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In the Christian tradition, this qualified nonduality is addressed early by Athanasius. He spoke, "God became a human being, that the human being might become God." Being a conservative theologian, he did not mean the same as becoming God, rather a oneness with, or unity with, God. Jesus often uses the language of nonduality, as qualified, as an experienced unity, in the Gospel of John. In this oneness no dividing line can be discerned, for the intimacy is such that the intimacy holds duality in one embrace. Alike teachings are found in other traditions, where oneness transforms duality but does not negate it. Such is this saying, attributed to the Sufi Al-Ghazali, b. 1058, "The happiness of the drop is to die in the river." This is reminiscent of the saying from the apostle Paul in the Christian Scriptures, "I have been crucified with Christ, still I live, yet I do not live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I live, I live by trust in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
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The evolutionary map above is a pointer to being, only a pointer. I have found it helpful. I acknowledge, the mind functions well in relating with and speaking about the body; beyond the body, so beyond the mind, mind trying to relate with what is outside its little well of expertise is inept. So, a key here: each of the aspects of being emergence can identify at its aspect and any prior, but never beyond itself. This means, language breaks down especially beginning at soul, or spirit, and soul and spirit become mute, as well as the body, in the Silence, in Spirit. Spirit draws all prior evolutionary aspects into Its embrace, but does not negate them, they are part of the earth passage here. Still, as beings of language, we do well to draw our maps to help us situate ourselves along the path, until, in Spirit, we no longer need this orientation, for Spirit is all-encompassing in awareness and being. Once the map is no longer needed, the map will dissolve in Awareness, being a memory. I rarely think of this map, or any such map, but use it to aid others who might like the landmarks along the way. Yet, when you feel the need for such dissolving, let it go.
So, hopefully, this will assist in relating with the below, the event to be shared from a Quaker Meeting this past Sunday. If not, you may wish to fit what I write in another map of being or simply forget how it may fit any idea of growth.
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Many maps of growth do not go far enough; an example, the maps of spiritual growth in the West that stop before spirit and project that the highest stage of emergence is a person in communion with God, or the Ultimate. Spirit and spirit is not a person in or outside communion. Also, stages of growth taught in psychology usually stop short of beyond the person, so beyond the ego; almost all psychology in the West is a form of theory and means of well-functioning of the person, so a healthy ego. This does not see that person does not have spirit and Spirit, but is an expression of Spirit and spirit. So, if you want spiritual guidance, you go to a spiritual guide, a sage of spirit; if you want your ego to be healthier and functioning better, you go to a counselor. These are both valid, but vastly different in orientation. Nevertheless, a person seeking to live a spiritual path may find it beneficial to get counseling, even as personality complexes may be blocking spiritual growth. I myself have enjoyed the experience of counseling at varied times, finding it helpful, and I am trained in counseling. Simply engaging a spiritual path is not a cure-all for the body and mind. To use spirituality as an escape route not to work directly with problems of the body and mind is not wise and may not be deserving of being called spiritual, for Spirit includes all aspects of being.
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