In the Eastern philosophical and spiritual tradition, there is a greater understanding of the process of change and growth than we have in the west. In Hinduism there is a trinity of three main gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. This represents a profound understanding of the natural polarities of life - that life includes death and rebirth, and that old forms are being destroyed constantly, making way for the new. Shiva, the destroyer, is called the cosmic dancer - the god of music, dance, and the arts - and it is said his dance keeps the universe in motion.
The Path of the Material World
Down through history, most human beings have been focussing on the physical realm - lets call their journey the Path of the Material World: the process of learning to survive and succeed in the physical realm.The physical plane is the most dense realm of existence: it is solid and slow compared to other realms. Time becomes important, it can take a long time to to bring things into physical form, whereas, in other realms, impulse and creation are often one and the same. The physical plane is a plane of duality where all things exist as polarities: it is as if the universe wanted to make love to itself, so the oneness created two-ness, the physical world, in order to develop separation and reunion.
Physical reality is a place of exploration and discovery: it is a place in constant, creative evolution. We are all divine eternal beings: aspects of the oneness of existence. We have chosen to focus our attention and awareness here in physical reality for a time, in order to learn, grow and develop.
Since the material realm is so dense, it is a challenging place for a spiritual entity to hang out. The journey of physical existence is essentially difficult, but there is great learning to be had here, and the possibility of incredible rewards and satisfactions, or we would not be here.
We are here on the physical plane to explore individuality, limitation, separation, and self-expression. This is the opposite of the essential spiritual experience of oneness and limitlessness. Because the experience of oneness is so powerful, we have to develop its opposite principle - individuality - equally strongly. We have developed this separation to the point where it eclipses the spiritual - we have gone too far, to the point where we are destroying our physical existence.
The time has come for reunion of the spiritual with the physical into a balanced and harmonious wholeness. This is happening now, and it is very exciting to be alive and aware on this planet at this time.
The Path of Transcendence
While most of us have focussed on the material world, there have always been some individuals who have focussed on remembering and developing awareness of the spiritual level of being. In doing so they have played the important role of maintaining the connection of humanity with spirit.In both the Eastern and Western traditions, there has been the belief that to focus on the spiritual path you must renounce the worldly aspects of life, such as relationships, money, and possessions. The ultimate goal has been to leave the limited world of form behind, by leaving our bodies, and returning fully to the realm of spirit - so this is a path of transcendence.
The Path of Transcendence teaches us that we are not simply physical forms, but that our true essential form is of unlimited, eternal, spiritual beings, a part of the oneness of all life. Remembering the essence of who we are, gives us a much clearer perspective on our lives and our human problems.
But, whilst it is helpful to remind us that physical existence is not all there is, the transcendent path tends to create a growing chasm between spirit and form - between who we are as spiritual beings, and who we are as human personalities in physical bodies.
The transcendent spiritual view is that the physical world is fundamentally unreal: an illusion in which we have become imprisoned. Our human bodies and personalities are traps from which we must escape, to find true liberation in the higher realms. We must strive therefore to transcend our human experience, our physical and emotional needs, and our feelings and passions. This philosophy implies that the physical plane is just a big mistake, or perhaps a hell or purgatory, through which me must pass, learning the error of our ways, until we get back to the spiritual realms where we truly belong.
But the physical realm has been created for a reason, and we, as spiritual beings have chosen to be here - we came here for experience, and not just to see how quickly we can escape! There is a unique experience of infinite value and richness to be had here if we are willing to embrace it.
In transcendent philosophy the ego is seen as an enemy which we should rid ourselves of. This creates an adversarial thought system - a belief that there are good parts and bad parts within us, and that we have to weed out the bad parts. This sets up false conflicts, and keeps us searching for someone or something to blame. The ego is simply our awareness of ourselves as individuals, and the term "ego" can be roughly equated with "personality". It is that aspect of our consciousness that is concerned with our survival and well-being on the physical plane. So there is nothing inherently bad or good about the ego - it is simply a fact of life, like the physical body. Without the ego we could not survive for a moment in the physical realm. To get rid of the ego we have to leave our physical bodies. So, any attempt to suppress our ego simply deepens the split and intensifies our inner conflict: the denied aspect starts fighting for its very existence. It is far more productive to appreciate our egos for what they are, and to foster co-operation between ego and spirit. We should teach our egos that opening to our spiritual essence will actually enhance our lives on Earth. We can thus develop an aware ego or conscious personality, which embraces our spiritual energy, and views our human existence within the larger universal perspective.
The Path of Transcendence attempts to repress human tendencies - sexuality, aggression, pleasure, desire for money and worldly possessions. But whatever we repress will remain dormant within us, and will resurface at some point. The result is that there have been scandals, throughout history, surrounding the emergence of the repressed "shadow" side of transcendent spiritual leaders: "celibates" are discovered to have secret lovers, etc.
Few followers of transcendence actually find enlightenment - instead they tend to end up full of self-criticism, chastising themselves for lack of progress in their spiritual development.
The transcendent path does very little to address the problems of the physical world - instead it views it as a dream or illusion from which we need to awaken. So followers of this path neglect their physical existence, and their lives tend to fall into chaos and poverty.
Meanwhile, followers of the material path have developed technology to the point where we can destroy the world through weapons or pollution.
The Path of Transformation
The Path of the Material World denies the spiritual realm, while the Path of Transcendence denies the physical realm. There is a middle way which integrates the material and spiritual realms, instead of denying either - lets call it the Path of Transformation. This path challenges us to create an entirely new reality. The time has come to dissolve the split between the material and the physical, and to bring those two realities together into one integrated experience.To do this we must strengthen our awareness of our essential nature. We are spiritual beings, and we must root ourselves in that awareness, and from that root we must learn to embrace our human experience fully. We must embrace the full range of our experience - human and divine - lovingly, and heal the split between human and being. We must bring the full power and awareness of our spiritual being into our human lives, and all our worldly endeavors. Only then will we discover the power and fulfillment that is possible in the physical form. Only then do we experience what life on Earth is really all about.
Rather than rejecting, or trying to get beyond, all the challenging experiences of our humanness, we can find the beauty and the passion in them. This process will be difficult and arduous at times, but it is also utterly rewarding, exciting, and beautiful.
By making a personal commitment to individual transformation, we automatically begin to transform the world around us. As we discover and express more and more of our spiritual potential, in our human lives, we influence everyone around us. And, as we are all linked through mass consciousness, our personal growth will directly affect everyone else in the world. In choosing to follow the Path of Transformation, we change our own lives, and we change the world.