It can be hard to judge where you are on your journey towards spiritual maturity. However, there are signs you are reaching a higher level of consciousness.
Here are 7 ways you can tell if you are increasing your spiritual maturity
1. You take care of your body
In spiritual terms, we know that our body is a temple. This means that we must love and respect our body as the carrier of our soul on the earthly plane. This does not necessarily mean we have to live on a diet of kale and coconut oil! We are physical beings and should make the most of all the pleasures of this life. But it does mean acknowledging our body’s needs by not pushing ourselves too hard or being critical of our bodies. We must ensure we get good food, sufficient rest, enough physical activity and time for stress-relieving practices such as walking in nature and meditating. If we abuse our bodies with over eating, under eating, too much alcohol, or drug misuse then we are not honoring the gift of life and will struggle to reach spiritual maturity.
2. You accept and love yourself as you are
Our inner critic can prevent us from reaching spiritual maturity. If we listen to our inner negative voice it can block us from hearing more enlightening voices from our higher self or spirit. The inner critic often criticizes in order to keep us safe. But we cannot become spiritually mature be staying safe all the time. In addition, our inner critic makes it hard for us to stay loving, positive and aware. We can easily get caught up in the stresses and strains of everyday life and end up in a pit of negativity. From this place, spiritual maturity can be a long way away.
3. You accept others as they are
As you become more spiritually mature you realize that everyone is in the perfect place on their own journey. It is not our job to judge others or to tell them what they should do. It is, however, our job to support, encourage and love others as they grow spiritually on their own path. When we do this we become less critical and judgmental of others. Our relationships begin to flourish and we feel much more calm and peaceful.
4. You are less interested in material things
As we develop spiritually our relationship to material things changes. We realize that stuff is just stuff. Having lots of money and material possessions is neither good nor bad. It is, however, no indicator of how spiritually developed you are or what you are worth. Each person on this planet is a spark of the creative universe and cannot be judged by what they own.
5. You become more collaborative and less competitive
Our current society is based on competition. We often feel the need to do more and have more than others in order to feel successful. The mindset is that there is only so much to go round and we have to fight for our share. Spiritually mature people understand that we can achieve more when we work together. When we collaborate, everyone benefits. We can lift up our fellow man rather than trying to get one over on them. Every action we take that lifts up someone else is a spiritual gift we can give to the world
6. You let go of the need to be right
Once we begin to move towards spiritual maturity we begin to realize that we never have a complete understanding of the world. We do not have access to an ultimate truth about anything. There are many ways to view the world and no one of them is right. When we let go of the need to be right we can relax and live more peaceably. Live and let live becomes our mantra. This does not mean we allow others to treat us badly. We simply disengage from this kind of behavior and follow our own spiritual truth to the best of our ability.
7. You love everyone and everything
If we criticize and judge others we are not acting from spiritual maturity. We cannot ever know another person’s path or what they are meant to achieve in their lifetime. Some people who act badly may simply be here to open other’s eyes and raise awareness of an issue. Sometimes chaos leads to growth in the end so we must especially show love towards the most difficult people. When you approach everyone and everything with love and compassion you are showing real spiritual maturity. You cannot fight hate with hate, you can only neutralize hate with love.
The plants, animals, and planet as a whole are also our responsibility to love and take care of. We must take care of our beautiful planet if we are to be spiritually mature. Loving everyone does not mean we always condone their actions. However, a spiritually mature person knows they are more likely to lift another up with love and support than with criticism and judgment. Bear in mind though, that our duty to love and take care of ourselves comes first. We should not put ourselves at unnecessary risk in order to help others.
Closing thoughts
Becoming spiritually mature is a process and a lifestyle. It’s not an item we can tick off our ‘to do’ list but something we work on every day of our lives. It is important that we don’t beat ourselves up when we act in a less than spiritual way. Often our mistakes help us learn more than when things go well. We must also be sure that we don’t see ourselves as more spiritually mature than others as this is actually a sign of spiritual immaturity.
Every step we take towards reaching a higher level of consciousness raises our own vibration and also that of the planet. This brings us closer to living in peace and harmony.
This post originally appeared at Learning Mind
