Tuning into Spirit Against the Bias of Materialism

Our culture has a clear bias towards the way it understands and scripts reality – that bias regards only the physical or material world as real. It is difficult to speak of spirit against the backdrop of such a strong bias, a mindset that by definition excludes the possibility of the existence of anything beyond the physical. Our modern scientific paradigm has excluded the notion of an intangible spiritual world, creating a most interesting paradox whereby science tries to understand and explain the universe with both hands tied behind its back. At the same time, it is also true that many physicists, astronomers, biologists, doctors, psychologists, and other researchers are beginning to look beyond the material plane for answers. Eventually, I believe that our scientific models will evolve to incorporate the study of the more refined vibrations of spirit, with the result that many spiritual phenomena and principles that are presently not understood or acknowledged will come into clearer focus. We can all agree that an object in the external physical world has certain characteristics; for example, a tree may have a brown trunk and green leaves. However, as soon as we start to explore the internal subjective world, we cannot apply to the same principles of observation and objective “proof” as we can to the material world. Thus, for instance, science (at least at the present time) cannot objectively prove what you are feeling or what you are thinking at any point in time. However, just because science cannot prove something doesn’t mean that you don’t feel or that you don’t think - it just means science cannot prove it with its current tools and methodologies. Your internal world and subjective experiences are not any less “real” just because they cannot be independently verified or measured by scientists in the same way as the colors and dimensions of a tree. This is an important key to understanding the spiritual experience: it is by definition part of your internal, subjective world. And even though it cannot be proven scientifically, your inner world and inner experiences are real. For spirit to become real for you, you need to learn to “tune in” and discern with clarity what you are experiencing and knowing. It is important to understand that the human being was designed not only with physical senses, but also with psychic or spiritual senses. The physical senses were designed to guide the body through the material reality while the spiritual senses were designed to guide the whole person, both body and soul, through the greater spiritual reality in which we all exist. The spiritual senses are more subtle than our physical senses, and can be easily overpowered by the density of the physical plane and the conditioning of the human mind. Over many generations, most of us have learned to tune out the voice of our soul as well as our intuitive guidance system. As a result, we have become disconnected from our own inner truth and creative power. Through our collective mistakes, we as a global society also severed our conscious connection to our Creator. Consequently, the goal of any spiritual practice is, among other things, to allow us to “tune in” and to reconnect with our innate spiritual senses and abilities. With practice, we can relearn how to use our spiritual senses and to listen to the voice of our soul, or our “wise self.” Living with the guidance of our “wise self” will allow us to fundamentally shift and transform our lives. That is the real gift of spiritual development. And as we shift, so will our society.