On the Spiral Road that leads from Man to God

“In our study of the Mystic Life, its purification and illumination, we have been analyzing and considering a process of organic development, an evolution of personality. We may treat this either as a movement of consciousness toward higher levels, or as a remaking of consciousness consequent on the emergence and growth of a factor which is dormant in ordinary people, but destined to be supreme in the full-grown mystic type. We have seen the awakening of this factor—this spark of the soul—with its innate capacity for apprehending the absolute. We have seen it attack and conquer the old sense-fed and self-centered life of the normal self, and introduce it into a new universe, lit up by the Uncreated Light. These were the events which, taken together constitute the ‘First Mystic Life’; a complete round upon the spiral road which leads from Man to God.

“What we have been looking at, then, is a life process, the establishment of a certain harmony between the created self and the Reality whose invitation it has heard: and we have discussed this life process as if it contained no elements which were not referable to natural and spontaneous growth. … But side by side with this organic growth there always goes a specific kind of activity which is characteristic of the mystic: that his consciousness of the Infinite may be stabilized, enriched, and defined.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Mystic Life

The book from which the above quote is taken is all about the life of the mystics, so Underhill uses that name a lot, but we could just as easily say spiritual student or spiritual adept, so the Mystic life is also the Spiritual life, at least if you are talking about actual spiritual development and not the pretense of it that is so common today.

Purification and Illumination

Purification and illumination are what spiritual (or mystical) development is all about. Foolish people claim they are perfect just as they are and have no need for development. Mystery schools and spiritual schools have not existed for many centuries in many parts of the world for nothing. Just as the doctor, carpenter, or lawyer needs training and development, so does the spiritual adept. In this world, there is no free ride. You don’t climb out of the deep hole of matter by simply wishing for it, or pretending you have already gotten out.

Organic Development

What Ms. Underhill means when she says “organic development,” is the natural growth of the body and mind that happens to everyone, or at least everyone who doesn’t have some disease that prevents it. It is the development that largely happens on its own, with little conscious effort, as opposed to spiritual development which requires a conscious effort applied regularly and consistently. But as Underhill adds to this, the Mystic follows a different kind of organic process by seeking to awaken and develop his spiritual faculties and develop higher levels of consciousness. The highest level of consciousness is that found in the highest dimension that most call Heaven.

Levels of Consciousness

Underhill tells us that the mystic undergoes a process of either remaking their consciousness or developing higher levels of consciousness. There are those who have made both spiritual and scientific studies of this, and most agree that there are multiple levels of consciousness. Obviously, a potato doesn’t have the same level of consciousness as a fish, and generally, a human has a higher level of consciousness than that fish. But are their levels of consciousness beyond humans? Spiritual people and mystics believe so, and some of the more advanced have achieved very high levels, levels where they gain the Truth and Wisdom known as Gnosis, which cannot be gained by reading books.

Conquer the Self-Centered Life

Yes, spiritual development does require us to conquer the self-centered life. To put it another way, the Soul must be awakened and developed to the point where it can control the ego which is all about the world of matter. The ego does not need to be destroyed, as some claim, it needs to be controlled. We need ego to function in the material world, but we can’t let it dominate and prevent us from making spiritual progress.

The Spiral Road

The Spiral Road (or staircase) is the path of illumination that leads to Heaven. It is spiral because it is the nature of man that most of us don’t move forward on a straight and continuous path. We take a few steps forward, we fall back, we move forward again, etc. That is why the path is best depicted as a spiral. And it is, as Underhill says, a “life process,” the gradual establishment of harmony between our material and spiritual natures so that we can continue forward on that spiritual path and also continue to function in the world. And when we finally face physical death, the spirit and soul will continue on that spiral road until the highest level is reached.

The Book of Secrets and the Sparkling stone

“The Spirit of our Lord speaks thus in the Book of the Secrets of God, which St. John wrote down: to him that overcomes, He says, that is, to him who overcomes and conquers himself and all else, will I give to eat of the hidden manna, that is, an inward and hidded savour and celetial joy; and will give him a sparkling stone, and in the stone a new name is written which no person knows saving the one who receives it. This stone is called a pebble, for it is so small that it does not hurt when one treads on it. This stone is shining white and red like a flame of fire, and it is small and round, and smooth all over, and very light. ….

