There are many different religions and spiritual teachings but all religions and teachings have one thing in common.   They all teach that there is a “soul” and that the soul is embodied into a physical form during this life and that it lives on after our physical death. Religions also agree that there are consequences after our death which are related to the things we do in this physical life. With this as the general agreement, one question still remains.  Why does the soul have to enter into a physical body and then leave again after the body dies?  Why can’t the soul just remain out of the body forever and avoid all the problems and temptations that plague it during physical life?  What is the purpose of the soul?  Why did it come here?

The answer about the purpose of the soul can be discussed in two different ways. One answer is that the soul has the purpose of guiding the body through a very difficult landscape where the body itself actually can find a purpose of its own.  We can see many purposes of the body, for instance, in term of eating, breathing and growing.  Then we can see the purpose of eventual reproduction of the physical body through birth and the raising of children.  But isn’t there more purpose than just having babies? Apart from the purpose of the body, the soul seems to have a purpose and this is the real question we are here to answer.

In fact, the purpose of the soul is to earn a reward for something that is possible to achieve but only through a physical means. Because of the fact that it is more difficult to do something in the physical world, the soul has an opportunity to accomplish or achieve something beyond its normal opportunities when it is “out-of-the body”. What are those accomplishments that the soul can achieve?  First we must understand the position of the soul when it doesn’t have a body to inhabit.  Free unearned enjoyment as an unencumbered soul certainly sounds great to us but we may have trouble imagining how it can also be an embarrassment when considered in the context of being “unearned” or never struggled for in the physical plane.

An example which might make this more clear is to consider a child who is born to extremely rich parents and is dressed up in perfectly clean clothes and sent off to school.  As he is walking to school, he passes the slums of the city and he sees other boys his age playing with each other in the dirt.  The poor boys cannot afford to go to school like the rich boy and they point their fingers at him and make fun of him for wearing such ridiculous clothes.  “Look at his tie!” they say and laugh with each other and then run off to play.

The child feels embarrassed of his clothing and wants to take it off and go play like the other kids in the dirt.  He wants to be “tough” and “independent” and “able to take care of himself”.  He walks on to school that day but he decides to carry a second set of clothes with him from now on and change into his dirty clothes after he leaves his parents house each morning.  He decides to leave a bit earlier in the morning and he takes a detour into the slums to play with the other kids as if he were “only a poor kid” himself. His plan actually works and he begins to make friends with the poor kids of the slums.

The purpose that this child is after is the same purpose that the soul is after when it enters into a body.  The soul chooses to enter into a difficult environment in order to feel like it is “one of the tough kids” and to feel as though it has somehow “earned its integrity” as an individual.  After playing with the poor kids from the slums for many mornings, the child may actually gain something positive and learn to be more self-sufficient.  He may grow into a stronger person who can protect others or instill confidence in them.  It is possible for good things to come out of this scenario although we all know that it is more likely that the child will end up in trouble in most cases. This is because the soul often forgets itself and gets carried away in the moment.

Although it is certainly dangerous take a detour into the slums, the child would hopefully remember to put his clean clothes back on after 30 or forty minutes and get back on the path to school.  If he missed the entire day, he might get into a lot of trouble from his parents and find himself locked in his room for a whole week. He might even get kidnapped and never find his way back to his parents again. Living in the slums is a lot more difficult than simply playing in the slums and there can be dire consequences if the child decides to leave his parents and forego his schooling altogether.

Nonetheless, there are certain benefits which this child may get from playing with the poor kids from the slums each morning and then returning on his path to school each day.  He may find that he becomes a stronger, more compassionate person after having befriended these other less fortunate children. He may discover that they are only a lot like himself and he may even make a permanent friend who he can invite back to his house one day to meet his parents.

If the soul is successful in this life, it can reach a much greater reward in the next world but this task is extremely dangerous and risky for the soul. It may also become trapped in this world and find it impossible to ever get out.  If it fails to ride the fence between two worlds, it may even be punished for its actions. It is imperative that the soul remember it’s true purpose for coming into the physical world and navigate carefully so as to not fall off its real path. This is the ultimate soul purpose and the opportunity that exists for all of us in the physical world.

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The term “self-actualization” was first introduced by the philosopher Kurt Goldstein and referred to the motive a person has to realize all of their potentialities. This means, whatever is possible for you, or can be dreamt of, can actually become a reality if you just move toward self-actualization.  Goldstein believed that this was actually the fundamental motive behind everything that a person did.

