SPIRITUAL GROWTH: GROWTH IN SELF AWARENESS© Dick Rauscher April, 2003
I am often
asked “what is spiritual growth”? How does a human
being grow from birth to spiritual enlightenment? What is the process?
I believe that spiritual growth is simply the
process of awakening our consciousness; becoming conscious of ultimate
reality and “what
is”.
Like many things that are “simple”,
it is not easy to achieve. If it were, there would be many more enlightened
persons in the world
than there are.
What do I mean by awakening or becoming conscious of reality? And why
is it so difficult?
Let me begin by saying that whatever your personal
understanding of God, or Creator is, the commonly held theistic view
of God as a “person” who
lives in a place called “heaven” is not going to be helpful
when we try to understand the process of human spiritual growth.
I find it much more useful to understand God or the Creator as the creative
spiritual energy of pure agape love or perhaps the radical Consciousness
of pure being; the creative Consciousness of the Universe itself.
If we are born in the image of God as many believe,
then at the moment of birth, before the world get it’s hands
on us, we are essentially a pure, untarnished child of God; a child
born in the image of God.
At that moment we are nascent consciousness manifesting
pure creative agape love; able to love without a “because”. At that moment
we are able to manifest the infinite. We are simply a wave called "i
am” resting in the ocean called “"I AM"”.
We do not need a “because” to elicit our love. We love because
agape love is our essential creative energy. It is simply who we are.
The agape love energy of "i am" is the same as the creative
energy of pure agape love and compassion of "I AM".
This is how I understand the idea of “being born in the image
of God”. The goal of the enlightened person is simply to return
to this essential self; this place of pure awakened consciousness where
we began our human journey.
Conceptually, I find it useful to think of this “essential self” or
localized "i am” as the center of a small circle that is surrounded
by "I AM" --- “THE” creative ground, the creative
essence of all reality.
As we grow and develop over time into a separate
ego “self”,
a “unique” individual, opaque layers of “ego stuff” called
beliefs, certainties, expectations, fears, desires, likes, dislikes,
attachments, assumptions, conclusions, prejudices, illusions, judgments,
roles, labels, and worries begin to build up layer by layer as concentric
circles around the "i am".
The essential light of "i am" is slowly covered by the impenetrable
grime of this ego stuff until the light of agape love of "i am" is
no longer visible. Instead of manifesting the agape love of the Creator,
we increasingly manifest our individual ego or self-identity.
Over time, these layers of “ego stuff” become the definition
of who we “are”; an “object”, separate, apart,
and unique from all other unique “self” objects.
The beliefs, assumptions, and other “ego stuff” that we
call our “self-identity” and which effectively blocks the
light of “i am” or the essential self, are each like small
lenses that distort reality; the more rigid the belief, the thicker the
lens. These “lenses”, or ego “beliefs”, distort
reality in that they allow into the ego only those aspects of reality
that the ego believes to be true; they effectively block out the rest
of Creation by labeling it as “not true”.
The self-identity of the ego is now complete.
The agape light of "i
am" is no longer able to shine, and the light of all reality not
consistent with the ego’s “beliefs” cannot get in.
We forget our essential self even exists. Both “i am” and "I
AM" disappear! The idea that we are pure agape love, that we are
co-creators with "I AM", is rejected as ridiculous.
Once formed, the ego is very invested in surviving;
both; physically and psychologically. The ego “self” does not like change
because it means that some part of it’s self-identity must die
in order to make room for a new ego “self”.
If the ego “believes” something to be wrong, not consistent
with it’s beliefs, it will label it as “not true, or not
right” and then reject it. In this way the self-identity of the
ego is protected from change. The ego’s belief is “THE” truth.
In other words, when a firmly held belief of the ego encounters reality,
reality will change, not the belief.
Said simply, the psychological survival of the ego requires that the
ego avoid change by being rigidly invested in being right. The need to
be right is a primary source of conflict and suffering in the world.
