why is it so?

Originally Posted by wstein

The number one reason is that partially spiritually advanced does not mean that the ego has been dealt with. Ego loves comparisons.

Another reason is that its obvious that some are more spiritually aware or experienced. This tends to correlate with being more advanced.

Seems pretty likely that not all are even spiritually advanced. Therefore in fact some ARE more spiritually advanced.

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The real issue here I suspect is that some make a big deal of being more advanced like that somehow makes them better. Declaring that one is 'better' is a sign that they are not very spiritually advanced.

Someone has their head screwed on the right way in this view..:)

[RedEmbers]

Yes... Wstein

In creating this thread I instantly recognised my own resistance to people who appear to be telling me how advanced they are.lol
I realise how much I subconsciously and consciously recoil if I feel that is the message coming across.

I do realise that we are all at different areas in our journey and bring different things to the spiritual table.

I also realise that I personally, with any mention of spiritual superiority talk lol that I immediately react from a place of feeling very small... the energy I feel from some who appear to announce their level of advancement (I am thinking of the sort of motivational speaker types with a cult following and bags of money lol) make me feel, I guess intimidated, threatened even.

So even with the slightest hint of this... I feel myself reacting.

[Moonglow]

Hello,

Who is making one feel inferior?

What makes another more "advanced" spiritually?

What are these evaluations based on?

These are questions I ask myself at times, so ask here.

Does Spirit define itself and set requirements that one has to abide by?

If we are Spirit having a Human experience or in essence Spirit then this implies to me that what one experiences as this Human-being so does Spirit and so no one is above or below another. Just living life according to how one can best live it at the moment.

This to me is not a contest, but just being of that which I see as creation and it many forms and wonders.

Just going to add not to be superior, just how I react to such attitudes of superiority at times.:)

[Swami Chihuahuananda]

Originally Posted by Moonglow

Hello,

Who is making one feel inferior?

What makes another more "advanced" spiritually?

What are these evaluations based on?

These are questions I ask myself at times, so ask here.

Does Spirit define itself and set requirements that one has to abide by?

If we are Spirit having a Human experience or in essence Spirit then this implies to me that what one experiences as this Human-being so does Spirit and so no one is above or below another. Just living life according to how one can best live it at the moment.

This to me is not a contest, but just being of that which I see as creation and it many forms and wonders.

Just going to add not to be superior, just how I react to such attitudes of superiority at times.:)

I would venture to say that from our perspective as humans walking our various paths, there is variation, and stages, and differing levels that we are open to . Degree of 'advancement' is a relative thing seen in the context of
our changing perceptions and experiences over the course of out lives , and in comparison to our interpretation of others' perceptions.

From the perspective of pure Spirit , we are already advanced beings, or another way of saying that is that from that perspective , this life is a linear story with a beginning and end, with changes in all the middle , while Spirit is non-linear , not defined by time . The context is not one of a linear set of changing perceptions, or the perception of change as a set of defined events . In that context , there is no judgement of higher or lower, better or worse .

From here we can overlap to experience non-linear and timeless Spirit, but
we still mostly reside (at least I do) in a temporal, spatial , biological framework . It seems to be a pretty automatic thing for people to compare themselves to each other . One thing : what we have in common is much more than what sets us apart .

At the same time development of awareness is an intricate evolution of
perception, introspection , discernment , acceptance, allowance , openness, thinking , and not-thinking . Not everyone gets as far into it or sees as sharply. All of this that wstein said makes complete sense:

The number one reason is that partially spiritually advanced does not mean that the ego has been dealt with. Ego loves comparisons.

Another reason is that its obvious that some are more spiritually aware or experienced. This tends to correlate with being more advanced.

Seems pretty likely that not all are even spiritually advanced. Therefore in fact some ARE more spiritually advanced.

---------
The real issue here I suspect is that some make a big deal of being more advanced like that somehow makes them better. Declaring that one is 'better' is a sign that they are not very spiritually advanced.

