Principles of Personal Growth: 101

The ordinary process of human personal growth proceeds entirely by accident and according to the whims of nature. And that’s OK. There are those however who experience a nagging absence of closure in the life that accident and nature provide: who are therefore called or pushed to an attempt to see beyond the veil of the ordinary. Well, it’s a jungle out there and even in the field of consciousness raising there are predators, quicksands, and parasites. 

One of the dangerous vulnerabilities of the spiritually curious is the inclination to be something before one has discovered what one is. One wants to be THAT without having understood THIS, and thus the blind have led the blind for millennia. The way it works is like making a topiary of a shrub. The aspiring individual encounters an attractive form in the spiritual jungle and gravitates to systems that will help them shape their Self accordingly. Some of these systems are extremely sophisticated, and topiaries are not a bad thing. However, though these forms are often quite lovely, this is certainly not the path to greatest fruition of human potential. 

There is a polarity of influences in personal growth. There is moving away from the dark and there is growing to the light, and interestingly enough both of these natural inclinations lead the same direction. The dark is not going anywhere. We will always be rooted there, and draw nourishment from its mystery. White light is the blend of all wavelengths, and if we are not distracted by red or blue or yellow it leads one way. We will never be more than we can be, and we can always be less than we are. The question is what are we, and what fruit are we destined to provide the universe. Fruit is the product of flower and comes of itself through environmental pollination. We have little influence concerning fruit. This is a crucial point. It is a tragic truth that many individuals, even those with great potential, spend their energy aping some fruit rather than gathering the light that would naturally produce the flowering of awakened Awareness. We can never be more than we can be, but we can experience at the limits of our being. And it is in living in the limits of our being that we gather the most light. And it is that light infusing the dark nature of our selves that inevitably produces the growth that leads to the flowering of awakened intelligence.

We always must begin from where we are, and nothing can be given for which there is no resting place. The first requisite is the will to be attentive: sleep, in its many forms, comes of itself. 

Didactic Bluebird 

There once was a bluebird 

Who convened a group of chipmunks 

In order to expand their horizons 

“Realize your untapped potential 

 Spread your wings and fly” 

And soon the chipmunks lined up 

And flapping their little arms jumped off the stump 

Bruising their noses somewhat severely 

The bluebird flew off 

In search of chipmunks of greater insight and ability 

And certain of the chipmunks go daily to the stump 

Hoping this time 

To get it right