02-17-2010, 03:27 PM
Hatonn March 1972
Quote:What is spiritual development? It is the process of maturing; the process of maturing, the process of analyzing everything that you are aware of in a true and unbiased sense. In order to do this, one must be able to recognize truth. It is only possible for one to recognize truth by the process of allowing truth to communicate the absolute base for truth which is ever present throughout the universe. This communication is accomplished primarily through the technique of meditation.
There is a separation of maturity into primarily two aspects: intellectual and spiritual maturity. They go hand in hand, and one generates the other. However, it is not necessary to acquire intellectual maturity in order to acquire spiritual maturity. It is, however, necessary to acquire spiritual maturity in order to acquire intellectual maturity, for the intellect cannot accurately evaluate concepts without a true spiritual basis.
There are three more things which I would like to speak about concerning maturity: the concept of infantile maturity; the concept of general or induced maturity; the concept of absolute or total maturity.
The concept of infantile maturity is highly misunderstood upon this planet. An infant, upon incarnating into your environment, has a certain amount of maturity that he normally brings with him. It is not necessary to induce this quality of maturity through any system of education to the infant. It is only necessary that he be alerted to the possibility of generating a continuance, through his own intellectual processes, of his own spiritual evolution and, consequently, spiritual maturity. Unfortunately, your religious systems do not provide, for the most part, this stimulus.
It is recommended that, in order for infantile maturity to progress at an acceptable rate, the infant be made aware at the earliest age possible of his responsibility in creating an intellectual communication with his total self. This is usually done through techniques of ritual and appreciation of the natural forces of the universe. The ritual that is employed by most of your religious systems upon your planet is highly ineffective, since it is generated primarily by force, and is not freely offered, to be accepted or rejected.
Those, even in an extreme infantile state, who are appreciative, due to their previous growth of the proper ritualistic communications, will accept them, and continue, at their own pace, and should not be forced to attend weekly meetings at specific hours for these purposes, since they reach a peak of spiritual attunement that is a function of their own cyclical activities, and therefore should be able to seek out, at any time, spiritual communications and should be provided with a place for seeking. And this should be the limit of that which is expected of them. Your present system drives most of your people from spiritual seeking at a very early age due to the aspect of force which should be totally removed. This is what we have experienced, and what we have found to be most beneficial.
The second aspect of which I speak is that of induced maturity, occurring in most unusual aspect among the peoples of your present society. This maturity, which is a false maturity, is induced by the social systems which are presently in effect upon your planet. Each system intellectually communicates an aspect of assumed maturity, which has nothing to do with real or absolute maturity. Therefore, much strife and confusion is realized by those who attempt to orient their thinking so as to reach the accepted state or level of the assumed concept of the mature mind. This concept is usually heavily intellectual, for your society at present is primarily an intellectual society, with very, very little awareness of the existence or function of what you would call a spiritual society.
Therefore, to mature within the boundaries of your present society and be accepted as a mature person, it is necessary to be able to communicate with it in its accepted intellectual jargon, which includes primarily a ridiculously long list of totally meaningless concepts. These should be, if one is to attain true maturity, rejected as meaningless, for they are extreme transients and have nothing to do with spiritual maturity.
The last aspect of maturity upon which I wish to speak is that of real maturity. My friends, there is only one way to reach real maturity: that is through meditation. We have said this many times. You cannot get there by intellectual mechanisms. You cannot get there by analyzing each of your thoughts, and labeling it either worthwhile or worthless. All of these things are aids, but with the foundation of daily meditation you cannot use this analysis, for the result of this analysis is insulated from the total self by a boundary. This boundary is permeable, but this boundary is only permeable when the mind is conditioned through meditation. Lack of meditation reduces this boundary to an impermeable state, all intellectual functions occurring on the surface, and having little effect upon the growth of the true self.
So you see, my friends, there is a dual process occurring. However, the meditation is always of the primary and greater importance. Once, however the art of meditation has been fully mastered, the intellectual mind becomes a useful tool in the development of spirit. It is of little consequence until this state of communication between the two is mastered. Therefore, my friends, all is of no avail until receptivity is made possible through daily meditation. This not only breaks down the barrier between the intellect and the spirit, it also breaks down all other barriers between the spirit and the one great All.