The 7 Stages of Spiritual Development
Inspired by the writings of Daoist Master Hua-Ching Ni, Los Angeles, USA
Spiritual development is a personal endeavor, not a subject for organized religion, which is merely a social pursuit. Clarifying emotional problems, looking through your conceptual think, remapping your self-set boundaries such as your personality, or solving your relational problems, provides the possibility for you to restore personal balance and attain poise and inner peace.
In human life, all of us have three spheres; the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. It cannot be denied that all life needs material support, but our spirit also needs development. The direction of human society, however, has changed radically from the pursuit of spirit to the pursuit of the material. In today’s overpopulated modern world, material and mental aspects of life are overemphasized, especially in the form of intellectual knowledge which makes people even deny the existence of a spiritual level of life.
People need spiritual growth and development to be whole, but they assert a partial view of life as the result of advances in scientific research and industrial technology which do not cover the whole scope of human life. We cannot use the same methods that apply to material discoveries to explore the spiritual sphere. That is why so many people are disappointed and deny the existence of a spiritual realm. Modern education works only on the physical and mental levels; it avoids spiritual matters and does not support spiritual development, obviously neglecting the most essential part of life.
Spiritual development must deepen and explore the truth in order for a person to achieve the goal of an integral vision of life, step by step. It takes long years, and depends entirely and only on how the person receives their spiritual education and works on himself or herself. This is the foundation of individual spiritual development, which develops from physical essence, with the mind as the medium between the physical and spiritual spheres.
When you are in an eventful circumstance and your mind is not disturbed, this is called true peace, true calmness. It is very practical. Your mind is no longer controlled by circumstance, it is free. The free mind is a powerful mind. It is a useful mind. It is the key to going further to the mystical source.
Spiritual development generally proceeds in seven stages.
The first stage is when the mind reaches peace and easily responds to the subtle as well as the ordinary level of life. It is then easy to discern what worldly things are heavy and disturbing to your true peace, and thus a possible cause of a downfall.
The second stage is when old physical problems clear up by themselves and you do not need to go to physicians. Your body and mind feel light and happy.
The third stage is when your vitality is regenerated and you return to a natural and healthy long life. You also start to follow the right way of living as guided by your growing wisdom.
The fourth stage occurs after you have achieved the foundation of the first three stages. You can live as you wish and not be subject to the lower spheres of influence. You can then connect with the spiritual realm.
The fifth stage comes to a person when one refines one’s physical energy to be higher, more essential energy. Through serious cultivation, the physical energy is transformed to become vital essence (ch’i).
The sixth stage comes after transforming the gross chi into more subtle ch’i. Then you go further to transform your ch’i to be more essential, to become a spiritual being. Spiritual beings can be in the world and remain subtle or not, as they choose. They are unfathomable and unpredictable. They are true spirits.
The seventh stage is when the spirit is refined and unites with the Tao. Then the ultimate being is achieved. These seven steps to become one with the Dao, or to attain complete fulfillment, are universal.
Dao, as the initial spirit or the spirit of youth, is untouched and cannot be bent to any personal will or ambition. It never fails and never declines. The initial spirit is always in progression and always developing. It constantly provides the possibility for an entirely new range of life experience. This is the essence of the universal nature. It does not hold to any past images. It does not necessarily value the common sense sayings of refined ancient sages. It is a great path discovered by great humans with transformable beings. As a self-cultivation, it refreshes one’s spirit, mind, and body, and brings all elements into a harmonious ‘one piece.’
It is more fundamental and beneficial if one can attain emotional independence. It does not mean that one avoids all emotional relationships, or that you must life absolutely alone. It means that whether you associate with others or not, you remain independent.
Spiritual independence is a life-long pursuit without any guarantee of attaining enlightenment or the discovery of the ultimate truth. Anyone who achieves spiritual independence, however, must first achieve emotional independence.
The Subtle Origin is formless. It is made of no-thing, but from this nothing all existence comes into being. This no-thing of the universe is creative and constructive energy. If you keep your mind in this nothing, which in its very nature is being, you imitate the process of the universe.
The core of the integral spiritual realm of an individual or of the entire universe is an inexpressible, indescribable stillness.
However, it has a subtle, inexhaustible movement which can be traced by following the harmonious, gentle pulsations of the integral spiritual realm in its clarity and distinction.
