Sannhetseeker

Here is a brief description of the nine stages of the spiritual map mentioned in yesterday’s post: Archaic consciousness – is a primarily physical (later emotional) level of consciousness. Infants from about the 4 th month through three years are in this stage. Initially, infants are unable to distinguish themselves from any other physical thing. Gradually this changes so that the child does understand it is separate from its mother and others. This hold true for emotions as well. Archaic... Sign in to see full entry.

There are several traditional Christian spiritual “maps” that try to show the inner path toward the kingdom of heaven. The first acknowledged and most traditional map, defined in 500 A.D. by St. Dionysios, offers three stages to the inner kingdom. The first stage is the purgative stage. In this stage, one works to purify one’s self from Ego and selfishness. Stage two is the illuminative stage. This stage is reached when one breaks through Ego and begins to have greater spiritual insights and... Sign in to see full entry.

Spiritual maturity is a fact. Humans mature (spiritually) at different rates and to different levels. And the interesting thing is that one who is somewhat spiritually mature (or aware) will not be able to understand fully what a more spiritually aware person is explaining with regard to “God”, Yeshua or spirituality in general. In order to show how this works, picture two very young children and two glasses, one short glass filled with water and one tall empty one. If one were to take the short... Sign in to see full entry.

“Jesus did not say, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is this’ because “this” automatically excludes its opposite “that.” Nor did he say, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is that’ because “that” automatically excludes its opposite “this.” He did not say, ‘The Kingdom is here’ because “here” excludes its opposite “there.” Likewise, he did not say, ‘The Kingdom is there’ because “there” excludes its logical opposite “here.” So Jesus ended up saying the Kingdom was ‘not here and not there’ (Luke 17:21).” I love this... Sign in to see full entry.

Continuing the prequel of Thursdays With Death Thursday morning came quickly and I was panicking because I had no idea where I was supposed to go for my appointment with Death. I had checked the business card again, but no address was listed. It was 7 am and as I was eating breakfast, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over at the counter, but didn’t notice anything unusual, so I went back to eating breakfast. As I finished eating and put the newspaper back together, I... Sign in to see full entry.

Opportunities to give happen daily for each of us. Sometimes they happen many times in a day. They are always there, showing themselves in mostly unobtrusive ways, peeking out from behind a tree or fence, like a small child would peek out from behind her mother’s skirt. They are there hoping that we will take advantage of them. But most of us don’t see them. Most of us are too wrapped in our daily lives to notice. Most of us are just that way... There are those however, who do notice each of... Sign in to see full entry.

Follow: to come or go after; proceed behind. Follower: One who subscribes to the teachings or methods of another; an adherent. When it comes to religion and spirituality, I am not one who follows. I never have been. I like to take my own path. But I am a follower. I do subscribe to the teachings of several masters. I have several friends, who classify themselves as spiritual, who are similar. They do not follow, but they are followers. These friends of mine, like myself, tend to look within for... Sign in to see full entry.

More Thursdays With Death. This is actually a prequel rather than the next installment. Hope you enjoy it. You’re probably asking yourself how it is that I got myself into an arrangement with Death. It was pretty simple actually. I lost to Death in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em. Understand that this initially was just a dream. In my dream, I was sitting at the main table of a poker tournament. There was me, Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman’s character on The Odd Couple), Deanna Troi (the hot counselor on... Sign in to see full entry.

I missed church today. But while I was busy working on our house, I got to thinking about church. I only go to church to share the experience of Spirit with others, and in hopes that I might find a nugget of truth here and there. Part of the reason that I don’t particularly like church anymore is because the message is still wrong. Even the church I attend that is truly one of the few that I found that is based in love still doesn’t have the message completely right. There are still too many... Sign in to see full entry.

I’ve been re-reading Kahlil Gibran’s book The Prophet, for about the seventh or eighth time. It’s a powerful book that discusses various aspects of our lives from a spiritual perspective. In one section, the Prophet says this about prayer: For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether? What a perfect explanation of what prayer really is! Prayer is not a discussion with “God”. Prayer is not an opportunity to ask for things from “God”. Prayer is the opening of one’s self... Sign in to see full entry.