Tag Archives: Grace

Social Orders of Motivation

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Q: Why do fear, anger, and shame run the lives of so many people? Can people get out of these circles of influence and live lives of love and altruism?

A: We need to look at the seven major social orders of motivation that play out in human life:

  1. Shame and embarrassment – the drive to not have one’s awkwardness, deficiencies, or secrets revealed
  2. Fear – the motivation to escape or avoid situations or objects that frighten one or that one perceives may cause them harm or loss
  3. Anger and rage – the impulse to harm or attack others, to right perceived injustices, or to force others to do one’s will
  4. Challenge and competition – the quest to be superior or the best, or to be recognized for one’s achievements, and to succeed
  5. Compassion and love – wanting to make a difference in the world, for one’s life to mean something, and to help and heal others
  6. Devotion and aspiration – the impetus to grow and transform spiritually and draw closer to the Divine
  7. Grace – the sharing of the Divine Spiritual Light to support personal and spiritual transformation, and to fulfill the devotion and aspiration of those who seek to advance spiritually

We see examples of how these seven orders of motivation play out in society:

  • Social control usually employs shame (1) to influence people to adhere to the social norms of the family, friendship, education, employment, civic, and religious arenas of life.
  • Politicians and demagogues—as well as many who seek to sell their products and services—often tap into fear (2) and anger (3) motivational frames.
  • Those who seek to gain respect from others and wish to be perceived as successful and winners draw their inspiration from challenge and competition (4).
  • Those who are on the spiritual Path awaken love and compassion (5) and devotion (6), which enfires them to make spiritual progress and actualize their personal and spiritual potentials.
  • Those who have achieved spiritual Mastery share the Grace (7) of their Divine Empowerment.

In Mudrashram®, we support the development of compassion and love (5), and aspiration and devotion (6) through our teachings, meditation training, and Light Ministry. To shift out of the lower four social motivational platforms into these two higher ones, you need to focus your attention on your inner spiritual essences—your attentional principle, the spirit, and the Soul.

We teach you how to do this in our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. Those who have not meditated before will benefit from taking the Introduction to Meditation Program, which prepares you to perform the more advanced meditation practices of our intermediate courses.

The Sublimation of Love

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By George A. Boyd ©2023

Q: Why do some people equate love with sex? Isn’t real love spiritual?

A: Many people start out in their experience of love viewing it as Eros, or sexual passion. However, love sublimates through seven levels:

  1. Sexual desire and romance (Eros)
  2. Infatuation, romantic fantasy
  3. Idealization, making your object of love larger than life
  4. Caring and compassion for others (Agape)
  5. Spiritual love and devotion (Bhakti)
  6. Unconditional love of the Soul (Karuna)
  7. The fiery, healing, Divine Love (Shakti)

These seven levels of love express in distinct ways:

In sexual and romantic love, there is primarily a desire for conjugal relations to release and satisfy libidinous passions.

In infatuation, you look to your partner as someone who will fulfill your dreams and complete your life. The popularity of romance novels testifies to the fascination with the dream of finding their ideal partner.

In idealization, you cast the object of your love as a perfect, godlike being. Here you see your partner as an ethereal or spiritual being; someone who is flawless and radiantly beautiful. Those who idealize their partners—but who live with him or her for any period of time—realize their idealization of their partner was a delusion.

In caring and compassion, you respond to another’s needs. This may take the form of parenting, caring for the sick or infirm, or doing volunteer service to assist the needy. This is love in action that seeks to help others and assuage their pain and misery.

Spiritual love and devotion comes from your spiritual heart. To experience this type of love, you need to contemplate your spirit and enter into union with it. Many people are cut off from their spirit, so they never experience this level of love.

Unconditional love streams forth from your Soul. When you are able to tap into this inner fountainhead of love and compassion, it becomes a powerful force for healing and releasing your emotional pain.

