Stages of our Journey
It has been a while since I have posted...but hope to get back to consistently writing down the things along the way that I come across that are helpful as well as the things I'm learning personally. I plan on writing a series of blog posts all around this idea of specific stages in our journey. Much of this material comes from Ken Wilber's and Richard Rohr work. The impetus of this series was inspired by an email series Richard Rohr posted several years ago called "Evolution of Consciousness". There has not been a week that has gone by that I haven't reflected on his work around this concept.
The reason behind knowing these stages is that it provides some markers about where each of us might be in our journey of development as well as a map of where we are going. I have found that without it...there is a real sense of being lost.
- I am about me
- I am my tribe / I am my behavior
- I am my feelings / "I feel therefore I am"
- I am my(smaller)self
- I am my shame
- I am powerless
- I am my(Larger)self
- I am Connected (to myself, to God, to others, to intimate partner)
- I am me!
These are here to be more of a helpful resource to name our current experience. They are not steps to be achieved. Rather, they are mile markers helping name the maturing in life through experience. If we can learn, accept, and let go of the coping mechanisms / survivals skills of each stage, we slowly begin to evolve to the next stage. All of us - get a taste of more evolved stages here and there. Think of a moment where it was like heaven on earth and it felt like you transcended time. That likely could have been a moment of Stage 9.
What this is not...this is not a prescription for every person...each person has to open himself/herself to the unique mystery within. It is not us against them or better / worse mentality. Every person is equal of love and mercy. Thomas Merton made a bold statement regarding this saying, "The man who lives in division lives in death". This is not to be a prescription to set us apart or to become more of a spiritual type of being. Instead, it is about reintroducing ourselves to ourself.
I want to be clear that these ideas are taken from Rohr and Wilber. In many ways, I am taking what they said and expounding on them from my own reflection and experience. I once thanked a mentor of mine for all the wisdom he sent my way and he simply said, "I'm just sending the things I have learned downstream". Rohr and Wilber's work has done this for me. I want to keep sending what I am learning downstream so I'm not burying talents (parable reference) so to speak.