“The path isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.” – Barry H. Gillespie
A complete spiritual transformation should never be likened to a race with start and finish lines. We often go through life dealing with exhausting trials and tribulations, and the darkest hours always come before the dawn. At this point, we are more than eager to break free from the cycle of confusion and pain, craving a refreshing relief because we are certain that we’ve learned enough. The result of thinking this way is a false expectation of perfection. We believe that at the end of the most intense part of our awakening, everything else falls into a forward path from then on.
This misconception of the spiritual process often leads to another awakening, and sadly, a rude one this time.
An evolving soul will be revisited by the same situations, circumstances, and lessons over again. Events that may have frustrated you in the past, and yet you scaled through, would come back to test your resilience again. It’s a consolidation process and life recycles these past situations to help you grow deeper in your faith.
It’s a constant battle between true consciousness and the human ego
In reality, a high level of spiritual consciousness does not make you invincible. You could still find yourself attracted to the same people, places, and behaviors that hindered your spiritual growth in the past. Your reaction to the recurrence of these situations says a lot about your spiritual progress. Does it incite anger and frustration at having to deal with the same lessons you’ve already learned, or do you accept it as the spiral nature of life and handle it better than you did before?
You won’t get it right the first time, or even the second time. It’s a process, and no matter how many times you’re faced with the same annoying situations, it’s a chance for you to grow to an expanded level of consciousness.
The concept of achieving perfection at the end of your spiritual journey stems from an egotistical nature that is always at par with consciousness. A spiritually conscious person is one who folds away the human ego completely, choosing to follow the way of light, truth, and humility. Your ego isn’t going to go down easily, and it grasps at threads to hang on to your soul, planting seeds of fear and self-judgment inside you.
“Once I become more present, self-disciplined, healthier psyically and mentally, etc., then I’ll be perfect and will never have to re-experience the things that make me feel scared, vulnerable, inadequate, or out of control ever again.” These words would often flitter through the mind of a person whose ego is activated.
Unconditional acceptance for abundant growth
You won’t always be able to stump out your ego at the first trial. It convinces you to live in trepidation of future trials. However, no matter what level of consciousness you’ve achieved, trials will always find their way to you. Sometimes, they may be battles you’ve previously fought and won.
This is a chance to teach yourself true patience and self-control. Unconditional acceptance, otherwise referred to as neutrality or nothingness, is a state of mind where you choose to remain undeterred by recurring situations. You may not always get through it easily, but you could count it as a win in your journey when you are not frustrated or demoralized by the fact.
Yes, you slipped and drank again after sobering up, but you can pick yourself up and re-enter the fight, rather than wallowing in self-hate and self-pity.
Yes, even though you’ve experienced a spiritual transformation, you’re still tempted to indulge in the same acts that stole your joy and peace. Teach yourself to not get frustrated when you have to scale through these tests again. True spiritual transformation occurs on a spiral path, and the longer you stay focused, the more conscious you become.
Tell yourself that it’s okay. It’s okay now and it’s going to be okay later. No matter how many times these situations circle back into your life, you’re going to accept them unconditionally and make your way through. You are not going to cage your growth by giving yourself an ultimatum, a false finish line that should somehow exclude you from trials for eternity.
You allow yourself a wider room for amazing, intense, and rejuvenating growth when you are no longer bound by mundane perspectives.
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