Unless we are able to understand how powerful this tendency of our ego
is to allow in only what we already believe, we can not grow. This is
especially true when it comes to spiritual growth.
Removing the log in our own eye is not easy work. It can be achieved
only when we deeply understand and fully accept that the seeds of conflict
and suffering are embedded in our own heart. Not just our neighbors.
Spiritual growth therefore, is simply a process
of getting back in touch with our essential selves; a process of awakening
consciousness and discerning
what our ego “believes” to be reality.
To summarize, spiritual growth is growth in self-awareness.
Any growth in self-awareness is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth
is nothing more
than a process of understanding and accepting the many layers of “ego
stuff” that keep us from sitting with reality as it really is,
and manifesting our essential energy called agape love.
Growth in self-awareness means understanding and accepting the simple
reality that each of our beliefs not only distorts reality, they reject
all aspects of reality that do not exactly conform to that belief.
A friend once told me humorously that the plum line for what is right
and true ran directly down the middle of his ego.
Change, the fundamental act of creation, and spiritual growth, are both
challenging work for the ego. Both require an awakened consciousness.
Each time we grow in self awareness and empty
the ego of its many layers, we move closer and closer to manifesting
the essential energy of the
authentic self, the creative "i am" agape love energy that
co-creates with the creative agape love energy of "I AM".
The reality is we are co-creators with "I AM".
The wave can never be separated from the ocean. The only choice we
have is---are we
going to consciously create love and compassion, or unconsciously create
pain and suffering.
Spiritual growth is nothing more than our ability
to increasingly manifest this essential agape energy that resides at
the center of who we really
are…..our essential self.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
Mary Ann from Wisconsin writes " I have been reading about the primitive ego in your Newsletter for some time. I have been trying to pay attention to my behaviors and inner attitude; to pay attention to the energy that I am sending into the universe. But I am getting discouraged. No matter how hard I try I am not able to get rid of my primitive ego. I still find myself being judgmental in my thinking and getting angry when my husband and children get on my nerves. Help!
Dear Mary Ann,
You are speaking for all of us. And yes it is discouraging when we find ourselves responding to the world around us with the all too familiar knee-jerk responses we know come from the beliefs and emotions of our primitive ego. Unfortunately, that is how our primitive ego works.
What is important is to accept the reality that our primitive ego beliefs from childhood, and the knee-jerk responses that come from the various survival skills of childhood are never going to go away. We will always have the knee-jerk responses. The primitive ego of our inner-child will always want to use aggressive vertical power. We will always tend to be narcissistic and self-focused more often than we are comfortable with. We will always want to believe that our opinions and beliefs represent "the" truth. We will always feel anger when others disagree with us or criticize us. In other words, the only way to permanently get rid of our primitive ego is to get a lobotomy….which of course I would never recommend for anyone. ☺
Fortunately, the journey toward enlightenment is much more straightforward than a lobotomy. Once we truly accept that our primitive ego will always be with us, it makes the task of taming our primitive ego and strengthening our observing ego much easier. As I'm sure you have heard me say, growth in self-awareness comes without effort when we learn to simply pay attention every time our primitive ego knee-jerks happen.
If we are willing to pay attention to the energy we are sending into the universe moment by moment, situation by situation, the time between our automatic primitive ego knee-jerk response and our conscious choice or decision to manifest a more enlightened, compassionate energy will grow shorter and shorter. Eventually, we will come to the point where we simply note the primitive ego energy within us and the compassionate energy we choose to manifest will be the only energy that others see.
Truly enlightened people are still fully human. The only difference is the control they have over their behaviors and the energy that they offer the universe. They "know" that all of their beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and emotions are nothing more than mental illusions generated by the aggression and narcissism of their primitive ego. What they are able to consistently offer the universe is simple compassion and mutuality.
I focus on the primitive ego in the Newsletter because I am convinced our primitive ego beliefs, and the knee-jerk reactions created by our primitive ego, are the primary cause of our unhappiness and depression. Authentic spiritual growth is not possible until the aggressive energy of our primitive ego is tamed by the intentional growth of our observing ego; a growth in self-awareness that comes only when we are willing to pay attention every time our primitive ego manifests an energy that we are not comfortable manifesting.