“Now to him who overcomes and transcends all things, this sparkling stone is given; and with it he receives light and truth and life. This stone is also like a fiery flame, for the fiery love of the eternal Word has filled the whole world with love and wills that all loving spirits be burned up in love.” ~John of Ruysbroeck

Book of the Secrets

The “Book of the Secrets of God”, better known today as “The Secret Book of John,” or “The Apocryphon of John) is a Gnostic book that talks about God being the One who rules all and the Pure Light, among other things. It is surprising that Ruysbroeck references it since he was not known to be particularly gnostic in his beliefs and teachings.

Overcomes and Conquers

What it means to overcome and conquer yourself is that you are able to control your animal instinct, and your ego, and put the development of spirit and soul above all else. That may seem like an impossible task in today’s materialistic, capitalistic world, but it can be done. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have a normal job but must live in a monastery. You can have a normal life, but with the idea always in front of your mind that the spirit comes first and the Laws of God come before those of Man. And spiritual development techniques only need to be practiced for five to fifteen minutes a day, so should be doable by all.

Hidden Manna

There are two kinds of Manna. There was the manna given to the starving Jews in the desert that was a physical bread to nourish their bodies. There is another manna that is spiritual and available to those who seek it in love and humility. That second manna is God’s Light that comes to us through the spiritual sun. That manna is the hidden manna that awakens and nourishes the spirit and soul. Nothing physical can do that.

Sparkling Stone

Ruysbroeck says the awakened person receives a sparkling stone that is shiny, white and red, and does not hurt. So he is saying in an indirect way that this stone is not something physical like the Sorcerer’s stone in the Harry Potter tales. I have left out a section of the quote from Ruysbroeck because I think it is misleading. Ruysbroeck goes on to say that the stone is actually Jesus Christ, who is the savior of all. Those who are spiritual students generally know better. The Sparkling Stone, also known as the Philosopher’s Stone, is our own inner Christ that is awakened with spiritual practice. That is what Jesus meant when he said we should follow him. He meant that we should awaken our own inner Christ, our own Sparkling Stone. It is only by doing so that we are able to reach up to the highest level of consciousness known as Heaven, and become one with the All.

The Wrong Approach to a Spiritual Life Leads to Bad Results

Returning a headstone for a Jewish person that had been torn down by vandals.

“I have never failed to come to the aid of the poor and lowly. I have ever obeyed the laws of God and Man. Goodness has always been honored in my heart, and I have consistently read the sacred writings. Yet never have I found these things consistent with mortal wellbeing. Because my tongue did not turn around corners and twist back on itself, because the words I spoke came from my heart, undiluted with any malicious thought, because I chided the rich for their selfishness and inconsideration, their wasteful living and meaningless activities, they became my enemies. Because I called upon the powerful to live according to the laws they professed to uphold and the words declared to be sacred, I was seized and imprisoned. When I protested the injustice to the ears of the people, I was beaten with rods, I was branded as one who seeks to destroy the stability of the land. I, who tried to set an example of goodness, to lead a life dedicated to my God, to convert the wicked to righteousness, am myself declared wicked by the workers of evil. Why is this, O my God? Have I, to my sorrow and undoing, weighted the values of life wrongly?” ~The Kolbrin Bible (MAN:19:8)

To Aid the Poor and Lowly

To aid the poor is certainly a good thing, although not always done properly. When done with humility and a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, it is a good thing. When done to show off how much better a person you are and to boost your ego, it isn’t.

Obeyed the Laws

It is usually a good thing to obey the law, but there are exceptions. Sometimes, the laws of Man conflict with the Laws of God. When that happens, the spiritual person must put the Laws of God before the laws of Man. Between those two are the laws of nature. We would also be wise to obey the laws of nature as much as possible, even when they conflict with Man’s law. We don’t need to worry about the laws of nature conflicting with the Laws of God, they never do.

