenacious and courageous struggle transform in tandem, however slowly and painfully, both our consciousness and our laws—regarding slavery, race, indigenous peoples, women, children, sexual orientation, marriage—as well as our understanding of the infinite suffering of real people and real families occasioned by exploitive institutions and the laws and social conventions that uphold them and will uphold them until they change and are, in their new form, vigorously enforced.

“In an evolving democracy, the list of current social injustices and grievances at any given moment is likely to be a long one. But the growing goes on to.”

–Jon Kabat-Zinn

A Path of Evolving Consciousness

Some spiritual students don’t realize that the quest for spiritual development and the quest for higher levels of consciousness are the same thing, but they are. Some people think that such evolution doesn’t need to be sought, that it just happens automatically. It doesn’t. Just as the body and mind have to be intentionally developed, so does the spirit. Kabat-Zinn says that some seek out a path of spiritual development because of a deep yearning for peace and happiness, and that is true. Others do it because they feel that something is missing from their material life and realize that it is the development of their spiritual side which includes the development of higher levels of consciousness. Humans are already at one of the highest levels of consciousness possible for a physical being. The only way to reach even higher levels is through the development of the spiritual faculties.

Impact on Relationships

The development of higher levels of consciousness will indeed have a profound effect on our relationships with other individuals, societies, and the entire world. It will not only impact our relationships with other humans, but with all beings, and the change will be for the better. We are already seeing this to some degree even with only a small percentage of humanity engaging in consciousness evolution.

Not Commodities

It is true that peace, happiness, and love are not commodities that can be bought or conferred on others. They must be gradually awakened by the development of our spiritual faculties. Nor can peace and happiness happen simply by telling people that they should live together in peace and harmony. If we want that to happen, we must encourage spiritual development, which is the only true path to the awakening of internal peace and happiness.

Government for All

Government and a social order that treats all people equally never happens overnight. It takes slow and gradual progress to grant rights to one disadvantaged group after another. Even more to grant rights to animals as well as humans and to understand that all life is sacred since God is the only creator of life. We have seen in recent years that when a government that promotes greater rights and freedoms for all is put in power, the next election may bring about a reversal of such advances and push us back several years. Nonetheless, the overall movement over the past few centuries has been toward greater inclusion, greater harmony, and greater freedom for all. As more of us awaken spiritually, that trend will continue until we finally see an end to hatred, slavery, wars, etc. and a return to what we were before the Great Fall from Heaven.