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The Integral Spiritual Path The Fifth Turn of The Chrysalis Age concentrats on an integral spiritual path in more detail, but for now, here is a brief outline of one: Body: The general health and physical well-being of the body. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and a greater awareness of all of the body's functions and ways of being. Energy: Call it Chi, or Prana, or bio-electro-magnetic fields, but there is an energy that flows through the body. We cannot only become more aware of it, but we can learn to generate it and harness it for the general health of our body and mind, as well as for spiritual transformation. Instinctive Mind: This level of our mind requires greater awareness as it can govern our initial reactions in all manner of circumstances. Awareness of our instincts can help understand and harness them. Emotional Mind (The Heart): Our emotional lives are amazingly rich and complex, yet few of us take the time to investigate them. Practice at this level consists of looking deeply at our emotional lives. This can take the form of traditional therapy, or it can simply be found in a daily journal where we ask ourselves the very difficult questions we rarely want to answer. Intellectual Mind (ego-self): This level of practice involves examination not simply of our emotional selves, but of our whole ego-self. It revolves around contemplation and meditation on the nature of our minds, of why we think and behave the way we do. This investigation is informed by diligent study of spiritual texts concerning the whole of the spiritual path. The ultimate aim of these practices it to reveal the illusion of separateness created by the ego-self. The Soul (True-Self): These practices begin to reveal through direct meditative experience the true nature of the ego-self and slowly, the true nature of reality. The practices revolve around meditation on the True-Self, the I that is beyond I, also known as Witness, or Atman, or the Clear Light Mind. Spirit (The Ground of All Being): These meditative practices revolve around direct experience of Emptiness, or the non-dual experience of the universe as One without a second, of Spirit as the Ground of All Being. Relationships: Relationships are important throughout our lives and no less so when on a clear spiritual path. As we deepen our spiritual practice, everyone in our lives, indeed everyone we meet, becomes our spiritual guide in some fashion or another. Teacher: A qualified and compassionate spiritual guide is indispensable to an integral path. We need the experience and wisdom of someone who has been on the path before us to help steer us through obstacles and toward deeper realizations. Community:
A community of fellow spiritual practitioners can be invaluable as we
transverse the spiritual landscape. While friends and family can be
excellent teachers, even if they are not engaged in the path, our spiritual
community provides essential support and guidance on a regular basis.
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