All on the same path
Beneath all the conflicts in the world, all the opposing beliefs, the contrasting scriptures and prayers to a Divine Power known by many different names, there is one, uniform and stage-specific process driving humanity.
It is a process of expanding consciousness and determined actualization, bringing us first in awareness and then in form to our highest expressions as human beings, which is to become pure instruments of love and peace.
Don’t judge the book by its cover
By describing the developmental stages that unite humanity, I hope we may see our common bond.
However, a superficial glimpse of these stages can also lead to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. It can seem that the religions coming later in the sequence must be more advanced, then, right?
Wrong.
The stages are merely chronological. They reflect an expanded capacity to take on the next task for humanity as expressed in human time. It does not mean that one understanding is intrinsically more valuable than, or superior to, the other.
Are the dry ingredients in a cake intrinsically “better” or “more developed” than the eggs and sugar because they come last in the sequence?
In the process of growing sunflowers, are the efforts to harvest seeds any more vital or correct than all the other efforts that came before (preparing the soil, digging the rows, sowing the seeds, watering the sprouts, keeping away pests)? Efforts without which the sunflower wouldn’t have grown at all?
Remember, too, that human spiritual growth occurs on many different layers, all at once.
Your profile
So now please recall the profile you selected earlier as being the most like you today. The profile you selected is just the individual expression of you in this lifetime right now – the tip of the iceberg of “you.” (See Box 1.)
You are also part of a family (Box 2) with its own evolutionary process. Your family could be relatively young and closely identified as a unit (i.e., undifferentiated), or you could all be a cast of very unique characters, bouncing off each other very intensely.
You are also part of a group soul (Box 3) that brings to you its own set of challenges consistent with its progress on its own evolutionary track. What community group do you most identify with? It can be a group united around a purpose (profession or mission), an identity, a set of beliefs, a training, an activity. Where is this group in its own evolutionary cycle?
It’s not unusual for an individual to be part of several group souls simultaneously. Maybe you’re a teacher (a profession that, today, often offers a Stage 4 or 5 experience) but you’re also in the gay community (Stage 3 if you’re here in America; Stages 2 or 5 if you’re in Africa). Maybe in addition to being a gay teacher you’re also an environmentalist (Stages 2, 3 or 4). Many group soul experiences may overlap.
Beyond that, you’re part of a race (Box 4) that’s having its own set of challenges, also depending on where you live in the world and how those racial issues play out.
Your national identity (Box 5) sets up another set of issues and challenges for you.
As does your religion or faith (Box 6).
Level Praying Field 