A Roadmap for Individual Transformation

In this interview Roy Posner, president of Growth Online, describes the various approaches and methods to enable an individual to not only make progress in life, which we know as "personal growth," but to discover the pathways and methods that can enable us to reach our ultimate evolutionary possibility as a transformed human being.

Growth Online: Welcome once again to the Growth Online interview series.

RP: Thank you. I am very happy to be here.

Growth Online: I gather that you have been thinking a great deal about personal growth and transformation.

RP: I wish I were thinking about it more often! Or, should I say, I wish I were actually doing and practicing it more often!

Growth Online: Do you mean you actually practice what you preach?

RP: (laughter) Let's put it this way; the knowledge I have is far greater than my experience of the knowledge, which is even less than any permanent transformational change in my nature. On the other hand, it certainly doesn't hurt to have the knowledge of where you are going before you arrive at your goal!

Growth Online: So where do we start from?

RP: We always start from where we are! Then we either aspire for something more, or we are self-satisfied, and are perfectly willing to remain in the same place. This later fixidity and habitual nature of our consciousness is essentially the first step toward decay and death in life. People who experience life this way are coasting or are slipping down the slope towards one’s end. You know the Bob Dylan line: “If you are not busy being born, you’re busy dying?” Well, it is literally true!

(pause) To answer your question: We need to take stock of what we are, our current outer condition, as well as our inner condition, psychological or otherwise, and consider if there is a way to a higher consciousness and status. If we see a way to this higher condition, and wish to go there, then that is what I would call “aspiration.”

Growth Online: So the road to our transformation begins with an urge to improve ourselves?

RP: Yes. It is an urge that expresses as an aspiration for improvement.

Growth Online: But don’t all of us have these secret desires; these aspirations for improvement?

RP: Yes, of course. However, there is aspiration, and there is aspiration!

(pause) In other interviews, I may have discussed the difference between growth, development, evolution, and transformation. I mentioned that growth is attaining more of what we already have. It is movement and progress, but a sideways one. Development is the wanting and attainment of something different, of something greater than what we currently have or currently are. There is a qualitative difference. It is a movement upwards. Evolution is the attainment of an entirely new plane of existence and consciousness above our current functioning in our lives. It is a movement to another plane higher. And transformation, which is what we will be ultimately focusing on in this discussion, is a movement to a status beyond even our human functioning to a permanent and radically new evolutionary functioning. We are transformed into another type of being.

So the change we seek depends on our level of aspiration in life. Most people hardly aspire at all; or if they do, only at the level of just wanting more of what they already have; i.e. to be at the same level, but with a certain increase in quantity. The quality of their existence remains essentially the same; just the quantity changes. It is more of the same.

What I would like to discuss is how we move from our current functioning to a vast, new, dynamic, infinitely-creative functioning that is far beyond how we currently live our lives. This would be a vast subjective change in our being; i.e. a vast change in the quality of our consciousness and being.

Let’s face it, few people are interested in such a change. That’s probably the case because they have no conception of what such a change is to begin with; let alone what are the stupendous benefits that come from that new way of living. That higher existence is so foreign to us as to be virtually inconceivable. And yet, I would suggest that this radically different modus operandi is the very future of human life on earth.

What I would like to discuss then is a roadmap that leads from our current status to a transformational status. It is a guide consisting of the methods that will enable us to go from where we are now to what we can ultimately become.

So regardless of your level of aspiration, you can learn about these new vistas of consciousness and potential. All one needs is a modicum of curiosity. I’m sure that anyone reading this has a certain inner curiosity; and I suspect a fairy developed aspiration to improve one’s self, if not an aspiration to attain a supra-human status.

Growth Online: So you don’t have to be a spiritual-seeking individual to want to become something more than who we are?

RP: In one sense, we are all spiritual seeking individuals. We just have different levels of aspiration for change and progress. All that is needed to discover this extraordinary life is a healthy curiosity, and a degree of aspiration to see it come about. In that sense, I think we all qualify!

Growth Online: So where is the road that leads to a transformed existence?

RP: The road we seek to travel on this journey to permanent transformation crosses various dimensions of our human makeup. The road traverses our minds, in the understanding of the possibility what we can become. It passes through our hearts and bodies, as we enjoin our will and passion to take the journey; and in moves through the dimension of “spirit,” which is the ultimate consciousness that flows within us and around us, and is the great instrument that enables the great change we are seeking. In one sense, the spirit is the vehicle, the method, and the result all rolled into one. I will explain why in a moment.

So these are a few of the preliminaries of our journey.

Growth Online: So how shall we begin?

RP: (smile, pause) I think the first thing to do on the path to our ultimate transformation is to recognize our limitations as individuals. We said that we must start from where we are. If we are objective, we see that what we are is an amalgam of positive and negative traits. Our goal at the end of the road is to maximize who we are. It would seem that to do this we would want to enhance the positives, and reduce or eliminate the negatives.

Growth Online: Do you mean that all that is bad in us should be eliminated; and all that is good enhanced?

RP: Well, right off the bat we must be careful here, because many of the things we consider “good” might not really be good at all. Is it good for you to work at what your parents want for you; or is it good for you to get married and have children; or is it right for you and do what the society pressures you to be and become; and on and on. What is good and bad is not only relative to that person, but also the fact that many things that are considered good may not be good at all; or at least may be a mixture of good and something wanting. E.g., the United Nations has long been considered a good thing, which it is in essence; but is not perfectly good since it is be wanting in several areas. E.g., it advocates democracy for the nations of the world, even though its basic functioning -- with its outworn Security Council configuration that enables veto capacity and cancellation of an entire project by a single member -- is fundamentally undemocratic. How can the UN advocate democracy for other nations when it is undemocratic itself? So a perceived good may not be so in full, or at all.

Good and bad, even good and evil are thus constantly shifting. What is good one day may be an anachronism at another time.

(pause) But to get back to your question of how to approach the problem of what is wanting in us. I think to get at the heart of what is right and wrong, good and bad, and all, so that we know what and how to change and transform our nature, we need to go much deeper into the nature of our fundamental being. Though we start from where we are, we must know what we are truly -- not jut as individuals, but as a member of the human race -- so that we can measure where we stand; i.e. take inventory of who we are, and then take it from there.

Growth Online: So what are we?

RP: We are divided beings who need to find our wholeness.

And we need to discover the methods that will enable us to move towards that wholeness.

We need to find a path that will enable us to move from our divided status to our ultimate evolutionary status and potential.

That road must lead through some mechanism or method that enables our higher nature, our evolutionary nature to emerge. It is a road that must in the end lead to the emergence of our ultimate evolutionary transformation and status.

Growth Online: (pause) You say we are divided beings. How so?

RP: In a variety of ways. For one, we see that we are an amalgam of positive and negative attributes, as I started to mention earlier. I may be a friendly and cheerful person on the positive side of the ledger, but I might be a vindictive and angry sort on the negative. So long as we have attributes on both sides of the ledger, we are divided beings that way.

We are also divided because each of the fundamental parts of our being is unevolved; and they are also fundamentally out of phase with one other. By “fundamental parts”, I mean our physical being, that is, our bodies; our vital/emotional being; and our mental being, which is our ability to know, to think, and understand. These are the fundamental parts of our human makeup. If we examine each of them, we will see that each is highly flawed, and each is out of tune with the others.

Growth Online: How are each of these parts flawed?

RP: Well I already referred to the physical consciousness, which is fixed, doesn’t want to change, and wants to go on repeating. Our own physical bodies inherit the unchanging nature and unconsciousness of matter. Think of a rock, and what it is incapable of. We inherit through our physical bodies the very inconscience, unconsciousness, immovability, unchanging nature of the stone.

Then we must add the reality of the physical suffering, disease, decay, and death of our bodies. That’s a pretty impressive laundry list of limitations! So in this way we are divided and separated from a truer nature, which would show itself through willingness to change, overcoming of our habitual manner and its fixidity; the emergence of a certain fluidity and flexibility in the material nature of the body itself; a decided end of suffering and disease to the point of infinite health; and of course the real possibility that we can remain alive in our bodies for as long as we wish to.

