Higher Ground
Stevie Wonder
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People keep on learnin'
Soldiers keep on warrin' World keep on turnin' Cause it won't be too long Powers keep on lyin' While your people keep on dyin' World keep on turnin' Cause it won't be too long |
I'm so darn glad he let me try it again
Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then Gonna keep on tryin' Till I reach the highest ground...... Don't you let nobody bring you down (they'll sho 'nuff try) God is gonna show you higher ground He's the only friend you have around |
Who We Really Are - Spirits in the Material World
Beyond our bodily differences, we are unique souls. We are spirits using a material body as a vehicle, but we are not the body. The soul is temporarily embedded in a earth-suit of blood, bones skin, hair etc. for a relatively short period of time, then passes on to a new situation. We are reminded in various spiritual traditions that the physical body is left behind at some point ("ashes to ashes, dust to dust") but the soul goes on. The deathlessness of the soul is nicely described in verse 20 chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita.
The soul's pure state, when free from material conditioning, is that of a fully conscious and loving spiritual being. The essence of our being is to be actively exchanging mellows of love with the Supreme Lord. Spiritual transcendence occurs when the soul is lifted up from it's bondage to matter - caused by material desire - and blossoms like a lotus flower above the mud, muck and mire of material entanglement. The soul reaches this higher ground, by a combination of humility, engaging in willing loving service; then ultimately by the mercy of the Lord and His agents.
Our pure soul is actually eternally blissful, fully knowledgeable because we are a part and parcel of God. The pure soul, being a spark of God, after choosing to discard material ego and illusion through divine mercy and practice, becomes intimately re-connected to the Absolute Truth - that Source from which everything emanates.
The soul's pure state, when free from material conditioning, is that of a fully conscious and loving spiritual being. The essence of our being is to be actively exchanging mellows of love with the Supreme Lord. Spiritual transcendence occurs when the soul is lifted up from it's bondage to matter - caused by material desire - and blossoms like a lotus flower above the mud, muck and mire of material entanglement. The soul reaches this higher ground, by a combination of humility, engaging in willing loving service; then ultimately by the mercy of the Lord and His agents.
Our pure soul is actually eternally blissful, fully knowledgeable because we are a part and parcel of God. The pure soul, being a spark of God, after choosing to discard material ego and illusion through divine mercy and practice, becomes intimately re-connected to the Absolute Truth - that Source from which everything emanates.
The Police "Spirits In The Material World"
"There is no political solution, to our troubled evolution..
Our so-called leaders speak, with their words they try to jail ya,
They subjugate the meek, but it is the rhetoric of failure..
We are spirits in the material world
Where does the answer lie, Living from day to day
If it's something we can't buy, There must be another way.."
People Get Ready (There's A Train A-Coming)
Chambers Brothers 1968
Our Meaning and Purpose - To Love Supremely, and be Supremely Loved
Some spiritual practitioners aspire to lose their sense of self or ego, and merge into God's aura of spiritual light, which does bring freedom from misery - but not proactive spiritual love. Although one in spirit, there is an eternal spiritual distinction between the individual soul and God. This distinction is constitutional for each soul, unchangeable; this distinction is meant for the purpose of participating in the expansion God's pure love.
Like a symphony of spirit, newly re-connected members are added the orchestra when they are ready, willing and able to lovingly perform with the Conductor. The Supreme Conductor also reciprocates that love in unlimited sweet ways with each and every player.
In this way the limited soul can re-unite with it's Supreme, unlimited Source, in harmonious loving service. Just as in music, someone plays and someone hears, at least two are needed to exchange one love. The exchange of love between the individual soul, and the Creator, is touched on in many spiritual traditions and expressed in multiple frameworks, but the essence of each sou's function is the same - namely to love and be loved free from all material designations and limitations.
Like a symphony of spirit, newly re-connected members are added the orchestra when they are ready, willing and able to lovingly perform with the Conductor. The Supreme Conductor also reciprocates that love in unlimited sweet ways with each and every player.
In this way the limited soul can re-unite with it's Supreme, unlimited Source, in harmonious loving service. Just as in music, someone plays and someone hears, at least two are needed to exchange one love. The exchange of love between the individual soul, and the Creator, is touched on in many spiritual traditions and expressed in multiple frameworks, but the essence of each sou's function is the same - namely to love and be loved free from all material designations and limitations.
A Love Supreme
One of Jazz's great luminaries John Coltrane wrote both the verse and the music in this offering which plays like a saxophone poem-prayer. Each syllable of the verse is in sync with each note played on sax. Since the Supreme is described as having unlimited spiritual qualities and presence, each soul can also relate to God in their own unique and valid way when coming straight from the heart. Variety being the spice of life, holds true even in a purely spiritual sense.