Before becoming God one needs to become human first. The 3 stages of spiritual evolution or ignorance

If you identity yourself with any of these birthly identities of religious or communal division and look down upon the other, you have a long way to go, even if you are practising the highest spiritual practices. You will see stuckness in your journey after a certain point. This obstacle can never be removed by anyone else other than oneself. This is the root agyan or avidya (ignorance).

3 stages of spiritual evolution.

1. Pashu Bhaava – Emotions and feelings of Me and mine, we and ours. We and our religion, they and their religion. Divisional feelings between caste, creed, religion, nation, position, paths, communities. Concerns deeply remain in the welfare of only one’s own and only one’s (family/creed/community/nation). It’s the instinctive animalistic behaviour of strong boundary making, survival of the fittest by putting down or abolishing others under the influence of greed or fear. Purification at this level through spiritual practices leads to the next stage.

2. Manushya Bhaava – Emotions of brotherhood, oneness, compassion and concerns for all alike. One know there might be differences but still doesn’t prefer to hold barriers. Though one practices nonduality and has deep knowing that all is one, still one has common sense and viveka not to hug a bear or kiss a snake or walk in front of a moving vehicle. In this phase, one eradicates all wrong emotions, feelings and beliefs based on division and hatred that was programmed by society and false prophets. Oneness must be attained first by destroying all the divisions. In this stage emerges empathy and compassion where one begins living for the benefit of all. The whole world becomes seen as one family – Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. Indifferences may still be there within, just like there would be indifferences in one’s own family, but on a deeper level one is fully aware of the ignorance that the other is not yet aware of. From this space, emerges tolerance, acceptance and forgiveness. This is the first basic foundational teaching of SiA. Purfication at this level is NIRMAL MANN who then become eligible practitioners of Advaita to prepare for Atma Gyan (self-realisation). Many seekers remain stuck here wondering why they are not able to evolve despite all the higher practices or methods.

3. Dev Bhaava – The state of seeing God in all, in everything. There are no others because there is no ego to see any division. Everything is pure consciousness. One neither participates in the play of consciousness nor runs away from it. The liberated state. States of Seers like Bhagwan Ramana, Bhagwan Nityananda, etc.

Now, problem is when practitioners remain stuck in their limited beliefs and impulses at the 1st stage but keep doing the practices of 2nd stage with a deluded feeling they are in the 3rd stage. You see the obstacle? The teacher sees it, but the student doesn’t.

That is why one needs a teacher who can show these subtle obstacles towards the final path, but in modern spirituality, seekers prefer to teach their teacher how great their belief, religion, identity or ignorance is. They may even kill the teacher but not their ignorance. Thus, this remains a rare path. Most of such teachers thus remain anonymous, silent or are very choosy accepting students, who are truly ready. Every student feels he or she is ready but the teacher knows by mere intuition or a brief interaction. The teacher refrains from debates or convincing students through intellect and logic. There is very less work with ripe students. Ripeness comes from mastery of the 2nd stage.

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– Excerpts from Jake Light‘s webinar NIRMAL MANN

To join SiA ~ ShiftingIntoAwareness.com/join