For Meister Eckhart the spiritual journey
is not a climb up Jacob’s ladder
nor the ascent of Mount Carmel
but rather an upward spiral
of expanding consciousness
that has no limits
which fits with what Carl Jung thought
the purpose of life is:
to constantly grow in consciousness
which in some ways is similar
to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
physiological (food and shelter) needs/
safety needs/the need to belong/
the need for self-esteem/then self-actualization/
and finally self-transcendence
where you forget yourself
in service to others
self-transcendence does not mean
you think your self is very little
but that you think of your self
very little
everyone’s story, however little, is sacred
and story is our primary means
of accessing the Divine Source
and the ultimate meaning of life
this is why Jesus spoke in parables –
stories that overturned everyone’s applecart –
their view of how life worked –
the religious leaders want to kill God?
Are you serious?
but they were serious
because they were operating
from the lowest rungs
of the spiral of consciousness –
the need for their own safety –
because the Romans would destroy their Jewish applecart
if this rebel prophet Jesus
converted too many people to his level of consciousness –
Christ’s call to “repent” is “metanoia:” in Greek:
Christ said: “Go to your Higher (‘meta’) Mind (‘noia’).”
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 