As a writer on the stages of spiritual develoment I like to point out that there is a difference between stages of personal and spiritual growth. One aspect is not to be considered better than the other. Each is needed and there is a form of paradoxical relationship between these two facets of personal and spiritual development. Paradoxically speaking the most important energy is spiritual but the development in spirituality takes place within a well developed sense of the person.
The simplest way that I have discovered to describe these two distinct facets of the personal and spiritual development process is through the system I refer to as the Way of the Chakra's. This is a universal map of personal and spiritual development. This map shows seven main energy centers.
1. The Root Chakra.
2. The Sacral Chakra.
3. The Solar Plexus Chakra.
4. The Heart Chakra.
5. The Throat Chakra.
6. The Brow Chakra.
7. The Crown Chakra.
Broadly speaking the first of the above three Chakra's are related to the development of an integrated personality. This integration involves the work of becoming grounded in the body. It integration involves the reconciliation of emotional opposition within and the power to use the personal will in the service of the ego. This is that aspect of the work of personal development focused in creating clear ego boundaries. This is so that in the second part of the human journey the individual can invite the will of the Divine to move and, more and more, inform one's life purpose and direction.
The heart Chakra is the middle Chakra. This Chakra links the personal and the Universal. With clear ego boundaries one starts to expand such bounds. This is achieved from a sense of letting go and letting Love be the driving force within the life of the person. The ego self then becomes not the enemy. The ego becomes an alliance of the will with the willingness to become all that Creation created the particular person to be. There isn't a sense that the ego is viewed as something that has to be got rid off. We see the absence of clear ego boundaries in individual's who have significant mental disorders.
There may be a problem with the ego should the individual over identify with this aspect of who they think they are. In such a situation the focus on their individual self can become a kind of addiction. Then the work of personal expansion can in many ways become a compulsion rather than an expansion into higher stages of spiritual development.
Personal growth moves into spiritual growth when the individual moves deeper into a process, not of achievement, but of surrender. The more developed stages of spiritual development are stages of deeper and deeper trust in the process of surrender that expands the ego into infinity. This process is said to be where the dewdrop merges with the ocean. I like to think it is where the Ocean of Oneness merges with the dewdrop of individuality. That seems much more mysterious, magical and miraculous.
The simplest way that I have discovered to describe these two distinct facets of the personal and spiritual development process is through the system I refer to as the Way of the Chakra's. This is a universal map of personal and spiritual development. This map shows seven main energy centers.
1. The Root Chakra.
2. The Sacral Chakra.
3. The Solar Plexus Chakra.
4. The Heart Chakra.
5. The Throat Chakra.
6. The Brow Chakra.
7. The Crown Chakra.
Broadly speaking the first of the above three Chakra's are related to the development of an integrated personality. This integration involves the work of becoming grounded in the body. It integration involves the reconciliation of emotional opposition within and the power to use the personal will in the service of the ego. This is that aspect of the work of personal development focused in creating clear ego boundaries. This is so that in the second part of the human journey the individual can invite the will of the Divine to move and, more and more, inform one's life purpose and direction.
The heart Chakra is the middle Chakra. This Chakra links the personal and the Universal. With clear ego boundaries one starts to expand such bounds. This is achieved from a sense of letting go and letting Love be the driving force within the life of the person. The ego self then becomes not the enemy. The ego becomes an alliance of the will with the willingness to become all that Creation created the particular person to be. There isn't a sense that the ego is viewed as something that has to be got rid off. We see the absence of clear ego boundaries in individual's who have significant mental disorders.
There may be a problem with the ego should the individual over identify with this aspect of who they think they are. In such a situation the focus on their individual self can become a kind of addiction. Then the work of personal expansion can in many ways become a compulsion rather than an expansion into higher stages of spiritual development.
Personal growth moves into spiritual growth when the individual moves deeper into a process, not of achievement, but of surrender. The more developed stages of spiritual development are stages of deeper and deeper trust in the process of surrender that expands the ego into infinity. This process is said to be where the dewdrop merges with the ocean. I like to think it is where the Ocean of Oneness merges with the dewdrop of individuality. That seems much more mysterious, magical and miraculous.
About the Author:
Tony Cuckson writes and promotes courses relevant to stages of spiritual development. He specializes in sharing maps for the journey of personal and spiritual development including The Way of the Chakra's. To avail yourself of spiritual direction from these maps of personal growth and development and spiritual development visit http://www.tonycuckson.com
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