Reading Sacred Writings

Like obeying the law, reading scripture is usually a good thing, but not always. If you read scripture with no comprehension of what it means, or your read it without even trying to understand it, then reading it is pointless. Perhaps even worse than reading sacred books without comprehension is reading them with a false comprehension, something which is unfortunately common today. Most of humanity has become so material oriented that we interpret everything in a material and literal way. When you do that with scripture, you almost always end up wit nonsense. The holy ones who wrote scripture knew that true spiritual teachings were dangerous in the hands of materialistic or evil people, so they generally wrote in allegory or other kinds of code. If you don’t have some understanding of the codes they used, you will get a false understanding.

Tongue did not Turn

I think this allegory is one that is easy to understand. When the author says his tongue “did not turn around corners’” he is simply saying that he did not lie, but always told the truth as he knew it. While this is definitely a good thing, there may be occasions when telling the truth is not the best thing to do. If telling the truth will hurt another person’s feelings, it may be best to tell a white lie or say nothing at all. If corrupt authorities ask you about the location of some innocent person they want to arrest, it is best to not answer, or tell a white lie. When the early Christian Martyrs were arrested, they were often tortured to get them to reveal the names and locations of other Christians. Most refused to do so, and that was as it should be.

Chided the Selfish

Here is where the person in the quote went wrong. Chiding the rich and powerful is rarely a good idea. If you are not in a position that prevents them from taking revenge, it is a bad idea. It is not that greed is acceptable, but trying to teach people something they are not ready to learn is pointless and likely to get you into trouble. Instead of chiding the rich and selfish, you could gently suggest to them that there is great joy in sharing, otherwise, it is generally best to keep those beliefs to yourself. Of course, it is always acceptable to speak in generalities and say things like “greed is not a good thing,” but don’t mention individuals or classes of people when doing so.

Likewise, chiding government officials for not doing their job can get one in trouble, depending on the type of government you are under.

Ego Trip

Most of all, when your idea of spiritual practice is to complain about the greedy, the corrupt, and those who oppose spiritual development, you are feeding your ego, not your spirit. That is why much of what this person did was not moving him forward in a spiritual way. The ego is not an enemy that needs to be destroyed, but it does need to be kept under control by an awakened Soul.

Why We are Born with Our Spirits Dormant

“Beloved Soul, if thou will be earnest without intermission, thou shall certainly obtain the favor of a kiss from the noble Sophia (or Divine Wisdom) in the Holy Name of Jesus; for she stands ever before the door of the Soul, knocking, and warning the sinner of his wicked ways. Now if once thou desires her love, she is ready for it and kisses it with the Beams of her sweet Love, from whence the heart receives joy. But she does not presently lay herself in the marriage bed with the Soul, that is, she does not presently awaken the extinguished Heavenly Image in herself, which disappeared in Adam in Paradise. No, there might be danger in that; for if Adam and Lucifer fell, having it manifest in them, the same may easily happen to Man, who is still so strongly enthralled in Vanity.

“The bond of thy promise must be firm and steadfast. Before she will crown thee, you must be tempted and tried. She lets thee stands as it were aloof, and answers thee not so much one look of her love. For before she will crown thee, thou must be judged. … Thou must come before the gates of Hell first, and there show forth the victory for her in her love, in the strength where she upholds you in opposition to the Devil’s influence.” ~Jacob Boehme ¹

Earnest Without Intermission

Boehme doesn’t say here what it is we must be earnest in, but since his writings are all about spiritual growth and development, we can assume that is what is meant here. Being earnest in our spiritual development techniques means that we don’t think of it as some game or something to occupy space-time, but rather the most important thing in our lives. After all, most of us spend hours a week caring for our temporary bodies in one way or another, shouldn’t our eternal spirit get at least as much recognition and care?

Kiss from Sophia

What Boehme is calling “a kiss from the noble Sophia” is just another way of saying God’s Grace or God’s Light. It is through awakening and developing our spiritual faculties with the help of that Light that eventually leads to the Wisdom of Sophia that the Gnostics call Gnosis. This should not be confused with intellect. It is a Wisdom of the Soul unknown to the brain, it is consciousness, not intellect.

