M Scott Peck in ‘The Roadless Travelled’ describes how in our lifetime we all change and grow physically, but very few of us evolve spiritually. To evolve spiritually means to fundamentally change the essence of who we are. It requires something of a metamorphosis, as opposed to simply transitioning through the stages of life. I would liken it to being asleep and then awakening. It’s interesting how many fairy tales are about spiritual evolution – Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Frog, and Pinocchio immediately come to mind. Is it just a fantasy or can it really happen, and what exactly is spiritual evolution?
Last Friday I drove to East London from Pretoria, a journey of 1070 kms, which gave me plenty of time for reflection, and the opportunity to listen to Richard Dawkin’s audiobook ‘The Magic of Reality’ It tied in very nicely to my own shifting understanding of reality, and especially a growing appreciation for the magnificent process of evolution. One of the points he makes is that evolution is not a hurried event, but an incredibly slow process that has played out over billions of years. So, for us as individuals to evolve spiritually inevitably requires time and a fair deal of pain, but I am of the opinion that it can and should be happening to all of us.
Our perception of reality has a lot to do with whether we are evolving spiritually or not. Unfortunately, the human tendency is to get stuck in our beliefs and thinking, entrenched as they often are in cultural norms and values. We learn to behave the way we do, so to spiritually evolve, we need to again learn how to challenge and change our thoughts on reality. Spiritual evolution requires mental flexibility and the willingness to accept that things might not be as we have always perceived them to be. It’s the invitation to lifelong and expansive learning. Byron Katie’s second question in her four questions of inquiry, ‘Can I absolutely know that it’s true?’, is liberating. Why, because you can’t absolutely know that anything is true, even what I am writing now.
So spiritual evolution is taking full responsibility for your life by learning to nurture your incredible evolving nature. It is taking an active and informed role in firstly discovering and then channeling the peace, freedom, and joy that dwells within you and all of life. It is navigating the mansion of your being, at a body, heart, mind, and soul level, so that you become fully aligned and alive with the infinite possibility that is the life force. It is trusting the process, as mother nature administers her medicine to launch you into the fullness of your magnificent, albeit brief existence. If you would like to learn to collaborate with the power within you, please contact me – psychologist in Fourways.