Then there’s the vital/emotional part of our being. It is also divided and false. Though we may have the sweetest emotions on one side, through friendliness, concern for others, givingness, love, devotion, etc., on the other side we see how we are jealous, vindictive, hateful, angry, lustful, hopelessly desirous, all wrapped in wildly uncontrollable emotions that are reinforced by an ego that separates ourselves from the others and the world around us.

And then there’s the mental dimension, with its inherent Ignorance, with a capital “I”; that is, incomplete understandings of things, where it takes its own very partial understanding of any object of inquiry for the whole truth; not to mention its prejudice, wildly fluctuating opinions, its tendency to focus on the data of the outer senses which falsely believes it is the real truth unfolding before us, when in fact these sense inputs cause us to have partial if not completely false perception of the truth; thus leading to wrong conclusions, causing us to make error-prone or false decisions that lead to mistaken actions and failed outcomes.

Growth Online: We’re a real mess!?!

RP: I think so. Or, we can look at it as a golden opportunity for progress, evolution, and transformation. It is not a question of whether the glass is half empty or half full. It is to see the status of the glass as the current indicator of our wholeness, and whether we want to pursue a state of wholeness, instead of remaining in our current divided state; divided between what is and what should be; between what is conscious and evolved in us and what is not.

Growth Online: So what’s the cause of this miserable situation that we find ourselves in?

RP: Yes, the great question!

(pause) All sentient beings are born of the division and duality of creation. The Absolute, the Omnipresent Reality, in order to extend its Spiritual essence and Delight into ultimate quantities and diversities of forms, enabled a universe of divided forms and beings. In order to extend spirit and delight, the Absolute, i.e. God, Brahman manifested a universe of forms into which that spirit and delight could flow in ever new and dynamic ways. In order to create the greatest quantity and variety of these forms, they were created in ways we perceive as flawed and incomplete. As we, who are these incomplete forms uncover what we are missing in life, and then discover that which makes us complete and whole, we experience the Delight of being; the very delight for which the Absolute manifest this universe in the first place. In other words, by discovering our true nature, our undivided nature, our wholeness, we experience the greatest joy and delight of existence. This joy of discovery is the bliss of life; the very bliss that the Absolute wished to extend into the universe it created.

So, the universe, the stone, all forms, the plants, animals, and we humans are created as divided beings; all existing in a universe which is itself divided and dualistic. There is night and day, light and darkness, ignorance and knowledge, truth and falsehood, positive and negative, war and peace, happiness and sadness, life and death, pleasure and pain, truth and falsehood, success and failure, and on an on.

Our role is to overcome all of the divisions and dualities of creation; to find our whole nature, which enables us to experience the delight of being through that discovery. That is our purpose of our existence, as individuals, and as part of the race of humanity. Our role is to reestablish the perfect harmony, the infinite possibilities, the timelessness, oneness, and bliss and delight that is there in the Creator, in our own being -- fulfilling our evolutionary purpose and potential in life. In that way, we are here to reestablish the attributes of the Divine that created us in our own lives.

Growth Online: That is a powerful vision of our purpose and destiny! Still how does one begin to get out of the morass that we are born into; to find our true nature and discover this joy and delight?

RP: In order to establish the divine attributes, including the delight and bliss of existence, we need to overcome that which is divided and dual in our own nature. We need to overcome our limiting habits, attitudes, opinions, judgments, behaviors, and false actions. We need to overcome our physical, vital, and mental deficiencies, including our dead habits, our fixidity, our unchanging nature in the physical; our blind passions, desires, negative emotions, ego and separateness in the vital/emotional center; and our vast ignorance, our partial understandings, limited perceptions, and false observations and conclusions of the mind.

So our goal is to achieve oneness in our being; thereby overcoming our divided nature. In that process, we become realized, transformed individuals, experiencing the unending joy and delight of being.

Another way of saying this is that as a result of evolving ourselves, transforming ourselves into our highest nature, we become an instance of the very Divine Being and Force that created us. We become, in essence, God incarnate in matter in the universe.

Growth Online: Again, that is quite a vision. But not to be skeptical, this could take forever!

RP: Actually, I think that things are rapidly moving in the right direction! By living consciously, we can learn to abridge 30,000 years of evolution into 300, or even 30. Because we are now rapidly evolving in our mental capacities, increasingly capable of rational thought, and capable of using our minds to conceive of who we wish to be, and how to do it, we can direct ourselves toward, plan out our own pathway towards rapid personal growth and development; even rapid evolution and transformation. So it doesn’t have to take forever. We have the instruments to make it happen rather quickly through the conscious choices we make to improve ourselves.

The mind, however, is the key! As we learn about our true nature, our mind discovers that there are powers, forces at work within ourselves and in the universe that we can tap into and aid us in our ascent. There are spiritual powers and forces within and without that we can open to that can help us progress very rapidly. In fact, we can learn to tap into the very forces and powers that created this universe, to enable our rapid evolution. This is the great secret of existence! And many have already begun to join in this staggering adventure of consciousness and joy.

Growth Online: So were do we begin? (pause) Oh yes … from where we are now!

(pause) You see there is something else that compels us to action; it is more than just understanding our limitations, as I have just described. That something else is life. Life compels us; life urges us on. Life presses us into action, and presses us into change.

RP: Well your life is not simply a static series of facts and events. It has a movement and flow that can be understood as an intended purpose. There is a kind of underlying will compelling life. It has been said that if at some point in our future if we were to look back over our own lives, we would see that there was a great logic to it, a purpose to it. Perhaps we can call this our “fate” or “destiny” or some other term from the philosopher’s lexicon. The arc is the "progress" we have made, perhaps a level of evolution, even transformation. In any case, it is a moving forward from what you were as a personality at a point in time -- from your birth -- to what you became. Maybe you changed a lot, maybe a little; some even regress.

Normally this progress is unconscious; that is, we are unaware of what happened until after, long after it has occurred; if ever perceived at all. However, if we progress in a conscious way, we can create our own curve of life. In that process of controlling our destiny, we overcome the tyranny of time. That is, instead of the progress occurring in our lives over decades, through the slow movement of Nature, it can occur in a few years, even a few months. Thus, conscious progress overcomes time to enable our higher nature to emerge. Also, by being conscious, we overcome the pain required through the slow and difficult methods of time, of Nature. Instead, we can have the ecstatic joy of conscious progress; overcoming time and pain in enabling our progress.

(pause) When we speak of “being conscious”, we are really starting to bring in the spiritual domain of life into the discussion; i.e. how our higher consciousness, our spirit facilitates progress. Progress born of higher consciousness, of overcomes the limits of time. Conscious change that enjoins spiritual power enables exceedingly rapid change. Time begins to disappear in the equation of life.

A life dedicated to conscious change overcomes our own time, as well as the time of the history of the human race. What would have taken the human race 30,000 years for humanity to be achieved can be achieved in a hundred years or even decades through the conscious actions of individuals utilizing the spirit. That’s for humanity as a whole. For the individual what would have taken decades of progress can be achieved in a few years, or even months.

Growth Online: I begin to see how this relates to your earlier point about the way life is continually pressing us.

RP: Life is pressing on us all of the time; particularly if we are not conscious. It is captured in the West by statement that “we all have our crosses to bear.” What this really means is that life affords us "opportunities" to grow through difficult or negative situations. These are the circumstances and moment of life where life presses us. It is really Nature secretly compelling us to become more conscious beyond our current level of unconsciousness.

E.g. If we are an angry and lazy person, then it is Nature’s way to create circumstances in our lives that enable us to overcome those situations. At one extreme, if we are completely unconscious, then we will repeat the same errors over and over, with endless pain and suffering. If we are more conscious, especially conscious of our deficiencies, limitations, and negative aspects, we can meet life, this movement of Nature, on own term, not hers; engage the circumstances that she sets before us, and make the corresponding inner change in our wanting ways to meet her outer challenge. As we rise to being fully conscious, then Nature ceases to presents us with difficult circumstances. In this new way of living, we grow from positive to positive, from light to light.

