What does it mean to live a Spiritual Life?
Dear Friend,
The great Carl Jung said that unconsciousness is our worst sin and moreover that we will do anything to avoid facing our own souls. Yet, many people, once they have decided to take the road less travelled, pursue it relentlessly, pondering the meaning of life, reading thoughtfully and mindfully meditating to educate their soul ‒ striving to connect with their growing understanding of the Divine. But is that what living a spiritual life is all about?
To try to understand what a spiritual life is, we first need to define what spirituality is. Teachers, like Sandra Schneiders, professor emeritus from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, CA) see it in relationship to our capacity to transcend, as we consciously live our values through self-transcendence to the perceived “ultimate value”[1]. Others like Ewert Cousins[2], a pioneer in interreligious dialogue, and author of books like Christ in the 21st Century, refer to it as “the spirit”; with this spiritual core as our deepest centre where we can experience ultimate reality. So, is spirituality simply accessing our inner dimensions?
Kees Waaijman[3], a Carmelite scholar, categorises spirituality as a multifaceted phenomenon: secular; religious; cultural, nature etc. He also differentiates types of mysticism and spirituality, with one type being ‘primordial’ spirituality. We, too, agree that the concept of spirituality has room for many perspectives, essentially involving a “sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and typically involving a search for meaning [and purpose] in life”. Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and founder of Logotherapy, makes the distinction between a life of purpose as one’s higher purpose versus a life in purpose or doing things of value for humankind and welcoming and embracing every single moment.[4]
Many of the ‘practitioners’ of what is termed ‘primordial spirituality’ have little or no formal religious education or knowledge of orthodox concepts of the Divine. However, whether separated from the technology and advancements of today’s world through choice or not, these practitioners can naturally have their own direct connection and experience of the Divine. In addition, Waaijman and Eckhart Tolle,[5] both reinforce the possibility of a mystical experience for those who do not necessarily fall into the category of theologians and educated mystics.
Whether from a religious background or not, we want to reiterate: Those who seek with Love in their hearts, can have a direct experience of the Divine. In fact, in The Five Bodies[6], Drs. Hurtak remind us that “[e]xercise of the intellect, feeling, and will can make a philosopher, but not a mystic. Super-sensory experience is needed here and is available to everyone with a pure heart irrespective of time or space.”
For many, a major part of actualisation of spiritual life is through prayer which demands a transcendence of self and a reaching of union with the Higher worlds. In this Light, The Keys of Enoch® offers five general practices through prayer and meditation:
- Hold fast to the holy way of life.
- In your dealings, honour all with the radiance of Love.
- Look within and look without and see yourself as your own bridge between heaven and earth.
- Behold the palace of the universe and the myriad spheres of the organic balance of nature.
- Know that you can always rejoice in the Godhead and in the myriad radiations of the Living Light.[7]
What then is a spiritual life? Is it a mystical life where the aim is “union between God and the soul”, including what Evelyn Underhill, British mystical poet and author, claims to be the true goal of the mystical experience, namely “the intuitive contact with the ultimate,”[8] and the secondary phenomena of mysticism like “divine visions and voices”? Theologian, Dr. Celia Kourie believes that “[a] true test of mysticism is to be found in the ethical behaviour of the mystic and his or her overall adaptation to life.”[9]
We affirm this is what Jesus said: Love God and Love your fellow man [/woman]. It is a life of loving dedication to God that is also a life of purpose and a life in purpose. According to Drs. Hurtak, the emphasis should be both on living a life in union with the fullness of the Godhead wherein we seek to understand the Divine Realms, and on being the best person we can be by focusing on a loving consciousness within and without.
With this we merge both spiritual and scientific understanding and, in activating the five bodies, which are the spiritual vehicles of human-divine experience, we become who we were born to be, helpers of humanity, our ‘fellow persons’, and live our life in purpose by bringing meaning into every moment and living in the now. This requires commitment, hard work and living a prayerful, meditative life in which we express, with intention and extension, the Divine Names of the Most High God.
We greet you in the name of Hod Ha-Melek Tzedek, Melchizedek Meshiah, he who is fatherless and motherless, who educates our soul, and guides us in the upliftment of our consciousness to be in union with the Divine.
With Love and Blessings,
[1] Schneiders, S. 2005. ‘Approaches to the Study of Christian Spirituality’, in Holder, A. (ed) The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 16.
[2] Cousins, E (ed.) 1985. World Spirituality. An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest. New York: Crossroad.
[3] Waaijman, K 2002. Spirituality. Forms, Foundations, Methods. Leuven: Peeters.
[4] https://positivepsychology.com/viktor-frankl-logotherapy/#:~:text=Three%20philosophical%20and%20psychological%20concepts,life%20(Batthyany%2C%202019)
[5] Tolle, E [1999]/2001. The Power of Now. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
[6] Hurtak, J.J. and Desiree. (1996) The Five Bodies. AFFS. 3
[7] Hurtak, J.J. (1973) The Book of Knowledge The Keys of Enoch. AFFS. Glossary
[8] Underhill, E (1911/1995) Mysticism. The Development of humankind’s spiritual consciousness. London: Bracken Books. 29, 38-39
[9] Kourie, C (1992) Mysticism: a survey of recent issues. JSR 5 (2) 83-103.
