We’ve looked at the stages of spiritual evolution and how they progress on multiple levels simultaneously, guiding humanity through its development. Now let’s look at the constants that keep the system going:

1. Friction

A beautiful pearl cannot be made within the oyster shell without the introduction of an irksome bit of sand. Similarly, the inevitable challenges in human relationships propel our spiritual growth. To “live happily ever after” is not the purpose of life on Earth, actually. The purpose of life is to drive each other crazy so we are forced to learn and grow in wisdom and love.

• We develop the strength to stand in the “I Am” at Stage 3 (Declaration) by learning to assert ourselves, declare boundaries and stand up against anyone who seeks to confine or diminish us.
• We attain the ultimate goal of Peace in Stage 6 only after the challenges of Purification have made us surrender our mental, emotional and willful attachments. Those challenges often come at the hands of others.

2. Loving Inspiration and Support

It’s not easy to weather the inevitable relationship conflicts that force us to grow. To move through them strongly and effectively (without incurring karma!), we need the loving influence of others. These supportive others:

• provide wise perspective on our problems
• illuminate possibilities when we might not otherwise see them
• model and instruct healthy behaviors
• gently help us to see our blind spots
• provide essential comfort and encouragement

3. Fundamentalism

Evolution’s necessary friction can only occur when there are at least two people pitted against each other. One side pushes for change, the other side seeks to resist it. In the process, both grow.

Have you ever played “leap frog?” One person crouches down and forms a foundation, over which the other person jumps. Then they switch: the person who just jumped crouches down, so the person who just crouched can now jump over. Together, both move forward.

It’s the same with spiritual evolution. Remember, we live many lifetimes. From one life to the next, we exchange the energetic remembrance of our deeds with one other. We also swap roles. In this way we continually help each other move forward spiritually.

In every life, in order to grow, you are either pushing off someone who feels too rigid to you, or you are working to uphold established standards (“laws”) that you are concerned to see others failing to observe. Either you’re pushing off someone else, they’re pushing off you.

Fundamentalism is the foundation

Recall the stages of spiritual development on earth. This demand for something fundamental for human growth to push off against explains why, after the Overview of Hinduism and Abraham, the very first religious impulse to come to Earth was Judaism. Judaism brought The Ten Commandments through the Prophet Moses. That rock-solid Law was the foundation against which the upcoming thrust of human evolution could propel itself forward.

The “Chosen Ones”

This is why God called the Jews the “Chosen Ones.” They were chosen, essentially, to form the bedrock of the evolutionary foundation, uphold the Law, so that humanity could move forward, pushing off against that foundation.

Fundamentalism is defined as living according to a very strict, literal and rigid interpretation of holy scripture. The existence of fundamentalism is guaranteed on earth because it is tied into personality formation and how human minds process information (more about that in a future blog). Often the principle behind the fundamentalist views is based in essential spiritual truth, while the rigidity of the interpretation leads to distortions. But regardless, fundamentalism does its crucial, evolutionary job.

Any person holding fundamentalist views in any age and in any religion performs this “chosen” (foundational, law-abiding) function first appointed to the Jews.

Of course, fundamentalists grow in spiritual strength, too, when they are pushed up against. Their challenge is to remain true to the strict foundation of their beliefs despite the all the surrounding “temptations” of their changing times. Or, depending on their background and stage of development, their challenge may be to connect with the authentic voice within them that rejects the doctrinal law imposed by their conditioning.

Violence – A Major Evolutionary Detour

While fundamentalism is necessary to the system of human spiritual evolution, insisting on fundamentalism by waging violence is a big evolutionary no no. It creates significant personal consequences that basically detour one’s spiritual growth. Read more

4. A Way to Get Back: The Sacred Beloved

One of the defining characteristics of human life is that, upon incarnation, we lose our awareness of our connection to God. We experience ourselves as separate from, apart from God. Actually, we never really leave God at all. But in our consciousness we do. That loss sets us up to find our way back, and in the struggle, we accomplish the growth objectives here.

But then what keeps us from getting lost permanently? If in our awareness we get cut off, what ensures that we’ll find our way Home again?

The guarantee of our eventual, infallible return trip Home lies in what I call our “Sacred Beloved,” or twin flame. When we emerge from the Godhead and become sparks of individualized consciousness, we emerge two by two. Like twin snowflakes. No other set of snowflakes exist like you and your Sacred Beloved. You two are unique.

You will cycle through reincarnation together, sometimes sharing lifetimes, sometimes not, depending on each life’s growth objectives, your development and your karma. But your Sacred Beloved is never far away.

Sacred Beloveds do not always take the form of romantic partnerships. Depending on the karmic purposes of each life, they can incarnate as parent/child, siblings, twins, business associates, friends, any type of relationship.

Sacred Beloveds are so universal and potent that their lore abounds in history, literature and culture: Romeo and Juliet; Beethoven’s Immortal Beloved; Moses and Nefretiri; Jesus and Mary Magdalene, to name just a few. Always these relationships have a profoundly catalytic effect, and in time we will look deeply at the spiritual dynamics of the Sacred Beloved relationship.

For now, just know that the purpose of your Sacred Beloved is to provide you with a reflection of your own divine nature. Because you’re each of the same unique, divine substance, you can see and recognize in each other the truth of who you Are. Without that mirror, you would not be able to see your own nature and thus would not have a compass pointing you towards Home.

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