If One Desires Her Love

While it may be true that Sophia tries to warn the sinners of their errant ways, it is clear that they have closed those channels of communication and don’t hear her pleas. On the other hand, the one who truly desires to awaken and develop their spiritual faculties, Sophia is ready to help. More accurately, God’s angels and Holy One who have left the Eathly plain offer their help first. Sophia comes somewhat later.

Beams of Her Love

This is an important choice of words Boehm has made her hint at something he couldn’t say outright without getting into trouble with the religious authorities of his time. Sending beams of Love is his way of telling us that Light is involved, as it is Light that travels in beams. Specifically, Sophia’s Kiss comes in the Light of the Spiritual Sun that awakens and nourishes the spirit.

Before She Will Crown Thee

This is another case where Boehme has carefully chosen his words to hint at something he couldn’t say outright in his time. It would be nice if those who had awakened the Gnosis within were chosen as the leaders of the world, but in this materialistic age, it is simply not so. But before political leaders in the form of kings and queens stole the idea of wearing a crown of gold, they were worn by the high priests and prophets of the great spiritual schools to symbolize their closeness to God and to Sophia. The gold crown with the points on it represented the sun, so such priests were showing that they were one with the Spiritual Sun. So Boehm is telling us that if we want to be “crowned” by the truth and wisdom of Sophia, we must turn to the Spiritual Sun. It was, after all, the Light of the sun reflecting off a metal bowl striking him in the eyes that gave Boehm his spiritual awakening.

1 – I have replaced some of the old English in the quote with modern English for readability.

Difficulties Encourage us to Grow, Learn, and Get Strong

Philadelphia, United States – July 5, 2013: The Love Sculpture by the pop artist Robert Indiana was placed in Philadelphia’s “Love Park”, officially named JFK Plaza, in 1976 as part of the U.S. Bicentennial celebration.

“If you study without Love, your success will be problematic and temporary. Whatever work you do in the world, if you do not put the Divine in it, your success will be problematic and temporary too.

“All those who love God succeed. All those who fail, fail in their love of God. …

“Why is there suffering? Suffering is a refresher. If you have no suffering, twice bigger mishaps will come to you.

“Love is the quality that will connect you with God. A greater good than love you cannot find. And a greater mishap than to lose love you cannot get. When you lose love, you will find death.

“They say: No one can go to God if he is not pure. No one can go to God if he is not good, merciful, and reasonable.

“All tests that we get are to enable us. The difficulties and the stumbling blocks that you meet are an education means. Without suffering and tests, you cannot have any gains.

“In ‘Divine Love,’ I understand the following: I realize that all beings, whatever they may be, have equal rights to Divine Good. That kind of understanding is Divine Love. If you do not understand it like that, it is not Divine Love.

“Happiness can be achieved only when we realize that goal that God has put in life—and that goal is Man’s life in God.” ~Biensa Douno

Study Without Love

When you study materialistic subjects without love, you may have some success, but it will be limited, and incomplete. Only with love can you grasp the full truth of the matter. When you study spiritual subjects, it is unlikely that you will have much success at all if you lack love, especially the love of God.

Put the Divine in Your Work

There is an old story about a wealthy man who hires a local home builder to build a home. The builder does good work, but has not had a lot of success and so does not have much money. He decides to cut corners while building the house for the wealthy man so he will make more profit. When the house is finished, the wealthy man pays for it, then tells the house builder that the home is for him. “I know you work hard but don’t make a lot of money so I decided to build this house for you.” So the builder finds out that the house built in an inferior way is his own.

The point of the story is that we are all building our own homes, our own lives. If we cheat and look for shortcuts, it is ourselves we cheat the most. If we have love and put Divine Love in all we do, that would never happen. We would do our best in all our work. Most importantly, I think Douno is mostly reminding us to do our best with our spiritual growth and spiritual life. To mess up our physical life with bad karma is bad enough, but physical life is short, while spiritual life is eternal.

