ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUL # 8

Below are some of the main challenges that will confront us at every level of ascent towards Unity Consciousness.

We are meant to enjoy the whole conundrum and savor the journey - good or bad, light or dark, sacred or profane. However, lurking in the background, also, are the following factors constantly challenging our spiritual transformation - The Shadow, Ego, Store Consciousness, the occult conditioning of our Subconscious over the course of our life time as well as trickster spirits.

 

Finding the balance between MIND-Understanding (which also houses Narrow/Monkey Mind), INTELLECT (Wisdom and Spacious Mind,) EGO  and SHADOW is an ongoing process that the Ancestors call a process of "Becoming." Depending on our spiritual practice we can subordinate;  Ego to the Higher Self as well as our Shadow or Evil Inclination to our Inclination to do Good. Spiritual pursuits will help us control our Store Consciousness and the dark side of our past lives. It will also assist in modulating the negative aspects of our conditioning residing in the subconscious. Sensory driven positively worded imagination is especially powerful in reprogramming the subconscious.

Without the desire for spiritual transformation we will confine ourselves to the sentient pleasures of the body - PHYSICAL. 

A sensory practice such as yoga asanas (postures,) pranayama or breath meditation, Chi Gong, Tai Chi, kirtans and other practices will help us access ENERGY.

Balance here goes a long way to helping to control MIND.

With this dynamic we can more easily allow INTELLECT to take command

and begin to approach UNITY or Bliss-Oneness or Causal Consciousness.

 

The Mind must mind what the mind minds best.

 

Use the mind, do not let the mind use you!
Use it to support the heart’s wisdom.

 

The heart must honor the mind for its understanding and the mind must follow the heart in its wisdom.

 

The solution is spiritual practice and also;

"With all your strength get knowledge."

The Ancestors also teach ...

It will be given to you according to the measure of your humility.

Transcending Ego by doing things for their own sake and not for an ulterior motive and also attending to needs not wants.

It will be given to you according to the measure of your love.

Opening the heart chakra is the root to the Soul or the Higher Self. Love as a commitment not necessarily an emotion or sentiment. Seeing the divine in others with compassion (You do not have to like them.)

Finally ...

It will be given to you according to the measure of your faith.

 

The challenges that confront us at all the levels of Soul and with each sephirah of the Tree are as follows.

 

At the level of PHYSICAL lies the temptation to immerse irresponsibly in sentient pleasures. Most of us hopefully, even after Covid, are beyond being tied to our survival needs and can begin to emerge again into our growth needs. Sadly, many on the planet are in survival mode clinging to a subsistence living and do not have this luxury.

 

When we get to the two triads of ENERGY, the first triad of Ego tempts us with the need to groom our personas to conform with the expectations of others. Or we become trapped by pride, the desire for fame or and power as well as our attachments to our wants and not to our needs. 

In the second triad of Love, Judgment is one of the hardest sephirot to master. Here we are required to invoke the power of Mercy and to “sweeten” our judgments with compassion. This requires that we see the divinity in others and understand that some have serious conflicts that we do not have or that our spiritual practice has allowed us to overcome. Alternatively, they may be young souls, burdened with Store Consciousness and the poor cards they were dealt at birth. Because of fate they are not as far along the path as we are. We may have even been worse than them in prior life times. Mercy requires discernment and discrimination and the understanding that Ego may be projecting our Shadow onto others for self-gratification.

 

In the top triad of Keter, the shadow side of MIND-Understanding is Monkey or our survival mind. This primitive mind encompasses the qualities of; dogma, zealotry, denial, detachment, resignation and hopelessness.

INTELLECT-Wisdom on the other hand embraces; hope, faith, belief, trust and surrender. The shadow side of wisdom is heartlessness. 

 

Will, intention and passion in the center limb are key to holding the balance between the two limbs of the Tree, the left side of contraction (fear) and the right side of expansion (love.) All these qualities are essential for spiritual transformation.

Tricksters and dark forces become unrelenting at the top triad of Keter. Our light is a reproach to them. Ego also changes color like a chameleon and Shadow can shape shift and delude us that the means justifies the end. The dark forces know our weaknesses and will play on these.

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