Spiritual evolution is the result of one comprehensive process, although it appears to unfold in a variety of ways. What we're doing here is grouping these ways so that they present a unified picture of human spiritual evolution. The levels are: Individual, Family, Social, Specie, and Planetary. If you are a spiritually oriented people, then you are probably involved in a few of these levels: some will be more important to you than others, while you might ignore other levels altogether. As we go from one to the next, more energy is available, and the journey becomes less about "me" and more about "us."

For example, say you're involved in the first level, the Individual. Here, you try to advance spiritually by working on yourself. This is a personal journey, so you are at the center. When you shift to, say, the Social level, you begin focusing on the spiritual condition of society. Society becomes the "me" that you work on. You are now one among many, co-creating with others. Here, individuals work toward aligned goals, often using different but harmonious means to evolve the expanded self.

There are many views about spiritual evolution. However, the heated "Creationism vs. Darwin's theory" debate isn't one of them. It pits a religious model of creation against a scientific model of how forms evolve over time. The former is based on a religious interpretation of ancient texts while the latter interprets material evidence. Neither addresses spiritual progress. In this "Levels" model, we assume that spiritual and secular forces work together. They allow the consciousness of spirit to become self-aware in the universe of form. This is called the Spiritualization of Matter. God (or whatever you want to call the creator of everything) uses biological evolution as a means to spiritual awakening: physical systems are in service to spirit. In this sense, what unifies all evolutionary levels is that to advance them, we must spiritualize them.

When reading through the different levels, keep in mind what "spiritualizing" them means. To spiritualize a level means that everyone should be encouraged or, at least, allowed, to express love and caring freely within it. Expressing like that is what fulfills us. On the Individual level, paths that ignore these characteristics are not efficient in evolutionary terms. The same is true with the Family level: when love is discouraged it retards the family's progress. On the Social level, post-modernists say that money, power, and material possessions lead to happiness.
Although we can't spiritualize this philosophy — it wouldn't be materialistic anymore — it's obvious to many that, that path is spiritually bankrupt. Consumerism as a lifestyle has a devastating effect on the individual, society, and the environment. Love and caring are needed at the Social level as much as on any other. At the Specie and Planetary levels, we express them naturally without hesitation.

Individual Evolution:
Getting the Self Together

Many think that "spiritual evolution" means a person's spiritual progress. Religions usually define it this way and if you're good showing spiritual qualities, you can earn the title of saint or guru. Spiritual qualities vary among religions, but many are universal, like compassion, charity, faith in and devotion to God, brotherly and sisterly love, wisdom, patience, peacefulness, courage, clarity, justice, purposefulness, and tolerance. They're uplifting. When someone improves in any of these areas, then they have progressed spiritually and their energy level increases.

Eastern religions discuss personal evolution more than Western ones. The latter are more patriarchal and are concerned with pleasing God and following His commandments. They believe that life offers a one-time chance to get to Heaven. In the East, they believe that we have many lifetimes to succeed. Both have the same goal though: to be (or to realize our innate oneness) with God. They just approach it within different time frames.

Philosophically, it's either free will or fate (God's Will) that's responsible for our spiritual progress. If it's free will, then we have to work at improving ourselves to evolve. If fate is in charge, then we must surrender to God's Will, although when and whether we surrender are fated too. IROOT:NOT1 Nez masters suggest that we "surf the paradox" and do both. They claim that it's possible to express our spiritual vision in everyday life and fulfill our destiny.

There are thousands of spiritual techniques that can help us become better at expressing our spiritual vision. For example, before we speak or act we can ask ourselves, "Will this create unnecessary guilt, worry, or problems, or will it have an overall positive effect?" Our response let's us know immediately if we are acting spiritually or not. Some could argue that this destroys spontaneity, but people often act out of habit, so this practice could benefit them.

Individual progress is at the core of the human evolutionary process. By accepting and improving ourselves at this level we can be more effective at the subsequent levels. And while it takes much effort and determination to advance, the family can provide a valuable network of support in this. The family is, in many ways, an extension of oneself and represents the next level of spiritual evolution.

Family Evolution:
The Art of Compromise

Several factors influence the spiritual progress of a family. Ideally, each member is practicing a spiritual discipline. Though everyone doesn't have to walk the same path, believing in a similar creed is bonding. Yet, different paths offer the opportunity to broaden our understanding of other faiths and to become more tolerant. This is not as easy as it sounds: nature has wired our brains to accept as fact whatever we believe. Usually, people believe they are right about things. And while disagreement is intrinsically good because it can spark insight, holding a grudge deteriorates the relationship. By releasing attachment to our ideas and letting the exchange flow, then everyone can benefit. The family is where we learn the art of compromise.