In one sense, this is what life is all about -- Nature presenting us with challenges, and our ability to respond consciously or unconsciously. Interestingly, Nature secretly wants us to respond consciously because ultimately She is the agent of the Divine.

Growth Online: That’s a fascinating way to look at the purpose and meaning of our lives.

(Pause) I guess the key point I am trying to bring out is that life is ordinarily pressing us, trying to bring out something very specific, something more positive that corresponds to and is a reversal of particular deficiency in our nature. Nature is compelling us to address this issue, improve ourselves on it, make ourselves better.

How Nature presents these situations and how we react to them are often the experiences that become in retrospect the very obvious difficult or exhilarating milestones of our lives.

Nature is compelling each of us to deal with certain limiting aspects of our character and nature, through specific difficult situations or positive opportunities. The more we are conscious, i.e. the higher the consciousness we bring to bear to meet these circumstances, the more easily we overcome the challenges presented, and the more rapidly we progress.

Also, the more conscious we are, the more positive opportunities, circumstances, and other responses from life will present themselves. In other words, life will suddenly and abundantly respond to our conscious attempts to change our limited nature. This instantaneous response to a change of consciousness is perhaps the main theme of my work. It is the miraculous phenomenon of what I call “life response.”

Growth Online: Will it always be like this; that life will constantly challenge us and we will need to meet it by changing our nature?

RP: (pause) At a further point in our evolution as individuals and as a species, Nature will fail to have any direct influence on us at all; as we are then able to meet life, and to actually move life through our higher consciousness. Then we become the predominant instrument of change.

To do that we will need to connect directly with the Spirit, the true Force that is behind Nature. With that power in hand, at that level of highest consciousness, we can resolve all problems and knots of life, all of the dualities and divisions manifesting around us and we can do so rapidly, powerfully and delightfully. In that way, we begin to become the true masters of life.

Growth Online: This is quite inspiring. (pause) There is one particular point that I’m not clear about. Are you now saying that Spirit and what you are calling “Nature” are somehow related?

RP: Yes. When we as individuals, or as a community or as a nation experience life’s pressing circumstances; when we are immersed in the contradictions and strife and pain and conflicts that Nature brings to us, we see no connection to any spiritual intent. But in fact Nature is really an instrument of, an agent of, an appointed deputy of the Divine.

There is a spiritual, a Divine purpose in life that is unfolding in the universe; and Nature is at this point the agent, force, and instrument that is enabling it to occur -- compelling life to move in the direction of Spirit’s, the Divine’s intent. On the other hand, Nature’s way is a slow and painful way. Though she is an obedient agent of the Divine Will and Purpose, secretly the Spirit seeks progress through higher consciousness, not Nature’s slow and difficult method to evolve the forms in the universe, including us. Secretly the Divine seeks for us to also become Divine in our being by developing a higher consciousness and spiritual nature within – i.e. turning to Soul -- so that the Divine purpose in the universe and in our own selves is more readily, easily, dynamically, forcefully, harmoniously, and rapidly carried out.

Growth Online: (pause) I like this distinction between Nature’s way and the Spiritual way. Which leads me to another question. You often use this term “spirit,” but what is it really?

RP: (pause) Spirit is the Being that is the source of the universe. It is infinite, timeless, spaceless, unchanging, immutable Being that at some point “decided” to extend and continues to extend its Divine attributes into material formations, in material objects, in us in creation. Spirit is not only the eternal Being, but is the dynamic Conscious Force that is the Energy that became the source of the created universe. Spirit also expresses a Delight in its Being, which we too experience when we rise discover our Higher Nature, the spirit within us.

If we can somehow come in touch with, connect with spirit within ourselves and above, then we move from a divided, ignorant consciousness to a consciousness of integral knowledge. Connecting to Spirit, in our souls, around us as the Spiritual Force, through which we develop our higher nature is the key to overcoming the divisions and dualities of life, enabling us to progress through harmony and oneness; through Delight instead of sorrow -- avoiding the plodding, painful march of Nature that we experience through time.

Growth Online: If Spirit is the key to our progress, then how do we get in touch with it?

RP: There are quite a variety of ways, methods, and paths. All leads to that essential Reality that is not only the spirit Being, but is at the heart of all forms in creation, including us. We can find the Spirit within, in our inner being down to our evolving souls, and we can open to the descending spiritual Force before we engage in any activity in life. In these two ways, we can connect with Spirit. We can open to the within through Silence and to the above through consecrated actions in life.

(pause) Having said this, I should point out that we do not have to get in touch with spirit right off the bat. It is not reasonable to ask individuals to move to an ultimate spiritual consciousness from where they are now. We do however need to move to ever-higher points, statuses, levels of consciousness, progressing from where we are now. We need to take a few small steps from our current status, character, nature to a higher one where; set up camp there, and then if we wish, and then if we wish prepare to move to higher peaks of consciousness. In other words, all people should try to make a modicum of inner progress, to change wanting qualities of our being; while some can use this as a basis for something much greater, for an ascent and evolutionary progress utilizing the power of the Spirit.

Growth Online: So where do we start to take these initial few baby steps towards a higher consciousness? You know, for people who don’t want to take the entire plunge into a spiritual existence.

RP: I think we can begin by focusing on that single instrument that is most obviously at our disposal -- our ability to think and understand life using the power of mind. The starting point of consciousness can be an effort to seek knowledge, to have the mental understanding of what we are and what life truly is all about. That establishes the foundation of what is. Then if we wish, we can we can go further and develop a mental conception of what we would like to become, and afterwards direct our lives to achieve it.

I would say then that higher consciousness can begin with knowledge. It is the entranceway to understanding life, Nature’s workings, the ultimate Reality, Spirit’s purpose and will, and our own purpose and destiny as collective and individual humans. While some may be ready to open to the Spirit immediately, without a knowledge of life’s structure, workings, and purpose, we will not be able to have a vision of life’s ultimate potentiality, which will prevent us from extending our spiritual experience to something more, to the greatest possibilities of life.

Growth Online: So have we developed a roadmap for our journey yet?

RP: I think we have touched on some of the potential signposts along the way.

(pause) When Lewis and Clark went on their “journey of discovery” across the American Northwest in the early 19^th century, they knew in general what was out there, but until they actually made their groundbreaking trek, could they develop a map of the way to traverse the land. Likewise, it is only when we make our own journey that the ideas, the methods and approaches we develop in advance, to discover our ultimate evolutionary possibilities, become real. Then we know the truth behind those methods; they are lived truths rather than merely planned goals and possibilities.

So knowledge must be reinforced by experience in order for us to have true understanding and perception of the object of knowledge.

Still, an initial conception of knowledge, i.e. mental ideas of the truth of things is where we must begin. Lived perception is even better, but without such experience, we must start with the thoughts, the conception of what is possible.

Growth Online: So who can give us this basic knowledge and understanding?

RP: (pause) We need to depend on those who have gone before us; those who have mapped out the methods and approaches, have had the powerful experiences and realizations of the higher consciousness and its infinite attributes, capacities, and powers in life. We can learn from these spiritual pioneers. Lewis and Clark only developed a few maps of the ways across the western US because they took but one or two paths. We however have a plethora of traditions, of experiences and realizations of hundreds if not thousand of pioneers of consciousness.

(pause) Instead of describing all of these paths, let us imagine a single individual on a path, their own path; not unlike Lewis and Clark. Let's imagine someone who has spontaneously developed their own approach and see where that leads.

Growth Online: Sounds good to me!

RP: Let’s give it a try.

(Pause) Imagine a woman, let’s call her Chris Johnson. She’s 35 years old, and she’s just had the biggest crisis of her life. This is Nature calling on her. At the end of that crisis, she realizes that she needs to make some fundamental changes in her life. So she takes inventory of her own self; i.e. the good and bad parts of her nature. In that pursuit, she recognizes that she is an angry, inflexible sort. It is clear to her that these two deficiencies were at the root of her current crisis. Like many of us who have passed through such difficult situations, she mulls over the issues, speaks with others about the situation and her own self, and is fortunately able to relate the difficulties to certain aspects of her being -- including her difficult upbringing, her particular limitations of character, of capacity, and so forth. She bravely makes her way through this psychological obstacle course, and comes to some basic understanding of the source of her problems.

