Have you ever wondered how a fish experiences water? For the fish, water is the life giving essence, yet, it has nothing to compare it too, and thus lacks awareness. Millions of years ago when fish evolved to live on land was the first time some animals became aware of the blissful surroundings they left behind. They became aware of the next step in the evolution! Perhaps this comparison can illustrate the magnificent spiritual journey we are on. We once were a tiny cell in an infinite ocean of Oneness. We were filled with bliss like a baby sleeping securely in the mother’s womb, but have taken on the arduous journey of becoming conscious of the Whole. One day we had to leave the Garden of Eden behind and chose to evolve with the help of an identity—body, mind and Soul—to become an active force of the Creation ourselves; no longer subconsciously as we enjoyed it before, but as an upstanding, conscious Co-Creator of God.
In the primordial state, there was infinite energy with the potential to give rise to infinite manifestations. After the Big Bang when the observable universe was born, the essence of creation has been implanted in all manifestations as programs, mission statements, cravings and desires. Every cell of our observable universe executes the Grand Design from this micro perspective that adds up as One. God permeates this universe and expresses Her(Him)self through it, yet God is beyond it at the same time. Universal Consciousness existed before the Big Bang that started this universe’s unfathomable manifestations, and will be there when this universe dissipates into nothingness one day. Who knows what the Whole is, but we are on a journey to find out. The symbolic expulsion from the Garden of Eden was the day when our identity was born. We lost the bliss, but we are determined to get it back. Modern wo(man) has gained awareness compared to our blissful days in the Garden of Eden, but our consciousness is still under-developed. We only think that we are in charge, when in fact we are propelled by forces beyond our conscious control. We are God’s puppets—straw dogs as the Tao Te Ching puts it. We are executing the Grand Design from our limited ego perspective and try giving some conscious meaning to it. We feel alone even though God is holding our hand every step we take.
The next phase in our Awakening is to become aware of Universal Consciousness, and that’s the phase many spiritual travelers are embarking on these days. We aligning our self with the Grand Design. As we gain degrees of freedom to participate in the Grand Design as Co-Creators of God, our consciousness rises proportionately. To go back to the evolutionary example at the beginning, our ego identity can be pictured as the stage when the fish of the past developed lungs instead. A great step forward in the the conscious awareness of planet earth but still a far cry from the upright-standing human. In the first step of conscious evolution (wo)man gives a story to the primordial drives, not knowing that God is behind everything. S/he gives a personal story to the Oneness that s/he is unable to perceive. S/he gives meaning to drives, aspirations, fears, successes and failures. S/he carefully separates the holy world of family, friends and professional missions from the hostile wold out there. Eventually though, we are ready for the next step of our spiritual evolution, the demise of the ego. We suddenly discover a World beyond this observable world; a Reality behind the matrix that once appeared as so real. We are given this body, this mind and this Soul to Awaken to God’s Kingdom. The body and this mind are transient as we well know, the Soul is beyond both, but even that Heavenly Spark is only a part of the Whole. Our Soul defines our Consciousness, it Awakens to God’s Kingdom that was created just for our benefit. Eventually though, Universal Consciousness even transcends our Soul.
Once spiritual Awakening takes over, the ego increasingly takes a backseat. We start grasping the ‘Kingdom of God’ and manage to manifest it in our daily lives. We see with the Eyes of God, we feel others with the Heart of God, and we grasp God’s Kingdom with temporary glimpses of Enlightenment. We are of this earth, yet beyond it. Consciousness is still expanding in the second stage of our spiritual evolution even though our ego involvement is declining. We are slowly merging with Universal Consciousness. The Bhagavad Gita describes this next phase of our spiritual evolution perfectly. “S(he) who sees the Universal Consciousness in every living being and equally everywhere does not degrade her(him)self by the mind. This s(he) approaches the transcendental destination, the Super-Soul. The Tao Te Ching describes Universal Consciousness as simply the Way. “The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. It is hidden but always present. I don’t know who gave birth to it. It is older than God.”
The Enlightenment process is having a glimpse of the Whole. It is the third phase in the spiritual evolution. In the second phase of spiritual Awakening we are only allowed to have occasional glimpses—satori moments—because the energy of what lies Beyond simply fries our limited body. The vastness of Knowledge blows our limited mind. The Love experienced in that stage is so over-whelming that few Souls have the desire to return to our stone-cold hearted world. Some enlightened folks come back to tell us about this experience and they manage to find some balance between ego and God Connection; others use that holy encounter to check out for good. This world we live in is just a manifestation. It is not Universal Consciousness. God’s Kingdom here on earth will always have to be an approximation of what lies Beyond.
Everyone who wants to act here needs an identity to fall back to. We just need enough ego not to walk into the incoming bus so to speak. To be here on planet earth we need some limited body identification. The ego is not the villain, just as the lungs of the new species in the evolution of life on earth can’t be blamed for the hardship that followed. The distorted vision is, but this vision can be restored here and now. We are on our way to get a whole mind that grasps God’s Kingdom while still understanding where the ego once came from. We are are freeing our whole heart that finally feels God’s Love, and we are liberating our Soul that has carried us thus far, transcending into the Super-Soul. When I wrote down this process of spiritual evolution I became very calm. Everything is on track. We are exactly where we are supposed to be. Just let the wheels of evolution bring you Home. We have come so far, an ancient journey is coming to an end!
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