ASH WEDNESDAY
Just as there is biological evolution, so the spiritual nature of all around us evolves too. We grow in awareness, our consciousness becomes more fine-tuned to all that surrounds us. Much as we strive for those spiritual goals, reaching towards the sublime infinite, we are but human, easily distracted. Builders of religious buildings have striven to create spaces in which we can focus on the numinous, but often things get in the way. Other worshipers, incongruous objects, bad architecture, uninspiring music. We know we should pray, meditate, contemplate - but we do it all too rarely.
Hence those times in the spiritual calendar that impose upon us an obligation to turn towards the infinite.
And then what?
My principal belief is that human spirituality is a lifelong quest for ever-greater awareness. It should not be mere acceptance of nostrums handed down over the centuries - "there, quest no more, for all the answers are here." That approach dullens our spiritual evolution. The quest is imposed upon us by our own motivation to fulfil our human potential. To make the very most of that with which we were born.
The story of Adam and Eve is, in a way, a warning by our ancient forefathers in the Middle East not to question too much, nor to seek knowledge. Refusal to heed this warning resulted in the Fall of Man.
Now, I don't subscribe to the notion of a fall from grace, a past state of perfection in which all that was expected of Man was obedience. Rather, I see history, progress, being a slow journey from Imperfection towards Perfection, as a wrote last year, a long journey from Zero to One. From spiritual emptiness to spiritual fulfilment.
To be open to the evolution of our spirituality, we must strive to be more sensitive to the calling. And here, I find myself on the one hand disagreeing with religious fundamentalists as much as I disagree with scientific rationalists. The voice of the infinite calls to us - you may wish to call this 'God' - but the voice is neither shrill nor obvious.
And - here I base my beliefs on observations made throughout my life - the presence of the infinite in our lives is there, but we can tap into this presence only if we seek, and listen.
It is necessary to take a balanced approach to the way we interpret that which is around us. We should neither obsessively seek out coincidences and then contrive to find meaning in them - nor should we ignore those flashes of numinous insight which befall us from time to time.
The rationalist would not stray into a world so intangible, full of that which cannot be empirically recorded and explained. Yet if we are open to a universe of possibility, our spirit - can indeed feel a heightened degree of awareness and understanding. But, for now, these moments are few and far between and their intensity limited. Enough to be noticed, and built on.
For the key question that all of us - every single human being ponders on - is the existence of our consciousness after our bodies' physical demise. My personal belief - but it is one I can challenge, question or even reject should new insight arise - is that from lifetime to lifetime, that consciousness does indeed move on from being to being, each time rising in spiritual awareness, evolving away from the beastly and towards the angelic.
How do I know this? Sensitivity to those moments that I've been recalling and reporting for many years, those flashbacks, those moments of anomalous familiarity, which I firmly believe are from beyond my lifetime, from before my birth, a sense of connection with a spiritual phenomenon larger than my mere ego. Was that 'me' in a life before? Don't know. Will there be a future 'me'? Doubt it. I am assuming spiritual evolution, and greater sensitivity to such phenomena.
As I wrote last year, the Universal Singularity is that to which I believe everything is tending towards. Billions of galaxies, billions of stars. More universes than just one? Who knows. As a species we will know more. But only if we genuinely seek, strive, and grow in spirit as we live and experience life - consciously.
This time last year:
'Peak car' - in Western Europe, at least
This time three years ago:
Pavement for Karczunkowska NOW!
[We still don't have one... I walk home in fear of my life.]
This time four years ago:
Until the Vistula freezes over
This time five year:
Of sunshine, birdsong and wet socks
This time eight years ago:
Dziadzio Tadeusz at 90
To be open to the evolution of our spirituality, we must strive to be more sensitive to the calling. And here, I find myself on the one hand disagreeing with religious fundamentalists as much as I disagree with scientific rationalists. The voice of the infinite calls to us - you may wish to call this 'God' - but the voice is neither shrill nor obvious.
And - here I base my beliefs on observations made throughout my life - the presence of the infinite in our lives is there, but we can tap into this presence only if we seek, and listen.
It is necessary to take a balanced approach to the way we interpret that which is around us. We should neither obsessively seek out coincidences and then contrive to find meaning in them - nor should we ignore those flashes of numinous insight which befall us from time to time.
The rationalist would not stray into a world so intangible, full of that which cannot be empirically recorded and explained. Yet if we are open to a universe of possibility, our spirit - can indeed feel a heightened degree of awareness and understanding. But, for now, these moments are few and far between and their intensity limited. Enough to be noticed, and built on.
For the key question that all of us - every single human being ponders on - is the existence of our consciousness after our bodies' physical demise. My personal belief - but it is one I can challenge, question or even reject should new insight arise - is that from lifetime to lifetime, that consciousness does indeed move on from being to being, each time rising in spiritual awareness, evolving away from the beastly and towards the angelic.
How do I know this? Sensitivity to those moments that I've been recalling and reporting for many years, those flashbacks, those moments of anomalous familiarity, which I firmly believe are from beyond my lifetime, from before my birth, a sense of connection with a spiritual phenomenon larger than my mere ego. Was that 'me' in a life before? Don't know. Will there be a future 'me'? Doubt it. I am assuming spiritual evolution, and greater sensitivity to such phenomena.
As I wrote last year, the Universal Singularity is that to which I believe everything is tending towards. Billions of galaxies, billions of stars. More universes than just one? Who knows. As a species we will know more. But only if we genuinely seek, strive, and grow in spirit as we live and experience life - consciously.
This time last year:
'Peak car' - in Western Europe, at least
This time three years ago:
Pavement for Karczunkowska NOW!
[We still don't have one... I walk home in fear of my life.]
This time four years ago:
Until the Vistula freezes over
This time five year:
Of sunshine, birdsong and wet socks
This time eight years ago:
Dziadzio Tadeusz at 90
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