Measuring Spiritual Growth
4 September 2013
Could you be a Saint, a Guru, a Yogi or a Zen Master? Or maybe you’re just an ordinary decent, moral human being. How would you know for sure? Are there qualifications, or maybe some tests you can take to determine your spiritual growth? Well, yes there are! And “Life” is constantly giving you plenty of ways to test your spiritual development and plenty of circumstances to assist you in evaluating yourself, which will help you evolve spiritually.
Human beings are extremely complex, as is life, but with the right spiritual attitude, the right perspective, you can cut deep into your psyche and reveal those conditions under which you are currently operating. This will help evaluate some aspects of your being that you may not presently be aware of, and that’s where the real test begins; at this point you must be cautious not to judge yourself or the world too harshly. Measuring one’s spiritual nature can be a tricky business. When it comes to internal processes, like accessing the growth of the mind or the spirit for example, there are no fancy growth charts to tack up on the wall.
But, there are also many ways to assess your spiritual maturity proactively. One of these ways is to observe how much time we actually spend serving others in comparison to the time focused on getting results in our own life. You may be seeing the world in an ego-centric way, full of separate people, instead of seeing the world in a non-dual light with all of creation being “one” and having nothing but an interconnected, unified Divine Nature.
Yogi Bhajan once said; “If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all.” So, if we want to grow spiritually, the questions we must ask ourselves are, “Am I serving others?”, and if so, “How am I serving?” Serving begins with ourselves, extends to our immediate surroundings with family and at home and then spreads out to all around us. We realize that we live where we live for a reason and a purpose, to serve others and we need to start serving right there. We then realize just how much we have been blessed, not just for ourselves, but for our opportunity to serve others. When we serve the least, the last, the lost, and everyone in between, we realize that we actually are inherently one with the Divine.
Another way to measure your spiritual maturity is to take some time to determine what you are really passionate about. Are your passions based on the secular/materialistic world or the spiritual world? In today’s “worldly” society there is too much competition for a limited number of rewards, and this competition all too often breeds conflict. But enlightenment has no limits, and just because someone else appears to be enlightened, doesn’t mean you can’t be also. We all have the innate ability recognize ourselves as enlightened beings and this is one of those things you can realize on your own, without worrying about having to wrestle it away from anyone else. So relax, there’s no need to compete, spiritual enlightenment is an infinite, inexhaustible resource. Beware of getting distracted and running around all over the place chasing useless, stupid things. Redirect yourself and get back to the business of pursuing that which is holds the highest purpose for mankind.
Summary: It’s apparent our world is presently being plagued by a number of problems. These problems are varied and can range personal types, such as drug/alcohol addictions and marital disharmony, to problems that society, countries and even international communities are faced with, such as urban violence, wars and man-made disasters. This reflects a state of the world that is primarily due to the fact that both the people and their leaders are predominantly at a lower spiritual level. It would naturally follow that the current state of the world can only be corrected if the average spiritual level of mankind is elevated, and this can only happen if people begin the process of spiritual assessment and practice on a regular basis.
Without evaluating our progress (or lack of it), and without making periodic and honest assessments of our spiritual progress it is unlikely that any real progress will be made. You will know you are advancing spiritually when you begin to see all others as connected to your own Self, and your sense of identity expands to include everything. This may be the best sign that one is maturing (or evolving) spiritually.
*Rae Indigo is ERYT500
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