Chris is however an exceptional person because not only does she want to identify and then make the concerted effort to overcome these wanting characteristics that were instrumental in the crisis she just passed through, but she wants to change her life overall -- to one of greater understanding and happiness. She even says that she would like to raise her level of consciousness in life. Such aspiration for self-improvement is rare indeed.

Growth Online: Yes, very much so!

RP: Now as it turns out, Chris also shows an uncommon curiosity about our human nature -- including such things as what makes us who we are; why we do the things we do, and others. And so because of her exceptional curiosity, she begins to take up her own study of why things are the way they are. She reads a number of he bet-selling contemporary self-help book and she even takes o reading the articles here at Growth Online!

Growth Online: Sounds good to me! (laughter)

RP: Along the way, she learns that we consist of physical, vital/emotional, and mental parts; and that in the course of human evolution we are evolving upward among those parts. That is, we are becoming more and more mental-centric. She also discovers that our own evolution has much in common with the evolution of the society that we live in, even of the universe, the cosmos itself. She discovers that each of these have also gone through physical, vital, and mental stages of development. In this way, she is beginning to develop an integral view of existence.

So after an intense period of study and self-investigation, Chris begins to see the relationship between so many different aspects of life. She begins to understand the nature of the cosmos, of society, of the individual human, and her own individual self. Also, along the way she begins to connect many things in her own past to this newer understanding.

She makes the effort to learn about the nature of one’s habits, desires, passions, attitudes, opinions, judgments, beliefs, ideals, values, thinking, decisions, actions, and so forth. As she mulls over each of these parts of her being, she begins to see how they all coalesce to form the whole being that she is. Within the context of all of these, she is able to see what is limited and negative in her own self. And she begins to see ways to improve herself in these areas she is wanting in.

Furthermore, because she has been so affected by her crisis, she hungers for something even deeper; something intangible, something with even greater meaning. Through her self-education she realizes that the meaning she hungers for can come through the spiritual dimension of life. So she plunges in in that direction, seeking to find out more of what the spiritual dimension of life is all about.

She searches for answers to such questions as why was this universe created? How did it actually come about? Is there really a Divine source of this life? How can we get in touch with it? And so forth.

Growth Online: It sounds like she is in serious learning mode!

RP: Yes, learning and growing mode. She is growing, developing through knowledge.

But it cannot be all learning and knowledge. It must be experiencing too; experiencing the reality of the knowledge she is now beginning to process.

So along the way she begins to have certain experiences of her own; she recognizes certain patterns in daily activities that suggest to her a secret and subtle unfolding of events and circumstances in life. She begins to perceive subtle movements, and therefore deeper meaning in the unfolding of the moments of her daily life, things she was never conscious of before. Chris is rapidly becoming more subtlely aware; she is becoming more conscious.

Growth Online: Why would this start occurring? Because she is more knowledgeable, so she is more aware of things?

RP: In essence, what is occurring is that her deeper consciousness is rising to the surface; pointing out, bringing to her attention subtleties in life that she was not cognizant of before. There is an inner being, there are hidden subliminal parts in the depths of our being, which send up positive subtle signals to the surface. Her effort of seeking in life has begun to clear a pathway from these inner parts to her surface awareness. She had made the first breakthrough into the subtler inner domains of her being. If one day she pursues this inner discovery to its logical conclusion, she can come in touch with the spirit that is lodged within her; her very own soul within.

As a result of these experiences of the subtle working of life, her curiosity is further piques; and so she makes the effort to find out about their true nature as well. For example, along the way she discovers that there is another scale of our human nature and existence. She learns that not only did we evolve in the universe upward in a “vertical scale” from matter to vitality of life to mentality, which translates in us as our physical bodies, our vital/emotional being, and our minds, but there is another perspective of existence that ranges from the outer material surface existence to an inner subtle existence, with its own forces and powers that go unnoticed by virtually everyone. We can experience life on the surface, or we can experience life from the depths of our being, in the inner parts that has its deepest aspect when we touch this spark of the soul, the personal evolving soul deep within our being. This is a “horizontal scale” of consciousness that ranges from the surface to the depths.

Growth Online: These depths must relate to the inner subtleties she is beginning to experience around her!

RP: Yes, exactly! What has happened is that she has somehow broken through to these inner parts. There is shooting up from her inner being to her conscious mind intimations of the subtleties of life around her. What is happening is she has come in touch with the depths within, which send her subtle positive mental perceptions that enable her to more readily perceive the deeper workings of life.

She even learns that these subtle intimations percolating from her inner consciousness are themselves tied into universal forces and powers. She discovers that there are universal wonders that interact with our inner depths, giving us access to never-ending cosmic perceptions and powers in life. In other words, because the inner being is connected to the universal forces and powers, and she has breached the inner being, she is able to receive subtle indicators and thoughts about the subtle workings, forces, and powers of life around her.

Perhaps more important in the short run however is that she now more often has subtle and penetrating perceptions of her own nature and behavior; of her own feelings, thoughts, and actions. She is becoming acutely aware of her manners, her behaviors, and character. In particular, she is very sensitive to her own negative propensities and tendencies. She has become acutely aware of the various ways she negatively perceives the world, and behaves and acts in the world. She is beginning to be guided from within. In an ever-increasing way, her inner nature is making her aware of the limitations of her outer nature. This enables her to perceive when to avoid certain behaviors, attitudes, and actions.

Needless to say, Chris is making enormous progress! Knowledge of life and existence. Experiencing subtleties of existence. Perceiving universal forces and powers from within and without. The uncovering and revealing of her wanting and negative aspects, and on an on!

Chris is a very lucky and blessed person because such a thing rarely happens to a person. But ironically her great crisis in life enabled a great opening in her being.

Of course, it's better if we develop through higher consciousness than through crisis; but until we reach that consciousness, Nature presses on us to change.

Growth Online: So things seem to be going very well for Chris -- quite a turnaround in her life.

RP: Yes, a tremendous change for her!

We should also mention that in addition all of this change is being matched by many positive developments in her outer life; in her relationship with others, in her career, in opportunities coming her way, in the way her daily life is flowing; in her level of daily energy and happiness. It's really a wonder. She's experiencing a completely new existence.

(pause) But this does not go on unabated. It only happens for a period of time.

Growth Online: Only for a time? Do you mean it stops?

RP: Well, let’s move the story forward. After this tremendous period of progress, Chris’s focus and energies are turned towards her work. It turns out that a number of large projects have come up on her job. On the positive side, she sees things in dramatically new and different ways. Even small things in work take on new significance.

However, at one point, the project becomes pretty intense, and she has to focus all of her energies just to keep up. The wonders of knowledge and perception she experienced earlier move to the back burner as she focuses intensely on the work at hand. There is little time for subtle perceptions and inner guidance. Life is moving her forward very rapidly.

A few months later when she gets a chance to catch her breath, she pauses to reflect on the success of the project; and although it is going exceedingly well, she also realizes that she has slowly drifted back to, has reverted back to her old wanting ways; to her old negative patterns and tendencies and behaviors.

Growth Online: I hope she hasn’t lost all that she’s gained!

RP: What’s happened is that our human nature -- our fixed, habitual, unchanging physical consciousness -- has reasserted itself, pulling her down to her something close to her previous level. What has happened in essence is that the dark, pessimistic, inconscient elements of our subconscious parts has collaborated with our habitual, fixed, unchanging nature of our physical consciousness and nature, to overshadow, overtake the light that had emerged within her.

These parts of the being are just too powerful and entrenched to easily give way to the light. The inherent dualistic and divided nature of the individual human being is too powerful, too deep-rooted to allow a higher consciousness to simply take over. When she lost focus of her deeper self in her new project, the old ways found openings, cracks in her armor, and reasserted themselves, demanding the territory that they have claimed for 15 billion years of existence in the cosmos.