The concept of self-actualization was made even more popular Abraham Maslow in his famous theory of the hierarchy of needs.  Self-actualization was considered to be the final level of a person’s psychological development.  It could only be achieved when all the other basic needs of an individual were fulfilled.  Then the ‘actualization’ of their full potential would take place.

So how do we know the difference between what is “possible” for us and what is “impossible”?  Pursuit of self-actualization is the very process which helps us to answer this question and many things about ourselves can also help us to understand this process.  We have already mentioned many other self-referencing terms that are discussed in spiritual work such as self-observation, self-knowledge and self-awareness.  By engaging in these forms of spiritual effort, we come closer to actualizing our potential every day.

Self-observation is a spiritual tool that can be used to help us uncover our unconscious psyche and turn it into part of our conscious self.  Many people are surprised to learn that most of the thoughts and actions which they experience take place unconsciously.  We are rarely aware of what we are thinking about at any given time and we function primarily as “sleep-walkers” or “robots” which have been pre-programmed to carry out certain tasks in an unconscious manner.  By engaging in the effort of self-observation, we watch ourselves each moment and attempt to keep our awareness on our thoughts and our actions in a heightened manner throughout the day.  Surprisingly, we often cannot keep this effort up for more than a few minutes before we are distracted back into our sleepwalking routine and have to be aroused many hours later to remember what we were trying to accomplish!   With some practice, however, self-observation helps us to uncover our deeper potentiality and to eventually put it to work and make it an actuality.

Self-knowledge is yet another tool that helps us on our quest for self-actualization.  Self-knowledge begins through a study of the many theories about the human being and the self, such as in the case of psychology, sociology, physiology and other scientific approaches to the self.  Eventually we come to realize that no “theory” of the self can truly tell us who we are and that we must employ a sense of humility about our self-knowledge and turn toward self-awareness and self-observation more and more.  Spiritual students begin to employ the tools of meditation, contemplation and prayer to understand themselves better, always going deeper and deeper into the essence of their true Self.

Through the use of self-observation, self-knowledge, self-awareness and other spiritual practices, a person can slowly come to realize their more essential self and this is the process of self-actualization as it slowly comes to light. Through this process we learn to face our greatest fears and let go of them.  We also come to realize that all of our happiness and sadness in life comes from within rather than without.  A tragedy is only a tragedy because we decide for ourselves what meaning we place onto it.

A success is also a success only because we determine it to be that way. We learn to let go of our aversions and our attractions and to see that there is a wider picture that was obscured by the “self” of which we were previously unaware.  The “self” eventually merges into the “Self” and the separation that was first perceived between our “self” and the rest of the world comes to be seen as an illusion.  We are part of a much larger Self and our quest becomes an arrival at that which we sought from the beginning.  This is the essence of “Self-actualization” through the process of self-actualization. The small self merges into the larger Self and potential is said to have become actual.

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Spiritual awakening refers to soul awakening, self-development, self-transformation, leading a balanced and integrated life, leading an internally joyous life, and leading a spiritual life.

In one sense, spiritual awakening is ingrained as the by default universal purpose in the DNA of each of us. And we are already undergoing spiritual transformation – the pace and method and outward conditions differ. Becoming conscious of this silent awakening, we become open to make little practical steps in our life to expedite the process.

When we look around and see the world, we find that there is a gradual progression in the manifestation of spirit or consciousness in nature.

There are mountains, hills, stones, ground, river and other water bodies that seem to be inert or dead. We sense the functioning of spirit in them as well. Mountains and rivers have their own cycles of life.

The next advanced form comes in the form of plants and animals. There is gradual complexity from one celled plants and animals to giant ones.

We find the pinnacle of the manifestation of consciousness in human beings. Let us become humble because with this truth comes the great responsibility for manifesting the full potential of spirit in our life. Perhaps it is the true purpose of all of us; rather all of us are guided by destiny and our present actions to serve this purpose in conscious and unconscious ways.

When we experience that there is something grand, something magnificent, supernatural or some creative or governing principle in life, whatever you call him – and remember it is not about thinking, it is about experiencing – we open ourselves to the possibility of spiritual awakening on a conscious level.

Spiritual awakening is a gradual process; it is the unwritten commandment that we are unconsciously following. The only need is to become aware of it and then making little steps toward it consciously.

The Four Classes Of Spiritually Advancing Persons:

When we are leading a normal life, we are also making spiritual advancement. It is happening passively.

When we are leading a religious life, following truly the teachings of any religion, we are progressing toward this goal much faster. The original teachings of each of the different religions revolves around the same principles that progress us spiritually.

