Living Spirit by Jef Bartow
Our simple definition of Living Spirit is living a focused spiritual life through practical day-to-day activities embracing a wide variety of ways to pursue spiritual growth. This definition is powerful when certain keywords are thoroughly understood. Let's begin to better understand this through the most powerful keyword of Spirit. In my book God, Man and the Dancing Universe, I define some key underlying ideas at the beginning of this treatise. Of course a key one is Spirit. Let’s first embrace this description as a way of introducing Spirit.Spirit
When I founded a consulting company called The Spirit Group, I became painfully aware of how difficult the concept of spirit is for most people. I would get these looks of absolute puzzlement. It made no sense for a business to use the word spirit. The simplest reaction was that it must have something to do with religion. Defining spirit is like defining something that doesn't exist. It's like defining God. Most of us believe that God exists, but defining who or what it is, is very difficult. One way to relate to spirit is as God, a transcendent being or principle. Another way to grasp spirit is as the vital essence of things. When Community benefits
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you get to the core of something, you reach its essence. A third way we may relate to spirit is as "Espirit de Corp," the ultimate way that a team or group can work together to accomplish something. NASA putting a man on the moon during the 1960s is one example.
We also use the term spirit to label something ethereal, non-tangible, like a ghost or apparition. Further, spirit can also describe someone with a lot of energy, enthusiasm or vitality. Finally, we use spirit in describing our intention or our purpose, as living by the spirit rather than by the letter of the law.I have already used the term Spirit in defining the continuum of Spirit and Matter. But this doesn't satisfy all of the above ways to relate to spirit. There must be more to it than that. I define SPIRIT here as: the transcen-dent, un-manifested source of all Being and Manifestation. This might seem like a good definition for God, but I believe God is more than this. Since SPIRIT is the source of all manifestation, then part of it is the Spirit of Spirit and Matter. Join Today!!!!!
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As we do this, we encounter various energetic planes, realms and worlds that embody Spirit. For example, the Intuitional Plane is our closest objective manifestation of Spirit. As we embrace these energies, we learn how to use perspective, symmetry, synchronicities, compassion and transpersonal love to become "enlightened." Living our everyday life based on these energies is one way of learning how to live by Spirit. In the process, we take powerful steps toward becoming a self-conscious Soul and an individuated Being within the Oneness of Being.Within the Spirit part of our systemic existence, they are seven objective Planes and seven subjective Realms, of which the Intuitional Plane is only one. Therefore, there is a variety of ways in which Spirit manifests and opportunities for us to become a spiritualized Being. Living Spirit is choosing one or more of the many ways in which Spirit embodies and making it part of your everyday life. The various schools and Paths that embrace spirituality are consistently focused on helping individuals orient to and live parts of Spirit. Within our community, we choose to embrace all of these and the value they can bring to each of us becoming the spiritual Being we are capable of. Therefore, we're not interested in the dogmas of any particular religion, sect or philosophy. Our focus is to get to the essence or transcendent principles and purpose that each is partially expressing. Just as spirit exists within all Matter, we can find avenues and paths to Spirit within every aspect of outer life. We can also find it through our inner experiences in Subjectivity, whether while asleep or in conscious dreaming states.One final point needs to be made. This relates to the word focused in our definition. Much of humanity has incorporated their understanding of spiritual into their life routine. A perfect example is attending church on Sundays. This is embracing aspects of spirituality as a part of their life. This is just how spirit is within all Matter, but difficult to distinguish. Learning to live by Spirit does require making it a driving force and highly important aspect of daily life. In the process, we trade in our orientation to comfort, security and happiness for an orientation based on living purpose, meaning and service of the transcendent Spirit which is the essence of all life.Living by Spirit begins with finding our purpose, intent or meaning for our life. This is "Why we are here" and this plan is what call our "Soul Plan." Our Soul’s Plan is the schematic or life plan that will fulfill purpose as a part of our Spirit. Beyond orienting to our soul and the Beingness that we are as a part of Spirit, our orientation becomes developing our awareness and alignment to the transcendent energetic portion of our universe. Part of it is the essence of Being. Since it is un-manifested, it would not be tangible. If it is the source of all being and manifestation, it must have a lot of energy and vitality. Also, it would be the ultimate, wouldn't it?
Since I have not defined SPIRIT as God, then SPIRIT must be a part of God, a part that is un-manifested today, but may be in the future. Our connection to SPIRIT is through Spirit in Spirit and Matter. In addition, since Spirit creates Being, then a part of Spirit is within Being. Whether it is easier to relate to Spirit through spirit in manifestation or through Being is irrelevant. Both come from the same source. Ah, so here again we have a duality of Being and Manifestation created from un-manifested SPIRIT.If you're like me, one begins to get a similar reaction as when trying to see light as both a wave and a particle. The quantum duality becomes real. Quantum theory is an excellent way to make objectively real what we psychologically and spiritually experience. There is more than one way to look at anything and still be seeing the same thing.So, we have levels of Spirit including SPIRIT which is un-manifested, spirit which is in Matter as its essence or vitality and Spirit which is the transcendent energetic portion at the core of our universe which manifests its essence, vitality, purpose and intent including the most ethereal realms, planes and worlds of our existence. In God's creativity, one way Spirit is organized is into Will, Love and Active Intelligence. Active Intelligence is already fully manifested within manifestation. In this cycle, Love is purposely being instilled and conditioned within all manifestation. In a later cycle, Will will have its turn and God's creativity will be completed in this manifested universe.With this definition of Spirit, it becomes easier to understand Living Spirit. In our everyday world existence within humanity, we are conditioned and motivated to live by objective materialism. We need to get ahead in life, create a family and successful career, support our government and society's rules and regulations while living, getting older and dying. Living by Spirit is an entirely different orientation to life.
