Читать книгу Beyond Soul Growth - Lynn Sparrow Christy - Страница 11

It would be more than three decades before the full evolutionary significance of this idea had taken shape in my thinking. By then, the original realization that creation is a here-and-now process rather than an event in the distant past had continued to extend as an influence over every major development in my spiritual understanding. For example, the next shift in my cosmology had been the realization that this process is not about what God is making of us, but what we are making of ourselves. Later still I would see that the goal of all this making is not a static state but a dynamic one; that is, it's not just about resting in oneness but rather our being fitted out for conscious participation in something God is doing in and through time and space. The locus of attention began to shift from soul growth as an end in itself to soul growth as a means to an end. Eventually, the connection between our co-creative role and the great cosmological and biological evolution going on all around us slowly dawned on me, coming into sharpest focus in the pages of an inspirational writing practice I had adopted along the way.

In my ongoing study of diverse points of view concerning the spiritual path, I had been listening to a CD course in which the teacher reiterated the view that had always troubled me. He described an endless cycle of involution-evolution-involution in which God pours aspects of Godself (that would be us) out into materiality and then slowly grows back to timeless, spaceless oneness—only to eventually become “bored” and venture out again into this illusory world, thus starting the cycle all over again. Upon hearing this, all of my original objections to this world view arose. I still found it hard to believe that this life was about nothing more than going back to the beginning. But other things this teacher had said had been helpful enough that I was reluctant to simply dismiss his position in favor of my own biases. I figured it deserved a second look. Was he right about this endless cycle? If he was, I was back to the question that had haunted my earliest seeking.

As I took the question to the interior inquiry that inspirational writing facilitates for me, the first clarification came in a reminder that this was not a true/false question, but rather a matter of choice between two broadly different paths—each acceptable, each honorable. Release from bondage to the flesh and the earth is the reward of any spiritual path that honors the pre-eminence of Spirit, adheres to life practices and disciplines that awaken Spirit and moves the aspirant into the consciousness of oneness, my inner source told me. At the same time (the explanation continued), there is a distinctive path which breaks outside the endless cycle of descent into the world and ascent back to oneness. This path leads to full participation in the next developmental stage of creation. One on this path is not bound by the earth, yet is fully engaged with the earth. It is a path that embraces the ongoing evolutionary process, moving forward, so to speak, rather than endlessly cycling through the same territory. It is the path of conscious, chosen co-creatorship.

When this articulation of a distinctive path that seeks to participate in ongoing, forward-moving creation first took shape via my inspirational writing dialog more than a decade ago, I had not encountered it in any formalized teaching and I was eager to start talking and writing about it. In one sense, it was so obvious. How often do we hear the term co-create in the contemporary spiritual world? And yet, despite the ubiquitous appearance of the term, in the spiritual conversation of our day a true commitment to living from an evolutionary perspective is still largely overlooked by both traditional and contemporary forms of spiritual practice. I couldn't wait to share my epiphany. But my impulse to share notwithstanding, the same inner realization that opened my awareness to the evolutionary possibilities before us advised me to hold off on writing and teaching about it. I'm glad it did, for it turns out that I had merely stepped into a stream of thought that, unbeknownst to me, had been developing for at least a few hundred years. Time and time again, I was amazed to come upon ideas and perspectives that had felt original when they first dawned on me via the process of personal attunement. Is there anything more affirming of universal truth than to find that it has sprung up independently in numerous contexts and among otherwise diverse sources? I have also come to realize that this phenomenon is just a small foretaste of the unity consciousness that will characterize the next stage of our collective development.

Over the ensuing decade, I discovered a vast and invigorating world of those who embrace the evolutionary approach to life. Many of these thinkers, both contemporary and historical, will enter into the pages that follow. One special delight was to come upon this reflection from the German philosopher Friedrich Schelling (1775-1854), concerning the very question that had been the original, proverbial stone in my shoe. Schelling wrote, “Has creation a final goal? And if so, why was it not reached at once? Why was the consummation not realized from the beginning? To these questions there is but one answer: Because God is Life, and not merely Being.”¹ We will return to this concept that “God is Life”—that is, a life force that seeks manifestation in this visible world of three dimensions—many times in the pages to come, as it is foundational to the evolutionary world view. Concerned with far more than the evolution of the individual soul, evolutionary spirituality focuses instead on the evolution of the entire cosmos and our role in that unfolding story. It is a world view that looks at this vast cosmos, where new stars are continually being born and old ones are dying; at this earth, where life continues to evolve toward ever-greater diversity and complexity; and at human consciousness, which continues to grow to ever more expansive reaches, and sees an underlying unity of purpose. Evolutionary spirituality concludes that the universe is going somewhere and that we are a key part of that journey.

This evolutionary perspective can have a deeply catalyzing effect on one's spiritual life, and perhaps nowhere do we find a more compelling version of this perspective than in the readings of Edgar Cayce. Despite the fact that I was steeped in the readings’ story of the soul in the earth and their repeated reference to the soul's purpose as a “companion and co-creator with God,” I was nonetheless amazed, when I turned to the Cayce source with my evolutionary sensibilities awakened, to see a complex and profound body of evolutionary thought that had been there all along, “hiding in plain sight.” Yet the contemporary conversation about evolution, inclusive of diverse spiritual and scientific perspectives (one of its great strengths, as we shall be seeing), has not so far included the contribution from the Cayce legacy. It is largely for that reason that I have framed this book around Edgar Cayce's distinctive perspective on evolution. I believe it is an important addition to the evolutionary inquiry that may well shape the direction of this century's spirituality.

In presenting the Cayce readings’ perspective on our evolutionary purpose, I have tried to give a comprehensive treatment of their take on the origin and destiny of the human soul. However, there is one aspect of that story that I found to be too large and complex to assimilate into the general evolutionary perspective given here. It has to do with the role of the Christ, his own evolution, and the impact his evolution has had on the rest of the cosmos. Try as I would to weave that important narrative into this work, there was no way I could do it justice without literally doubling the length of this book. Therefore I have opted not to open that discussion here, instead making it the primary focus of a follow-up work that I am tentatively titling The Rest of the Evolutionary Story. For those not familiar with the Cayce readings concerning the Christ, the material dealt with here stands on its own. For those who are already familiar with the importance the Cayce readings ascribe to the Christ, the evolutionary path described here is offered as a significant context within which to place his story.

Regardless of your prior exposure to the Cayce material, my hope is that the concepts and practices described in the chapters ahead will assist you toward finding your place in this great evolutionary framework; for as we each find our own co-creative path, we serve the great ongoing evolutionary agenda of the cosmos, while simultaneously finding our own greatest peace, happiness, and fulfillment in life.

^*Friedrich Schelling, (1809), Philosophical Inquiries into the Nature of Human Freedom, retrieved from en.wikipedia.org.

¹Friedrich Schelling, (1809), Philosophical Inquiries into the Nature of Human Freedom, retrieved from en.wikipedia.org.