The core practices of any religious path are practiced by very few individuals, and they are the scientific means of spiritual awakening. Few individuals are able to dive deep enough in these precious teachings and implement them in their lives. They are truly practicing the essence of all religions even though they might be following a particular religious path.

Next in line are the spiritual teachings. They are different from religions and morality, even though they include all the good things of them. Spiritual teachings are the direct means of spiritual awakening in a direct and practical way. These are the underlying science of all religions. They are the different pathways of freedom in Spirit.

The spiritual development can be tremendously advanced when we come in contact with spiritually advanced or enlightened person. It is like transformation of a piece of iron into a magnet by coming in contact with a magnet.

Understanding The Practical Aspect Of Spiritual Awakening:

Spiritual awakening is the unfolding of Spirit in us. We know in theory that we are souls but our thoughts, speech and behavior are far away from the spiritually attuned life.

Under normal conditions, we are influenced and attached to objects of five senses of sound, touch, vision, taste and smell, and to prejudices, biases and conditioning of our mind.

When we are advancing spiritually, we become connected at first with our own soul – the consciousness in us. And then, Spirit begins to influence our mind and body. This is like gradual spiritualization of our entire being.

We become more peaceful, more content, more productive, more integrated, more in harmony with us and with all of nature. We feel connected. The bonds of senses and bad habits begin to loose their hold on us.

Ultimately they shed off as if they had been foreign to us. We begin to accept ourselves, we become more connected, and we manifest the joy that is our nature. Remember pleasure is derived from contact of desired sense objects to senses and joy is our internal nature.

I remember the saying of one great saint. He preached to his disciples, “The true sign of spiritual advancement is getting non-causal joy during your spiritual practices and feeling glimpses of it during your working hours. Gradually as you become more and more intoxicated with this joy, know that you are progressing in Spirit. You will be fulfilled with this joy like no other things.” This equals to the rejoicing in Spirit mentioned the teaching of Christianity.

Another important sign is feeling connected with all – nature, men and women and with all that exists. At first, the feeling of connectedness will be with our own self. Then, this experience will broaden and broaden. The whole life, whole nature, the universe will feel connected.

Most people attach miracles with spiritual advancement. It is non-issue with spiritually awakened person. Miracles are the normal functioning of spiritually advanced individuals. They are more able to experience and work through deep states of consciousness. It is natural to them.

The most important thing is to realize and accept that we are here for spiritual awakening. This realization could be instant under some instances, or it could be gradual like in most cases.

Second step is making little steps leading a more healthy, intelligent and balanced life. Third step is following spiritual practices and then adhering to some specific one that is more appealing to us.

Fourth step is not worrying too much about spiritual awakening. When you eat healthy and exercise and follow some good diet plan, you grow healthier naturally, day by day, each day. The same applies to spiritual growth. Leave this part to Spirit. Let Him take care.
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Higher states of consciousness are naturally interesting to people because we all inherently know that things are simply easier to understand when we aren’t lost in our usual day to day problems that plague us from day to day.  There are rare experiences when we are able to see the higher meaning of our lives and these moments help us to achieve greater clarity and value in the things we do.

In addition to the higher value and clarity that we can all achieve in a higher state of consciousness, we can also alleviate the negative feelings that come from our normal day to day routine.  Higher states of consciousness transcend all of our negative emotions and leave us feeling as though we were “floating on air” in a perfect state of peace and contentedness.  With such great promise as this, it is a great wonder that these higher states are so rarely reached and that the secret to their achievement often seems so hard to discover.

The reason why the difficulties arise has to do with a fundamental difference between what is called “theory” and what is called “application”.  In “theory”, we know that higher states of consciousness exist and we can talk about them, read about them and think about them to no end. In “application”, however, we find that we must actually begin to do things that are more real and concrete.

Thinking and reading and talking are all very concrete things and yet they often aren’t concrete enough to bring about a higher state of consciousness.  Our thinking and our books can only take us so far until we find that we actually need to transcend ourselves and go even further.  This makes spiritual work seem extremely hard or even impossible for most people.  We often decide to just “give up” and later on we discover that our “giving up” was actually part of the spiritual process which was necessary in order that we approach our task from a new angle.

Having “given up” on spiritual efforts, we discover that there is still a part of us which seeks those same higher states of consciousness that we originally set out to achieve.  With a new strategy and a more open attitude, we reach a proverbial “second wind” which is mentioned in the classic spiritual book The Cloud of Unknowing.  In this book, the anonymous writer explains how an initial effort to reach a higher state of consciousness often fails but that a person who returns to the effort again after years of “giving up” is almost sure to reach those higher states which they first set out to attain.