In part, compromise is gained by understanding differences with each party making concessions accordingly. Openly expressing one's views in an open environment without criticism leads to understanding and a willingness to negotiate differences.

One reason people resist compromise is that they believe that others are selfish. "Why should I give them something? He probably won't give anything back." This idea is rooted in a materialistic rather then a spiritual worldview. While it may often be true that people act selfishly, if we are not willing to give, then we will miss opportunities with people who are willing to compromise. By shifting the context and seeing people as more caring than greedy, relationships can go deeper and become more fulfilling; they encourage a give and take environment, which is necessary for growth.

Genetics and intimacy are supportive factors too, but negative parenting can reduce their effectiveness. Negative parenting hinders the growth of everyone involved and injects regressive attitudes into the next generation. If a family transcends this pitfall, it gives everyone an optimal base to heal, learn, reorient, and grow. Genetics also may provide pathways for beings to incarnate into evolutionarily "good stock." In this sense, good stock has little to do with socio-economic class, but rather it would provide a being with a developed mental, emotional, and/or physical body to pursue his or her work.

Intent is another ingredient. If members agree that they, as individuals and as a group, want to evolve, then it can offset selfish tendencies. In addition, the family offers a safe testing ground for ideas and conduct. Members can receive loving support and honest opinions from each other. Often, if one family member advances spiritually, then the whole unit progresses. This is the point, since the family is the "me" that we strive to evolve.

Faithfulness in a relationship is important as well. It establishes trust and strengthens the bond between the couple. It creates a healthier and more stable environment for children and endorses them to be honest and trustworthy. Trust of all family members is critical for growth.

We can do plenty to make a family more loving. One is simply to ask, "How can we move forward without [me] infringing on the sovereignty of others?" Just asking opens us to insight. The elements of love, which extend beyond the family as well, include caring, understanding, tenderness, service, and the desire to make others happy.

Families are the basic living cells of society, and the spiritual vibrancy of those cells reveals society's health and progress. Forces that harm the unit can damage both the individual and society. Perhaps this is one reason "protecting the family" is such an important instinct. Yet, there's more to life than this. To look beyond the family is to realize, as Spider Man put it, "There's something bigger happening than me and you." In this instance, the bigger something is social reality. This becomes clear during times of war — our most devilishly inspired act ever. Men (and sometimes women, depending on the culture and intensity of the conflict) leave their families to defend the community, state, or country.

Social Evolution is the third rung on the evolutionary ladder. People don't typically associate social progress with spiritual evolution. They define it within a humanistic context, usually under the heading of "social justice." A few factors are responsible for this. The Left, the most vocal promoter of social justice, rarely defines community issues in a spiritual or religious context. Plus, in the West we have the division of Church and State. Furthermore, corporate philosophy, which is thoroughly materialistic, permeates the airwaves, landscape, and workplace, and therefore greatly influences our thinking. All of this sets a secular tone for discussing civil matters. Yet, we can link social progress with spiritual evolution.

Society is at least the sum of its individuals and families. Each has reached a certain degree of spiritual understanding in some area, and the overall degree of progress will reflect in their systems. To measure the evolution of a social unit, look for the spiritual qualities it expresses. Check its laws (the less needed the better: more laws always result in more criminals; less shows that the populace is more mature and responsible). Also check its crime rate, institutions (smaller is usually better), personal freedoms and rights, and the satisfaction at work and in day-to-day community interactions. A society's traditions, which are usually the unquestioned habits of the group, will reflect the embedded levels of fear and liberties. A society must provide a consistent level of spiritual mastery and commitment, which is carried out system-wide, in order to achieve spiritual quality for it's people. The ideal spiritual environment is for a society to create a mortal version of heaven on earth.

Twelve Sectors

Twelve major sectors influence society's spiritual progress. These are religion, nonprofits, science, government, commerce, finance, media, labor, education, art, law, and philosophy. Some, like philosophy, are more ubiquitous than others but are no less influential in shaping our thinking and behavior.