Connect With God

While some may think of it differently, the goal of spiritual development is to connect with God, learn from God, and ultimately become one with God and one will All. If that is not what we are trying to do, then it isn’t real spiritual development. The spirit is not a part of the body or the mind and it can’t be developed by our efforts alone in the realm of matter. It is only through that connection with God, primarily through the Spiritual Sun, that the spirit can truly awaken and grow. Just reading holy books isn’t enough. Just posting memes about how spirituality is so much better than religion isn’t enough, in fact, it is an indication of egotism, the opposite of spiritual development. So look to the Spiritual Sun and seek that connection with God.

All Beings Have Equal Rights

Douno says that with Divine Love we “realize that all beings, whatever they may be, have equal rights to Divine Good.” I can agree with that. It is important to note that he says all beings, not all humans, not all animals, but all beings which include plants as well. So the holier-than-thou vegans are not doing anything to encourage the growth of their souls, as they to are saying that some beings are more important than others, and eating some beings is just fine, but not others. That is not the truth.

On the Awakened Soul

awakened soul

“If the Soul is freed from the bonds of the Devil, then it lives in meekness, and in great humility in the stillness of the Element without the soaring up of any works; it does no miracles, but humbles itself before God. Yet it is possible for the highly worthy champion-like Souls to do wonders; for they have great knowledge, and power, though they all appear (in the humble love) before the Countenance of God, and there is no grudging among them.

“Reason alone seeks for a Paradise, out of which it is gone forth and it says; Where is the place where the Souls go to rest? Whither flies it when it departs the body? Does it go far, or does it stay here?

“Although we may be hard to be understood in our High Knowledge; (because a Soul that desires to see it, must enter into the new Birth, or else it stands behind the Vail and asks continuously, Where is the place?) Therefore we will set it down for the sake of the Lily-Rose, where the Holy Ghost will open many doors in the Wonders, which men now hold impossible.” ~Jacob Boehme

Soul Freed from the Devil

When we come into the world of matter, our soul isn’t actually imprisoned by the Devil, but it is in a dormant state and must be awakened and developed. That might be considered being imprisoned by the Devil since the realm of matter is his realm, but the good news is that we have the ability to be “freed from the bonds” by awakening and developing the spirit and soul.

Lives in Meekness and Humility

This concept is misunderstood by many who wish to be spiritual. They think it means being weak and submissive and simply accepting all things as they are. That is not it at all. If Boehme had followed that formula for being meek, he would never have written his many books on spiritual growth and development. If St. Francis had been meek in that way, he would never have gone to the Pope to get permission to form a new order of monks. Yet both of them were practicing meekness and humility in the sense that it is meant in the quote. That sense is that one gives God credit for all the good they do. As spiritual people, we must all work for the fulfillment of God’s Great Plan to reclaim the fallen realm of matter, but we do that work in the name of God, not to boost our own egos.

No Miracles, but Wonders

Some might disagree with this statement by Boehme that the awakened Soul does no miracles, but does great wonders. He is making the distinction that miracles are done by God, whereas humans can only do wonders. You might ask, “what about the miracles done by Jesus, and other saints?” Boehme is saying that those great Souls are not doing the miracles themselves, but it is God working through them that does the miraculous. This may seem like an unnecessary distinction, but it goes back to the meekness and humility concept. If a person thinks he is doing miracles, it may cause an undesirable increase in ego, but if she gives od all the credit, she remains humble.

Reason Seeks Paradise

This is another statement by Boehme that can be easily misunderstood. The awakened Soul definitely seeks Paradise, but not in the same way as Reason. The awakened Soul knows Paradise (or Heaven) as it is. Many people who have not awakened their spiritual faculties seek to create a paradise in their own mind that meets their idea of what paradise is. We see this on social media a lot these days. People arriving in Heaven are greeted by their dead relatives or pets, and people posting memes like, “If there is no fishing in Heaven, I don’t want to go.” Those paradises exist only in the imaginations of people and have little to do with the reality of this, the highest domain of Spirit and Consciousness.

