Spiritual Growth

I used to kid him mercilessly about his pedigree, and he seemed to enjoy it. After we lost touch, I was delighted to see his name on the covers of best-selling books about spiritual growth. Every now and then, I have a recurring urge to write to Scotty, and kid him some more about his pre-celebrity days. Sadly, I waited too long - his death in 2005 was a sad loss to me as well as his many other admirers. 

In the process of spiritual growth, many techniques have been used, such as prayer, fasting, study of scriptures, meditation, mantras, surrender to a Higher Power, and service to others. As far back in history as we can probe, the ingestion of various plants, such as the peyote cactus in America, certain mushrooms in many areas, and soma in India, has also been a means of promoting growth in awareness, called by some "Self-realization."... 

Our goal has been to attract members who are interested primarily in spiritual growth and who are willing to follow the usual disciplines and practices for such growth both as a preparation for the sacrament and as a continuing follow-up. We are well aware of the importance of other methods of Self-realization. We have found, however, that the psychedelic sacrament, when added to the spiritual armamentarium, can be of great value in the search for meaning. 

We have emphasized the importance of the mystical experience as a means of spiritual growth, but whether it re-... 

Meditating, like Reiki, promotes spiritual growth. 

Indian peyotists provide the main contemporary example of mescaline and peyote used as a means of psychic exploration. A quarter million practitioners have taken this potent psychedelic—often quite frequently, often for years, often in large amounts without significant physical, psychological or social problems. The exemption provided in the law for members of the Native American Church has in fact fostered a tradition of spiritual growth and communal interaction. 

Savary, L. Berne, P. and Williams, S. Dreams and Spiritual Growth A Christian Approach to Dreamwork. New York Paulist Press, 1984. 

Tt is the same in the realm of aromatic combustions, familiar to Occultists. Theodiferous emissions which rise from earthenware pots and censers are the summoning waves, intended for worlds that are ontologically different to ours. They are not intended to satisfy our sense of smell, nor our inferior desire to create a mystical atmosphere. They are even less intended to impress the profane, giving him the impression that that we possess the secret of specific mysterious fumigations, letting him suppose that the evolution of one s mysticism and spiritual growth depends upon banal olfactory impressions. 

Despite these difficulties, this chapter will examine the Byzantine system of orphan care simply to determine whether it protected orphans from physical want by providing food, shelter, and some education. Whether it succeeded in fostering moral and spiritual growth is a question beyond the ken of human scholarship. 

Christoph Martin Wieland s Agathon (1767) sets the standard for the modern Bildungsroman in that it is now the internal spiritual growth of the... 

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