The 5 Paths Of Spiritual Development ~ The Healing Sphere
Tuesday 28 September 2010

The 5 Paths Of Spiritual Development

Having just returned from a sabatical period I feel it is time to update, the healing sphere, hopefully in a fresh and interesting manner.  I also hope to include more spiritual development tools and philosophies that I have picked up on my up to date spiritual journey.

Recently for me there has been an intense period of change.  I was blessed by our ascended masters of the light by receiving my sixth initiation or sixth upgrade, if you prefer.  This was a profound experience and has opened many doorways both internal in my microcosmic universe and externally in the macrocosm.  However my intention today is not to discuss initiations or experiences but to explain the paths of spiritual development.

Often individuals will be heard stating that this is my path and that is my path etc.  However it is clear to me that their is a misunderstanding in the fundamentals of what a path is.  Hopefully by the end of this post all should become clear.

The 5 Spiritual Paths

There are five distinct yet slightly overlapping spiritual paths.  They are not, as many would believe, defined by culture or religion but in fact style of development, they are as follows:

1)The Path of Virtue Cultivation
2)The Path of Absorption
3)The Path of Insight
4)The Path of Energy Mastery
5)The Path of Reality Creating

The Path of Virtue Cultivation
This path is identified by two key characteristics, firstly that of critical self appraisal, in order to identify your "fault" therefore your responsibility in all events which have had an impact on both yourself and those around you.  This is an extremely tough and highly mature approach as it requires a completely balanced and impartial view of all events, emotions and actions.  The identification of your part or "fault" in all events should lead to the understanding of Karma and karmatic correction.  As the Dalai Lama frequently suggests that if you do not help others at the very least do not hinder them and that hindrance can take many forms of which the most basic is an emotional response resulting in a change in behaviour.  A completely impartial response of one who has cultivated virtue in this respect is to be not affected by the events and actions around you.

Secondly on this path is the acts of good deeds with the intention of balancing karma not by undoing that which has already been done, i.e. not tackling karma head on, but by outweighing the karma for which you are already responsible by devoting your life to supporting, helping and nurturing with kindness the world around you.  This is an extremely difficult thing to do in isolation because having not approached your own issues with an enlightened view it is very easy to become burdened by the issues of others.  There have however been many examples of those in incarnation who have cultivated virtue in this manner, Mother Theresa of Calcutta to name just one.

The Path of Absorption
This path is probably the most well known and well practised by those who feel they are on a "modern" spiritual path.  Absorption includes all meditative techniques with the exception of mindfulness (though to a degree mindfulness has an aspect of absorption).  Absorption very much relies on connection to the higher aspects of oneself and recovering lost parts of our being and with that lost knowledge held within both our higher aspects and the greater universal consciousness.

Transandental meditation tends to lie very much on the path to absorption  in that there is no desire to tackle previous issues directly.  TM sees development as coming through silent mind meditation bringing growth and development through harnessing the power of calm in order to reunite all aspects of our beings multidimensional context.

Path of Insight
This path is covered primarily by mindfulness meditation though once again all meditations hold a certain degree of insight (things on these two paths are not really clear cut).  Primarily insight is attained by holding a thought or concept and meditating on it until such times as it is understood.  This is in exact opposition to what i have described above where a clear mind is better.  By concentrating on a thought or issue, we allow higher aspects of ourself and universal consciousness to come forward and support our understanding.

Insight is also something which occurs very naturally even to those who do not believe that they are on any path or spiritual journey.  Through the turbulence of life, we hopefully make insights through trial and error.  We make mistakes and learn why we went wrong and adjust our position, this is the most basic and natural form of spiritual growth.  The sad reality is though that the majority of the population does not gain insight but rather develops bad feeling about any given subject.

The Path of Energy Mastery
This path is without a doubt the quickest (or should i say most condensed) of all paths.  I suggest condensed because you never by pass any stage merely condense it, therefore rather than face up to your karmic debt slowly but surely, on the path to energy mastery you must deal with it all in one foul swoop and this can cause problems for many.  More recently we here talk of kundalini syndrome, syndrome is nothing more than condensed karmic realisation by those who venture on this path without support.  There is much information available on how to awaken the subtle energies of the body, but not a lot on what to do with it once it is awake. 

I have found on my recent travels a new age approach to bio-energetics which is all "cool maaaaannn"  and there is no danger because its your "aura maaaannn", "get your third eye opeen maaaaannn".  These people find snippets of information and give it a go without really understanding what they are doing.  They then set themselves up as some sort of expert, without knowing anything about the subject, spreading this information and subsequently others get hurt without adequate support.  Be under no illusion these "experts" are responsible and will have to face up to every action taken.

The real energy masters, tend to be daoists or yogis, both of which are areas that I have studied. They fully support their students throughout there development in order to bring about thorough clearing and beneficial resolution (as not all who start the path will reach enlightenment, but every one who starts the path must resolve all issues up to and including the level they reach)

The Path of Reality Creation
This is not a path that I favour, though I do agree that through spiritual development reality creation in terms that are favourable to us and our development is a very real and useful tool.  In the early days I genuinely believe that no amount of spell casting and positive thinking can override the negative karmatic imprints which we all hold.  This is the path hinted at in the secret, and it is a path which I feel puts most seekers off the path, as manifestation is an advanced tool, and is certainly not something which works adequately until negative thought forms are overcome. 

My Path and Journey
From my perspective I have found value in all paths and therefore have not valued any one over the others.  I certainly use aspects of all paths in order to accelerate my development. 

For me the journey began with the path to energy mastery and the development of a stable foundation i.e. the lower chakras to be of the up most importance.  I did however find that the normal tools of energy mastery used for resolving karma as it arose did not necessarily work for me and therefore required that I looked elsewhere or accept that my journey was over (for the time being).

I found the tools used in the path of virtue cultivation to be an excellent addition to what I had learned in energy mastery.  The accelerated path of energy mastery coupled with the tools of virtue cultivation meant that I now had the ability to go further on my path than I had previously been capable.

I frequently find myself on the path of absorption and insight though these are not the mainstay of my practice. 

One thing that becomes apparent when you study the journey of any well documented masters.  There is a lot of travelling, seeking and learning.  Very few stick to any one location during development and it has been hinted that on many occasions travelled to find something new on their path. This is one thing that has paralleled with my journey, as I have found that there is no one thing that works effectively for any two people and that you must search for what is effective for you.  I do not believe that you will find your answers in any one place, even though I have attempted to demonstrate the tools that worked for me, and some other things I have picked up along the way, you may find that these things do not work for you. 

That does not matter. We are brothers and sisters and i will be here when you get back from searching.

Bless you all