The basic effort that is required to reach these states has to do with letting go of negative emotions and becoming more aware of ourselves in the present moment.  We can practice these things each day but often find that they are very hard to achieve for any extended period of time.  Letting go of our grief, anger, fear and guilt are all part of what spiritual effort is all about but actually doing these things turns out to be much harder than we first imagined.  Watching ourselves, observing our thoughts and coming to understand ourselves better are also important elements of spiritual effort but these things only come slowly over years of work and long hours of reading, writing and participating in spiritual groups.  The efforts sometimes seem to much for many people after one or two years and they eventually become distracted by something and fall away from their path.

Falling away from the path is a normal part of spiritual growth and can actually be viewed as a positive step forward after some initial effort has truly been expended.  If the person who falls away from their path doesn’t fall too far off course, they can often find a renewed hope in the idea that there is a “second wind”. This second wind is something that often indicates a true spiritual seeker and someone who has come to understand the true meaning of devotion and dedication to spiritual principles.

If you are intent on reaching a higher state of consciousness, it will be important for you not to forget your second wind.  Many people begin on a spiritual path and even reach certain higher states of consciousness in the beginning.  The true spiritual devotee, however, is that person who has come to a seeming end in their path and has actually fallen away for a time to wonder how a higher state of consciousness can truly be reached.  It is only after their second wind that they truly come to see what higher states of consciousness are really all about.  Good luck to you on your path and don’t forget your second wind!

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The difference between the soul and the spirit has a lot to do with “whose” soul and “what” spirit we are actually talking about. Most people refer to the soul and the spirit as being connected to specific people and each of us is often said to have a “soul” or a “spirit” which will live on after our physical body dies. This is usually enough to satisfy those of us with a passing interest in the subject and little more is ever required on the topic after that.  Of course, there are others who become more curious about spiritual topics during their life and they wish to get a better understanding of what these terms mean.
   
If we are talking about a particular person’s “soul” or their “spirit”, we can say that there is a difference between these two things.  Still, if we found ourselves at the gates of Heaven and the question was posed to us “Choose your soul or your spirit”, which would we choose?   In a case similar to this one, we can begin to make sense out of the difference between a person’s soul and their spirit.  The essential difference which gives meaning to these terms can also help us to understand ourselves more readily.
    
Typically, the idea of a soul is something which is more closely associated with a person’s physical body. This is the main essence of what sets these two terms apart. Although the spirit is also associated with the body, the association is not a “necessary” association as it is with the soul. The “soul” of the Buddha, for example, can be said to be associated with the physical man Siddhartha Gautama Buddha who was born in Nepal several centuries before Jesus and who was raised by his father and his mother’s sister. He lived and breathed and ate a lot of food and he was a great teacher for many decades. 
    
If the “soul” of the Buddha were not associated with that physical body that we know from history, then we would not be able to say it was the “Buddha’s soul” at all.  We would need to connect it to that physical body in order to be appropriately talking about his “soul”.  If we weren’t speaking of his body, then we might say it was someone else’s soul or we might say that it was the Buddha’s “spirit”.
    
Now we can see where the difference between “soul” and “spirit” starts to become apparent.  There are many things about the “Buddha” which really have nothing to do with the physical body of the man who lived in Nepal.  What is meant when we talk about these other attributes is that they are part of the Buddha’s “spirit” which lives on today even after all the qualities of his body and discussions about his physical history have ended.  If the discussion isn’t associated with a physical body, then we can’t really say that it is a “soul” discussion. Instead, we can say it is someone’s “spirit” we are discussing because we begin to discuss the term in ways that are no longer associated with the physical body. 
   
In typical discussions about the soul, people often talk about individual lives and the emotions which that person struggled with or is struggling with in their own spiritual quest for happiness.  The soul is said to live on after physical death but it may continue to struggle even after the physical body is gone. The spirit, however, does not usually find itself in the discussion of “emotional struggle” so much as it does in the discussion of “intentions” and “activations” and “influencing” of people and things.  The spirit can be discussed in terms which go beyond the body even more so than the soul. Although the spirit of a person is with them when they are physically alive and the soul is also there, it is the spirit which activates both of these and which goes beyond the soul in many instances.  Everything which has a soul also has a spirit, but everything that has a spirit does not always have a soul. This is the essential difference between these two terms.
  
