Growing Up and Waking Up

Welcome home to your true Self.

I have been studying Ken Wilber’s integral model the past few weeks and am very inspired how he brings together the evolutionary process of growing up into more and more maturity and the meditative path of waking up into higher states of consciousness and experiencing subtler realms of existence. Both processes ideally happen on a spiritual path.

Contemplating how to push both processes, these are my suggestions:

Growing up naturally happens with time, but I feel there are a few things we can do to exhilarate the process. There is cognitive growth, emotional growth, moral growth, and so on. Using some introspection and contemplation, looking at the not so developed parts (and this is without judgment, simply an observation) you can embark on practices that support growth in that area. For example, you can study knowledge for cognitive growth, join a community or have therapy for emotional growth, learn about nature for ecological awareness, and such. You get the point. Take a pen and paper and without judgment note down your strong areas and your less developed areas. For each less developed part find something that can strengthen that part and for each strong area within you offer yourself a gift like some flowers or being in the sun. Create some incentives to grow in other areas.

Awakening or waking up generally only happens when consciously embarking on a path of dedicated meditative practices or through substances. The important part here is though how to maintain a once gained experience. Ideally, the special experience of other realms turns into a 24/7 state of consciousness and not just available through substances or when sitting in meditation. So how is that possible? In my experience, this is three-fold: meditation practice, contemplation/introspection, and cleansing/purification of the physical/emotional/mental. There is some overlap between these. This could look like a combination of sitting and movement practices, a healthy diet, and journaling.

We become what we practice. So I would also add interactive practices of compassion and loving kindness. Where can you offer a compliment, hold space for another’s sorrow, be present as a grounding force, and offer smiles? This is how we change the world!

I’d like to share Wilber’s words in this regard as they really touched me.

“Your very thoughts and behaviors are contributing to the form of tomorrow. By adding something new that has not existed before, incl. thoughts, feelings, ideas.

Think the highest thoughts you can!

Feel the deepest love you are capable of!

Reach up or down to the highest or deepest Divinity that you can experience!

Treat others with the tendresse of kindness and the most caring of compassion that you possibly can!

If you are at the leading edge of evolution, which you certainly are if you are interested in this subject, you will directly, immediately, and instantly contribute to what Whitehead called ‘an ultimate of the universe’, namely the creative advance into novelty. You will contribute to evolution indeed. Welcome to your place in history!”

May you contribute to the evolution of this planet through changing within and without into ever more love.

In love and light,
Devi