A Crash Course in Spirituality 

 


If you’re like me, you probably connect Ayahuasca and other South American plant medicines to native religions or Amazonian “witch doctors” in your mind. These connections might not seem compatible with typical Western Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, with a little bit of exploration you might find a place for these ideas in your current faith practice, or add a dimension of spirituality to your secular life. I think you will find that most concepts of spirituality are common to all of humanity; we just use varied vocabularies, meaning our differences are often merely semantics.


Modern spirituality involves the nurturing and well-being of the mind, body, and spirit (soul), and the belief in a supreme being. Whether called Source, the Universe, the Creator, or God, this being is divine and inspires desires for self-improvement (ascension), global unity and peace. 

There is an intentional vagueness about deity which allows for many individual experiences and faith traditions. But most people agree that a supreme being/consciousness includes the following qualities, no matter what name we call It/Him/Her/Them:

-Inclusive, holistic, promoting unity and oneness

-creative, life-giving and life-promoting

-omniscient, intelligence, source of mind-energy

-love, wholeness, wellness, peace, perfection (as in completeness)

 


Another common feature is the emphasis on the spiritual authority of the self. Rather than looking to organized religion, an established clergy, prophet, or guru for truth, spiritualism recognizes the ability of each individual to receive knowledge, light, and truth from our divine source.


Ecclecticism–gathering truth from any source– is an important part of making spirituality work in our lives. If we can use our intuition to help us recognize truth, we can gather that truth to form a whole that teaches us and blesses each individual according to their needs.


The concept of Ascension is also key in modern spirituality. The term may sound “new-agey” but the truth is that the concept is common to most religions. It can be called teleological evolution, eternal progression, or spiritual ascension, but it always refers to the Higher Self/Spirit/Soul connecting to divinity to help the whole self—mind/body/spirit—to evolve. Ascension treats mortal life as a laboratory or classroom for receiving knowledge and goodness lost in our soul’s journey. This knowledge and goodness are necessary for us to progress through higher spiritual realms. As we gather this knowledge and goodness, we become more intelligent and more pure; more like our Source; more divine. 


Chadrani Mukherjee, a psychologist and spiritual leader (mindfool.com) suggests five steps of Ascension:

-Awakening (awareness)

-Cleansing (purification, focus)

-Letting Go of material entrapments (liberation)

-Rebirth (clarity, honesty, a fresh start)

-Ascension (purity, wisdom, clarity, self-mastery)


When we reach our full potential in this mortal life, we have reached what is often called Enlightenment. Some qualities of Enlightenment include:

-inner goodness

-the power to combat evil

-humility and kindness

-joy

-understanding

-body (physical) purity

-no fear of death

-optimism, inner strength (hope and faith)

-balance

- compassion and love (charity)

-service-oriented, purposeful life

-daily spiritual practice, connecting to divinity

-aware of and attuning to higher levels of consciousness


The products offered through Awake Healer are designed to help the human family experience this spiritual healing and progression. We have painstakingly collected the most powerful plant medicines and practices from the South American tradition to assist our brothers and sisters all over the globe to connect with divinity to find physical, emotional, and spiritual healing that allows us to move forward to meet our divine potential.