evolution (PARTIAL DRAFT)

The “purpose” of spiritual evolution is not the attainment of “spiritual perfection” - not in the sense of not having to evolve further, at any rate, since there is no such thing. We need to evolve in order to grow - but we can take rest breaks (hopefully well earned :) ) along the way. No, the “purpose” of evolution is, rather, to perfect our ability to learn, and thus grow. Since we are discussing spiritual evolution, this “purpose” relates to spiritual learning, and spiritual growth.

If we were talking about physical evolution, we would be talking about the development of adaptability, as it is the strength of a species’ adaptability that often dictates whether or not it will survive, not necessarily the perfection of its physical being. After all, the dinosaurs were perfect physical beings for their time, as too were mammoths, sabre tooth tigers, and Neanderthals, but things changed … and here we are, despite being a tiny little mammalian creature at the time of the dinosaurs, and smaller and less strong than mammoths, sabre tooth tigers and Neanderthals at the times they were more “perfect” than us :)

And, if we don’t learn and adapt to the challenges of the monster we’ve created called “climate change”, we won’t be here much longer, as has happened to some of our past civilisations already …

So let’s go back to spiritual evolution. What does the ability to learn look like, and what does spiritual growth look like?

Well, in brief, the ability to learn looks like reflection upon what one has done, an understanding that we are all capable of mistakes (no matter how “evolved”), and the willingness to correct the harm caused by mistakes. To an external observer, some of this could well be perceived as humility, but, given the aggressive nature of our society in the West, it could well be disguised to quite a degree - although someone who genuinely has this ability will not go into an investigation seeking to apportion blame, but rather, to find out how to heal, and how to prevent those mistakes happening again - whether that is a post mortem of a failed attempt at a spirit rescue, a reflection to see how one can develop the ability to (say) heal (or astral travel, or meditate, and so on), or an investigation into a plane crash. It is worth watching some of the TV programmes about those, and see, for instance, how mistakes such as pilot error, which may be the immediate cause of a crash, in turn have more subtle and more profound causes elsewhere, such as the need for Crew Resource Management, poor airline training, or a need for industry wide improvements to training.

Don’t mistake any of that for weakness, though: such a person will criticise when necessary (e.g. in relation to avoidable mistakes), and such a person acknowledges the place of due legal process - such can help heal victims, as well as - potentially - sending a message more generally that society disapproves of harming others.

The other issue here is that the dedication to learning will not be fanatical. Such a person will recognise that people learn and grow at different rates, there is a time to push that rate along, and a time to rest, and that others will only rarely - if ever - have any sort of right to comment on another’s rate of learning and growth. I’ve come across many who are new to this concept in their current life but, often in reaction to past lives where they were too slack, make a big noise about being eager to grow and learn, and push other people in ways that they have no right to do and are often harmful.

That is not spiritual evolution, it is a child bragging about how much better they can use a new toy than anyone else - with an implication that they should have more, or perhaps even sole, use of said toy.

The principles of Balanced Positivity will give good guidance as to what is appropriate for a given situation (including a specific combination of people at their current states of being).

So what about spiritual growth: what does that look like?

Well, unconditional love is often cited as the ideal here. For my part, I would rate compassion as a key issue (the word love is fraught with inappropriate responses), but I would rate other issues at least equally important, including:

     seeking to “be all that one can be”, and

     respecting others’ and maintaining one’s own dignity.

As with the issue of what the ability to learn looks like, the principles of Balanced Positivity will give good guidance when trying to decide for oneself (since others cannot decide for you, although some people may be able to give some good, BPLF guidance) as to what spiritual growth looks like for oneself at a given time, place and state of being. Perspective helps with trying to make this sort of decision, I find, and, in my personal case, I find past life regression particularly good at giving me a good perspective.

Talking to experienced, trusted and competent people can help as well. As an example, many years ago, when I identified as Buddhist, I had a series of really good conversations with a work colleague, who came from Thailand and was Buddhist, about karma. This particular gentleman (who also got me interested in bonsai) was the eldest son in his family, and, as he explained it, wound up agreeing to spend three weeks as a Buddhist monk when he turned twenty one - “for the sake of the family’s honour”, and against considerable resistance on his part. He said this duty was traditional, but it was also traditionally for a month, not three weeks (his story about the negotiations was quite entertaining). As it turned out, he spent six months in that role, including three months “living in the jungle”, because of what he found he was learning. His explanation of “good karma” was that it was largely about the good feeling one had as a result of doing good deeds. Now, some 30 odd years later, I see that as part of it, but I also consider there is more to karmic return than only one’s feelings - but I needed to hear that point of view at that stage of my evolution, for the sake of having a more rounded view on the topic of karma, and to start thinking more consciously about the importance of doing things for the reason that they are right to do, rather than thinking about future rewards (or punishments, if one is thinking of “misdeeds” or inaction).

It is also worth thinking about the fact that evolution is not always smoothly forward. If you want an example of that, have a look at my main blog, where you will see my bad moods, some of my mistakes, and my increasing struggles with life in the inner city.

Hopefully, you will also find the rewarding moments when I feel good, develop something, or overcome problems as I stubbornly persist :)

As of the time this definition was written, I’ve touched on this idea in the following posts:

     Post No. TBC