The fire of Divine Love—some call it the Holy Spirit, Shakti, or Grace—you send as an attunement to the Soul or spirit in others, and to connect them with the Divine Will, the Illumined Mind, the Loving Heart of God, the healing force within, and to bring remembrance and to reawaken their connection with the Soul. To access this level of love, your attentional principle receives a beam of the Light from an Initiate or Master; you, in turn, send this Light to others through an attunement.

The spiritual love of which you speak requires sublimation of love to levels five through seven:

  • To sublimate your love to level five, you need to tune into the experience of your spirit and regard others from its perspective.
  • Sublimation to level six requires that you gain union with the Soul and allow the Soul’s unconditional love to pour forth through you to others.
  • In order to sublimate love to level seven, you need to function as your attentional principle and be able to receive the Light from your Supervising Initiate.

We teach you how to activate the spirit, Soul, and attentional principle in our intermediate mediation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. This enables you to experience and express these deepest wellsprings of spiritual love within you. Without being able to contact these three immortal principles, you never experience these three highest aspects of love.

We encourage you to study these levels of love within yourself and what evokes that aspect of love in you. You might like to regard another person through these different frames of love and see how you perceive them and relate to them in each perspective.

Stages of Working with issues

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By George A. Boyd ©2023

Q: I feel completely absorbed in my suffering and misery. How can I break free to meditate and begin feeling fully alive again?

A: There are seven major stages of working with your issues:

  1. Complete absorption in the issue – There is full identification with the issue; the issue governs your choices, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.
  2. Separation of attention from the issue – This is the first sense that the issue is not your identity; your attention observes it.
  3. Monitoring – Your attention observes the issue running like a tape; it notices the choices, beliefs, emotions, and behavior of the issue arise and pass away. This is the stage of Vipassana.
  4. Inner work – You regard the issue from the standpoint of your attentional principle. You are able to use Process Meditation, Affirmation, Mandala Method, and Rainbow Technique to work with the issue to gain insight, release, and breakthrough.
  5. Self-control – Your Self begins to overrule the issue and command alternate behavior, countermand the choices embedded in the issue, and refute erroneous beliefs.
  6. Grace – You are able to call down the Light of Spirit to attune with the issue, which grants emotional comfort, healing, and reconnection with the Soul; additionally, your Self receives guidance and direction.
  7. Surrender and detachment – You surrender the issue to the Soul, the spiritual Master, and God, and you abide in obedience to the Divine Will; you carry this out each day.

You start the process with taking these steps:

  • Your first challenge is moving from identification with the issue to observing it. With further practice, you can start to observe the issue arising and passing away—at this stage, you are capable of doing Vipassana.
  • Once you are able to shift to the perspective of your attentional principle and your Self, you will begin to be able to work on the issue and wrest control from it.
  • As you are able to tap into your spiritual core, you will begin to bring in the Light of Attunement and the Soul’s transpersonal will to help you overcome the issue.

We teach the techniques for inner work in our intermediate meditation classes: the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. Having the ability to work on the issue from a place of clarity can catalyze inner movement; eventually you will fully overcome the issue.

Exercise to Explore These Seven Perspectives

You can do an exercise to experience the different perspectives on your issue. Identify with what issue you want to work. Then ask the following questions for this issue:

  • How do I experience my issue when I am fully identified with it?
  • What does my issue look like when I detach my attention from it?
  • What do I notice about this issue when I monitor it in the present time?
  • How does my attentional principle view this issue? What tools do I have to work on this issue from my attentional principle?
  • How does my Self view this issue? How does my Self interface with the issue? From this higher standpoint, can I begin to control the issue’s behavior and beliefs, and overrule its choices?
  • If I call in the Holy Spirit or my spiritual guides or Masters, what attunements can I send to work begin to heal this issue?
  • How does my Soul regard this issue? What abilities, love, and knowledge does it have that can change and ultimately overcome the issue?
  • If I surrender this issue to the Divine, what do I need to do live with the issue until I am freed from it?