So though she has taken the first great steps on her journey of discovery, she has fallen back into the swamp of nescience, unconsciousness, and negativity that is at the root of our human makeup.

Fortunately, however, this is only a stage in the journey.

Growth Online: So its time to regroup; to “circle the wagons” as we say in America?

RP: Yes.

However, Chris is a fighter. She believes that any problem can be solved. She’s always been this way. In this instance, she is determined to find her way out of the swamp. She wants to know why her efforts aren’t permanent; why she has been set back after all of that positive effort at growth and development.

One thing she discovers about this personal growth and evolution business is that it is not for the faint of heart! That if you are to truly get out of the swamp, if you are to evolve to something greater, that effort cannot be a simple hobby or avocation, but must be a serious vocation; an all consuming focus in one’s life; a fundamental driving force to be pursued in all seriousness and with the greatest sincerity. If one is to make such dramatic changes, then it needs to become a kind of focal point of one’s life; the focal point of one’s life. Evolution and transformation are not adjuncts to one’s life, but need to ultimately become the very reason for one’s existence.

Growth Online: Why?

Otherwise, one falls back, as the overwhelming unevolved energies of life drive one back. It is not unlike the trench warfare in World War I, where one side advances only to inevitably be driven back by the other side. No permanent gains can be assured unless one’s being is fully engaged and dedicated to the effort.

Growth Online: It sounds rather grim!

RP: Yes, it seems life that on the surface; but in fact there is no greater joy than a life dedicated to improving one’s self and developing and evolving one’s nature. It is the endless discovery of one’s true nature, which enables a constant joy, delight, and bliss.

Growth Online: So what did Chris do next?

RP: Well she is now determined not to be set back in her quest for a more conscious life. She really wants to become serious about this. She begins to sense that she could make a life out of self-improvement, personal growth, personal evolution, and even permanent transformation.

(pause) And that is where our story must end for now for Chris. The rest we can only imagine.

RP: We are still left with the issue of how to grow and develop toward our ultimate evolutionary possibility in a way that it remains permanent. So that we can move upward from one plateau to the next; to higher and higher levels of consciousness; to greater and greater degrees of joy and delight of being; to higher and higher levels of accomplishment and success; to higher levels of love, oneness, knowledge truth, peace, and delight.

Remember; the very definition of transformation is a permanent realized change in the individual.

Actually we have already covered so many things that would be sufficient for any individual who seeks to improve himself in life. Overcoming negative attitudes, eliminating wanting behaviors in our person is certainly a great start for any person on earth. Becoming aware of our limitations in our being, and making the effort to overcome them are themselves monumental and extremely useful endeavors in our efforts at personal growth.

Also knowledge, in the form of knowing our human nature in the scales of consciousness from the material to the mental, and from the surface to the depths, will be of enormous help in our awareness of what we are, and what we can ultimately become. The same through an understanding of our inherent divided nature, of our secret spiritual nature, of the methods, evolution, and purpose of creation will be of enormous aid in any pursuit of progress, let alone transformation if the individual person.

RP: Nothing more is needed for 95% of those who aspire for a better life; for more success and happiness in life. But for that 1% who want to make the ultimate journey to discover their ultimate nature, who, like Lewis and Clarke, want to make the ultimate Journey of Discovery, there needs to be a clearer roadmap of how to get from here to there, to our evolutionary possibility, which culminates in the achievement of individual an permanent transformation.

RP: There are many maps to many destinations of personal growth and evolution. It depends on where you want to go to.

RP: Well, that’s a big assumption. Not one in ten million would attempt such a thing! And I think I may be too generous in my figures here. How many have the flame to undertake the ultimate adventure of consciousness and joy in life?

Most people are merely looking for a few clues about how to come, or how to find a bit more of basic human happiness. You know, happiness in personal relationships, mainly love with a partner, how to become wealthier, how to become healthier and trim, and a few other nice but rather ordinary aspirations. Again 99% of the people want to attain this. For these individuals these are plenty of sources of information out there to achieve these goals. This is not what we are addressing here however. Even fro those who wish to improve their attitudes, and succeed more in life there are plenty of guides for this higher aspiration in life as well.

But let us assume that you want to make the big change; that, like Lewis and Clarke, you want to go on this ultimate adventure of consciousness and joy, to see journey to the other end to the shores of ultimate evolution possibilities, there are a number of paths, i.e. roadmaps to guide you on you on your way. Such a change would not only enable a great change for the individual, but would also support change on a collective level, for society as well.

Growth Online: So you then would be seeking both personal and social transformation.

RP: Yes, they must ultimately go hand in hand in order for it to be both integral and permanent. It even a extends to the transformation of the universe!

So if we wish to create the foundation that will enable a permanent change, we must consider the path that can achieve this. I believe we have come up with an approach that can do this very thing.

(pause) I would say that anyone making the ultimate journey of discovery, evolution, and transformation should lay a solid foundation for the trip. In my mind that solid foundation consists of two things; aspiration on the one side, and calm, patience, and cheerfulness on the other. Without aspiration to discover your ultimate nature, you won’t; and without inner calm and patience and cheerfulness, you will not establish the solid foundation upon which all of the later progress you make can rest. Without that inner calm and patience and equality of being, you will get frazzled, unnerved, overwhelmed, overemotional, and overzealous somewhere along the line on your journey. Of course, the paradox is that you will never fully develop these capacities unless you make the journey in the first place. Still, they are crucial to think about. Anything that you can do to remember this and enable this calm and patience to persist in the background will be most useful on the way. Perhaps we should also add cheerfulness and positive attitude.

(pause) Then there is the foundation of the knowledge of the possibilities. If you are sincere and have the aspiration to make the Great Journey and Discovery, you have to also have the knowledge of the possibilities of what can be attained, i.e. what our spiritual evolutionary potentials are. I have discussed these in some of the other articles and interviews at Growth Online.

Equipped with aspiration, calm, patience, cheerfulness, positive attitude, and knowledge of the possibilities, you are ready to set out on your journey. This will create the solidity upon which the rest can be built so that there is the gradual establishment of something permanent.

RP: I would say the big starting point is to change the way we perceive the world. That is, we need to begin to move away from the way we normally live, which is what I would call “surface living.” We need to move away from the false, partial mirage of life that we perceive as the whole of life. If you don’t abandon surface living, you will be forever living a life of illusion, instead of a life of truth. We need to discard sense-based living, surface living, for a deeper, truer status of perception and being.

RP: We must remove our center of consciousness from the constant bombardment of what our senses are constantly feeding our minds, and move to a deeper consciousness that is not busy with, caught up in the surface movements of life. I don’t mean we shouldn’t be involved with the life around us. I mean we first need to get in touch with our deeper parts so that we can more consciously, more subtlely, more dynamically interact with what is happening around us.

Just examine yourself at any moment in time. We are caught up in the surface of things; just taking in surface information into our minds through the five senses, processing them, and then reacting to those inputs. This is not the optimal way to live. In many ways this is what a plant or a lower-form animal is doing. Receiving inputs and reacting. This is not a very conscious way to be. In a more conscious state the mind would be withdrawn from the senses, and be more centrally gathered within, separated from the bubbling of the surface life. From there one can think in a more rational way. One has a less reactive vantage point; more inclusive and integral view. From here one sees things in their right relationships; one is more open to the wider unfolding of possibilities, one is better able to see the many-sided nature of things, of the flow of life around us. We are more open to others, and their inputs and points of view. We become more open to, and in tune with, the events presenting themselves to you in the outer environment.

Also, when you live at the surface of life, you will find yourself more attached to your sense of self, your ego-self, enabling a greater propensity toward separateness and selfishness. When you move into the silence, calm, and serenity of the inner being, you are able to think more logically; you are more open to others and the “will” of the surroundings; you are less fixed on your own agenda, which is fueled and exacerbated by that ego-sense and separateness.

As a result of living more in the depths, life becomes less one of division and duality, of good and bad, of positive an negative. Instead, one experiences clear understanding and perception; greater unity, harmony, and oneness with others, and with the emerging becomings of your moment-to-moment existence. You see the special, unique interrelationship and interconnectedness of all individuals and all things in the environment that cross your field of vision and awareness in any given moment of time.

