As a writer on the stages of spiritual develoment I like to point out to those interested in such development that there is a difference between stages of personal and spiritual growth. One aspect is not to be considered better than the other. Each aspect of development is required and there is a kind of paradoxical relationship between these two facets of human spiritual development. Paradoxically speaking the most important energy is spiritual but the growth in spirituality happens within a well developed sense of the individual person.
The simplest way that I have discovered to outline these two distinct facets of the personal and spiritual development process is through the system I describe as the Way of the Chakra’s. This is a universal map of personal and spiritual development. In this map there are shown to be seven main Chakras or energy centers.
- The Root Chakra.
- The Sacral Chakra.
- The Solar Plexus Chakra.
- The Heart Chakra.
- The Throat Chakra.
- The Brow Chakra.
- The Crown Chakra.
Speaking generally the first of the above three Chakra’s are related to the development of an integrated persona. This integration involves the work of becoming grounded in the body. This requires the integration of inner opposition 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 building clear ego bounds. This is so that in the second part of the personal and spiritual journey the individual can invite the Divine to move and, more and more, inform the individual’s life direction and purpose.
The middle Chakra is the heart Chakra. This is the bridge between the personal and the universal. With clear ego boundaries one begins to expand such boundaries. This is achieved from a sense of letting go and letting Love be the driving force in the life of the person. The ego is then seen not as 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 something that needs to be got rid off. We see the absence of clear ego boundaries in those people who have major mental illness.
There may be a problem with the ego if a person over identifies 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 a number of ways become a compulsion rather than a growth experience into higher stages of spiritual development.
Personal growth moves into spiritual growth when the individual moves deeper into a process, not of attainment, but of surrender. The more advanced stages of spiritual development are stages of deepening into trust and surrender to a process 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 magical, mysterious and miraculous.
Tony Cuckson is a promoter and writer of courses on stages of personal and spiritual growth. 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 spiritual development visit http://www.tonycuckson.com
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