A way to view one’s spiritual life: a set of concentric circles.
In the very center is our soul: our inner world, our dreams, the landscape of memory, the trap of personality.
As we move away from the center, we find spiritual practices. Activities like meditation, centering, yoga (in the Westernized sense, not its original purpose). This might be where one could find astrology, divination, tarot reading. It’s a world of symbols and signs.
Further out from there are religions. The rituals and belief systems within this circle give structure and weight to many spiritual practices. They bind us together with another community, guide our everyday choices, and make sweeping claims about humanity, the divine, and how they interact.
Outside of all of the circles, contained by nothing, is God. God created all of us and oversees all of this. I believe that God is at work at various levels of these concentric circles, of course, especially through his Spirit. God can be seen from within the circles, but he cannot be contained, and we will often see him through a strange, warped lens.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Every spiritual practice or ritual, and every religion, with its set of beliefs and customs, is an attempt to reach or connect with God. Sometimes we may not even realize this, especially with more new age, mindful techniques. Often people in these walks call it Source, Essence, Being, even Self. And of course, there’s Adonai, Jehovah, Allah, Ahura Mazda, Brahman.
(To be clear, I believe there is only one true God, and not all of the terms or beings listed are actually God. But the desire to seek these things out is often driven by an innate human desire to draw closer to God.)
I’ve spent six (seven? five?) years in the innermost circle: exploring my consciousness, reconnecting with my body, sitting in stillness, seeking understanding through archetypes and psychology. God works in these places too, perhaps even more powerfully for those of us inclined to introspection and reflection.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
In this inner world, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s holding all of it. Intense inner work can shroud everything else in the spiritual world and we can lose touch with something outside of ourselves, or our spiritual circles, when we’re overly focused on God’s creation instead of God himself. Personally, I became enraptured by the body, the earth, the flesh, the mind, and consciousness.
I don’t hold onto the idea that these things are inherently evil, but they are not purely good, either. “There is only one who is good” (Matthew 19:17, Jesus is talking about the Father). When all things were created, they were good. All of God’s creation has the fingerprint of God on it. We have no reason not to see God all around us.
What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:19-20
I’m still considering where I’ve been the last few years. I’ve been weighing the revelations I’ve had with mindfulness against the eternal truth of God’s word. I know going forward, that I can dwell in any of these circles of my spiritual life, but I want to stay in tune with what is outside of it all: a majestic, loving God who wants to be known.