We seldom connect science, government, or commerce to spiritual evolution. Yet, we can rate their value by the spiritual qualities they promote and practice — not by what they preach. When they value "spin" more than truth, then they are counter-evolutionary. Although spin undeniably influences minds by creating illusions, the energy of truth communicates directly to the heart. Truth, ironically, is hard to define, and some philosophers even deny it exists. Perhaps this is because the Truth is too immense for the human brain to grasp, process, and express, except in small, delicate fragments. These fragments are pieces of the whole and carry the same quality of power. Even then, people who claim to have experienced the Truth, perhaps in the form of artistic, scientific, or spiritual inspiration, say that it comes from outside them — they didn't come up with it. For some, truth is an aspect of God.

Religion

Potentially, religions are major capillaries for spiritual energy to enter society. Of the twelve social sectors, only religion and the nonprofits promote love. The other ten rarely mention them, although art often encourages or stimulates it by promoting beauty, peace, inspiration, and happiness. In the West, Judaism advocates loving God. Christianity says to love God and love one another. Islam tells us what God loves and what He doesn't love about us.

Why does religion have such potential? First, it caters to the idea that people have a spiritual nature. Second, none of the other institutions (except the nonprofits) fully address moral or spiritual issues. Third, the number of people worldwide belonging to some religion is huge. A 2002 analysis2 revealed that worldwide we have: Christians, 32.71% (of which Roman Catholics 17.28%, Protestants 5.61%, Orthodox 3.49%, Anglicans 1.31%); Muslims, 19.67%; Hindus, 13.28%; Buddhists, 5.84%; Sikhs, 0.38%; Jews, 0.23%; other religions, 13.05%; non-religious, 12.43%; atheists, 2.41%.

Christians and Muslims lead the pack, because part of their mission is to convert everyone to their way of thinking or "to the Truth." They do this with zeal and they succeed. While all religious paths offer guidelines for a good life, they fundamentally oppose one another in that most claim to have an exclusive on The Way, and this causes problems. If only one can be right, then the others are wrong. And saving souls and fighting the infidel is serious business.

Church leaders often defend this view and charge that the idea that all faiths have an equal claim to the truth is another form of relativism. However, some religions can be "higher" than others in some (or many) ways. The conflict we're trying to resolve is this: "How can the Creator of All condemn entire cultures — many that are as devout, compassionate, and love God as any other — because they grew up in a culture that practiced a different religion?" This exclusivity represents religion's main obstacle to Social Evolution. It blocks humanity from fulfilling its social potential — a spiritually based world culture or Heaven on Earth.

Some think there is a work around by the society believing in only one religion. Several countries are doing this already, like in the Middle East. Some portions of the U.S. would like it too. India tried it after it broke free from British rule. Thousands of Muslims fled India for the newly created state of Pakistan while similar numbers of Hindus flooded into India from there. That didn't solve the underlying problem though; rather, it magnified it to national proportions. For religions to become evolutionary, they must become more flexible. That's hard to do when they take their narrowly defined mission so seriously, but they could if they wanted to.

Many positive developments are taking place around the world on both large and small scales. Take the Catholic Church. Over the last several decades, it has been trying to explain — within the constraints of its dogma — how members of other religions can be saved, even though they don't believe in Christ. Other Christian sects have been slowly following their lead. Groups of Jews and Muslims in Palestine work together to rebuild Palestinian homes destroyed by occupational forces. Other groups like the U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East and the National Council of Churches work together on specific issues and to improve the overall acceptance of all religions.

Religions need to see past their (unintended) spiritual elitism, much of which is rooted in evolutionarily dysfunctional traditions. Then they can be more effective in relieving the worldwide spiritual crises. They need to find their soul — to be born again — but some doubt that they can. Partly because of this failure, other movements, mainly spiritual ones in service to humanity and the Earth, are creating structures that fulfill those needs. In the long term, they are perhaps more of a challenge to religion's dominance than materialism. A new spirituality, one more flexible and open, is growing and is replacing the traditional forms.

The label Nonprofits is a catchall that includes a diverse collection of movements. Many spiritual and humanistic groups participate, and they consist of people from all races, creeds, cultures, classes, and philosophies. They operate within and outside of mainstream political and religious structures. Here we find groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA); the New Age; philanthropic organizations; charities; labor; the Open Source movement; Amnesty International; Greenpeace; Red Cross; Ad Busters; and an ever-expanding array of environmental, animal, civil, and human rights groups. Altruism is one trait that sets them apart from the other sectors. They believe that people are basically decent, want peace, desire justice, and seek happiness. They want to make the world a better place.

