1. The 7 Stages of
Spiritual
Development
BY ROGER GABRIEL (RAGHAVANANDA)
2. You are a spiritual being and have the potential to fully
embrace your spirituality. However, like everything in
life, embarking on your spiritual path is a choice. In life
you are presented with several choices leading to new
stages of development. Initially, most progress along
the same path but, at certain points, you have choices—
whether to stay immersed in the status quo world or to
explore the splendors of your spiritual journey. These
choices can appear at any time during your life; the key
is to stay alert and listen to the wisdom of your heart.
3. Stage 1: Innocence
You are born into a material world, where your life is dominated
by your lower three chakras. You enter the world in a state of
innocence and as long as you are healthy and have a loving
family, you live in a world of joy and bliss. You still have a strong
connection to the Divine and the field of the Absolute from
which your consciousness just emerged. The spiritual being is
still very much awake. However, for most this memory begins to
fade as you are taught how to “fit in” and you become distracted
by the world around you. A rare few manage to maintain their
Divine connection and enjoy spiritual greatness.
4. Stage 2: Fear, Ego
As you grow, the ego emerges and soon you realize that you are
completely at the mercy of all around you. The pure love you
have experienced up until now begins to be overshadowed by
fear and its corresponding emotions. You find that to get what
you want, you have to please those in charge. You develop your
personality and begin creating all the stories that will shape and
define your life.
5. Stage 3: Power
In your desire to overcome fear, you create success in your life.
You become educated, start your careers and family. You want to
have control to eliminate fear. You accumulate things to give you
a sense of security.
First Choice
For many people, further growth and spiritual development ends here.
You choose to continue to be consumed with material desires, you seek
more and more power and control. Your life becomes self-centered and
you remain at Stage 3.
For others, a feeling that there is more to life begins to dawn. Rather than
just accumulating possessions and power, you look for a deeper meaning
to life. You start to awaken spiritually and continue to Stage 4.
6. Stage 4: Giving
In this stage, you begin to realize that there is more to life than personal
power and material gain. You ask yourself how you can help others, how can
you serve the world around you. You become comfortable with giving as well
as receiving.
However, giving can also create a sense of power. At this stage, giving can
often still be ego driven. You give because you expect some form of
recognition or because it makes you feel good about yourself.
Second Choice
You can continue to give from the level of ego, always expecting something in return for
your giving. This obviously can have a lot of merit, and you can do many good things in
the world. However, it leaves a constriction to your full spiritual growth.
The opportunity of your second choice is when you begin to give from the level of love
and compassion without any concern for recognition or reward. Your giving becomes
selfless and your true spiritual journey begins.
7. Stage 5: The Seeker
Now you begin your regular spiritual practices. The longing
for Enlightenment grows within you. Your decisions now come
mostly from the fourth chakra, the heart center.
You begin to look for the deeper meaning of things. You try to
understand why you are here and how you can make your life
more meaningful. You may study with teachers and gurus. You
read books and practice techniques. You have glimpses of the
goal that encourages you to remain on the path.
The throat chakra opens as you express the qualities of the heart
in your life.
8. Stage 6: The Sage
Cosmic Consciousness dawns. Your mind fully awakens. You become the witness of your actions and
realize that you are the role player in the multitude of roles you play. The fear of death dissolves as
you realize that life is just another role. Simple yogic powers become available to us. However, there
is still a separation between the giver and the recipient.
Third Choice
You have now reached another critical junction point in your journey. Your mind is fully awake but some
ego is still present. The choice or mistake here is to believe that you are something special. You mistakenly
think you have reached the goal and may promote yourself as such. The end is in sight but you have
allowed the ego to hide it from view and you remain stuck in a false sense of spiritual attainment.
The alternative choice is to recognize the ego but not succumb to it, to allow it to find its place
harmoniously within the whole. You continue your journey with humility and devotion. Giving is done
purely for the sake of giving. “What’s in it for me” becomes “How can I serve?”
Insight and spiritual inspiration begin to grow, you hear the voice of the inner guru as the sixth chakra
opens.
9. Stage 7: Spirit
Your heart now fully awakens. You experience Divine and Unity
Consciousness.
There is no longer any separation. No giver, given, or giving. No
sense of “I” or “me,” just an awareness of Oneness. You still live
“in the world,” but are no longer “of the world.”
Your spiritual practice is Pure Joy. All the chakras are open,
spiritual energy flows freely.
10. Choicelessness
When you reach the seventh stage there are no longer choices. You function totally in harmony with nature.
Everything is provided exactly as needed, at exactly the right moment. You are the Totality.
As you progress though these stages, the material world seems very attractive at first while the spiritual might
seem empty and hard but, if followed, it eventually leads to the experience of the True Self and eternal bliss.
There is nothing lacking in the life of a great yogi. He or she doesn’t feel that anything has been given up. In fact,
it’s the reverse—great yogis feel that by not following a spiritual path, eternal bliss has been renounced for the
sake of a few passing moments of happiness. The material world is like a dry garden waiting for knowledge of
the Divine to make it bloom. In the material world you only have the energy of the body, on the spiritual path
you tap into Divine Consciousness, Cosmic Energy. The material world is a prison, the spiritual path leads to
unbounded freedom.
You are always at a junction in your path, Truth or illusion, material or eternal. The ego will constantly try to
keep its limiting hold on you. Choose wisely. Everything you do is a spiritual act if you do it with awareness.
Find your path and inner peace.
Be regular and disciplined with your spiritual practice. Don’t be disheartened if you wander off. Ultimately your
spiritual journey becomes your way of life, like a lush oasis in the desert of mundane living.
