Posts

Self Realization

The First Step

The first major step in the process of Self-realization occurs with the fusion of our ego and our soul. That merger must occur before self realization and the final illumination of our identity can take place. When the two poles of our nature merge, final union with the Divine usually follows in short order. When that merger does occur, our soul becomes infinitely brighter. With the Divine light pouring through our consciousness, we will experience a sense of universality and oneness with all life. Our deepest identity springs from our sense of universality.

Experiencing the Divine

We are not one thing or one person, separated from the rest of the world by our skin and our ego. We are a part of everything. Our essence is the essence of all things, and the essence of all things is also our essence. We are neither separate nor alone. We are all one in our own selves yet also part of a continuous organic whole that pulsates with life, light, and energy. We are no more and no less than anyone else. We are equal to every living thing, and every living thing is equal to us. We have discovered that our real identity is not found in our form, our substance, or our body, for every form and every substance is separate and different from every other form and every other substance. At this juncture we come to understand that our essence and true identity are both found in the light at the core of our being. That light is deathless, formless, and without substance. It is our personal link to the Divine.

Merger and Ignition

Until the time when we merge our soul and ego that light at the core of our being is but a flicker, but when that merger occurs, our inner light ignites and fans quickly into a bright flame. If we maintain the intensity of that inner flame, we will draw the Divine down to us and experience Self-realization. In that moment, we will know who we really are and what our purpose in the manifested world is to be.

The Real Harvest of Life

self-realization

The Buddha

Siddhartha and Septimius

Siddhartha was a young prince in ancient India who walked away from ruling a kingdom, the love of a beautiful wife, the adoration of his people, and an opulent lifestyle that fulfilled all of his material needs to pursue his goal of self-realization. He burned with an inner ferocity to find out who he really was. In the pursuit of his quest of self-realization Siddhartha lived in forests, bathed in streams, wore a loincloth, journeyed from teacher to teacher, and ate whatever the forest would yield or people would give him. When he found his answer years later, he became Buddha, the enlightened one. Based on his self-realization, Buddha realized that his purpose was to teach and share his knowledge of enlightenment.

Buddha

Due to the strength and truth of his teachings, Buddha, the enlightened one who achieved self-realization, is more famous now than he ever would have been had he remained Siddhartha, the ruler of his people. If he had chosen the path of kingship, only a few obscure scholars would still know the name of Siddhartha, and no one would have ever heard of Buddha.

How many people today remember Septimius? In his lifetime, he had everything a person could desire. It did not fulfill him, nor did his fame last. His voice echoed for a short time then died. While Buddha has been dead for over two millennia, the noble truths he brilliantly articulated about the path of self-realization still guide the lives of countless millions.

In the end, only the truth matters. Self-realization is the real harvest of life. If we haven’t found the truth of our being, what remains in our soul is the bitter darkness of our failure.

Change and Changelessness

In the material world, fashions come and go. Trends change. What was once hot becomes cold, and what was long out of taste becomes sought after again. In contrast, the truth of self-realization never changes. Somewhere, deep inside us all, we each have a hunger to find out who we really are. As human beings, we can’t escape that hunger, no matter how cold, hard, distant, or unreachable we choose to make ourselves. We might bury our truth and our need for self-realization, deny it, and even try to disown it, but no matter what we do in our attempts to escape it, it will always be with us. It is a hunger that has been programmed into us as a species, one that has existed in all generations since the beginning of time. It is our deepest need and our most defining one. Self realization is the ultimate life quest.

Self-Actualization

self-actualization spiritual light

The Conscious Gateway

Self-actualization occurs when spiritual light is consciously introduced into the energy channels of the subtle nervous system through meditation and is then directed to rise in a disciplined manner through the chakras, starting with the base chakra at the bottom of the spine system and culminating in the chakra above the top of the head. When all of the seven chakras are opened, synchronized, and vibrating at their highest optimal level, they form a conscious gateway to the realms of the soul and spirit that is sealed off from our awareness until the gateway is created. That gateway is of supreme importance in our evolution. Fully opened, it is the vehicle for developing a strong soul connection and moving beyond the gulf of confusion that plagues most people. It is the channel of  self-actualization. The spiritual light that flows up the gateway to our spirit, there to be answered by an even greater stream of spiritual energy flowing down from the spirit to our conscious mind, completes that higher connection. The great mystery of who we really are cannot be revealed until we make that connection.

It is important to stress that making that higher connection is a two-fold process. We must direct energy through the gateway to our spirit. Our spirit must then answer by sending Divine energy back down to us. This is the cycle of self-actualization. Our spirit may not answer right away. The reason for this potential delay is that the spirit will not respond until it is sure that we are ready to be embraced by a higher degree of unconditional love than we have heretofore experienced and accept our unity with life. In its wisdom, the spirit monitors our state of readiness and protects us from receiving too much power too soon. It responds to our call for unity when we are ready to know who we really are and undertake the journey to self-actualization.

When that higher connection does occur and our conscious mind is united with our soul and spirit, we become whole in ways we have never been whole before. The integration of the physical and supra-physical elements of our system is the platform for the next stage in our evolution: the birth of spiritual power, the beginning of self-actualization, and the advent of a growing luminosity. In this stage, we will come to know our Divine connection, our relationship to all things, and our true identity. This is the gift of self-actualization.

Unfortunately, most people never become conscious of their supra-physical elements and thus, never consciously evolve. They never realize who they really are, for they have only developed a relatively small part of their nature. In most people, that means they will go no farther than where their intellect can take them. Many people of high intelligence fail to realize that the soul and spirit begin where the intellect ends, that their true identity lies beyond the borders of rational thought. These people rarely walk the path of self-actualization. Don’t be one of them.

The soul and spirit are the transcendent parts of our nature. Our true identity is housed there, as is our life purpose. Until we integrate the physical and supra-physical aspects of our system, our truth is dormant and our luminosity undiscovered.

Higher Consciousness and the Collective Consciousness

A strong link exists between our personal consciousness and the collective consciousness of the society in which we live. Each sphere of consciousness continuously impacts the other. Neither sphere is static or separate. The collective consciousness of the world’s democracies, for example, is more fluid than we might imagine. It always responds to an infusion of consciousness from awakened individuals. When enough of us raise our consciousness and integrate the two major aspects of our system, the collective consciousness will gradually open up to incorporate the changes we have made within ourselves. This is the power of self-actualization. Self-actualization changes the world, but only if enough of us take the journey.

Throughout history there have been individuals whose teachings and truths were spiritually powerful enough to change the collective consciousness. The teachings of Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Christ, and Mohammed changed the world and continue to impact the lives of billions of people today, yet their teachings alone are not enough to help today’s world emerge from its current impasse. Until we become the change we seek, the world cannot move into the light. If we want to change the world we must take the self-actualization journey. There is no other way.