It's true that not all nonprofits operate from integrity and that some are fronts for political groups or have commercial agendas. The real ones, though, supply valuable energy to the whole. They raise awareness and do good works. When these diverse groups unite, it magnifies their power and gives renewed promise for a better world. It is through this synthesis that the New Spirituality is taking shape. Some say that this new socio-spiritual movement is more fulfilling than Individual Evolution alone. Although the Individual level is extremely important, perhaps an emerging form of group consciousness, which the New Spirituality represents, is more so.

If a human group consciousness were to manifest, the members of the global society would be sensitive to the needs of the whole yet retain their individuality. This is in contrast to the two major ideologies of the Twentieth Century — capitalism and communism — that preached radical self-reliance and collectivism, respectively. We spent (wasted) hundreds of billions of dollars on this ideological struggle. Instead of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, we could have used that money to rebuild our entire social infrastructure, feed everyone on the planet, and provided disenfranchised nations with the tools to create their own prosperity. Terrorism would be rare and virtually unsupported.

The New Spirituality synthesizes and balances the extremes of capitalism and communism into a holistic way of being. Rather than sacrificing our individuality to support some group ideology or seeing ourselves as rugged individuals above the group, we integrate ourselves into society and retain our individuality. We blend. We understand that if the whole dies, we die, and if society is prosperous as a whole, we are prosperous as an individual.

When secular humanists use spiritual principles, the results can be as positive as if applied by someone religious. Humanists can spiritualize a system even though they don't believe in spirit. For example, helping the poor because they are humans or helping them because they are a part of God (or children of God) has the same results, as long as the means are equally humane. The evolutionary results of the group's efforts are what count. Everyone can play the evolution game, and those that succeed are doing Light Work whether they are religious or not.

Science

Science is a materialistic discipline that helps us discover the workings of the physical universe. It provides valuable information but runs into trouble when it calls religious beliefs into question. Here we have the classic conflict of Fact vs. Faith. You would think religions would welcome evidence that makes their stories more credible, but their dogma is generally fixed. On the other hand, science makes claims against religion that it can't justify. Although it shouldn't use metaphysical assumptions when explaining secular phenomena, to rule out metaphysical reality altogether goes too far. By claiming materialism is the only reality, it becomes counter-evolutionary.

Yet, cultural and religious myths, although often contrary to fact, work for many societies. It bonds them. It adds character and purpose, and it gives meaning to their lives. Culturally, have the hard facts of science made us more human? Have they created more peaceful and fulfilling conditions? Have they built the means to destroy all life on the planet (including DU and other toxins)? The New Spirituality is incorporating scientific findings into its own sprouting mythology that combines reason with metaphysical understanding. The Church had fought reason, because science was proving that some of its central tenets were clearly out of step with existential reality. The New Spirituality embraces the facts of existential reality and infuses it with soul.

Through science we have developed technology that makes our lives easier. Potentially, it can offer the chance to raise the standard of living for everyone on the planet. Unfortunately, multinationals and governments have largely monopolized these tools — energy, communications, and the tools of production — often to the detriment of nature and humankind. For instance, everyone knows of the horrors created by the military-industrial complex. They also restrict technology to preserve or increase their power and profits. Mainstream media has already reported that an Internet technology exists that transfers data over 100 times faster than our current technology. However, the entertainment industry has halted its release because they claim the industry will lose profits. In addition, townships try to set up their own broadband systems that would provide low-cost Internet access for the community. But the communications conglomerates, wanting to keep their monopoly stranglehold, pressure or bribe legislatures to pass laws outlawing such action. In any event, science isn't the God of Truth or even fact for that matter.

"The current elevation of science to the status of infallible oracle is an expression of our insecure compulsion to feel there is some kind of a measurable, universally predictable objective world 'out there' upon which we can rely. But in transcending the emotional distortions of perception, science itself creates yet another conceptual distortion, due to the limitation of its parameters. Science must necessarily remove data from context in order to study it, but in the end, it is only the context which gives the data its whole significance or value."

Seen within a larger time frame, the conflict between science and religion is an effort to clarify the boundaries of and find balance between material and spiritual realities. We can use science to scrap invalid metaphysical assumptions. Science can never disprove the existence of God, spirit, and metaphysics, because they are out of its mathematical reach. An evolutionary combination would be a metaphysical understanding of life grounded in existential reality. Trying to exclude one or the other is extreme and out of balance. The New Spirituality is a living system growing from the blended themes of ancient religious and mystical teachings and the discoveries of modern science: it will be reasonable yet mystical, embracing the paradox of existence. The New Science will become holistic rather than strictly reductionistic. Both will be open.

Michael Lamas
www.starbuilders.org