Dare to Be a Spiritual Hero (Quote of the Week, 6/21)
What does it mean to be a spiritual hero? It is a bold and audacious idea, but I think that especially in our time, when there are many people looking for ways to step forward and make the world a better place, more and more of us are going to have to be willing to be just that, in order to take responsibility for where it is that we are all going. We’re going to have to be willing, in all our imperfection, to be exemplars of what’s possible and to stand for Spirit in a disbelieving world. When we awaken to the truth and reality of Spirit, we see much more deeply into the nature of who we are and into the nature of reality itself. And it is there that we can discover a fearless courage to live this life for the highest reasons, and be a representative of that deeper and higher reality in this world. I have no doubt that the degree to which any one of us is willing to do that is the degree to which we’re going to have a real impact on the future of our evolving consciousness and culture.
Filed Under: EnlightenNext Editors’ Blog • Evolutionary Enlightenment • Evolutionary Spirituality • Quote of the Week
I agree.
re: “We’re going to have to be willing, in all our imperfection, to be exemplars of what’s possible and to stand for Spirit in a disbelieving world.”
There’s the song from the musical “Man of La Mancha” Don Quixote sings, “The Impossible Dream”. It could be the anthem for believing in a disbelieving world. There are those people who look at the way things are and say “We’re always going to have war” and then there are folks like me who hold on to that against-all-odds impossible dream. I hope someday children will ask “Daddy, what’s war?”, when war will be history.
“Spiritual hero” is a contradiction of terms. The one who is really spiritual is the one who dropped all ideas about being a hero, about heroism, about whatever kind of efforts doing. To be spiritual is to be effortless, utterly at ease with Existence as created by God, with what IS the way it IS. A really spiritual human being does not have an ego left and all the striving and pretensions for heroism disappear because they are from the ego. Ego is a great claimant, a pretender over Existence, over its future. Ego is also a great doer and ego claims that without its doing nothing ever happens in Existence, even future will not be without the ego. Ego knows its own falsity and that is the reason for the ego to keep claiming, pretending, setting ideals, looking for results, having expectations. And this is the ridiculousness of the ego.
Otherwise Existence does not need any heroes and if you look around you will see that everything is utterly beautiful, the way it should be. The only disturbance in Existence is man’s claiming ego, which wants to control all and to interfere in everywhere, even in the future, which simply is not. So what happens is that one illusion wants to control another illusion and then illusory possibilities are endless – Go Man Go!:)
Hi Aliya, re: “who is really spiritual is the one who dropped all ideas about being a hero, about heroism, about whatever kind of efforts doing.”
I see your point but can accept that perhaps acting in a spiritual way can be or at least feel courageous. There are times when speaking out to power or whistleblowing doing the right thing are taking your life in your hands risking life and limb, as you may know. But spiritually Awakened and committed people are known to take those actions and risks in the interest of doing the right thing and standing against injustice. In this way I see spiritual people as being heroes, the more the better but I would deplore any recriminations against them.
The more difficult a spiritual decision and action may be, the more spiritual advancement and development is made. It can be modest but actions that affect the betterment of lives of many often become milestones in societal changes. Wouldn’t you agree?
Aliya, I liked what you wrote. Ego, ie wanting to control what others think of us, wanting external attention, fame, etc., prevents us from truly being free in the present. Drama, ie exaggerrating our feelings, and/or experiences, ie whining about the past as opposed to simply communicating subtly, also prevents us from being truly free in the present too. But maybe it is arrogance speaking and maybe I just need to speak for myself. So I will say that I feel the most alive, I feel like I am “in flow”, I feel like I am in and out at the same time, up and down, experiencing all and nothing simultaneously, true paradoxical multitasking simplicity, etc., I am both on and off a high/low, when I “do” improv comedy, when I am being spontaneous instead of being/doing practiced stand up comedy. When I do a practiced stand up comedy set I sometimes feel like the comedy “does” me! I know a lot of people may say this paradoxical duality I have described sounds like “Bi Polar” disorder, etc. and I used to be concerned about other peoples opinions. Now I just look at other people’s opinions as falling somewhere in the range of from toxic to meaningless projections and/or occasionally helpful. Lately I try to be practical and I try to use whatever I hear for its humorous comedy potential!
The world is always in need of great examples. A true leader discovers his ability to lead and also realized that it may be required to ultimately stand alone. That is where spirituality, spiritual understanding and direct spiritual connection comes in to let us know that we are never truly alone and in fact, supported by a Presence that is eternal, power-filled and beatiful! All is well is the motto of this leader, even and especially in the ‘imperfection’ of it all!!
With Peace
Jason
To”…(A) perpetual state of becoming” I would add the word and/or words “present/presence”. A perpetual state of becoming present/presence would symbolize a goal for a realistic utopia where we could all be free from past REGETS and future concerns. If basic needs could be achieved for all (understandably in light of unpreventable catastrophes ie weather phenomena, etc. there would most likely be limitations and a temporary, regression to a “state of nature”. Such an eventuality in a realistic utopia might be addressed without ego and drama, though. In fact, if we could address such issues now without the ego and drama of corrupt, greedy stakeholders, and if we could, likewise, address the past without the whining, drama and ego of historical steakholders,that involve traditions and customs, we would all be well on our way toward a realistic utopia. Then perhaps we could all have equal opportunities to be authentically IN the present. We could begin to all become aware that external(mostly emotional, but also physical) excess IS the drama that limits us to the past through tradition and custom whereas external greed limits us from the present by ego desires to control the future. In other words, we might all become aware that only having our PERSONALITY in the present is real, everything else ie in the past and the future is an illusion and has us!