Originally Posted by Molearner

Ivy,

I don't know in which way you are referring. When I say "rich" on a spiritual forum I am not referring to material wealth even though this principle is apparent in material applications. Spiritual evolution or wealth is accumulated sequentially.....a step by step process. While it is possible for enlightenment to come in a blur via an extraordinary act of grace it is more normally a lifetime achievement......a result of much trial and error and the outcome of many years of dedication. It can be painful to admit that others have worked for what they have received.

People were enslaved because one race believed that they were more evolved than another. The white slave trader viewed the black man, woman or child, as savages that it was the white mans right and duty to train, like animals, to serve the good prosperous race.

The horrors perpetrated through that belief are not yet gone. And perhaps to be so, those comparisons made with good intent in the bible, now need to be left behind.

Originally Posted by Colorful-Chameleon

I do realise that we are all at different areas in our journey and bring different things to the spiritual table.

I also realise that I personally, with any mention of spiritual superiority talk lol that I immediately react from a place of feeling very small... the energy I feel from some who appear to announce their level of advancement (I am thinking of the sort of motivational speaker types with a cult following and bags of money lol) make me feel, I guess intimidated, threatened even.

So even with the slightest hint of this... I feel myself reacting.

Personally all this Spiritual advancement makes me shudder, the word 'objective' is thrown around quite a but but when it comes to Spiritual advancement it's noticeably absent. Objectively, when does someone become Spiritually advanced? What are the criteria/yardsticks to measure against? It's often the ones who calim to be Spiritually advanced that aren't as advanced as they claim to be. It seems human nature and Spirituality aren't as far apart as some would want it to be. I think what wstein's saying here is that people who are Spiritually advanced don't usually feel the need to brag about it.

People with cult followings tend to perpetuate that, they need to appear as if they are advanced so their followers feel as if they have to emulate them. It begins to look like something out of a school playground.

Originally Posted by Colorful-Chameleon

Yes... after a few months of personal spiritual exploration, after trying to connect and live by the direction of 'higher self conciousness' I soon quickly realised how very human I am... with this though... I came back down to earth and felt very at home with all the humaness lol... what I see when I am faced with another is how wise and also how silly we all are...

Curious that you used the word 'home'. Here's what I really don't understand about this. So we're Spirit on a human Journey and other phrases of that ilk but what does that actually mean? To me it means we've come from a place of Unconditional Love, access to the Akashic Records, Collective Consciousness, higher vibrations, yadda yadda.... Everything that advanced Spiritual beings are trying so hard to get to. But we're here to learn and what can we possibly learn that Spirit doesn't already know? By the way some people talk about Spirit then surely aren't we already as evolved as we can possibly be? If we are trying to evolve Spiritually then how can we do that with the Spiritual equivalent of being in the Allegory of Plato's Cave?

Perhaps the most Spiritually advanced people are the ones that have it most backwards, that being human is the lesson for Spirit. I watched a YouTube a while ago which said that Ascension doesn't mean we're going to ascend to some Spiritual Lalaland in some far off dimension, Ascension means that we're bringing (for this stage as they described the process) fifth dimensional consciousness into this reality. That kind of conformed what my intuition has always been telling me and changes the game completely.

[Gem]

Levels of advancement are a process but spirituality is not a procession. The setting up of expectations and the promises and temptations that invoke the desire for spiritual experiences only perpetuate the continuation of the mind and drive the karmic wheel, for real contentment has no bearing on circumstances.

[linen53]

We view our spiritual development as in tiers or rungs on a ladder but in actuality that is not the case. We are all on a different path and no path is higher than another. We are all running along side of each other. Some individuals are not in the spiritual awareness state yet and some are. We will all make it to the goal-line.

I am glad I am where I am and a lot of my hard lessons have been learned. Others still look forward to learning their hard lessons. We are what we are. No judgement.

Originally Posted by Colorful-Chameleon

In creating this thread I instantly recognised my own resistance to people who appear to be telling me how advanced they are.lol
I realise how much I subconsciously and consciously recoil if I feel that is the message coming across.

