The Divine Journey # 4

In the fourth part of our study in The Divine Journey and realizing what amounts to our Immortal Self, I want to talk a little bit about How to Open the Door to a Divine Life. All traditions in the East and West point out three distinct stages of realization through which the aspirant must pass, and each of these stages is unique in its character, and none can be skipped—much like a seed gives rise to a flower, and from that flower is born its fruit. All three of these three stages are required,

Transcript

In the fourth part of our study in the divine journey and realizing what amounts to our immortal self, I want to talk a little bit about how to open the door to a divine life. And I want to do so by telling you a quick story and then outlining some of the important ideas that it at least points to. So take a nice deep breath. There was once a woman who, Longing to make a new start after a painful divorce, Moved with her young daughter to a new town. Part of her plan included opening a small shop in the town's main square that would feature beautiful and unique objects from all around the world. That was her passion. In much the same way as we've been describing, Some of the most unique and beautiful objects particularly found in nature stir and remind us as they did her of something quite special and that all of us feel and see primarily in the same way when we hold these objects with our hands or our eyes. At any rate, Several months later the big day arrived. Her shop was brimming with all the things that she loved and as part of the special day she had set out tea and cakes on silver trays and everything was just shining. It was all ready and she eagerly awaited all the customers she expected to come pouring in but as the morning passed not a soul walked through the door. As she stood there silently behind the counter waiting what wasn't coming it seemed she began to despair. Still later that day with most of the afternoon gone and the evening not far away and still without a customer having come into her shop she couldn't contain her dismay anymore and finally let out a deep sigh followed by a complaint that she spoke out loud. Where is everyone? She said. How is it possible she thought that no one cares enough to even drop in and at least say hello? Is it even possible that the things I love so much could mean so little to everyone else? Her daughter who had been watching all along and there to help her mother overheard what she said and when she did hear what her mom said her daughter lifted her head from out of her coloring book and said mom you know I'm not sure if you understand this but I think there's a pretty good reason why no one's come in. I mean after all what do you expect? And a little irritated the mother looked at her child and said what are you kidding me? Like you know what the problem is but she didn't voice that. She said what are you talking about? And then dropping her head back into the coloring book her daughter said quite matter-of-factly well I don't know I thought you'd like to know mom you never put out your open please come in sign on the front door. Sounds simple doesn't it? Open ourselves up. Welcome in the divine revelations and the realization that comes with that kind of awakened relationship and yet if we've worked at all we understand it's not quite that simple that there are in fact pitfalls if you will along the upper path that leads to the realization of our immortal self. We've learned about this or at least heard from those souls who have gone before us and through the legacy of their spiritual insights their writings and revelations we've been given some signposts along the way at least for those of us who wish to awaken this sleeping divinity to take this divine journey within. In this instance all traditions in the east and west point out three distinct stages of realization through which the aspirant must pass and each of these stages is unique in its character and none can be skipped much like a seed gives rise to a flower and from that flower is born its fruit all three of these three stages are required or nothing real can grow. So let's look at these three stages and keep in mind that we're talking about how do we actually open ourselves up come to the door and leave it open that the divine light that a new kind of love might reach us and help us realize a new relationship with life and everyone else that we know. Here's stage one. When first stumbling upon the true upper path as it were most aspiring souls are highly motivated they share a single positive sentiment watch out world I'm coming through nothing is impossible for me. This stage we can simply call false self certainty and all of us if we've gone any length at all along this road to a new relationship with the divine understand this false certainty because the newly fledged seeker can't see yet that his or her budding confidence is more or less the byproduct of a set of self flattering images and their attending pleasures. In this instant the aspirant is fully identified with the promise of imagined powers just ahead filled as it were with the sensation of standing in this special light that they've imagined where their success is all but certain. It only seems logical to think at that point very soon now whatever I wish to manifest will come to pass money power illumination and people will be mine meaning everyone will look at me and understand all that I've accomplished and they'll want to know who I am and what I've done. All of this is part of the young spiritual mind and as soon as God acknowledges that young mind goes on to think acknowledges my greatness everyone else will as well there's nothing and no one that will ever stand in my way again that's the first stage and I know as well as you do there always comes a point where suddenly everything that we imagine would come to us as a result of our willingness to take this path that it just doesn't come that we start seeing things about ourself that we can't believe are true and don't want to believe because they fly in the face of this first stage of false certainty which brings us to stage two and it's important to understand that these two stages are inseparable because stage two is marked if you will by a kind of increasing sense of doubt this is the stage of uncertainty and many of the earlier illusions that we were formally so identified with and so positively filled with there they become to fall apart some are crushed and even the small successes that we had have proven themselves to be painfully incomplete what was once believed to be strength or resilience or our best quality show themselves as being either unavailable when needed most or worse non-existent the aspirant enters into a dark place none of his or her imagined powers have any real light to offer and in those moments it seems like there's no way out of that kind of darkness and as again necessary the aspirant now starts to think oh what was I thinking this path my life it's impossible nothing I've done to awaken myself has changed anything save for showing me how asleep I am I wish I'd never started why did I pick this up to begin with and in these times the aspirant feels lost much like a ship adrift at sea with holes in its hull taking on water and that same aspirant in them grows a conviction that either the divine has abandoned him or her or the whole journey was never anything but a spiritual pipe dream it's at this point that the aspirant enters into what is commonly known as the dark night of the soul a dark night which I might add if walked through which is the point of these talks brings that aspirant to the third stage of their journey and in that third stage reached only by going through this false certainty and then the darkness of a terrible uncertainty brings the aspirant to a completely new kind of certainty if we go through the first stage of ego-induced dreams born of what amounts to an imagined divinity where everything seems possible and then stay the course through the next necessary stage of what amounts to ego-shattering shocks where everything seems impossible because now we imagine ourselves not the greatest person that ever lived but maybe the lowest creature on earth then and only then do we reach the third stage here we gradually come to realize that both our former great self stage one and our terrible self stage two are secretly one nature they're just a level of consciousness we had no idea existed that sleeps in a world of its own dreams and in the light of this revelation that these two seemingly separate selves opposites as they come to be felt are secretly one we come to a realization a divine one that can be reached in no other way who we are our true self our immortal self is neither one of these false identities we're not the great self we're not the worst self we're neither of them we are something that is greater than the sum of those parts and to even catch an intimation of this causes the whole illusion of first this false certainty and then this terrible dread of uncertainty it causes it to collapse right before our interior eyes we are moved in that moment effortlessly from a world of dreams that has been ruled by illusions into the reality of a conscious relationship with what is immortal within ourselves the divine indwelling life the three stages are now complete we realize their culmination and in that realization receive the divine gift of what can only be called real certainty that real certainty cannot be shaken even by the most unwanted condition because every condition that comes to the aspirant at that point in their journey helps them understand with greater certainty that they are in this life going through the experiences they are so that they might with ever greater understanding realize nothing can stand in the way of their divine journey I'll see you in the next talk

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Thank you for the clear explanation. I will listen to it again 🙏

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