Measuring Spiritual Growth – Stages
Spiritual Growth is the process of becoming more and more aware of your real identity as a spiritual being, born and evolved as a spiritual life project. To realize that something bigger is steering your life path and make you live your life more consciously or mindfully.
As we experience spiritual growth the acts of the flesh will be less evident in our lives. It could be personal spiritual development, higher awareness, or higher consciousness.
It concerns personal development in order to enlarge the learning cycle curve of the above line in the Life Long Spiritual Growth Curve diagram wherever intelligence in fact represents the sphere of consciousness. As such personal spiritual growth is an integral part of our purpose of life here on earth.
Definition of intelligence: The ability to learn or understand: Reason. The skilled use of reason. The ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment. Mental acuteness. The acts of understanding: Comprehension. The ability to perform computer functions (Merriam-Webster).
What is Spiritual Time and Space: Meaning of Infinity
Infinity: Unlimited extend of time, space, or quantity: Boundlessness. A distance that is so great that the rays of light from a point source at that distance may be regarded as parallel. A series of numbers that continues to infinity (Merriam-Webster).
Underneath the physical appearance of Sun, Moon and Earth there exist spiritual time and space that are represented by repeated events in a physical linear aspect of time.
This eternal alternation between spiritual space and time and their interaction in a single skein gives the impression of the earthy space and time as we perceive it in our everyday life.
In fact, what only exists is the living experience taking place in the conscious part of the mind that gives the impression of the sequence of a coherent and unified reality in a continuous and endless present. That is what Infinity is all about.
Which Factors Affect Spiritual Growth
The main factors that directly affect the spiritual growth of an individual are the society comparing oneself to others, evaluation of one’s self through common sense, and critical thinking that affect an individual’s behavior attitude or character.
Society: An organized group working together or periodically meeting because of common interests, beliefs, or profession. An enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another. A community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests (Merriam-Webster).
Society is a perceptual condition of the individual who shares the events he experiences as part of a larger group of people who may have experienced or continue to experience and perceive events in a similar way.
Man is biologically and psychologically equipped to live in groups, in society. Society has become a necessary condition for human life to emerge and continue.
Relationship Between Society and Individual
The relationship between the individual and society is very close.
Society is the norm, the customs, and the basic rules of human behavior.
These practices are important to know how people act and interact with each other.
Society does not exist independently without individuals. The individual lives and acts in society, but society is nothing but the combination of individuals for a collaborative effort.
In society, the individual must again comply with the rules, occupy situations, and become a member of groups. The relationship between the individual and society is the starting point of many discussions.
The relationship between the individual and society is ultimately one of the deepest of all the problems of social philosophy.
It is closely linked to the relationship between man and society. The relationship between the two depends on the fact that the individual and society are interdependent, one grows with the help of the other.
Society exists to serve individuals. Human life and society almost go together.
It is more philosophical than sociological because it includes values. Man depends on society. In society, culture surrounds the individual, as a social force.
What is Common Sense and Critical Thinking
Definition of common sense: Sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts (Merriam-Webster).
Common sense is defined as a judgment based on one’s perception and perceptual ability.
Albert Einstein, the famous physicist, and philosopher described common sense as a collection of prejudices acquired from the age of eighteen.
The existence of the above reality is due to the expression of the perceptual ability of the individual regarding his character and behavior and not as a set of individuals.
The existence of common sense is necessary for several reasons. One reason is that it helps people understand what others think.
Another reason is to allow people to understand what others have to say, and why they say it.
The sole purpose of common sense is to allow people to function well in society.
This purpose offers individuals a framework for making the right decisions when faced with frequent problems.
After all, we have seen the critical way of thinking on which the critical ability is based. It has a double mission.
The first mission is to combine thoughts with ideas in order to create reality. This is mainly based on common sense.
We have seen in previous articles that events as reactions (effects) to actions (causes) reflect the past as probabilities corresponding to the respective future possibilities determining the present abilities (second mission).
Common Sense Is Neither Common Nor Sense
There is a catch. If common sense was really common then most people would make the same kinds of decisions they do every day.
The word common by definition suggests that common sense is held by a large number of people.
However, common sense is used by people who do not have the real knowledge, expertise, or direct experience to make sound judgments.
Common sense as a concept does not concern all individuals as there is no set of individuals as a collective condition.
We rely simply on what we believe to be true or have been told is true, as a “faith-based sense”.
Common sense isn’t real sense either. If we define sense as being sound judgment because relying on experience.
How the person perceives the events has to do with his previous experiences, his character, and personality and the way he is used to handling and behave about these events.
Common sense is a contradiction in terms. Real sense can rarely be derived only from experience because experiences are limited.
Critical Thinking vs Common Sense
Common sense is innate rational thought. Common sense incorporates problem-solving, and the skills of thinking and intuition, and the human ability to observe and learn from various events.
These observations allow people to learn from experiences and improve judgment. People are integrating common sense and trying to solve problems in everyday life.
All human beings acquire and use common sense to implement conscious logical decisions.
On the other hand, critical thinking occurs when people evaluate situations based on their own belief system and knowledge.
Critical thinking integrates by judging a scenario based on the established reasoning, where the person consciously focuses on a topic.
The quality of critical thinking is based on how logical the final judgment of a scenario is. Critical thinking enables design, evaluation, and calculation of possible results.
Differences Between Common Sense and Critical Thinking
Common sense is considered as a logical solution. Critical thinking, on the other hand, can be either logical or less logical. It is common for people to make mistakes logically when they think critically. Prejudices can affect conclusions.
Another notable difference is based on the level of awareness in which both critical thinking and common sense operate. Critical thinking usually takes place on a conscious level.
Critical thinking as part of common sense can be seen as an advanced version of common sense.
Critical thinking usually means a set of skills and behaviors that make people think logically.
Critical thinking is often seen as the solution to a puzzle, and all possible solutions and possible outcomes that are accompanied by a logical explanation.
Common sense can be seen as a personal view, based on the upbringing, belief system, and standards of the people.
Common sense has an intuitive factor in it, while critical thinking is purely mental analysis.
On the other hand, critical thinking is a field of logic where a framework of principles has been developed to examine the causes, as well as the possible effects of a scenario.
This context usually focuses on real events.
Critical thinking takes into account the cultural and emotional impact of an outcome but is not guided solely by these assessments.
However, common sense is mainly guided by these two assessments. Common sense usually states that for every problem, there is an appropriate solution.
Alternatively, critical thinking is all about discovering the actual costs and benefits of various solutions.
Critical thinking does not show the choice of solution, but in documenting the decision.
Another reason is to allow people to understand what others have to say, and why they say it.
In Conclusion
Spiritual growth is the way for humanity to increase awareness and consciousness towards higher levels of creation and existence through intelligence in order to become able to manipulate his environment efficiently and effectively.
Spiritual space and time combine together to create the needed space-time element as an inhered part of reality in order to fulfill and sustain the spiritual development and unfoldment as a living experience through the conscious mind into an infinite present (Infinity).
Major factors that affect and sustain such development are the society, the evaluation of one’s self against the others through common sense, and critical thinking.
Society is only a perceptual condition in the mind of an individual experienced on an individual level and not the society as a social entity.
Society interacts with individuals and is both affected and grow with the help of one another.
Common sense and critical thinking become the fundamental factors as the corning stones of building and sustaining spiritual growth in order for humanity to thrive and survive not only as a living entity but also as a spiritual and aspiring being towards an endless, eternal present.