In summary, we can now say what our answer would be at Heaven’s gate when we were asked to choose between our soul and our spirit?  First we might ask a little question of our own; “Who’s asking me this?” Then if we found that the person who was asking us was a trusted guide such as Jesus or Buddha or St. Peter, we could confidently choose the “spirit” because it is the spirit which gives life to the soul and which gives life to all things even after their physical form has changed. It is in the “spirit” of Heaven that this question would have been posed and giving up our “soul” in order to get into Heaven would surely be the best choice if such a question were ever asked. Goodbye to the soul and hello to the spirit as we move into a new phase of our spiritual growth! Amen.

Waking, dreaming and sleeping states of consciousness are common to all of us. Higher states of consciousness are adored by every individual. Everyone hopes to delve deep into the realm of consciousness. With the help of scientific spiritual and yoga practices, in the deep state of contemplation, absorbed in meditation, the serious practitioners become familiar and enjoy the higher states of consciousness. Gradually those deeper nooks of our awareness become their normal states of mind.

The most extroverted state of our mind is when we perceive sense objects - when we are hearing, touching, viewing, tasting and smelling various things. This is sensation bound state of mind.
Second and deeper state of mind is related to mental and emotional faculties. Reason, logic, thought, analysis, memory, will power or volition are one part and feelings and emotions are second part of our mind.
The third type of condition of mind is dreaming and sleeping. Despite great scientific advancement, the later two states of mind are little understood.

The Five Progressive States Of Consciousness:

It is said that the spark of life in body and mind is provided by soul or pure consciousness. At the time of death, soul leaves the body with all its vital organs intact and we die. And we see this truth everyday. Death is one of the greatest enigmas for science and medicine.

The science of yoga mentions fives progressive states of awareness.
1.Bound State
2.Scattered or distracted mind
3.Sometimes scattered, sometime focused
4.Concentrated or focused or streamlined.
5.Centered in soul without any quiver in mental faculties.

Spiritually most of the persons remain in first three states of awareness. As we practice meditation and contemplation, we start to taste focused state of mind. Finally after a long and dedicated practice, the state of pure consciousness without any quiver of mind is realized. With this experience, we find that we have started to identify ourselves with pure consciousness. Previously, our identification with body and mind is so deep that we could not let go of it despite a lot of thinking of doing so. The experience of self or soul makes this identification very easy.

It will be easy to understand if we think of consciousness like a stream. In bound state of mind, our awareness is limited to gross world of sensations, and thoughts and emotions limit or condition the stream of awareness. It feels as if our mind is glued to them.

In scattered and distracted state of mind, our awareness only sometimes has glimpse of that state of pure awareness, and that glimpse is also indirect.

In third stage, as we practice being centered in self-awareness, we feel that our mind is sometimes scattered and sometimes collected.

Fourth state of consciousness is achieved only in deep meditation, when there is continuity of awareness on the object of contemplation. This is like uninterrupted flow of consciousness to the exclusion of everything else. Three entities remain - observer or pure consciousness, object of contemplation and the process of contemplation.

In fifth and the highest of all stages, even the single quiver of mind is absent; there is full absorption of all of our mental and emotional faculties in our own pure consciousness or soul. This stage is achieved usually after a long and dedicated practice of the science of meditation and yoga.
Eight Limbed Yoga and Higher States Of Consciousness:

The first two of the eight limbs of yoga are related with good behavior and personal discipline. The third step of posture makes us sit still with ease for prolonged time. The fourth step is breathing exercise that leads us to higher stages of meditation with absorption of mind.

The fifth step results from the above mentioned practices - the interiorization of mind - mind becomes absorbed and outer sensations of five senses are not able to disturb. It might be like conscious sleep. The rest of the three higher states of consciousness are concentration, continuity of concentration and merged state of mind.
Samadhi Or Yogic Trance And Higher States Of Consciousness:

Usually the three types of mind is recognized – conscious mind, subconscious mind and superconscious mind. Superconsciousness is used for the deep state of meditation or for trance like state.
There is one type of trance that is like suspended animation and it does not produce any good. The other types of trance that are experienced in deeper states of meditation are good as we remain aware in those higher states and enjoy greatly the deep and merged state of mind.

There are several sub-stages of superconscious state of mind and that would only complicate the topic. It is better to ponder over other topics now. Why do we need to experience these deeper states of consciousness? What are the benefits of experiencing them?

To become more aware, to use our full potential, to become more happier, to become healthier, to earn more money, to have better control on our self, to become successful in whatever we choose, to lead a more fulfilled and purposeful life, to connect ourselves with God or Universal Consciousness or our source. There could be thousand reasons.