My sense, based on your question, is that you are doing fine. Authentic spiritual growth is a slow process that takes most of us a lifetime to achieve. The day will come when you will realize that the majority of the energy you offer the universe is true compassion; and that it is increasingly manifesting from the conscious choices you are able to make moment by moment.
Keep the faith. You are growing. Your question reflects your growth.
Thank you for giving voice to a concern that I'm sure others are wrestling with.
GOALS OF THE STONYHILL NEWSLETTER
We live in a world filled with conflict and violence. Almost everyone agrees that something has to change. There is an urgent need to develop a more compassionate global spirituality.
At Stonyhill, we believe it makes no sense to profess the values and morality of peace and compassion while continuing to manifest the primitive ego's paradigm of vertical power called survival of the fittest; a paradigm of power, control, and violence.
We must learn how the unconscious judgments of the primitive ego bring the seeds of conflict, and a sense of "otherness" into the world. If our personal goal is to do no harm to others or the world, then our thinking must consciously evolve and become more conscious or self-aware.
We will become what we think about and authentic spiritual growth is achieved only when we grow in self-awareness.
Traditional mainline religions are based on primitive pre-modern and violent tribal metaphors written during a time when our human consciousness was still very primitive. Until our mainline religions remove the violence contained in their scriptures and come to understand that most of the wisdom in their scriptures is metaphoric and should not be interpreted literally, they will be unable to offer the moral and ethical framework needed to create effective global solutions to the challenges facing us in the 21st century.
We will evolve as humans only as we become more self-aware and intentionally increase our ability to love unconditionally. A compassionate global spirituality is no longer just an interesting philosophic idea; the future of the human species may very well depend upon our ability to create it. The danger that we could destroy ourselves as a species has never been greater. The creation of a compassionate global community is the most important goal of human consciousness in the 21st century.
The Stonyhill Newsletter explores the insights and spiritual practices required to achieve the authentic spiritual growth that comes from deep self-awareness, understanding the primitive ego that resides in each of us, and the intentional evolution of our species consciousness.
The Stonyhill newsletter is written each month for counselors, therapists, clergy, and individuals interested in authentic spiritual growth, intentional growth in our human consciousness, and the formation of a compassionate, non-violent global community that openly embraces radical inclusiveness and diversity.
Namaste
Dick Rauscher
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The Stonyhill Newsletter is written and published by Dick Rauscher, M.Div., Fellow AAPC. For past issues of the Stonyhill Newsletter and other in depth articles on authentic spiritual growth and the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development written by Dick Rauscher go to www.stonyhill.com
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2007
There are many article on spiritual growth, the middlepath and the primitive ego on the Stonyhill web site at www.stonyhill.com. If you would like to read an in-depth article on The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development and the relationship between authentic spiritual growth and the growth in self-awareness that comes as we better understand the primitive ego that dwells inside each of us, you can go to the Awakening article #26 on the web site or just click on this link: http://www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm - awakening
Visit the STONYHILL INSTITUTE website at http://www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm for additional articles on the integration of spirituality and psychotherapy.
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QUOTES
We
must better understand the process of spiritual growth in human
consciousness….from birth to enlightenment. It makes no sense
to espouse the values and morality of peace while we continue to
use the vertical power / primitive paradigm of evolutionary theory
known as survival of the fittest.
Dick Rauscher
Our
ability to embrace diversity is not only the primary challenge
of humanity in the modern world, it is unquestionably the bedrock
of future evolution of the human species. Dick Rauscher
When
we travel to the farthest reaches of space.……...”we
know that the mathematics of those outermost spaces will already
have been computed here on earth by human minds. There are no
laws out there
that are not right here; no gods out there that are not right here,
and not only here, but within us, in our minds.”
Joseph Campbell
“All
the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of one small
candle.”
Anonymous
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