If there is something spiritual growth ain't, it's easy. Sure, you've got to learn new stuff, and change perspectives, and force bits of the psychic/spiritual anatomy to work - like learning to walk as a toddler, or forcing newly acquired bits of brain to work as a young adult, but sometimes it seems like ... you learn and know and do something, and all of a sudden its like you don't know that. What happened (to my grammar, if nothing else!)? :)
Well, my opinion is that ONE of the problems with change, apart from all the dealing with new ideas and learning new skills and so forth, lies in the realm of what is often termed "the unconscious".
Now, Lobsang Rampa is a writer with his good aspects (such as much of his knowledge) and his bad aspects (such as his sexism, verging on misogyny), but one of his, in my opinion, "good bits", is his explanation of the unconscious: parallels.
Rampa's take on this is:
- we have a Soul (or Higher Self, or Atman, or any of a number of other terms)
- that Soul experiences, learns and grows as we do
- that Soul is also responsible for sustaining our existence on various levels, and influences our behaviour through its own essential characteristics
- that Soul often does not limit itself to directing just one of us: there may be a number of other entities who are part of the same Soul
- these are termed parallels (or soul parts, or part of the same Soul Group, and so on and so forth)
At our level, our awareness of these other parts of our Soul is through our unconscious (by the way, I prefer to use "unconscious" rather than "subconscious", as the latter term implies some sort of inferiority).
Rampa goes further, and explains the apparently unused capacity of our brain as being those that are allocated to use by our Soul for the purpose of directing other parts of our Soul group. On that, I'm not so sure ...
Going back to parallels, our inherent connection with them means that we do share their attitudes and urges. That is a two way street: if they are having a bad day, we can be dragged down by that, or we can do something to lift them and relieve their angst.
In terms of change, it basically means that, for a change to be permanent, we have to change mot only ourselves, but also our other parts: our Soul, and our parallels. So, as I wrote in the title, (one of) the trouble(s) with change is your other yous - you other soul parts.
Then again, that can always be one of your strengths: they could actually be more evolved than you, and you could be the one dragging them back :)
It's worth thinking about: it puts a different perspective on the effort and repetition that is sometimes required to effect change, whether for the better or the worse.
You can also, if you wish, start to take some control of this process. I've emphasised a few times in this blog of the importance of self knowledge, of being honest about what one is feeling and thinking (even if only to yourself). Well, if, while doing this, you feel like your almost talking to another person, you could well be. To effect the change, you have to, basically, talk your Soul into believing in the change, and ALSO talk your other parts into believing in the change.
That might not seem fair, but remember that those other parts of you represent your experience in reality to date: to deny a reluctance that comes from that accumulated experience, perhaps because it is not convenient or "nice", is to deny who YOU really are, what you have been through, and what has made you who you are now - both good and bad. It is to take a superficial, selfish view of who you are, and what your responsibilities are.
It is far, far better to deal honestly with your urges, including those urges of yours that have their origin in another "person" who is really simply another part of yourself. Do so, and what you are seeking to do is more likely to become a genuine part of yourself. Fail to do so, and you will be spiritually trite, glib and facetious in all that you do or say.
It also throws a new aspect open with respect to the view that we are all connected ...
As a final point, by the way, parallels almost NEVER meet (although I've often wondered, given the similarities and connection which may be there, if twins are sometimes parallels?): if they do, it is generally for a major task.
Love, light, hugs and blessings
Gnwmythr
This post's photo is yet to be posted.
Tags: growth, personal responsibility, selfishness, selflessness, Seth, parallels, Soul, soul parts, unconscious, subconscious
First published: Saturday 24th October, 2009
Last edited: Saturday 24th October, 2009