Remember spiritual domain is not exclusive of material world, it includes all domains and life and other domains that are beyond our comprehension yet. There is a science and art behind this, much deeper and complex to be understood by mind, because mind simply doesn’t exist when we experience those higher states of consciousness. They belong to experiencing our true nature – our soul – the Spirit in us. Let us explore our true nature, our potentialities in Spirit! Let us become conscious of that we are made in His Image!
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Because of the fact that spirituality and mysticism are often such vague areas of knowledge, there can actually be quite a bit of confusion about the idea of a spiritual awakening.  One of the most popular places that people hear about a spiritual awakening is in the programs of Alcoholics Anonymous or any of the other 12-step programs. 

The 12th and final step suggests the possibility that a person can have a spiritual awakening and therefore arrive at some kind of final condition wherein their spiritual journey is said to be complete.  The idea of coming to an “end”, however, is problematic in spirituality and this is the reason we need to be clear about what is meant about a spiritual awakening. Great sages like Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Lao Tzu and Sri Aurobindo have discussed these confusions in detail and suggested that the condition may be extremely rare even though it is often reported y many individuals.
    
The idea of “waking up” spiritually might be best understood by imagining that people are all relatively “asleep” when it comes to the reality of their day to day lives. Oftentimes, when you are asleep, you don’t even realize that you are asleep because your dream can seem so real!  This is a similar experience in relation to the spiritual “slumber”. 
    
People who first enter a spiritual recovery program or spiritual group of any kind can all be said to be somewhat “asleep” in terms of their awareness about what is real or what is most valuable in their lives.  They seek out the instruction of other more experienced individuals to help them to “wake up” to the realities of the world around them.  This can often be a very difficult and even traumatic experience as we don’t particularly like to wake up to reality anymore than we like to be awoken from a good dream when we are asleep in our beds.  Nonetheless, if we stick around a spiritual group long enough, we begin to become more aware of certain things and can be said to be “awakening” to a new reality.
    
The full significance of a spiritual awakening, however, is often much more extreme than most of us realize.  We may have experienced certain dreams at night where we thought you had been awake and actually visited many “real” places such as our job, our school or our home but then later we discovered that none of this was real.  We had either fallen abck asleep without realizing it or we had only been going through another dream, very lucid, yet unreal nonetheless. 
   
This “dream” experience is also very common among people who begin to study spiritual truths and become very excited when they feel that they are finally “waking up”.  The reality of this “waking up” as a full blown spiritual awakening, however, is very far from a reality in most cases. As one great sage once said “You are mistaking a crack in the mirror for the full light of noon!”  A spiritual awakening is something that is actually much more profound and comprehensive than most people realize.  These experiences are classically restricted to a very small percentage of the population throughout history and have been discussed in many great books such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Kaballah and the New Testament. 
    
There is wide agreement amongst some of the world’s most notable spiritual teachers that only one in ten million people will ever truly become awakened to the full reality of the spiritual condition of mankind!  Can this be true?   The reason it may be correct is that spiritual work actually requires extreme dedication and effort over many years before a person can typically be said to become completely awakened to their spirit.  Muhammad is known to have spent years in mediation before finally becoming “Enlightened” and certain issues surrounding life and death and the eternity of the soul are very profound and can only be intuited by those who witness extreme tragedies or experience near death transformations in their lives.  Even after these extreme experiences, people often return to their original state and are only changed in a very profound way rather than being completely “awakened” to their spirit. 
   
A spiritual awakening is something more grand than many people have likely been capable of understanding after simply hearing about the subject.  The rarity of the experience, however, can provide great inspiration to those who would choose to devote their lives to that same spiritual quest.  These great spirits have included such names as Muhammad, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Krishna, St. Paul, Ramana Maharshi, Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Jesus Christ and many others. 
    
The quest for a spiritual awakening can make a person into one of the most influential figures in history, as th previous list suggests.  If you set your course for the stars, you may just reach it someday! Once you do, there will be no more doubt about whether you have arrived or not.

Some things just don’t seem to go together.  Cats and dogs, oil and water, coffee and lemon juice?  Actually, many people are quick to judge whether science and mysticism can actually go together because the two subjects seem a lot like oil and water.

Science is a very rigid means and method for determining the truth about the world around us and it produces extremely accurate and repeatable data that can be proven over and over again right before your very eyes!  Many scientists are so impressed by the facts which are obtained in their experiments that they come to believe that there is really nothing else in the world which can be used to determine accurate dependable truth apart from science.

