CHAPTER 1         THE DIVINE PLAN

Perhaps you have heard or read of the potential for individuals to be transformed from mundane to Christ Consciousness or Krishna Consciousness, or even beyond that to Bliss Consciousness or direct awareness of Ultimate Reality.  But have you heard that the journey of life that leads to that potential is an individual process that includes many progressive stages of development?   Are you aware that these stages are identifiable and that, with awareness of which of the stages you are in, you can know what is needed for direct progress toward your next stage of enlightenment?

You can find reference to progressive stages of evolving consciousness in four well known religions.  All originated with and adhere to the ancient Vedic literature which is to the Far East as the Bible is to the West.  Those religions are Hinduism-especially the Yoga traditions of Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism and Buddhism. 

The Hindu sects, including the Yoga sects, trace the process to Bliss Consciousness or Nirvana as the ultimate potential.  Because of their unquestioning belief in the Vedic literature and its interpretations, they do not imagine a potential beyond Bliss Consciousness and often confuse Spiritual Mastery with Skilled Psychics.

Sikhism traces the development to nirvana through the same process implied by the Hindu religion, but it does not limit the potential at the point of Nirvana.  It teaches a potential for higher states of consciousness beyond that without defining that potential or naming it.  

Taoism promotes three expanding stages of consciousness, each known as “The Way”.  They are the First Way, the Second Way and the Third Way.  

Buddhism informs of  4 basic truths to hold in mind while following an 8 fold path to Nirvana and limits the potential to Bliss Consciousness.

The Keys to Enlightenment Program informs of a potential for progressive advancement of expanding individual consciousness through 6 pre-mystic stages, 3 mystic stages which include Nirvana, and 9 stages of Spiritual Mastery.  While the concept of stages of consciousness is not new, it is seldom understood.  Our clear explanation of the methods and the purpose for that development might be new to you. The information is not hearsay, not taken from ancient literature or ancient religions and it is not theory nor a result of reading or reasoning.  The author of the Keys to Enlightenment literature was born as a First Degree Mystic who was a devotee of God even as a tiny child with an all consuming curiosity that she took to God as inquiry about spiritual reality.   As she progressed through the 3 Mystic Stages and numerous Mastery Stages the answers were given as direct knowledge in the form of visions and instruction.  They described the full range of the soul’s potential for total enlightenment and the details of the progressive stages made available to everyone.   This knowledge unfolded for her over a period of forty nine years through a number of Divine Light experiences and two near-death experiences.  Her search for a body of literature that would echo her inner knowledge of ultimate reality and spiritual truth proved to her that, while elements of her revelations could be found in a number of different schools of thought or religions, especially in the religions previously mentioned, the entire view of God’s Divine Plan for the evolution of souls could be found in none.  This prompted her to set all books and research aside except for the inner guidance, and begin teaching and writing study guides for others who might be seeking spiritual truth presented in a clear and precise way.  Mary’s complete story is found in her autobiography,  Windows of Life and Death.

The best path to spiritual knowledge is your own direct experience of revelations and insights produced by encounters with the Holy Spirit within, or with God in the transcendent experience.  Such experiences are available to everyone. The most accurate spiritual books are those written by people who have had direct experiences of the Divine Light, yet these writers often disagree.  That is because of the differences in their stage of development on the journey toward complete enlightenment at the time of their encounter.  Even if they are not in agreement, such books can inform us of a segment of the truth about our Creator and Ultimate Reality.  If only one encounter of the Divine Light is reported by a writer or speaker, you can be certain that this is not the whole truth, regardless of how sincere the reporter is. Their telling of the ultimate reality is limited by their personal experience and their exposure to others through reading.  Their personal experience is expanded through Spiritual Initiations and grand paradigm shifts.  Keys to Enlightenment books guide you into your own encounters with the Divine Light through spiritual exercises, ideas to contemplate and development of spiritual practices.

The least helpful books on spirituality are those that report not the writer’s own experience, but another person’s experiences and beliefs or a collection of experiences.  The writers invariably misinterpret or assign their own purposes to the experiences others have had, and then set out to prove it.  The most helpful books on spirituality are those that report the writers’ direct experiences and insights, and offer readers a map to the path that led them to their experiences.  Even so, their map cannot take you farther than they have gone.

