Faith And Reason 360 Episode 18 & 19: The Stages of Spiritual Maturity Part 5 & 6, featuring Richard Rohr
Faith And Reason 360 is a podcast that creates a space for challenging faith to act for justice in our world.
The Stages of Spiritual Maturity Part 5: Living in Our Incarnation
In Fr. Rohr’s fourth stage of spiritual development, he describes the Christian model of incarnation: that Jesus lived on earth in a human body. Ann and Debo help us understand this phase, describing how liberating it can be to fully experience ourselves in our own bodies. As we turn inwards into ourselves, we grow beyond just the doctrine of the church and begin having a real-life inner experience of the Holy Spirit.
Ultimately, during this exploration we find limits within ourselves, and we meet our internal shadow self. In the fifth stage of spiritual development, we confront our weaknesses, limitations, and brokenness. As you become comfortable with stage 5, you free yourself from having to pretend.
Fr. Rohr calls the next stage, 6, “God’s waiting room.” After confronting our flaws, we come to grips with our own self’s limitation in our ability to achieve perfect spiritual love.
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Episode 19
The Stages of Spiritual Maturity Part 6: Life Abundant
As we enter stage 7 of our spiritual development, we learn that there is a true self that, no matter what we do, is loved by God. Not only do I receive that love, but everyone else does, too. We can shed fear, superiority, and competition – and experience the death of our false self.
In stage 8, we return to “luminous darkness” — we don’t have the answers, but instead of being confused, we are at peace. Those with a tendency towards certainty can have a difficult time in this stage. Stage 8 can be described as a sensation of gentle, compassionate discernment. We experience ourselves in the unity of God.
In stage 9, we discover that it’s enough to be human: badges and costumes aren’t necessary. Accessing this stage is rare and potentially only achievable for fleeting moments, but is a beautiful destination to seek out.
For more on the transition from the false self into the true self, check out Rohr’s book “The Immortal Diamond.”
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