Spiritual Tools – Part Two

This a continuation from my previous post. I am looking at what thought patterns, or tools, lead a person into spiritual enlightenment. The genesis of these writings came from the book entitled “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness” by David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. These tools are simple to use yet produce a profound result when applied to our daily lives. They can be use singularly or as a collective whole to lead you into a transformative spiritual lifestyle.

The path toward spiritual enlightenment is the progressive death of our ego. Using these tools will reveal just how great are the narcissistic manipulation it inflicts upon us ruling as a champion of our actions to the severely singular judge of our intentions.

The first tool of kindness opened the portal of our thoughts about just who “deserves” our kindness. Trying to justify kindness clearly exposes the depth of our ego’s influence to protect us at any cost. This second tool will ride upon this same crest.

Spiritual Tool #2

Revere all of life in all of its expressions, no matter what, even if you don’t understand it.

Here is an indication how the spiritual life is not linear in thought but rather non-linear. For the majority of our lives we have conducted ourselves in a “cause and effect” model of reality. We’ve associated events to be the result of certain actions, like seedtime and harvest time. Your daily planner and to-do lists are other examples of linear thinking. Computer operating systems are the premier example of linear affairs since sequential processes must be successfully performed in order to take the next step towards activation of the system.

While these spiritual tools are numerically ordered, they are not spiritual sequential. There is no order to their use simply because the spiritual life is non-linear. This is difficult to comprehend for those who spend their entire day thinking about what the next thing will be to do. Spirit life is not about “doing” more than it’s about “being,” and often it’s not knowing where “being” is. I’m going to stop here since this is a topic which will be expanded throughout these writings. Let’s move on.

“Revere.” How often have you used this word? I’ll bet you can count all the times on one hand. Society has lost the art of reverence. We don’t respect anything of anyone these days. Sure, there may be a few outliers in far away places who still tip their hat to ladies on the street or take it off when they enter a room; who hold the door open for someone; who bow their head at the restaurant before eating; who brake for small animals to cross the street; who tear up at the sight of a newborn child or the embrace of a grandparent.

There is a name for the Creator which many follow called “The Ground of All Being.” All of creation came from within this fertile soil and subsists through it. In the fourth gospel, the writer identifies this divine soil as the Logos and claims, “…all things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”

Can you revere a seed? Do you stand in awe of what it does? Do you admire the life which springs forth from it? Have you ever given thanks for the seed? Have you ever felt smaller than the seed simply by recognizing the power it has within it, a power you still haven’t been able to fathom or comprehend? Do you fear the relationship the seed has with the soil as a picture of your life.

Many are filled with knowledge about a multitude of things. They gained this knowledge through books, teachings, podcasts, and a whole host of media outlets. This “knowledge” often diminishes the necessity of reverence for the subject matter. When we take our “knowledge” and begin to “be” what we’ve thought, a moment of awe happens. Suddenly, “being” is a whole lot different than “knowing.” This moment is what revering is about.

The one thing your ego does not like is not knowing. It is seen as a sign of weakness. Yet can you seriously be expected to know everything? How does your ego feel about not knowing how a seed knows when to sprout; or how butterflies know how to travel from North America to South America; or how dogs are able to detect cancer in a human body; or how a boy meets a girl and falls in love.

Take a moment today to revere all which surrounds you. Maybe it is the person who you were kind to or maybe it is something else. Let the moment be unknowing. Just be…revering.