Understanding how to ‘Think of Buddha’

“The ultimate goal of the teaching of the Pure land is to understand the meaning of “Nembutsu,” whereby its followers will be admitted to the Pure Land. …

Numbutsu literally means ‘to think of Buddha.’ Nen (nien in Chinese and smriti in Sanscrit) is to ‘keep in memory.’ In Shin however it is more than a mere remembering of Buddha, it is thinking His Name, holding it in your mind. …

The interpretation the Shin people give to the ‘Namu-amida-butsu‘ is more than literal, though not at all mystical or esoteric. It is in fact philosophical. When Amida is regarded as the object of adoration, he is separated from the devotee standing. All by himself. But when Namu is added to the name the whole thing takes on a new meaning because it now symbolizes the unification of Amida and the devotee, wherein the duality no longer exists. This however does not indicate that the devotee is lost or absorbed in Amida so that his individuality is no longer tenable as such. The unity is therefore as ‘Namu’ plus ‘Amidabutsu,’ but the Namu has not vanished.” ~D. T. Suzuki

The Ultimate Goal

I cannot totally agree with Suzuki regarding the ultimate goal of spiritual studies and disciplines. One does have to learn to understand the meaning of “to think of Buddha,” or “to think of Christ,” but that is an intermediate goal, acting on that understanding and achieving what it implies is the ultimate goal.

The Pure Land

What is called the Pure Land in the Quote is Heaven to most of us, the Place where oneness with God, buddha, and Christ occurs. We cannot dwell in the Pure Land while living in a physical body, but we can make visits to it through the regular use of spiritual development techniques.

Keep in Memory

To keep Buddha or Christ in our memory is indeed a good thing, though not all that is necessary. In Cosolargy, we are taught to keep an image of the Cosolargy Cross, or Cross of Light, in memory at all times. This may be difficult to do in the beginning, but it can be done with practice.

Unification with God

The Shin people have interpreted the idea of understanding “Nembutsu” correctly. While thinking of Buddha or Christ is good, the ultimate goal is unification with God. This requires us to awaken our inner Buddha or Christ, which we do through the regular practice of spiritual development techniques, as well as practicing spiritual disciplines such as humility, generosity, and love for all (we can love the person or animal without loving the behavior by understanding that it is the work of the Demiurge and his demonic minions that lead people ad animals into bad behavior).

In Cosolargy, we use various Spiritual Sun Gazing techniques to get more energy into the body to aawaken and improve the energy flow in our physical energy centers. We then move on to bring energy into the Spiritual Centers and awaken the spirit to full consciousness. It is the fully conscious spirit that is called the Soul. Only the Soul can truly achieve unification with God. That is how to truly “think of Buddha” or Christ.

Seek the Knowledge of Truth

“He who has just begun to follow a holy way of life, and has received instruction about how to act righteously, devotes himself wholly to the practice of the virtues in all obedience and faith, nourishing himself, as if on meat, on their manifest aspects. The inner principles of the commandments, which constitute the knowledge of the perfect, in his faith he leaves to God, for he cannot yet embrace their full magnitude.

“The perfect person, who has passed beyond the category not only of beginners but also of those who are advanced, is not ignorant of the inner principles of the actions he performs. … On the contrary, he first spiritually imbibes those principles and then by means of his actions feeds upon the whole body of the virtues. In this way, he transposes to the plane of spiritual knowledge actions which take place in the sensible realm.

“The Lord said, ‘First seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33). That is, seek the knowledge of Truth before all things, and therefore seek training in appropriate methods of attaining it.” ~The Philokalia

The Beginner

One thing that some beginning spiritual students find difficult to accept, especially in this age of instant everything, is that spiritual truth and spiritual development techniques must be revealed to the student gradually. This is for the benefit of all, but especially for the benefit of the student. If you try to give a new student advanced teachings, they may be misunderstood and misused. The student may become disappointed and quit studying. So the teacher or master teaches only as much as the student is ready to understand, and can use safely.

