At the subtle-most core of every human being there resides a deep, compelling desire to know the meaning of life, and to directly experience and understand the eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent force from which the entire universe, including you and me, has evolved. Direct experience of this profound Truth provides a person security, optimism, wisdom, love, creativity, happiness, and strength.
But today, even in the midst of an unprecedented technological revolution that makes our lives so much easier than life in any previous age, human beings suffer from a lack of purpose and self-confidence, and are troubled by dissatisfaction, dread, fear and anger.
Why is it that so many of our fellow travelers are so unhappy? On a very practical level, much of the pain in today’s world is caused by a crisis in education. Without question, our modern schools, colleges and universities do teach us how to memorize and recite useful information that can translate into higher paying jobs, but they have never provided us a spiritual education that teaches us how to create a philosophy that prepares us to fulfill the highest purpose of a human life that’s free from pain, misery and bondage.
As a consequence, much of humanity has become addicted to receiving knowledge and happiness from outside sources. Every day, from morning to night, people habitually extrude their vital creative energy outward through the senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch, frantically seeking the illusory “pot of gold” at the end of a rainbow. Nobody has taught us how to seek within, how to find within, and how to verify within. So the essential questions of life remain unanswered: “Who am I? From where have I come? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? And where will I go from here?
Clearly, our collective dysfunction lies in the fact that we have not been educated to know we are citizens of two worlds; that we are essentially Spirit, pure consciousness, wisdom, bliss and fullness having a human experience in time and space. Without direct knowledge of this higher wisdom within, we remain strangers to ourselves and to each other.
True Spiritual Education must define spirituality in its most scientific, practical and universal terms. Spiritual Education trains us to set aside those debilitating, faulty, unconscious concepts that skew our perceptions and lead nowhere but to pain. Spiritual Education helps us discipline our thoughts, words and deeds, in order to follow that which leads us toward the center of consciousness, and thereby begins unlocking all our vast inner creative potentials.
Jesus, speaking as the Enlightened Yoga Scientist, taught His students that, “The Kingdom of the Supreme Intelligence exists within each human being.” On a very practical level, Spiritual Education can teach humanity how to direct the mind inward to receive unerring Super Conscious Wisdom from the intuitive library of wisdom at the core of our being. Once this knowledge is received and becomes the basis of our thoughts, words, and deeds, human beings increasingly experience the Self-reliance, Self-confidence, creativity and freedom from fear essential to meeting all of life’s challenges with joy.
As you live your own personal Hero’s Journey, you must be forewarned and prepared for certain important signs. For that reason, I have prepared for you a list of the 10 warning signs of Spiritual Awakening.
About the author
Leonard Perlmutter (Ram Lev)
Leonard is an American spiritual teacher, a direct disciple of medical pioneer Swami Rama of the Himalayas, and a living link to the world’s oldest health and wisdom spiritual tradition. A noted educator, philosopher and Yoga Scientist, Leonard is the founder of the American Meditation Institute, developer the AMI Foundation Course curriculum, and originator of National Conscience Month. He is the author of the award-winning books The Heart and Science of Yoga and YOUR CONSCIENCE, and the Mind/Body/Spirit Journal, Transformation. A rare and gifted teacher, Leonard’s writings and classes are enlivened by his inspiring enthusiasm, vast experience, wisdom, humor and a clear, practical teaching style. Leonard has presented courses at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, numerous medical colleges, Kaiser Permanente, the Commonwealth Club of California, the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and The New York Times Yoga Forum with Dean Ornish MD.