SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
quotes from
"Into Aquarius With The Masters"
by Mo Hone
What is the prime reason for our human existence? Why are we here, why are we alive?
I cannot pretend to have the true answer to this problem, but I do have an answer that fits the question in the context of this book. We exist so that our spirit, which is an essential part of the Absolute, can have conscious experience of life on Earth.
Before this can take place, the spirit must awaken; so the true function of our development, spiritually speaking, is for the spirit, divine spark or monad inside every person to be consciously invoked so that we can live with complete awareness from that level.
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Spiritual development is only possible then by treading the true Path to enlightenment and slowly becoming aware of an inner spiritual awakening. This leads to an expanded conscious awareness of the unity of all things and beings in life, and a realization of the common denominator in every apparent paradox we meet on our journey. The Path as I have just described it is the goal of every aspirant, both past and present, and this is the true Path that should not be confused with many dead-end alleys that can trap and delude the unwary.
True spiritual development is more than finding a way to the Path and wanting to go on it. To ascend the heavenly stairs we must accept the idea of a being or beings more highly evolved than ourselves, and aspire to have union with them. The form such beings have taken over the aeons of humanity's evolution have changed considerably, but we have always known them as gods, or singularly as God.
The reason we need the assistance of such spiritual beings is rather complex so for now I will just give part of the answer. We have seen that our goal is contact with the higher part of ourselves, our higher self, and I have also hinted that we cannot conceive this self's true ideals until we gain actual experience of it. In the meantime we are only dimly aware of this divinity inside ourselves as it lies dormant with its potential unrealized, and lying as it does beyond the borders of our consciousness it can be considered 'asleep'.
What do we know of this part of ourselves? Most of us know virtually nothing. So how can we aspire towards something that we know nothing of, and how can we recognise it when it begins to awaken? Well, we can guess that it is similar to our everyday personality but without any of our faults and with all our qualities emphasised, plus a lot of extras we cannot guess at.
This is as close as we can get, but is by no means close enough for our aspirations; it is also 'dangerous' for our development because our lower self or personality does not much like the idea of being ousted from its position as head of its kingdom, which is our life, and so will try to imitate the higher self.
If we continue to develop what we mistakenly assume is our higher self, but which is in reality our lower self in disguise, then we will grow more and more egotistical, becoming so convinced that we are on the right path that we will arrogantly ignore any attempts by other people to put us straight.
To get over this problem we have at our disposal an instinct which has been with us since the time we were primitive in every sense of the word. This instinct supplies us with an admiration for all things which are beyond our understanding, and also, in order that we can ponder over them, it urges us to transform them into a tangible concept with a label such as 'god'. In primitive times we used to explain natural phenomena as being the works of a god, until such time as we were able to understand these things scientifically.
We can use this same concept in our search for the identity of our higher self, because it gives us the ability to personify a divine aspiration into something which is objective. This is the importance, this objectivity, as it contains a natural defence from the trap of worshipping our own personalities. All the time we, that is our personalities, are looking up to an ideal concept then we are guarded from the dangers of lower self adoration.
Eventually this concept of personification can start to assume its own identity as our higher self slowly awakens and takes on the ideal form we have given it. From this small beginning our spirit will blossom, bear fruit and grow, until the day our consciousness will resolve the duality between the higher self and the lower self and we become one. Then we will recognise our divine state of bliss which will announce the attainment of our goal.
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We have now seen why we need the concept of beings higher than ourselves, so let us take a look at why we need the actual and real assistance of these beings; because although I have only considered them as 'concepts' until now, they do exist in reality.
I have tried to show that each human being consists of a higher part and a lower part, and from this we must assume that there are passages of communication between these two distinct parts. Now if this is so, why isn't a person able to use these channels to receive direct communication from their higher self? The answer is not a simple one. Part of the reason is because the higher and lower self do not function in the same manner; for example the higher does not deal with conceptual ideas and sequential knowledge as does the lower. Therefore information is not easily communicated as it has to be translated first.
A more important reason though is that these channels are at present in a state of inertia and need to be vitalized from the high levels downwards. In other words the channel cannot be made to work upwards to contact the higher self, but somehow the higher self must be stimulated into activating the channels downwards, as well as into making itself understood.
The reason for the necessity of this downward action is quite clear when we examine the way we conduct our normal lives. Which part of us, in everyday life, controls our actions? Generally speaking it is our minds ~ we think our way through life.
Let me explain more fully. Our normal bodily functions, such as breathing, are carried on through some kind of instinct, subconsciously, and we don't need to think about such actions, they just occur. If we do take the trouble to think about them though, then we are able to regulate them, or at least some of them, like our breathing. According to followers of Yoga it is possible with practice to control all such functions, and this is called the power of the mind over the body. Similarly, if we have bad habits or we feel depressed, then it is our mind which we use in deciding to overcome such conditions. We mentally decide to do such and such a thing before putting the necessary machinery in motion to accomplish the required act.
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Existence is said to be divided occultly into seven 'layers' or Planes, ranging from the lowest, the Physical, to the highest, the Spiritual, and each one is said to have control over those below it.
This bears out in reality, when we relate the lowest Plane of the Physical to the body and its instincts, the next Plane of the Astral to the emotions, and the third, the Mental Plane, to the mind. The mind has control over both the emotions and the actions of the body. Only when we 'forget ourselves' does the lower control the higher, as for example, when our instincts make us cough when we wish to remain silent, or when we lose our temper and let our feelings get the better of us.
The four higher Planes in this system we can relate to our higher self, because we cannot yet consistently control our mind by even the lowest of these high states, that which relates to the middle Plane of Intuition.
But we should also be able to appreciate now how difficult it is to gain contact with this high state through the use of the mind which will not work upwards, but only downwards. Just try to imagine our emotions seeking an understanding of our mind with their natural ability to feel, but without the ability to think!
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So from this digression we can see that the need for an outside intelligence is of the greatest importance. If higher spiritual beings have an external reality and also a consideration for our welfare, then surely they can be enlisted to help us clear the channels of communication down to our lower selves. This is indeed the case, and the assistance offered by these beings is therefore of paramount importance and should be earnestly sought after for the sake of our spiritual development.
this page contains extracts from the book -
INTO AQUARIUS WITH THE MASTERS
The Spiritual Path of Humanity ~ a journey through time and space
by Mo Hone
ISBN 9780955430114
All content © Mo Hone 2008 All rights reserved
