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initiates it, the mind consents to it and the spirit conducts it. Once the individual achieves such a contact, even for a second, a oneness with the universe ensues, and regular contact results in a peace that passes the understanding of most people. This is when identity with the whole of the universe begins and faith/insight becomes a tremendous force when having to decide what is good for oneself as related to the whole.
However, in achieving such lofty states of perception and consciousness, one must start from the individual's center of being, we must be able to organize our self-hood efficiently.
3. Self-hood Organization
Coordination and association starts from our self-hood. We must organize well our body and material environment with our mind and consciousness together with the efforts of the soul and the leadings of the spirit. Self organization is where it all starts. We must organize our self so that we allow the soul to be the driver of the vehicle. The soul is coordinated by mind and takes direction from the spirit and is the most qualified to take our vehicle to our destination. However, the soul is not infallible. It does make seeming mistakes. But the soul learns from the mistakes and is not afraid to make them. It can even be said that that is the only way it learns. So in spiritual reality, the soul cannot make mistakes, as all "mistakes" are but learning experiences that are necessary. So always be kind to yourself, to your soul. If you make a seeming mistake, it is quite all right. Rejoice in it! Be happy that you now know what not to do, and that now you have the knowledge to do the right thing.
It is often hard to be happy with our mistakes as we get pressured from the external world to kick ourselves, to be ashamed and guilty; society does not like our mistakes and wants us to feel bad about them. But remember that all external pressure is detrimental. It is only the internal pressure from within ourselves that can take us to our destination. This is because our souls learn from our own decisions and from our own thoughts and experiences, as well existentially from the spirit, not from second hand sources. Not to say that we shouldn't listen to suggestions and advice, but to be pressured into following other people's advice without the benefit of evaluating them using our own wisdom is pure folly. When you have made a seeming mistake, when it seems that you have done wrong, it is good to become aware of where that judgment comes from. Is it something that comes from society, from what others may say? Or is it something from within yourself? If it is from an external source and if it is not agreed upon internally give it little weight, as it is but someone's personal opinion. If it comes from deep within yourself, acknowledge it, learn from it, let it go and move on. This is a part of self-organization that is very pivotal in being able to move forward efficiently in knowledge and experience.
In a sense we can say that our body is the animal quality, our mind is the human quality and our soul is the divine quality. So in organizing our body, mind, and soul, we are organizing the animal, human and divine qualities within us. The ideal is that the animal is subordinate and follows direction, the human coordinates direction, and the divine gives us direction. But the human mind is the arena of choosing, this is where we have free will, so this is where we can accept or reject the directions given us by the spark of our divine creator.
Why would we even think of rejecting such divine direction? It would seem to be a no-brainer. But because the minds of most people are still affected greatly by the animal body, we are torn apart by self-interest and self-gratification versus universe interest and universe gratification. In other words, the divine spirit may direct us to give and share but the body may want to keep and not share our blessings, and so the mind is caught in a tug of war and sometimes the body wins. Sadly, it is too often that the body wins in the case of many people in this day and age. We can change this. It is through the regular practice of becoming one with the universe and the Creator: worshipful meditation, prayer and service, that we can begin to accept more and more the direction of the spirit within us. It is by transcending the material that we can transcend the wants of the body and allow the mind to follow the spirit's directives. That is how we can win this constant tug of war for our souls.
We move in the dimension of breadth in conjunction with our inner work in the dimension of depth and our progression in the dimension of length. It is the harmonized and seamless progression in all three dimensions of length, depth and breadth that moves us closer to our spiritual goals. In relation to our destination, we are always moving forward, sideways, up and down, simultaneously, to a lesser or greater degree, even when we are focusing on moving in one of the above dimensions.
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