Practice of Virtues

The practice of spiritual development methods is required for spiritual growth, but that involves more than just practicing the virtues. Most spiritual masters know this but are reluctant to say it in a publication available to the general public. Some spiritual knowledge must be protected from those who would misuse it and harm others or themselves. And some would try to use such knowledge for material purposes which can also cause serious problems. Hitler and the Roman Emperor Nero are examples of people who gained such knowledge and used it improperly. Eventually, they lost those powers, as always happens to those who misuse them.

Leaves it to God

While I can partially agree with the author that there are things we should leave to god and have faith that they will happen, I think that in most cases, if not all, God wants us to do what we can along with Him. We are, after all, meant to be co-creators with God.

Not Ignorant of Inner Principles

The Spiritual Master is indeed not ignorant of the inner principles and of the effects of their deeds and thoughts. The Master knows that his deeds affect not just himself and those in the immediate vicinity, but also the rest of the world. For example, what foods you buy helps determine what farmers will grow. But probably even more important is our thoughts. Thoughts are energy and energy does work. When you are filled with thoughts of hatred, jealousy, or fear, what work do you think those thoughts are doing? They affect the behavior of other people, animals, and even the weather. Most significantly, thoughts reach the sun and are reflected back to us amplified. If we are mainly sending negative thoughts, that is what will reflect back to us. So the Spiritual Master makes the effort to avoid negative thinking. It isn’t that difficult for such men and women since they understand what causes people to have angry and negative thoughts and animals to behave aggressively. They know that if all negative thoughts stopped, all animals would soon be friendly and there would be no poisonous plants.

Seek God, Seek Truth

The fact is, if you want to find Truth, you must seek to awaken and develop your connection with God and Heaven. And if you want to know God, you must seek universal Truth by going to the source, which is God. You won’t find God by clinging to beliefs that have been passed on for generations but nonetheless are either totally false or only partially true. And the lantern we hold to seek Truth is the Light of the Spiritual Sun that awakens our spirit and Soul.

Spiritual Growth and Enlightenment is an Activity

Sun Gazing

“Sweetly, it is true, the illuminated mystic may live; but not, as some think, placidly. Enlightenment is a symptom of growth; and growth is a living process, which knows no rest. The spirit, indeed, is invaded by a heavenly peace; but it is the peace, not of idleness, but of ordered activity. ‘A rest most busy,’ in Hilton’s words: a progressive appropriation of the Divine. The urgent push of an indwelling spirit, aspiring to its home in the heart of Reality, is felt more and more, as the invasion of the normal consciousness by the transcendental personality—the growth of the New Person—proceeds towards its term.

“Therefore, the great seekers for reality are not as a rule long delayed by the exalted joy of illumination. Intensely aware now of the Absolute Whom they adore, they are aware too that though known He is unachieved. Even while they enjoy the rapture of the Divine Presence—of life in a divine, ideal world—something, they feel makes default. Sol voglio Te, O dolce Amore. Hence for them that which they now enjoy, and which passes the understanding of other men, is not a static condition; often it coexists with the travail of the heart that Tauler has called ‘stormy love.’ The greater the mystic, the sooner they realize that the Heavenly Manna which has been administered to them, is not yet that with which the Angels are fully fed. Nothing less will do.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Enlightenment Requires Constant Growth

Spiritual Awakening and Enlightenment is not an instant affair. It takes time to achieve some level of consciousness that could be truly considered enlightenment. Yet even then, the job is not done. Nothing will suffice for the awakened Soul except complete unity with God and the All. That takes continuous effort to grow.

Heavenly Peace

As Ms. Underhill notes, the Heavenly peace achieved by the mystic or spiritual adept is not a peace of idleness but continuous activity. The mountain climber is happy upon reaching the top of the mountain, but next week will climb another, probably higher, or otherwise more difficult. To achieve real Spiritual Enlightenment, we must be like that mountain climber. We may be happy with what we have achieved, but we want to continue the process until we reach the ultimate: union with God.

Intensely Aware of the Absolute

Those who are truly awakened spiritually are intensely aware of the absolute. They don’t theorize about what it is. They don’t accept what is written in books as the final word on God, no matter how holy the book is. They know through a direct connection with the absolute, and therefore this awareness is Knowledge, not simply theory or belief.

