A Beginners Steps Toward Spiritual Understanding - Part 1

Somehow, I always sensed that I, the real self, was more than just the physical body and that the ‘real’ me was Soul or Spirit inside. The question, “Who are you and what is your purpose in life?” has been on my lips from as long as I can remember. I remained in search of the answer and always sought to find my place and where I fit in life. My personal spiritual journey has taken me from the Saint Luke’s Episcopal (Anglican Church), to Free Will Baptists, to Jehovah’s Witness Bible Study, Daily Word magazine studies of the Unity Society, to Islam, which I practiced for twenty years. I took a first step onto the Mystic Path through Sufism and was initiated into the Halveti Al Jerrahi Sufi Order of Dervishes by Shaykh Muzaffer Ozak at their mosque in New York City. Finally, I reached the entranceway to my destination on the Spiritual Path and my true home at the Sacred Feet of my destined perfect Spiritual Guardian and Companion, HIG Bambi Baaba Baabuwee. The following are my thoughts about the ancient Path of Spirituality and an expression of the small understanding about what I have come to experience: STEP ONE: The First Departure Point On The Path: Foregoing Judgment While Holding Openness To New Knowledgen nThere is much wisdom and information; various sciences (religious, spiritual or others), and vast bodies of knowledge that most people do not know, have never heard of, and may never even be aware that it exists. Furthermore, they may know little or nothing about the ageless, ancient and modern array of vast stores of spiritual knowledge and wisdom that is present around the world. Even in the high-tech world of rapid mass transportation, many never travel further than their village, town, or city. This isolation is equally true when it comes to exploring, studying and comparing the belief systems we hold on to as members of the human family. We are ignorant of one another’s similarities and commonalities whether in custom, culture, religion, or spiritual beliefs. In our ignorance of comparative religious and spiritual thought and philosophy, we may attach negative judgments about what we do not know or deem unworthy of investigation. Consequently, we reject seeking any understanding. A common global thread of submerged timeless spirituality is identifiable outside of complex societies and systems among simple people of the world. It has passed through the ages through a winding succession of Wise Ones, Sages, Prophets, Messengers, Adepts, Initiates and Masters of Ageless Wisdom. Timeless spirituality weaves through civilizations and religions, and has been relayed by Venerable Sages in all corners, cultures and people on this planet. Spirituality and its basic tenets and practice is universal and is the manifested form of man’s desire to find the Divine and come to know the Divine. nSTEP TWO: Spirituality Before Religionn Before there was religion in the structured doctrinaire sense we know of today, there was and always has been those who sought to find their true essence as Soul in order to reconnect to the Divine Source, the Almighty Lord, the Sseggulumanda. This search or Path has been called Spirituality or Spiritual Science, the Spiritual Path, the Path of the Masters and the Path of the Saints. Furthermore, the great Enlightened Beings, Saints, Masters of Wisdom, Sages, Adepts and Mystics from all the world’s religions have tread upon it. Ekkubo Eddemeezi was the term used by African Spiritual Guardians of the ancient Lake Nnalubaale Civilization referring to the Spiritual Path of Divine Enlightenment. nSTEP THREE: The Difference Between Religion And Spiritualityn Spirituality accepts the basic tenet that each Soul is perfect and is an Essence of the Divine Lord. All the world religions began as spiritual teachings but in time, they were transformed into specific dogmas with the passing of the Great Enlightened One who first brought the teachings. When the chance to question the living Enlightened Being was no longer available, the simple fluid principles found in spirituality became convoluted. An administrative hierarchical system with canonized doctrine was developed. Personal responsibility for ones behavior was transformed into rigid systems of behavior that was outer-imposed rather than inner or self-imposed. World religion teaches exclusive possession of spiritual truth and believes no other belief system (unless part of their group) has truth or divine favor. Spirituality acknowledges the universal nature of the Lord’s reality in everything and everyone, human, mineral, plant, animal, sentient, and insentient – all the creation of the Supreme Lord.nnnIgnorance, poverty of accurate information, and indoctrination teach that there is only one way to the truth and only one Divine Being who carried messages from the Lord. The identity of that Being is dependent upon one’s religious persuasion. The majority of people are acculturated to accept that the Prophets, Messengers, Saints, Enlightened Ones and Divine Beings associated with their particular lineage who died thousands of years ago are the only authentic holders of the Almighty’s divine energy. We are taught that since the passing of those elevated Venerable Beings, the Supreme Lord has not seen fit to send any other high souls and spiritually Enlightened Ones to instruct, guide, or serve as an example to the human family. In spirituality however, it is said, ‘When the student is ready the Master will come’. When a Soul is ripe for instruction in higher spiritual knowledge, the Lord will guide him or her to one who already made that exalted journey and knows the Path and its hidden wisdom. There is never a time when the planet is devoid of these High Souls and Divine Co-workers with the Supreme. Just as we accept the never-ending presence and assistance of messengers and servers from the Angelic Kingdom, so too we should know that divine guidance through Enlightened Companions known as Bakakensa-Ssemikenke , Perfect Saints, Adepts, Great Wise Beings, and Sages is never absent as a grand gift from the most compassionate divine sustainer, the Almighty Lord of All Souls. The core nature of religion is spirituality, which is to join the Soul to its Source. Religion promotes belief in God. Spirituality advocates knowing God. Religion champions a faith-based relationship to the Divine. Spirituality adopts the focus of traversing faith to merge into knowing Oneness with the Divine. Religion emphasizes perfection after death. Spirituality underscores gaining perfection while living. After the Soul gains mastery over its’ five entrapments or foes rooted in ego, anger, greed, lust and attachment, it can begin its self-discovery. The Soul transcends the body/mind, physical/mental and the emotional self to blossom into Self-Realization as Spirit. It is no longer locked into the confines of the physical, mental, or emotional body by allowing its senses of perception to rule over it. It has refused to be dominated by the calls of physical and mental urgings and rejects responding to anger, ego, lust, or attachment when it raises its ever-persistent head. Through ageless spiritual practices, be they introspection, meditation, fasting, spiritual discourse, or selfless service, Soul can come to realms of heightened spiritual awakening and consciousness. As taught in ancient African spiritual training centers, the ancients spoke of the Third Eye, Eriiso ly’Omukulu or the door to man’s higher consciousness. It is the narrow passage that leads to expansive infinite invisible worlds of reality. Heightened spiritual consciousness and the opening of the Eriiso ly’Omukulu enable the Soul to be aware of its true nature as the Drop of the Divine Source. The Soul then merge into Oneness or Divine-Realization, commonly referred to as God-Realization with conscious awareness of its perfection and union with its Source. When all is said and done, there is no fault with religion, as it is a course in the Soul’s search for the Divine Source. Life is the school in which we learn there is no limit to knowledge, there is no end to wisdom and there is no finality to the unfolding of the Lord’s divine guidance to humanity. nFrom the book Irrevocable Commitment and Spiritual Journey from America to Africa: Building Sseesamirembe City of Peace by Ensikire Keraanje Nemigeron