Growth Online: This sounds like a wonderful way to live. But how does one reach that point. I mean how do we actually move within? What do we have to do to move there?

RP: (pause) Let’s step back for a moment. First of all, remember our goal here is discovering the pathways that will lead to our ultimate evolutionary existence. Going within is the first great step on the road because it is the step that enables the great transformation we seek to follow. There are, of course, many ways to establish this inner connection. Some do it through meditation, others through concentration, others through prayer. Whatever the approach, the goal is to move our center of awareness from our sense of self, of our ego, of our five sense-oriented mind, to a higher status of rational thought. Or, better still, to a status of silence in the mind, where all thoughts cease, and calm and peace envelops one within.

A recommended way to achieve this calm, stillness, and silence is to focus your concentration away from the surface of life into the depths within. At any moment in time make the concerted effort to withdraw your feelings, thoughts, attention from the ferment and activity of the surface, to an inner focus of pure thought, or better still, the silence and serenity beyond mind. forget all that is going on, and try to rest, clearing your mind until your thoughts withdraw, your mind clears, your thoughts still, and a calm and peace descends into yourself. At some point that peace can even turn into a wonderful richness and glow.

You can practice this when sitting in a chair, or even when going for a walk. Whichever way you choose be sure to find those breaks in the day when you can take it. Perhaps two or three times a day. Certainly if you have some break in your work that would be a good time. Or a schedule time might be better.

Often I like to do it before I meet a client. It helps create a calm, rich atmosphere, which always has a tendency to elicit a sudden positive response from life; especially in this case from the client.

We must make that inner contact of calm self that separates ourselves from the tumult of the outer life, so that we can create the foundation for other stages to follow. When we turn within, into the deeper parts of our being, we are beginning to make the great movement away from division and duality of life, and toward a new way of living. From that deeper poise, division and duality begin to cease to exist. Unity and harmony, integral knowledge, clear insight, and right decisions and actions begin to take over our lives.

Everything that is happening is perceived as serving a purpose; every single thing is perceived as unified with every other thing; and everything is understood in its fullness of truth and possibility.

This movement within to the silent state is the first milestone on our journey through the undiscovered country of personal evolution and transformation.

(pause) I’m still a little confused on one point however. You’re now saying that we can overcome the divisions and dualities of life; but before you said they were an essential part of our nature ever since the universe was created. So do they exist or don’t they?

RP: Division and duality exists when we live at the level of the physical consciousness and our vital/emotional being; even when we live in the lower, sense-based functioning of mind. However, as we rise to the higher planes of mind to spiritual mind, and above these, divisions and dualities cease to exist. They just evaporate, as we perceive the unity and oneness of everything; that all serves a purpose, that all is a part of the unfolding One, of the All.

(pause) At creation the universe began as inert matter evolving to animus of life to sentience to the beginning of sense-based mental thought. At those planes of consciousness there is only division, contradiction, conflicting dualistic life; experienced as good and bad, positive and negative, pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, and so on. It is only when we rise to the highest aspect of mind, rationality, and then beyond that to spiritual mind of silence, light, illumination, intuition, and revelation that the dualities are seen for what they are truly are, oneness of being; in that way reflecting the very nature of the One, Unified, Indivisible Divine Being and Source from which the universe and we came. When we move to the depths within, we enable mind to move to this level of rationality, and even further to sprit that begins to perceive the oneness in everything, in existence, because we are in fact moving closer to the Divine, which is fundamentally One, Unified, and Whole, which we as forms of this spirit are reflecting. When we evolve by stationing ourselves deeper in the depths, we more readily perceive and live this Oneness. Then everything is a magnificent unfolding of harmony, beauty, purposefulness, and therefore of extreme joy of being. Life is a continuous miracle and joy!

(pause) So if you can move within and perpetually find the silence, and yet still actively engage in life, you will begin to bring a greater consciousness to bear in life, and a greater power of effectivity in life. You will develop a power of inner vision and perception that will be the basis of great accomplishment and joy, the foundation of a vast oneness of perception and action, which can later be the foundation for our further journey towards our evolutionary possibility.

Growth Online: So it seems that division and duality is really a relative phenomenon.

RP: Yes, “up above,” from the perception and realization of the spiritual heights, including the Divine One, they do not even exist! Down “below” in the lower consciousness, of the physical, vital and lower mental planes of consciousness, which is where 99% of us are normally centered, division and duality is a fundamental lived reality. So, yes it depends on your perspective of consciousness!

Growth Online: One other point. You mention the term “spiritual mind.” Does this mean that the spirit is in the mind, or deep within, or all around us? Where exactly is it?

RP: (pause) In our imagination let’s continue this journey of discovery; and from there we will see the true nature of spirit; which is by the way the ultimate lever that enables the success of the journey, and is also interestingly enough its ultimate destination.

(pause) So far we have said that the essential foundation for the journey is an aspiration for a higher life. We also know the importance of calm and serenity as the basis of developing such a higher life. Then we have taken the first step: we have decided to overcome the fog that stands between us and our perceptions of life by moving from the surface of things to the depths within through periodic concentration or other methods that lead to the emergence of silence, inner richness and pleasure, and a great new mindfulness. As a result, we break out of our limited perceptions and affiliations with life; we begin to perceive the right knowledge, have deeper insight, consistently experience the bigger picture unfolding at any moment in time. Dualities and contradictions of life, such as good and bad, good and evil, conflict or debate or contradiction between two parties give way, as the unity of life begins to emerge through our perceptions of it.

So when we move to the depths, our highest functioning, mind -- that is, pure rational and conceptual mind -- takes over the center of our consciousness from our traditionally vital/emotional center and its accompanying the ego-centered existence and its accompanying separateness from others and the world. Our fundamental Ignorance of the ways of life and cosmos begins to be replaced by the beginnings of a truer and deeper and more integral perception and Knowledge.

This however is not yet spirit. Spirit starts to emerge -- or rather one road to spirit begins to emerge --when we break through even beyond rational mind, and emerge into a higher mind centered in silence, and then further on to light and intuition, where knowledge enters our minds from the heights directly without even the necessity of thinking.

(pause) We can think if the Divine Spirit as originating, existing beyond space and time, beyond this universe. When we break the bonds of mind, moving from ordinary sense-bound mind to rational, conceptual mind, and then rise above to the silence, light, and intuition of spiritual mind, we create a connection with the spiritual realms “above.” By breaking into spiritual mind we make a connection to the pure Existent Spirit, the Source of Creation, which enters our being through our highest instrument of mind. Mind is thus one conduit and connection to the spirit; to the spiritual heights.

So we can know spirit by bursting through mind, through knowledge born of silence, light, illumination, intuition, and revelation. It’s a novel idea, no?, that spirit can come through mind as a descent of ultimate knowledge? Of course, spirit can also descend not only as "Knowledge," Capital K, but as Peace, Truth, Power, Love, and Delight into our beings; but these will usually have to wait for our higher level of development before they can come on their own into us.

Growth Online: Are you suggesting that there are other ways to spirit as well?

RP: Yes. One can also open directly to the spirit by opening to the spiritual Force that is around us everywhere. That is another approach to, dimension of spirit. By opening to the Force consistently in life, we can make all of life a dynamic field of its infinite power and grace, as it descends into our lives, enabling infinite possibilities around us to emerge. Open to the Force, and everything in your daily life works out perfectly, even miraculously.

A third way to find spirit is to discover it deep in the depths of our being, where we plunge in to meet the silence that gathers there. As we've said such a poise enables us to perceive all of life, including the spirit, from a profound perspective. From here we more readily enable the descents of knowledge; from there we sense more the Force above us. From there we perceive the universal forces and powers in life; from there we perceive the best ways to live our lives, how best to behave, and act and do; from here the higher intimations of our subtle inner mental realms are more consciously experienced on the surface giving us positive insight about everything that is emerging in our minute-to-minute lives.