Sol voglio Te, O dolce Amore

I cannot find a complete translation for this Latin phrase, but the latter half means “O sweet love”. So what Underhill is saying here, is that when one becomes in full contact with the All, with God, they feel an intense Love for God and an intense love coming from God. Love for all is the most important thing we all must learn. This doesn’t mean we have to accept all the horrors of the material world, as some would have you believe. It means we can love the spirit and soul created by God, while not liking the actions of the body and mind. But as Ms. Underhill reminds us, the spirit and soul are active also. We must engage in spiritual development techniques regularly, preferably, daily. We must act on the spiritual level to fix our fallen world, and that means loving it. O dolce amore.

Pushing the Spirit to Greater Power

Spiritual Power

“As a spirit, you are a part of God or the InfiniteForce or Spirit of Good. As such, you are an ever-growing power that can never lessen, and must always increase. … Every struggle of the mind—be it struggle against pain, struggle against appetite, struggle for more skill in doing in the doing of anything, struggle for advance in any art or calling, struggle and dissatisfaction with your failings and defects—is an actual pushing of the spirit to greater power, and a greater relative completion of yourself,—and with such completion, happiness.

“There is more of you today, and more of every desirable mental quality belonging to you, than ever before. The very dissatisfaction and discontent you may feel concerning your failings is proof of this. If your mind was not as clear as it is, it could not see those failings. Only now, in looking at yourself, you may have swung too far in the opposite direction; and, because your eyes have opened to certain faults, you may think these faults are increasing.

“They are not. The God in yourself—the ever-growing power in yourself—has made you see an incompleteness in your character, yet that incompleteness was never so near a relative completion as now.

“You may have discovered under your house a cavity full of vermin and bad air. You were much worse off before the cavity was found, repulsive as it may be to you; because now that it is found, you will make sure it is cleansed.” ~Prentice Mulford

Part of God

Prentice Mulford was more a teacher of the mind than one of the spirit, yet much of what he says applies to spiritual development as well. His saying that we are part of God is a good example of that. It is not our physical bodies or even our minds that are from God and therefore part of God, it is our spirit. That is why awakening the spirit and soul is so important in spiritual development. One thing that some people forget in reading that however, is that a PART of God is not the same thing as saying we are God. A break pad may be part of a car, but without the thousands of other parts, it isn’t a car, and would never claim that it is as such a claim is egotism at its worst.

Ever Growing Power

Here, I must disagree with Mulford. While in our youth, we are constantly learning and therefore growing mentally, as we age, we can lose much of that. It is why doctors and therapists today recommend the elderly do things like working word puzzles or trying to solve riddles. Such activities slow, or even stop, the deterioration of our mental faculties.

Second, on the spiritual side of it, most are not growing at all. The vast majority have spirits that remain in a dormant state as they have made no effort to awaken them, or have only used ineffective methods to awaken them. And even those who have been in spiritual development for years can backslide, or be completely turned away from the spiritual by the Forces of darkness. It is why we must always be vigilant once we start on the path of spiritual growth, and why being part of a spiritual community is so helpful. In a community, we can help each other, and protect each other, from the manipulations of the dark ones.

Disatisfaction and Discontent

It is true that dissatisfaction and discontent with where you currently are, mentally or spiritually, is actually a sign of growth, of learning. The person who is never dissatisfied never grows. It is an unfortunate part of human nature that we only make an effort to change when we are not comfortable with where we are. People who never question their own actions, beliefs, and thoughts never grow. Those who don’t accept the need for any kind of spiritual development while living in the physical world never grow spiritually, in this world or the next.

Cavity of Vermin

Mulford is also correct in saying that we are better off knowing and recognizing a cavity of vermin under our house as we can then do something about it. Psychiatrists say that when one recognizes that they have a mental problem, they have made the first step in curing it. The same is true of mental and spiritual development. We are held back by the vermin of false beliefs and practices. To really grow in those areas, we must be able to push aside all preconceived notions, and see what the actual truth is. Of course, when it comes to the spiritual, we must first awaken the spiritual faculties with the Light of the Spiritual Sun.