On Spiritual Consciousness
We change the world not by what we say or do but, as a consequence of our becoming. —Dr. David R. Hawkins
From a very young age somehow I knew that I came from somewhere else and belonged to something much greater than myself. I don’t know how I came to that conclusion, considering it was not a surface conversation that emerged daily. And perhaps the era in which I grew up suggested that I must not rely on another person’s version of who I was to become.
Maybe, it did have something to do with ritual, prayer, spiritual disciplines, and practicing respect for others which were the bedrock of my upbringing seamlessly woven into the very cells of my being. I don’t remember conversations about kindness, goodness, or beauty being hammered into my head; however, practices of caring, devotion, and reverence for life were more or less modeled and incorporated in my daily life.
Of course, there must have been times when I crossed the line and diverged from the appropriate behavior. Then I was informed of my error, given some choices to heal the tremor and ways to move forward. Retribution and shaming were not part of the discipline! How do we reach higher levels of consciousness? Perhaps we can gain insight from the words of Llewellyn Vaughn-Lea:
. . . the sacred principles of life have never been written down: they belong to the heatbeat, to the rhythm of the breath and the flow of blood. They are alive like the rain and the rivers, the waxing and waning of the moon. If we lean to listen we will discover that life, the Great Mother, is speaking to us telling us what we need to know.
Ah, listening! What’s he saying?! Do we really pick up our Ideal expression of humanity, imago DEI by a kind of osmosis?! I’m no expert but I’ve certainly had experiences of wholeness and fullness of life through contemplation and practices that enable me to transcend the manipulative and divisive mind and when that happens—WHEW! Temporarily it feels like heaven on earth.
As Richard Rohr says:
To live in the present moment requires a change in inner posture.
This process has taken years of meditation and the spiritual guidance and support of wise people of diverse backgrounds and stages in life from children to devoted teachers. As an adult I would say that in my younger years I grew up with a knowing that I was not of this world through my interactions with others and they with me. Perhaps I was channeling Rumi who centuries earlier said:
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there.
There are more than enough examples of courageous people who spoke truth to power, saying: “This is enough, status quo is not how we are to live, there are higher principles for which we are striving.”
In the 18th century, Phillis Wheatley penned:
. . . in every human Breast, God had implanted a principle, which we call love of freedom; it is impatient of Oppression and pants for Deliverance; and by the leave of our modern Egyptians I will assert, that the same Principle lives in us.
How did she know that in the midst of untold suffering, injustice, and inequity? It’s the same power that resides in us now, the imago DEI, that which we are. Recognizing this and wrestling with that Truth is no easy endeavor. It says to me that my life is more than an expression of my own personal desires, but something much greater, which through reverence and honor seeks to overcome the errors of history; regardless of outer events, human behavior, and circumstances.
It’s a life I’ve struggled to accept. And acceptance of that essential truth is incumbent upon the way I function on this earth with all beings.
The present volatile state of disorder is surely a sign that purification is emerging and a reflection that we have been dallying with many representations of false images. And we are worshipping something very different from what were meant to direct our deepest interests toward while on this planet. With all the science, book knowledge, and technological know-how, something seems to be missing, the primacy of imago DEI that has been evolving for eons. Through inner work we establish that connection to Spirit.
The sheer demonstration that the Divine is not visibly exuding through everything in the behavior of human beings is not a reflection it doesn’t exist, but a flaw in human willingness, thinking, and feeling to strive toward goodness, truth, and beauty which is singularly an expression of imago DEI, in truth-speaking humans!
Is it that the human tendency to look outside ourselves so strong? — Is the overwhelming need to be part of a group, to cling to untruths, to use barbarity of language and engage in behavior that is anti-social really who we are or is it a veil that needs to be shredded, especially when the keys of life are so much more light-filled?
It might appear to be easier to drift into a follower-mode and identify other people both good and evil to lead us, rather than take responsibility for our personal and spiritual growth. As you can see that is not working very well in our current state of disorder and is certainly not cultivating a peaceful world.
On freedom, Albert Camus offered this wisdom:
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
Human models of courage have always been before us; guided by their own inner Wisdom. The prophets, saints, abolitionists, truth speakers were driven by a spiritual consciousness and we can choose to follow their example by digging into our own resources of heart work, contemplation, and compassion! Not all of us are meant to be at the forefront of speaking truth to power, but all are called to live with integrity, a state of incorruptibility.
Yes, the striving for justice and peace flows from our own inner revelations, through our profession or position in life. It includes all of us in all its diversity, because all of us are imago DEI.
How is it that I’m certain that I came from somewhere else? It’s because I’ve had enough experiences of the goodness, mercy, and kindness of others reflected toward me in words and actions where their instincts of higher guidance prevailed regardless of cultural norms.
The acceptance of their missions of spreading goodness in their respective communities is the work of Spirit. It only arises from experiencing the Presence, becoming a vessel to be re-created daily. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things is what Dr. David R. Hawkins must have been thinking when he wrote:
. . . just being ordinary in and of itself is an expression of divinity; the truth of one’s real self can be discovered through the pathway of everyday life.
P E A C E.