fruition -- enlightened living
There comes a time
There comes a time when our labor of self-knowing bears fruit – the unconscious is resolved. We are enlightened.
We no longer live at the mercy of introjected tyrants -- the damning voices of our parents. We are no longer a frightened child, living out of a false self for survival’s sake. We have entered adult autonomy. The pain of our childhood will always remain, but it no longer rules our lives. Instead, our true self is the guiding light of our existence.
Our primary bond is no longer with our parents and the limits of the family and clan, but with the expansiveness of truth and the divine. We begin to commune with life and its meaning at a profound level. We become consonant with the life force that surges through us. Vitality fills our gifts and talents, and we are ready to begin a new phase of personal fulfillment and service to the enlightenment of others.
We are no longer stunted plants on a barren landscape. In time, we stand like great trees that dominate the horizon, not by force of will, but by the unmistakable power of an enlighted identity.
There comes a time when our own labor of self-love and self-knowing bears fruit -- and the harvest is bountiful.
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What is spirituality?
Spirituality is simple. It is the spirit of God, the life force, that surges through the vessel of our humanity. Out of this mysterious energy emerges all that is and propels us to evolve.
If we live enlightened lives, consonant with our identity, our spirit is not blocked by traumatic baggage, but is free to flow through us. This is spirit-filled living. We are spiritual. If we live a lie to protect the limits of our families, we constrict the flow of spirit and its honest expression is blocked. No longer spirit-filled, we lead a carnal life. Dishonesty strangles the connection between God and us, between our humanity and our innate divinity.
Prophets, visionaries, and mystics leave the family and tribe for the wilderness where the spirit envisions the next level of consciousness. We can not find the original within the walls of the known or in the stagnation of the family. We must leave the gods of mother and father to find God and to evolve consciousness to its next level. Any who live outside the family have this golden opportunity to evolve.
When the life-force is freed, and not inhibited by familial inhibition, spirit fills us with vitality, and new visions of humanity’s purpose burst into flame -- a scintillating life of the spirit is born. The freed being creates a new relationship with God, envisioning divine possibilities for our humanity.
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A theology to live by
We need a theology to live by or we flounder in life. To live wth purpose, we need a theology that explains our place in the universe, guides our actions in daily living, and imbues our life struggle with meaning. Without a theology, we are ships without a rudder, simply sailing where the winds blow. Without an inner guide for constructive living, we are likely to end up dashed on the rocks in shallow waters.
Courageous outsiders from religous tradition become explorers and emancipators of the human spirit. These rare souls are in an ideal position to generate a radical theology -- and approach God authentically. And to our delight, we find God within, animating our true self. This requires spiritual maturity. We no longer cast ourselves in the role of helpless, frightened children seeking approval from a punishing, moody parental god. Instead, we forge an adult, co-creative bond with the divine. We embrace this most vitalizing opportunity -- the chance to meet God face to face within our being.
To live without a theological understanding of existence is to remain bewildered children, passively wandering lost through our days. It is no wonder we turn to addiction, depression, or unrewarding work and relationships to numb us from this great loss of knowing and befriending God. It is no wonder we question why all that we do, no matter how life consuming and exhilarating, seems empty. In Godless living, we abnegate the princely role and promise that life holds for us – to know and dance with the divine.
In whatever form our theology takes, the essence is simple: to form a conscious relationship with the divine through the true self. When we are willing to meet God, God is eager to meet us in ways we hadn’t imagined. As friends, God can shower us with opportunities to bless the world with our existence.
As I transcend the limits of religion, I align with God’s liberating creed inscribed in my own heart.
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Modern monks
We may have experienced life’s successes and excesses to such a degree that we sense a painful futility beneath it all. Careers, relationships, sexual escapades, even marriage with children never fulfilled us as we hoped they might. We may even wonder how or why we’re still alive? We reach a turning point. We need a new way to live. We no longer wish to seek meaning and happiness from the outside. We begin to live a life lived from within, dedicated to consciousness, God, and our true selves. We become modern monks.
We needn’t join an organized religion’s brotherhood/sisterhood for often its historical baggage is spiritually crippling. We form our own fellowship and pursue lives as modern monks – living simple lives of prayer, self-knowing and service.
A life of poverty: living simply, we pay our own way, even live comfortably, but we do not pay undue attention to the material world. Endless elaboration of material wealth and external success will never fill the void within us. Only God, self-love and care, and shared spiritual wealth can fulfill our deepest longings.
A life of chastity: we become celibate, not externalizing our sexual energy, but using it instead to imbue our being with energized creativity and inspiration. Celibacy used creatively, not repressively, is a powerful tool; it imbues daily living with an unmistakable realness and vitality. We discover the essential nature of sexuality is beyond external expression.
A life of obedience: listening to the truth inscribed in our being is listening to God. When we act on the inspiration we hear, we are obedient to the will of God and live a meaningful life. True to ourselves, we are of service to others and add to the evolution of human consciousness.
As modern monks, long robes and sandals do not distinguish us, but the impact of actualized living does.
As a modern monk, I live a conscious life of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
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