In this article, Emy Papasideris writes about the unique freedom and spiritual possibility that sets us humans apart from other forms of life on earth—and of the planetary and universal order that provides us with the stability we need to exercise this freedom and expand this possibility.
Human beings are a unique phenomenon on this planet.
No other life form—from trees to monkeys to dolphins to bees—carries the possibilities or the spiritual promise that the human does. Though this is a vast territory, it can be seen quite easily in the following way: All life on the planet carries a deep intelligence, a signature and reflection of what created it—and yet across the various species it still holds innate limitations. Whoever heard of a field mouse composing music that could make you weep, or an elephant studying the stars to uncover their secrets, or a snake cracking jokes?
One of the main features that seems to set human life apart from all other life is freedom. The freedom to:
● write poetry
● create moving works of art
● contemplate life and God and human purpose.
Human beings are not bound even by the planet itself—physically (as shown by astronauts exploring space), but more importantly, mentally. We can roam the universe and connect to a distant star through the power of a fine thought. Quantum mechanics is discovering this more and more: physical distance is unimportant when there is a resonance in frequency.
But back to freedom. One might ask: aren’t animals free? Well, yes, they are free to go where they please or eat what they want, but they are not free to explore beyond the limits of their own design. A lion can only ever be a lion and cannot become, say, a bank manager in Nova Scotia. A parrot can learn how to free itself from its cage, or even say the right word for an array of colors, but it cannot create a painting with the intention to make people think about the wonders of the universe.
Whatever great engineer designed the human seems to have bestowed us with the gift of freedom in order to use it. But use it how? For what and where?
This is a vast topic, crucial for a developing life to consider, and here we go in opening it up a little at a time.
The Order Before the Freedom
OR
How Are We Not Free?
Before we address this, we need to bring in the vital concept of levels. All of life, every aspect, facet, planet, government, system, human, is composed of many different levels, governed by hierarchies. Think of a house, or any kind of building. If you look at the architectural blueprints, out from which a new building can safely and effectively be erected, you have:
● Floor plans
● Foundation drawings
● Cross sections
● Plumbing systems
● Electrical systems
● Roof plans
● And many more.
Each of these plans highlights a different facet of the building, with a specific sub-function within the greater structure. All are needed to construct a safe, effective building that won’t collapse, that can withstand all kinds of weather, that can offer the space and freedom for its occupants—humans—to live, create, manage, teach, heal, or fulfill whatever other purpose that building was built for. And within this there is a hierarchy of importance and order. For example, the foundation needs to go in before the walls are framed in or the plumbing can be installed, and not the other way around.
Just as these different plans come together to form a complete building, so too is the human composed of many different systems within systems, with a natural hierarchy, all serving different elevations or levels.
So, how does this relate to freedom and your own spiritual journey?
Well, firstly it needs to be understood that at the basic, fundamental level of living, we are not free. We are bound to an order enforced upon us every moment of our living days.
Think about the multitude of vital human functions, such as:
● breathing
● sleeping
● the relief of going to the toilet
● the satisfaction of a meal after hours of hunger.
Think of the trillions of functions our cells perform every second of our waking and sleeping days, from metabolism to immune support to blood filtration and beyond—all with one aim, or under one covenant: keep us, the human within the body, alive, well and able to go on.
We don’t decide when our bodies will get tired and demand rest. We don’t know in advance when we’ll next need to use the bathroom, or how our digestive system will break down our last meal, or how many times our heart will beat, steadily and loyally , until our body’s time on this earth is done.
We live in a vastly complex, vastly intelligent human design, uncharted and unknown in many ways even to this day. It is a profoundly complex system, and the human can more accurately be thought of as a human complex. Human complex to mean not just our physical bodies, but also our thought processes, emotional pathways, electrical systems and aura. All the many levels that, like the building plans, come together to create a fully functioning human machine.
Something with far greater intelligence than us created this design we live in and experience life through, and something with far greater intelligence keeps us alive and functioning every moment of our lives. Think: did you spend time designing your arms and legs, or brain, or heart before you were born? What kind of intelligence can put all that together, human after human after human in exact replica, over millennia—and still produce a unique version every time?
We can call it God, Universal Intelligence, or anything else, but it always comes back to the same truth: We were created by something profoundly intelligent that wants us to live, be well, and use the human complex, our temporary homes, for a purpose. And could that purpose be the very reason for our God-given freedom?
