Three Spiritual Paths
“Your spiritual path isn’t always just something you find, you started it the moment you took your first breath, and ever since you’re been getting closer and closer to remembering who you truly are!” — Martin R. Lemieux
(The following is from a guest writer)
The Paths Of Ascension
In the School of Life there are three main categories of spiritual paths of ascension going up from life on a planet such as Earth, and each individual one may have supplemental variations of the basic path. The experience of life will teach us the laws of the path we are working on, if we but take the time to listen to what life is trying to teach us. Few listen, and thus many repeat life situations over and over, again and again. The first time a lesson is presented it comes as easily as a gentle breeze. But if it is not heeded, succeeding presentations will be harder and harder until the being understands both the lesson and that Creation is the ultimate judge of right and wrong action. Creation’s momentums moving through eternity will go on, seemingly with or without us, as we choose. Although it is Creation’s intent that you learn life’s lessons, you may choose how long it takes and how strongly they must be presented in order to register. It is interesting how we fight life’s lessons, even though the life Creation is intent upon giving us is far more wonderful and marvelous than our wildest dreams.
The Left Hand Path
The first path up inside is the path of law and order, right and wrong, correct behavior and discipline, and how to behave in a civilized society. This is one of the first things you must learn when you attain human level incarnation. We call this the Left Hand Path. On this path you learn about creation’s laws, and that you must live and abide by them. You learn to appreciate justice and fair play. At this stage of your spiritual development, self-discipline is very important, and you learn that the laws of this path are non-negotiable. You must live by and master them to expand into future growth progressions. This is a big obstacle for many, but consider the lessons of life. The greatest asset anyone can have in this world is to be self-disciplined. If you are self-disciplined, you can have anything in this world you wish. A positive meditation program requires a great deal of self-discipline. There are no jails in the upper regions of life. The jail we make for ourselves in the physical world is sufficient. Thus, in time, one comes to appreciate law, order, fair play, and justice. It is good to identify injustice, so long as one understands creation itself is in charge of metering out justice. Governments tend to teach the laws of this path. Right and wrong, injustice and justice. Creation has laws, and it is important you learn and understand creation’s laws. You may be able to justify your actions, but at this stage of your development creation will not listen. Hatha and Raja Yoga offer good progressions on this path. When you have developed a sufficient amount of good Karma on this path you are ready for the next path of ascension.
The Middle Path
The second path is the path of philosophy and theology, which involves belief systems and religious practices. We call this the Middle Path. On this path you are usually involved with a faith religion in which a certain set of beliefs provide you with their set of progressions. Usually there is an intermediary such as a religious figurehead, savior, or possibly an embodied guru or master. Very often people get involved in other people’s progressions on this path, to the detriment of their own. Much of the progress here is mental, and yet no real substantial progress is made until one learns how to get free of the temporal mind. This path goes a long way up, along what might appear as a stairway in creation. For those who are observant and listen carefully there is also an elevator. One is treated to great wonders in the upper regions, and in what one finds within their own being as one grows in relation to this path. One of the main lessons of this path is we are all brothers and sisters, and we must learn to love one another with true heart love. You will meet those you love many times and in many ways, but you must also learn to let go. Love is something you give, not something you get. Human emotions provide great pleasures on this path, but they are also the chains that bind one to these realms of emotional and mental illusion. Believing in something does not make it real. Reality is that which exists and requires no belief at all. Faith religion is for the most part the provider of progressions on this path. Or perhaps it is that which prevents progressions. You must find your own way out of this labyrinth of beliefs. If what you are doing spiritually requires you to believe a philosophy or faith, you are involved in a Middle Path progression. Bhakti Yoga encompasses the progressions offered here. There is much to say and learn and argue about in all of this, which is good mental exercise. But in the greater Cosmos, philosophies and theologies mean little if anything at all. Remember, believing supports conscious illusion. For the true believer the day will come when some event or circumstance will catapult their consciousness into a different reality. Creation has many awakenings for the spiritual pilgrim. Some spiritual awakenings can be rude, some can be very uplifting. Some spiritual awakenings can catapult consciousness into a higher mental velocity and related life experiences. Spiritual progressions would be easier if one could let go of old beliefs when creation decides to offer one the prospects of new horizons. If consciousness can learn to let go of the mind and see with its own devices, new beginnings are much easier to comprehend. Letting go of the paradigms of one’s life is difficult to do, even when the new beginning has a much better future to offer the spiritual pilgrim. When you are ready to discover and develop your own true being, and become the master of your own life, you are ready for the next path of ascension.
The Right Hand Path
The third path is the path of individual ascent, the true path of ascension, the divine progression of the Creator. We call this path the Right Hand Path. On this path you must learn to get possession and control of your own being. You must also learn to leave behind the labyrinth of beliefs and attachments learned from the Middle Path. This path teaches you that you are the embryo of a divine being, but you must learn how to master the energies of the fire of life yourself. This path is also called the warrior’s path, because you must fight for your own spiritual being in order to progress on this path. While getting possession of one’s being is not very difficult, getting control of it is a much different situation. Again, discipline is the major key to the avenues of this path. You must learn to be yourself, not to play to the crowd, better to play to the man or lady in the mirror. Within you is your divine child, and this part of your own being must be brought through life’s perils and darkness into the true light of life. There are progressions beyond any guru or master in this path, for this path can take one all the way to becoming a divine being in one’s own right. There is much to gain, to learn, to comprehend, but what one tends to see in one’s finite life is what there is to let go of. If you would be a bird, free to fly on the winds of time, free in the ongoing adventure of being, you must learn how to let go of the tree. On this path you learn that ‘all life is equal’ in potential, and that each and every one of us is unique and special. In addition, to travel this path you must be center stage in your own life, so you can truly discover, realize, and live your divine heritage. Not self-centered and conceited, but understanding your energy is yours to do with as you as you see life’s circumstances, values, and opportunities. This is truly a path of practice, never one of devotion or belief. Many will claim to know the way, but the path is within your own being. If you understand that practicing devotion to any other being is a very serious deterrent on this path, then Surat Shabda and Tantra Yoga offer good progressions here. Yes there are many temptations put out for the pilgrim on this path, but what could possibly be more valuable than the acquisition of divine life? For this path ultimately teaches you how to look all the Lords of Creation in the eye, not as an awed aspirant, but as a developed equal. You are the embryo of a Divine being. To live on that level of life, you must master the energies of that level of being. By mastering the fire of life, you can transcend the greater Cosmos and become a Divine being in your own right. You must learn to be a container of your own life energies. What you can contain of life’s energies you can take wherever you go. Containing the energy, light, and fire of life, you learn how to power your own consciousness, thus realizing life is eternal. Through energy management, you can graduate from the school of life. There is a way home, and the door is open. Follow the song of life towards the light of life and the magic moments will lead you home … there is a way.
Bruce K Avenell