The most common path that people take in search of spiritual knowledge is reading and accepting certain ideas as beliefs, then acting as if they are true. This is an excellent way to grow in spiritual knowledge, because the beliefs eventually prove themselves or they take you off course and produce disillusionment.  Discarding false beliefs for concepts that seem more believable is a part of the progression toward total spiritual enlightenment and beyond.   God is as God is, regardless of our name for God or the beliefs that we hold concerning God.  There is a difference between God and Ultimate Reality. God is the first reality and the eternal reality of independent existence.  Universal Reality is a creation in God-Mind, and Ultimate Reality is an ideal in God-Mind.  The Divine Plan is God’s idea of the progression toward Ultimate Reality, while Ultimate Reality is the fulfillment or end result of that Plan in eternal life.  We don’t change God by changing our beliefs; therefore everyone’s concept of God and Ultimate Reality is valid for that individual because every point of view is a progression stage within the Plan.  But by our willingness to change our concepts of God and consequently our concepts of God, the Divine Plan and the individual’s relationship to God, we become receptive to direct revelations from God and direct insights into Divine Mind.

Sincere spiritual students might immediately balk at the concept of ascending states of consciousness and prefer the comforting idea that we simply shift from a human perception to a spiritual perception of life. Their argument is that the idea of numerous development stages suggests that more enlightened individuals are “better” or “superior” to others in some way.  It is a false humility that inspires such a belief.  We would not say that a high school graduate is superior to a kindergartener or a toddler.  But we would be foolish not to recognize that one has currently developed their potential to a greater degree than the other.   Therefore, conscious knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge is greater in the high school graduate than in the toddler.  And, again, is a fruit tree greater than a seedling?  Both are valuable, but it is obvious that one has reached its potential while the other is in the process of developing that potential.  And so it is with every individual.  We are each in our own stage of consciousness on the journey of life and progressing toward our highest potential as individual spiritual beings.  When God’s Divine Plan and its ultimate fulfillment are perceived, a natural sense of humility is engaged in awe of that Reality and its Creator.

Spiritual development is not a race or a competition.  Complete spiritual enlightenment is not an assurance, but the potential for everyone.  Those who wish to grow spiritually through the efforts of others will love the false concept that we are all evolving at the same pace in mass.  The truth is that we did not all begin our active involvement on the journey toward enlightenment at the same time.  We did not all make the same choices or meet the same experiences and situations along the way or take the same path and we do not all become co-creators in our own development process at the same time.  Some directed their passions to the spiritual quest lifetime after lifetime, while others just enjoyed the scenery or struggled against the human condition.  Free will is a gift from God that our Creator honors as we progress and a right that we must honor as we progress in the path that we have chosen.

There is no wrong stage of spiritual consciousness in which to be, simply former stages or future stages. When you can make peace with that idea, you are ready to consciously move forward in your own spiritual development and celebrate the freedom of letting others do the same.  A sense of humility comes from perceiving oneself in relation to the process and the Divine Plan. Having this piece of the puzzle of life increases our respect for others rather than decreasing it.  We engage in the creative work of our own spiritual evolution by claiming our right to choose the path of development that seems most reasonable to us.  If we are wise, we will choose a path that gives us evidence of our inner growth and empowers us to demonstrate that new sense of reality in our expression. If your spiritual path is not producing joy, adventure and exciting new realizations in you, it might well be time to find a new path to take.  All paths are a part of the journey toward total Enlightenment.

In pursuing the facets of study offered by the Keys to Enlightenment Program, one is conscious of paradigm shifts, deepening understanding, improvement in character, increased prayer power, and more effective meditation experiences which have potential to bring direct experiences of God and insights into the Divine Plan.  We refer to those direct experiences of the Source as Divine Light experiences. Some are subtle and frequent, but the grand ones are Spiritual Initiations. The Keys to Enlightenment Program suggests four equally important practices that gradually produce a convergence of realizations and vibrations in the mind. They are: Meditation, Prayer, Study and Application of what is learned.  A harmonic conversion of subconscious and conscious knowledge about a specific thing produces a synthesis in the consciousness that one might call a paradigm shift.   At certain points of growth the synthesis occurs throughout the entire consciousness rather than just in one area of the belief system.  When the convergence occurs, it produces a Divine Light experience of such magnitude that it is known as a quantum leap in consciousness, or a Spiritual Initiation and it reveals within the Initiate a whole new dimension of reality. We cannot make a Spiritual Initiation occur for us, but we do have the power to do the activities that build toward the convergence and lead to the thresholds of one great point of enlightenment after another. 

Keys to Enlightenment  books offer the skills for escalated development of consciousness through a balanced study of the four activities and ongoing practice.  They also offer the keys to opening the door once you are on a threshold.