You are a great spirit using a biological body to have experiences
A SPIRITUAL PATH FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
By Walter Last
Traditionally the main focus for those following a spiritual path has
been to transcend the human condition as rapidly as possible. Much of spiritual
practice involves withdrawing from worldly activities either temporarily or
permanently in order to reach so-called higher dimensions.
However, consider a different scenario. Spirit, individualizing as
souls, seeks to explore and experience the dense world of physical matter. For
this purpose it forms biological bodies that allow it to become creative and
master this world, but the real purpose of wrestling with physical and
biological aspects is to experience itself more fully in the dimensions of
feelings and mental conditions.
Therefore, the real focus of a soul may not be to overcome the need for
a biological body as quickly as possible, but rather to develop and train a
personality that allows it to be fully functional on these levels, and to
experience these worlds as fully as possible. This may actually be the original
and oldest spiritual path, if you want to call it that. The main feature of
this original 'path' or condition was that the incarnation remained aware of
who it was and why it was here. The troubles of mankind started when it began
forgetting this, by becoming deeper and deeper enmeshed in karmic issues. Karma
is the tie that binds us to this world in ignorance.
Therefore, the key to returning to the original path is to realize who
we are and act accordingly. See yourself as a spirit using this body as a tool
to have the adventure trip of a lifetime. Feel yourself as a spirit observing
how your body and your personality react to the varying experiences. Spiritual
growth is not meant to happen through suffering but rather by expressing your
inner essence in joyful creativity.
Because of some outstanding karma you are not always in control of what
happens in your life, but you can be in control of how you react to these
events, and that will shape your future. By remembering who you are, you will
have fun dealing with events in an appropriate way, in a joyful way, a way that
maximizes your experiences. By knowing who you are you also know who your
brothers and sisters are, and you treat them accordingly.
In time you learn more and more to shape your future experiences by your
expectations. No need anymore to get out of this body as quickly as possible once
you have finished your apprenticeship. Just realize that 'there' is no better
than 'here' or vice versa, you can be joyful or whatever you want to be in
either place, with or without a biological body. In this way you truly are a
free spirit, you can experience your incarnation as it was originally meant to
be.
Spiritual Communities
But there is more! Until now a realized incarnation was very much alone,
there were not many others at the same level around to associate with. It
longed for like-minded company; it longed to live in a spiritual world. The
only reason to remain here was to teach and help advance humanity. However, now
there are so many spiritually realized individuals present that it is possible
to form more highly evolved social structures where a spiritual being can feel
at home.
There is no need anymore to leave this planet in order to incarnate in a
highly evolved spiritual society on another planet. We can start forming a
highly evolved spiritual society right here. The Internet has greatly helped by
making it so easy to establish worldwide links.
I see the next step in the formation of communal groups of spiritually
realized individuals, working towards a common goal. There can be a wide
variety of spiritual groups, from meditation and healing groups, to those
living together as spiritual families or tribes on large tracts of land. This
is not meant as withdrawing from society but rather as establishing ‘spiritual
universities’, to experiment with and teach ‘holistic living’, to develop a
model of a new cooperative society.
Traditionally, similar ventures were either on a small scale, or
commercially oriented, or the individuals were not sufficiently evolved, or
there was a spiritual leader with a group of followers. The obvious signs of a
spiritual group or society are harmony, cooperation, and a minimum of rules.
The main quality to look for in someone who wants to join a group living
communally is the ability to live in harmony with all the others.
Forming interconnected spiritual communities would bring several
advantages, in addition to the obvious ones for the participants. These
communities would serve as examples or showcases for the rest of society, and
they could become focal points of healing activity, spiritual teaching and social
innovation. Eventually a new world order may evolve based on cooperation and
spiritual values. Last not least is the survival value in the event of
worldwide calamities that greatly damage or destroy our present civilization; a
new cooperative civilization can then re-grow from strong spiritual roots.