BENEFITS AND STAGES OF SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION
Cosmic Shower is an excellent skill that cultivate the spirit
Question 2
What are the benefits of cultivating a strong spirit in both the mundane and spiritual world?
What are the various stages of spiritual development? At what point in a spiritual cultivator's progress is he or she "tested" by God to determine if he or she would fail or succeed?
Which specific exercises (i.e Bone Marrow Cleansing, Expanding into Cosmos) specifically cultivate the spirit?
Stephen
Answer
It is worthwhile to remember that we are a spirit having a body, not a body having a spirit. The body, which is physical, changes all the time, but the spirit does not, until it merges with Cosmic Reality or God the Holy Spirit. The body takes different forms in different life-times, but the spirit remains the same.
The spirit develops, but it is the same spirit, whereas the body is constantly changing. Scientists have worked out that not a single minute part of a person’s body is the same now than seven months ago!
As we are spirit, strengthening the spirit results in many benefits in both the mundane and spiritual worlds.
For convenience we may describe the benefits in the mundane world under four headings – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
When a person’s spirit is strong, his body is strong too. Some healers as well as modern scientists even go to the extent of saying that physical illness is a manifestation of a sick spirit. Hence, a person is not healed until he has healed his spirit.
When a person’s spirit is weak, he is troubled by many emotions. By strengthening his spirit, a person may face the same emotions which would previously make him miserable, but with a strengthened spirit, these emotions would not affect him unfavorably.
Similarly, a person with weak spirit is easily troubled by numerous thoughts. He is frequently nervous or angry, and his intellect is dull. Thoughts overwhelm him. When he strengthens his spirit, he can manage the same thoughts effectively. He is able to control his thoughts and attain mental clarity.
When a person’s sprit is weak or low, he becomes depressed. At extreme cases, he may become suicidal. When he strengthens his spirit, he becomes peaceful and happy.
In the spiritual world, when a person’s spirit is weak, even if he has a big, strong body, he feels lost and afraid. Life loses its meaning on him, and he is bored or even suicidal, even if he has material wealth and social security. This is indeed a major problems with many people in the West.
A weak spirit may also be exposed to attack by evil and low spirits. He feels afraid, and is often in bad luck. If he strengthen his spirit, his good energy which results from his spiritual cultivation will repel evil and low spirits. His good circulation of energy also gives him good luck.
The various stages of spiritual development may be classified into cleansing, building and nourishing.
When a person’s spirit is blocked, he becomes sad, nervous and depressed. If he has a lot of energy but his spirit is blocked, he becomes angry and aggressive. Cleansing his blockage sets his spirit free. He overcomes his sadness, nervousness and depression, or anger and aggression.
When he builds his spirit, i.e. strengthening it in quantity, he becomes peaceful confident and pleasant. When he nourishes his spirit, i.e. strengthening it in quality, he becomes wise, compassionate and joyful.
A person is tested by God or divine beings all the time. At the cleansing stage of a person’s spiritual cultivation, God or divine beings will test whether he has faith and perseverance. In our school, we do not advocate blind faith and sheer perseverance. We encourage faith and perseverance based on understanding and experience.
At the stage of building his spirit, God or divine beings will test whether he is disrespectful and arrogant. Many people fail at this stage. They become so much stronger than average people that they think they are better and smarter than their master. Like at the earlier stage, in our school we do not advocate blind faith in the master. They should assess their master to the best of their understanding and experience.
At the state of nourishing, God or divine beings test a cultivator’s wisdom and compassion. Wisdom and compassion are the two signature hallmarks of a Bodhisattva. They are also the two signature hallmarks of the highest teaching in our school. Some advanced practitioners fail at this stage. They become clever, but not wise, and they become merciless and mistake indignation for righteousness.
All our training involves triple cultivation, i.e. cultivating the physical, the energy and the spirit. Hence, spiritual cultivation is found in all our exercises, ranging from the simplest like Lifting the Sky to the most advanced like Zen meditation.
As we differentiate between techniques and skills, an advanced practitioner may have more spiritual benefits practicing a simple technique like one of the 18 Jewels than a beginner practicing an advanced techniques like one of the Bone Marrow Cleansing exercises.
However, if all other things were equal, certain techniques and skills focus more on spiritual cultivation. Examples of techniques that specially cultivate the spirit include Lifting the Sky, Flicking Fingers and Standing Meditation. Examples of skills that specially cultivate the spirit include Cosmic Shower, Cosmic Breathing and Merging with the Cosmos.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions on the Essence of Spiritual Cultivation in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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