At the fundamental level all you experience within (and without) falls under a great order, as mentioned above. And this great order existed before we were born and will continue to exist after we die for new humans to step into. It is, in its way, immortal. We didn’t make us, and we don’t maintain us. There is an automatic system in place that governs these things, that—barring improper interference such as chronically poor diets, extremely damaging lifestyles or external environmental factors beyond our control—we mostly don’t need to think about or manage.
And thank goodness for that. Imagine you had to consciously instruct your liver to break down alcohol from your night out. Or that you had to teach your bowels how to absorb nutrients whilst dispelling waste every time you ate anything. Or that you had to remind your lungs to breathe in oxygen, or your muscles to contract to move your hand to pick up a pen. The day would be over before you were able to get yourself out of bed. Your life would probably be over far quicker than that.
The Freedom Out From The Order
OR
How are we free to pursue a spiritual journey?
This automatic order enforced on human life not only enables us to stay alive and to continue living, but it also offers the sound foundation upon which something far finer can be built. It paves the way for a great freedom—at a higher level. For the non-existent (or, in some cases, very limited) control over our basic bodily functions is only at the fundamental level.
There is another, much higher, level, where the human is given complete and utter freedom. We can think what we want, ask any question in the universe, pursue any interest or passion. We can attempt and fail and muster and persist. We can create and develop and invent and pioneer. We can do all this and more without any barriers, other than the ones we place on ourselves.
The great arts, creations and civilizations of our collective human history are a testament to this. Think of humans once living in caves with minimal verbal communication. Now compare that to the poetry and sheer breadth of Shakespeare’s language. What of the rudimentary depictions of bison and deer etched into cave walls compared to the magnificence and precision of Michelangelo’s David? The great minds throughout history who have offered illumination to our collective human timeline, in ways small and large, that those present now can benefit from and add to?
It is clear that human life is on a great trajectory of refinement when looked at over the millennia, meant to continue today and into the future, despite the often dire state and difficulties of the current times. And it is because of the higher order given to us in the lower parts of life that we can be free to pursue everything in the universe, limited only by our own desire or persistence or understanding.
What are some of those spiritual possibilities? The human design we are in offers many hints to this. Take, for example, the fact that our eyes are located at the top of our face, near the highest point of our physical bodies, and facing forward. Could it be that we are meant to see and seek the higher, refined elements of life and living? We can look down and see the challenges, the not-so-wonderful aspects that are in all of us, but are we meant to search for and focus on pursuits and wonders that not only further and assist the collective human refinement, but also that of God and the Universe? Are we meant to always be looking forward, and not into the past behind us?
Or what of the fact that, out of the countless humans that have ever existed, no one will ever carry your exact fingerprints? You are utterly unique, unrepeatable, and could that say that God is looking for your uniqueness? For the kind of perceptions, feelings, attitudes and more, that only you can offer?
And then we can look to the universe itself for spiritual guidance and clues as to what God may want from us: For example, science has shown that the universe is in a constant state of expansion. Every second you sit there reading this writing, the universe continues to grow at an astonishing rate of 41.9 miles per second. It is not some static, robotic, dead blob we find ourselves floating in.
Could it be that as the universe grows, it also wants to know itself better? Didn’t you, when you were little and growing, also have a deep desire to know yourself and what you could do? To see how fast you could run or how high you could climb? Or if you could draw or sing or make your friends laugh?
The universe is growing and shows no signs of slowing down. What if we humans are also meant to keep growing even as adults—not physically, but energetically, electrically, with our deep thoughts and perceptions and feelings about this magnificent life we find ourselves a part of?
There are countless mysteries on the planet, in the universe, in life itself, waiting for the human to explore them, to learn from them and add our own uniqueness to this great mix. We can offer ways forward that can give a future—not only locally on our planet, but on larger scales, beyond this temporary home of ours.
True freedom can only be found within a great order, and this is the magic and promise we step into every day of our lives. Be thankful for the order we can’t control, that allows us the freedom to pursue what it means to be a human on a spiritual journey for real, to create in ways that can be a benefit, not only to other humans, but more importantly to that which created us and keeps us, ongoingly.
And if God extends us such stability and fidelity in the lower, so that we may shape our futures in the higher, wouldn’t it stand to reason that we are also meant to offer the same stability and fidelity, self-chosen and free, out from the lower realms back into the higher?
This is freedom for real. And within it, all the possibilities of being a spiritual life in current human form, are yours.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to read more Spiritual Pathways posts.
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