I also realise that I personally, with any mention of spiritual superiority talk lol that I immediately react from a place of feeling very small... the energy I feel from some who appear to announce their level of advancement (I am thinking of the sort of motivational speaker types with a cult following and bags of money lol) make me feel, I guess intimidated, threatened even.

So even with the slightest hint of this... I feel myself reacting.

I'm glad you started this thread because I often find myself reacting the way you do, and I've been asking myself lately "what is that about?"

Becoming aware of my reaction and asking that question has led to me reacting less and less often...haha, is that spiritual progress?

There is such a huge variety of subjects here, that reading just blows me away. I see so many people far more advanced in areas that I ever will be, and areas I know I will never even delve into. But I also know that I don't have to. And I think that too is progress for me. I don't have to prove anything to my ego, or that of another by being more knowledgeable or skillful in many many areas.

I also find that I my reaction when I recognize someone as advanced (and more advanced than I am) is positive, but when someone declares themselves as super advanced or declares me as less advanced, that I bristle.

I am comfortable with where I am, until someone points a finger at it, then I feel insecure and ashamed.

[Moonglow]

Originally Posted by Dar

I would venture to say that from our perspective as humans walking our various paths, there is variation, and stages, and differing levels that we are open to . Degree of 'advancement' is a relative thing seen in the context of
our changing perceptions and experiences over the course of out lives , and in comparison to our interpretation of others' perceptions.

From the perspective of pure Spirit , we are already advanced beings, or another way of saying that is that from that perspective , this life is a linear story with a beginning and end, with changes in all the middle , while Spirit is non-linear , not defined by time . The context is not one of a linear set of changing perceptions, or the perception of change as a set of defined events . In that context , there is no judgement of higher or lower, better or worse .

From here we can overlap to experience non-linear and timeless Spirit, but
we still mostly reside (at least I do) in a temporal, spatial , biological framework . It seems to be a pretty automatic thing for people to compare themselves to each other . One thing : what we have in common is much more than what sets us apart .

At the same time development of awareness is an intricate evolution of
perception, introspection , discernment , acceptance, allowance , openness, thinking , and not-thinking . Not everyone gets as far into it or sees as sharply. All of this that wstein said makes complete sense:

The number one reason is that partially spiritually advanced does not mean that the ego has been dealt with. Ego loves comparisons.

Another reason is that its obvious that some are more spiritually aware or experienced. This tends to correlate with being more advanced.

Seems pretty likely that not all are even spiritually advanced. Therefore in fact some ARE more spiritually advanced.

---------
The real issue here I suspect is that some make a big deal of being more advanced like that somehow makes them better. Declaring that one is 'better' is a sign that they are not very spiritually advanced.

Hi Dar,

I can see when one is focused upon advancing oneself in Spirituality or what may be seen as Spiritually.

A thought comes to me. This is in a way like someone maturing. It seems this is not something that one tries to do, but just occurs naturally through aging. One gains experience, wisdom (hopefully), and outlook on life that is deeper then a child (in some respect). The catch to me is not to get too stuck in ones own ways and think one knows it all or does not listen.

So, to me if we be mind, body, and spirit then the maturity or advancements occur naturally. Each in their own way.

To me, can depend upon where one places importance and focus upon.
Is "ego" really the problem? Are we not already being our "True selves"?
and other such concepts and or philosophies.

I understand where some of these things are pointing to, but what about the one that does not follow or focus upon any of this?

It seems that when "Spirituality" gets divided up between "advanced" and not, then it can lead to a feeling of exclusion or unworthiness for those that don't follow what these positions may be based on.

I learn from others that may have more knowledge then I and that may have deeper understandings in regards to Spiritual/Life matters, but don't feel they are more advanced, just been at it longer.

To me, it is just seeing and feeling where one is at and what one may ask, then take it from there. Everyone has something to give and something to receive.

In the big scope of it all, the Universe seems to do what it will do and whether one looks at it in Spiritual terms or another does not change this, just expands the view, IMO.

Thank you, it gives me some good reflections in which to place this perspective.