And then there are the deepest aspects of these depths! Earlier I described the surface of these depths; such as silence and richness that gathers there. There is also the depths of these depths, which includes the profound subtle subliminal region whose influences rise and guide us positively on the surface. And ultimately hidden in the depths of the subliminal is the deepest element of our being, our very souls; the personal evolving soul that is lodged deep in each of us.

Growth Online: So spirit can be experienced from many angles. (Pause) However, I really do not understand what you mean by "the Force?"

RP: You remember in the film Star Wars how Luke Skywalker was implored to “always remember the Force.” Well that Force is perceived as more and more real as you move your center of consciousness into the depths of your being. As you make the effort to invoke that Force, call it into your being, into your daily activities -- such as before beginning a work or a project or an activity -- you see how magnificently life on responds on its own to that calling. As a result of experiencing such instantaneous life response in your life, you become overwhelmed by the magical workings of the spiritual energies; how it can be invoked in a way that brings sudden positive practical results in you life. From that point on I guarantee that your life will never be the same!

Now not only to we see the unity and right relationship and oneness of life by living in the depths, but we are able to utilize the Force above to make everything in our life work perfectly. We in essence bring the infinity of the Divine Being into the finite Becoming of life we live in. The more we are centered in the depths, the more we have the wherewithal to open to the Force in our lives.

Growth Online: So do we now have something like a roadmap to our ultimate possibility?

Again, there is no precise sequence, and it depends on the nature and staring point of each individual person, but the key points on the way are 1. an aspiration for a higher life; 2. a movement within to the depths of our being to overcome surface living, ego, separateness, and Ignorance enabling us to perceive unity and oneness of life around us, even as we gain greater Integral Knowledge through the silence, light, and intuitive capacities that develop; and 3. an opening to the newly recognized Spiritual Force that is there in the atmosphere, whose invocation can enable life to work perfectly, abundantly, and infinitely in our lives. This I would say are the elements of the first great stage of evolution and permanent transformation for the individual human from his ordinary human consciousness to his ultimate evolutionary consciousness. It is an intimation of our future existence.

RP: At this stage I would say its only for a few. In the future however things will be different, and it will be for many.

(pause) It is important to keep in mind that this is a level of progress beyond what we would normally consider "personal growth and development." Personal growth and development, where one overcomes negatives attitudes, sheds limiting personal attributes, develops strength and character and capacities, and other movements above our normal way of living, certainly enables a vast, a great change for the individual; but they are the preliminaries for what we are addressing here which is individual permanent transformation.

In our example, Chris Johnson undertook this preliminary personal growth path. It is a great path, recommended for everyone. Still it is only the preliminary to the permanent change of transformation out of the division and duality of existence; out of the cosmic Ignorance we have in all things in life; out of the positive and negative; out the pain and suffering; out of war, poverty, illness, decay, disease, pain, anger, fear, anguish, impulsive behavior, negative attitudes, unbridled desire, prejudiced opinions, fixed habits, and so on. Even beyond the logic of cause and effect; beyond the bounds of space and time that we hold dear to; beyond our constrained finite views of what is possible as we burst into, bring the infinite into our practical lives.

99% of those on earth can and should grow and develop through the insights and methods of personal growth insights and methods [which are extensively addressed throughout the Growth Online site]. I am here however considering a roadmap that can enable permanent transformational change for the individual and all of society. This is a more dramatic and radical shift to a new functioning above and beyond the current human functioning. It would enable a new sort of "hard-wiring" of our central consciousness and being into something very much different that our current functioning. It is a way of living dramatically different from the way we live now.

Perhaps 5% of those who feel they are engaged in personal growth would likely be inclined to take up such a thing; though I suspect in the not too distant future those numbers will dramatically rise, enabling these pioneers of the evolutionary path to become harbingers of a new, collective life on earth that is based on the spirit, and all its unbelievable attributes of knowledge, power, truth, love, beauty, and delight of being.

This change from our current status to this new permanently transformed evolutionary status will be more dramatic than the change from the ape to the human being!

Does this journey sound like something you would be interested in undertaking?!?

RP: You know … it’s interesting. When we discuss this new existence it seems as if we are talking about something so alien, where the whole world will be turned upside down; and yet the truth is that the world will pretty much look the same as it does now. It’s just that we’ll be seeing it from a many perspectives instead of just one. It’s as if there was now a single camera observing life from one single angle. In this future life many cameras are on the job. We would see many perspectives of any event simultaneously. We would have a vaster, more integral view of the life we experience, whereas now we experience only a sliver of the unfolding, lost in our emotions, the input of the senses, divided by our egos, our separateness, lost in a part knowledge that is adds up to a profound Ignorance.

Growth Online: It sounds like at any point, at any moment in this new life, we would really know what is going on.

RP: Yes, there is a vast and multi-sided, simultaneous perspective. It’s what we can call an integral knowledge, rooted in a perspective of the true truth unfolding from its myriad of angles, all absorbed simultaneously.

There is also a new experience of our own selves that develops. We begin to live not just through our feelings and urges and desires, or from our mental activities, formulations, and responses, as in ordinary life, but we live from a center of vast calm; from a felt richness within, that is really the experience of spirit through our nerves and emotions.

Then there will be the constant experience of the miraculous, as we see how life responds continually and positively on the outside to this deeper, more positive, and higher consciousness inside. We begin to sense less of a separation between what is within us and what is outside us. For example, we clearly see how a negative feeling or urge inside us is reflected by a negative occurrence outside us. The reverse is of course also true, as we are able to see how own higher inner consciousness reflects in sudden instantaneous positive circumstances, i.e. life response outside us. It is truly a wonder to experience this on a continuous basis.

As a result we also begin to see how we can directly affect the world outside ourselves from within ourselves, without even having to take any outer actions! We even begin to see how events around us, such as situations and circumstances -- involving our friends, the community we live in, even the society itself, including big events in the world -- “respond” to our higher inner status. We see how our inner consciousness effects the outer environment; where again there is a sudden, miraculous response of life on the outside from our status centered within. In this way we begin to develop not only our individual Higher Self, but our universal Higher Self. We gain the ability to not only impact the immediate situations around us, but also the community’s, the world’s circumstances, from within ourselves, as we uncover our Universal Self within.

(pause) Then there’s the spiritual Force that is there in the atmosphere. If we learn to station ourselves in the deep calm and silence and peace within, and call to the Force before acts or events to positively effect circumstance, i.e. to “consecrate” these events in our daily existence, then we see how the Force’s response will be even more concentrated and intensified, enabling life to spring forward with infinite abundance and possibility, from seemingly out of nowhere.

In this way we open the portals of infinite possibility; we break the shackles of the normal limits of space and time. We begin to learn how to manifest the infinite in our lives in once perceived finites, as we begin to live in the ever-present Now. We gain access to the forces of the universe; the powers of the transcendent Divine, enabling the infinite possibilities of life to suddenly appear before us. It is a stunning wonder of ultimate human capacity to accomplish in life.

Growth Online: We seem to be a long way even from what Chris Johnson was able to experience in life.

RP: She too will experience some of this along the way. Any individual who makes the concerted effort to overcome one’s limited capacities and nature will see life respond. If she goes into the depths, she will become one with, in harmony with others and her surroundings. If she is focused within, she will begin to experience peace, know things without the need for thought, understand things through sudden descends of light, intuition, and revelations of knowledge. This will enable wonderful things to suddenly happen in her life in the form of deep, profound perceptions and awareness of what is happening around her at any moment; sudden insights into things she was trying to perceive; which enables her to make the right decisions, enabling right actions that end in perfect results. Life will become a symphony of new creation, new inspiration, abundance, and joy.

RP: For 99.9% of the people on earth that will be more than enough. For 95% of our readers that would be an overwhelming and wonderful change.

RP: Well we can go even further, and, as I have said, make this experience permanent. I am guessing that 5% of the viewers may be interested in the path that enables these profound experiences to become permanent. Not just permanent for that individual; but permanent for the society, for the race; where people in the future are actually born this way as it is passed down through the genes, or is just there in the atmosphere of life.