Mysticism is almost the exact opposite of science.  Mysticism is a means and method of obtaining truth which comes entirely from within the area of a persons own subjective experience.  If you experience a strange sensation or a sudden transformation within yourself, the changes which take place might be explained by a mystic to be the evolution of your higher Self and this will be something that only you can decide for yourself even if you meet another famous mystic who tells you that you are only experiencing a hallucination!  How any mystic can expect to feel confident about his or her version of truth often makes the scientist laugh out loud when he hears about it!

Although these two subjects have stood in staunch opposition to one another over the centuries, the dawn of a new science known as quantum mechanics has brought about an arena where science and mysticism are now studied together as one subject.  Maybe cats and dogs can get along after all!  Early physicists such as Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck and Edwin Shroedinger discovered that subatomic particles behave in a manner which suggests that the old scientific principle of “cause and effect” no longer works as well as they thought.  Some things in nature just don’t behave according to the laws of physics and they never will.  For this reason, it became necessary for modern physicists like David Bohm and Henry Stapp to consider more mystical approaches to the understanding of sub-atomic particles.  This has led to a modern scientific interest in the subject of consciousness and how a person’s subjective condition can actually affect the results of a scientific experiment.

Many people today are familiar with the way that scientists often set up their experiments in such as way as to affect the way he results will look.  If they choose certain test subjects based on certain preferences, for example, they will come up with completely different answers than another scientist who chooses different test subjects for different reasons.  This phenomena has also brought about a renewed interest in the study of “double-blind experiments” which often suggest a hidden bias on the part of the scientist.
A famous psychiatrist by the name of Dr. David R. Hawkins is one of the leading researchers in the connection between science and mysticism. Dr. Hawkins has developed a scientific test which employs the use of a person’s own subjective consciousness into an experiment and also suggests that the inherent biases of the subject can be bypassed by simply using this method known as “kinesiologic calibration”.  If his method proves to be useful in the future, it will mean a great breakthrough in the world of science and mysticism; two subjects which have previously appeared to be like coffee and lemon juice!  Come to think of it, I think I’ll go see if that lemon juice tastes good in my coffee!

How The Difference In Soul And God Can Motivate Us To Grow Spiritually

If there could be something most controversial as well most evident, it is GOD. And all of us are essentially soul or pure consciousness. Let us give a thought to the difference between these two forms of consciousness.

The Holy Trinity Of God, Son and Holy Ghost – Soul And God:

All major religions, mystics and spiritual movements maintain the truth of the Holy Trinity in one way or another. The difference is only in outward explanation.

When we analyze and feel deeply about ourselves, life and nature, we come to know that there are three basic ‘entities’ or principles – nature, soul, and God.

Nature has existence, souls have existence plus consciousness or awareness and God’s nature is ever new bliss along with the existence and consciousness. All the three qualities are present in God.

The existence of natural entities can be proved in many ways ranging from gross shapes to subatomic levels. When we see diverse forms of nature – the mountains, ground, rivers and sea – we know that they are present. Existence is self-evident in nature.

When we see the world of creatures – the plant and animal kingdom – we see that the principle of consciousness is gradually manifesting itself. Plants are very near to inanimate objects like stone but they are truly throbbing with awareness. The principle of individual consciousness or soul governs and sets the various processes of their life cycle.

The principle of consciousness is highly advanced in higher animals. They are able to perceive world through sense organs and they react to events and situations based on their reflexes and instincts.

When we come to ourselves – human beings – we see that many animals possess stronger power to perceive sensations of smell, vision, sounds and like. We are separated from them by developed mental faculties – thoughts, emotions and memory and imagination.

And the strongest feature of human beings is neither of these advanced mental faculties – it is the power of being aware to what is going on in our mind and heart. Yes, we are aware of our existence on earth like no other animal or plant could be. The principle of consciousness or awareness is highly manifest in men and women.

Now we come to Spirit or Universal Consciousness or Cosmic Consciousness or God or Divine Mother or Heavenly Father or Unified Field – whatever you like to name. He won’t feel bad at all! People have called Him ‘Great Vacuum’.

There are many qualities in God according to various scriptures and spiritual masters. Nothing is going to woo the soul – power, money, knowledge, sovereignty, and control over the world. None of these can attract the soul to God; rather some of them might create fear like we see in so many mythological stories.

The unique feature of God is His nature of Bliss, the ever new joy, the never stale joy. Yes God is all Joy and Bliss! That is why all souls are seeking.

Ask this question from yourself and people of all walks and ages. Why do people do anything? What is the ultimate reason for doing each and everything that we do? What is the motive behind all activities?

