When are you going to grow up? Meditation for 7/11/14

Resurrection Ferns on a live oak in Hobcaw Barony; SC

     “A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply disturbed emotionally, who has learned there is both good and bad in all people and things and who walks humbly and deals charitably.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

“The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.”  Douglas Englebart

     Emotional maturity and spiritual maturity require both pain and effort, and the path of spiritual growth cannot begin until there is a solid foundation of emotional maturity.  Thus, it is absolutely necessary for us to do the work required to develop as emotional beings if we are to begin to experience the spiritual.

     For myself, I would define emotional maturity as the point where one’s view of themselves matches the facts, the reality of whom they are.  This is often referred to as humility – having an accurate enough view of one’s self that one loses the self-centeredness necessary for our survival as infants.   Only after escaping the need to constantly think of one’s self can one become spiritually aware of all that exists outside their own head.  Since self assessments are typically far from reality, it is crucial that we allow trusted others in our lives with whom we keep no secrets.   If we trust their wisdom enough we will listen to their criticism, knowing that even if it is “embarrassing” now and then, we will have a much more accurate assessment of ourselves to work with than by working with our own perceptions alone.  Only then can we begin to truly get rid of those parts of ourselves – guilt, shame, greed, lust, envy, fear and the host of others that block our spirit and keep us from spiritual birth.  It is in those moments that we can allow the false (our ego) die that we can be resurrected as a spiritual being.

The best part about this is that we already have everything we need spiritually within us.  The road to spiritual awakening and ultimately enlightenment is a journey of eliminating the false so that nothing but the true remains.  Think how difficult spiritual awakening would be if we had to manufacture, borrow, copy, steal or otherwise acquire a spirit. It is right here and right now within us, just below the surface yet fully available to us at any time.  All we need remember is that “self-removement” is the path to “self-improvement,” and that with a bit of steadily applied effort we can find that path that is our life’s work to follow.

Today may I make a bit of spiritual progress, however small it is.

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