And if we go to the deepest depths, into the heart of the inner being, we discover there not just a soul, but our own personal evolving soul. This is our True Self, the psychic self and being. It is this connection to our evolving soul that is connected to our own individual person that is the starting point for individual permanent transformation.

RP: When we connect to our own personal evolving soul we establish the foundation for the rest of the permanent change. From there we are able to more permanently establish the inner connection we have spoken of, the inner silence we have spoken of, the permanent opening to the universal forces and powers, and the springboard of consciousness from which the outer life continually responds positively, abundantly, and miraculously.

It is the status from which we can far more easily perceive our personal limitations; a poise from which we can more continually and permanently experience true knowledge, the basis form which we can continually experience descents of mental light, illuminations of insight, and intuition and revelation of knowledge and truth without thought..

It is also the poise from which we feel a very strong link to the Divine spirit.

From this inner spirit, this personal evolving soul space, we establish the bedrock and foundation for the ultimate transformation, which lies beyond even this psychical stage of this transformational journey.

Growth Online: You use the term “personal evolving soul.” What do you mean by “personal evolving.” EP

RP: Now we are have reached a great milestone in the journey. We have encountered the true spirit that is within us; that is even individualized for us.

Let us think about the nature of existence for a moment. We can come to know that the universe we live in is an extension and an expression of the Divine Being. The spiritual essence is there not only in the Creator, but in the creation. The universe and all its objects including us are forms of this spirit.

This spirit force is there in all the creation, including the world and life, which we call Nature. This force, this spark of the Divine is also there in all individuals. It has an unchanging, infinite, timeless nature there in us, just as its source, the Being, the Divine is infinite, timeless, and spaceless.

And yet from this timeless, infinite, unchanging soul spark of the Divine, there can emerge, or there can already be, an extension, which is somehow individualized to our individual person. This is thus the personal evolving soul. It is personal and evolving because it is utilizing the essence of our progress in life to enables its own progress!

RP: The extension of the soul, the personal evolving soul is evolving. This Psychic Being is journeying through space and time to evolve itself. It enters into an individual to continue its growth by absorbing the progress of that particular individual that it needs for its progress. If the individual has the right experience, this personal evolving being absorbs it into its own “evolution.” When the individual has nothing to add to the personal soul’s evolution, it withdraws from the person. In essence, this is when you die.

When we make contact with the personal evolving soul within, we have touched the Personal Being behind our very lives; our truest essence, the instrument of our ultimate meaning and purpose in life.

So do you understand what your personal evolving soul wants when it has taken on your body for its personal evolution? It wants you to come in contact with it. It wants to help you progress in life, so that it can progress, as it continues on its journey through eternity and infinity.

RP: That’s the meaning of our own individual lives; or rather, it is the essence that can show us our ultimate purpose in our existence. Not just in all human existence, but in our particular individual existence.

And it is critical to make contact with our true Self, our personal evolving soul, to establish the critical foundation for the permanent transformation ahead.

In one sense when we connect to our evolving soul, we have in fact made the first great step toward our permanent transformation. If we learn to live very close to this psychic being, we have made the psychic connection. If this connection is made permanent, then we will have established the psychic transformation of our being.

Growth Online: I understand that getting in touch with the soul would be a wonderful experience, but why would connecting to this personal soul enable our permanent transformation. I mean what would really happen aside from the fact that we would sense our ultimate purpose?

The most obvious one is that we experience our deepest, our most profound purpose in life. We sense that this inner being is the real truth of our existence, of why we are here, of what we can become. When you walk down the street and feel within yourself, somewhere inside the chest, behind the heart, a soul being that is behind your very existence, it is a profound experience in one’s life. If you are so lucky to experience it even for a moment, it can light your life for the rest of the way.

But as this one-time experience becomes a permanent living reality, your life begins to shift radically, shift again towards your ultimate possibility.

RP: Earlier we spoke of the depths. We said that as you live in the silence within you become more conscious of the influence of positive subliminal thoughts and feelings piercing your outer consciousness. Well, within the subliminal realms within is the psychic being, one’s personal evolving soul.

As you experience the psychic being a series of things start to occur. For you start to experience more permanently the harmony and oneness with your environment, including those around you. You really begin to be open to, to be conscious of the unfolding of life around you; of the subtleties that are emerging each moment. As your mind absorbs subtle, many-sided knowledge, your understanding expands, bursts of insight take place, creativity expands, and you are able to make right decisions that lead to right actions that end in great successes.

There is also in this process of touching the soul an even greater opening to the subliminal influences from within; as they persistently send their positive subtle suggestions to you surface consciousness. In your normal outer consciousness you experience a plethora of subtle feelings and thoughts that further enable you to know the greater truths that are emerging; sense or know the right actions to take, or not to take; and so forth. You become very much in tune with the unfolding of moment to moment life.

You receive these influences from the subliminal because it is connected to subtle forces and powers in the universe. Now that there is a connection to the personal evolving soul, the portals between the subliminal within and the universal forces, powers, and planes is widened and intensified. So, for example, as a result of your personal soul connection you start developing intuitions of understanding that can rise up from within from the subliminal, or descend directly into the mind from the universal planes.

When you need to know something it just appears in the mind. This capacity to draw lights of knowledge, as in “Eureka I’ve Got it!,” or the sudden inspirations, intuitions, revelations descending from the higher spheres, is an indicator that one has made contact with the heart of the inner being, which is the psychic being, the personal evolving soul.

Growth Online: So you become like a superprocessor of what is true, with signals coming in from every direction; whereas before you were a paltry limited person with a few occasional specs of understanding and knowledge filtering its light through the darkness.

RP: Well, you have encountered the superconsciousness within and above the mind, which are really forms of Knowledge and Truth of the spirit.

Still you’re subject to many of the limitations of your individual personality and character. But connecting to the personal soul helps here as well. In fact, this is perhaps the most practical way the soul connection helps us.

RP: Well, when Lewis and Clarke made their journey of discovery 200 years ago they had their guide which was essentially their plan. Perhaps they also had human guides, including native peoples there to show them the way through the great northwestern territories of America. Well when we connect to the psychic being, we start to be guided as well. These connections and harmony with the environment and others; these subtle experiences of the thoughts and feelings of the subliminal realms, are giving us a kind of guidance along the way as well. This guidance enables us to have a hypersensitivity to the unfolding of life around us.

Well there is a related type of guidance that is also going on, one that is in one sense much more basic. We are also guided about our own nature and actions. When we connect with the personal evolving soul, we experience that this inner being has become our inner personal guide, not only showing us the way of the unfolding of life around us, but focusing us inward, showing us our own wrong ways, behaviors and actions. As a result of the influence of this inner guide, you really become aware of your own moment to moment limitations. For example, you are about to say something insensitive, and the Personal Guide within says “no, don’t go there again.” Or, you are about to start speaking at a time when silence would be preferable, and it subtlely suggests that you remain silent, which you take as if an inner command.

The more you are connected to, are stationed in the personal soul, the more this personal guide is at work. If you move away from it and live on the surface, then you are back in the trap of the outer existence, and you are once again living a life of ego, separateness, part knowledge, limited understanding, wrong decisions and very limited successes; more often downright failures.

Intimations from your guide enables you to see your ongoing limited behaviors, attitudes, temperament, character, personality, thoughts, beliefs, reflexive responses, and so forth. The psychic enables you to much more easily see your own limitations and negative propensities; making it not only easier to avoid them, but much easier to focus on them so that you can make the decisions to change them in your life. In that sense Chris Johnson could much more easily overcome her own limitation in life through a connection and relation with her personal soul.

So the result of connecting to the personal evolving soul is to enable subtle and deep insight into the environment in our moment to moment lives, as well as giving you a subtle and deep awareness of one’s own moment to moment limitations and negative propensities. Through the personal soul we are constantly guided in the right direction, away from our own ego, separateness, ignorance, falsehood, and even evil.

RP: (pause) It engenders a feeling of deep peace, profound purpose, and a deep pleasure, delight, and bliss in life.

(pause) There is also so much more to say. As a result of this connection to the personal evolving soul one develops a far greater connection to the Divine spirit in the atmosphere. One begins to sense at each moment what the