Yes, be a bit philosophical. The ultimate motive behind all our activities is seeking pleasure, getting joy from it. Check it.

We want to become pilot or model or scientist. Why? We want to make your dream come true. Why? We want be a successful parent and businessperson. Why? We want to serve and contribute for society. Why?

Simply it gives us joy. We are chasing for joy in our life.

If we decipher all the qualities of a good and successful person – money, business, work satisfaction, family, name and fame and all other things, we will find that there are many people in world who have all of them and are not satisfied even after possessing them.

Even with all the possessions and good things, we are empty, we are seeking something else, whatever gives us pleasure becomes stale and truly it could be anything. Everything and every person that gives us joy become stale!

The perpetual bliss, or ever new bliss is not a quality of soul. Yes, we have existence and are aware of it, we can experience pleasure and pain associated with our experiences. That is our nature. Bliss is the difference between soul and God.

The nature of God is Bliss. And souls who are aware of Him, who are making efforts to become aware of our union with Him will get it from their realized association with God.

The beginning of all religions and spiritual movement is directly traced to the efforts to evolve human consciousness and to realize its association with God.

We will like to share some of the sayings of Great Ones about soul and God, who have realized and helped others realize God. It is not felt necessary to give the references here.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things will be added unto Thee”

“So God created man in His Own Image, in the image of God created He Him; male and female He created them.”

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

“When one realized one’s association with God, Everything becomes Bliss whether we are meditating or enjoying sense pleasures or sleeping or working. Bliss becomes our nature.”
 

Many people claim to be spiritual but are either fooling themselves or fooling others and this can be extremely damaging to someone who is honestly trying to find serious answers to their most important questions.  This is a collection of the characteristics of a true spiritual person which will make it easier for you to check your best intuitions and make sure you aren’t being fooled by someone who is really just out to serve their own ego.

One of the first things you can look for in a spiritual person is whether they are saying something that has always been true from the beginning or whether they are giving you a version of truth that is dependant upon certain conditions and circumstances in their own life.  What they are saying should be something that includes everyone and not just a certain “sect” of people.  Their ideas should be open to all people and there need not be any “secrets” or “mysteries” about what they are trying to convey to you.

The next important characteristic to look for in a true spiritual person is the willingness that they have to offer their ideas free to others, at least in part.  Although teachers often have to charge their students for book printing, advertisements and travel expenses, it should become apparent if they have something to gain besides the simple joy of spreading their message.  Oftentimes, truly spiritual people will charge for some of their lectures but they will also offer some free sessions as well.

Another characteristic to look for is that they should not be seeking power for power’s sake.  Oftentimes, a person who appears to be fighting a particular ‘cause’ is actually caught in a power struggle with their supposed “enemies” and this actually represents a limited position in life.  True spirituality recognizes the dominion of peace over all other forms of power.  A spiritual person does not need to ‘fight for a cause’ because peace is its own end and its own reward. Peace does not have any needs or desires except in as much as it seeks to share itself with others who seek its same sovereignty. This does not require ‘fighting’ for anything external.

A true spiritual person places no demands, requirements or controlling rules and regulations on anyone else and only offers suggestions to those who wish to find that same peace within themselves.  Peace is an inside job and others should be free to come and go around a spiritual person and do not need to be persuaded, coerced or intimidated into believing what someone else says.  Spiritual people already are total and complete in and of themselves and don’t need to gain ‘followers’ or adherents to their truth, although this may happen of its own.  Spiritual people remain non-involved in world affairs and, even when the world seeks to pull them into its theatrical, glamorized arena, they remain non-attached and peaceful.

The characteristics of a true spiritual person are that they have no need to change the world and see all of life as deserving of absolute reverence.  This is God’s world, although the ego may sometimes tell us otherwise. Spiritual people seek to avoid the things which are unhealthy rather than trying to oppose those things. They see the simple beauty and perfection of all that exists and feel a compassion for all life rather than an emotional involvement.

Although a true spiritual person is often respected by others around them, they reject any special treatment and remain humble. They do not depend on the authority of any other person, place, institution or historical document in order to maintain their spiritual qualities but merely espouse certain teachings or teachers as a way of affirming the truth which they are already know within themselves. Truth is the same no matter who speaks it or at what time or place in history. If it is true that a person should ‘love his mother’ then it is true regardless of whether anyone says it or not. Spiritual people know what is true and don’t require the need to ‘prove’ their awareness to others.  They are content with merely knowing that truth and then living it according to the way it has worked for them. These are what the characteristics of a true spiritual person are.