One of the most fundamental universal truths is that human beings are in an on-going process of evolution. If the question was asked of you… “Would you be happy to be a monkey”, the answer would be a resounding “NO”. The desire to evolve intelligently propelled us beyond the primate state, as with the many states before that. We entered into the state of human awareness and hence the development of more subtle senses. And yet what is beyond the human awareness state? Like the many animals that do not see colour what do we not see and experience because of our limited awareness? The same energy that drove us beyond the primate state also drives us to go beyond our limited human awareness, into a state of spiritual awareness; of connection within our inner selves, a connection beyond the physical senses, beyond the emotional highs and lows, and beyond our intellectual rationale. The path of evolution propels us forward to develop our awareness, to grow in knowledge of ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

We have become good at exploring outer space but have a lot to learn about exploring our ‘inner space’, the deep reservoir of truth that lies within. Whilst all the religions and many philosophical schools have espoused the same mantra that “know God know thyself”, sadly few have understood the significance of this and have established restrictive and inhibitive ideologies, doctrines and dogma that are more concerned with upholding a position of power and control, than with the spiritual liberation of its followers.

The table below points to some interesting facets in understanding the difference between a ‘belief system’ and an ‘innate knowing’. Sahaja Yoga does not align itself with any one belief system, ideology, religion, philosophy or path. It recognises the intrinsic importance of each great prophet, sage, realised soul and artist, from the Buddha to Christ, from Lao Tze to Mohammed and countless others who have assisted humanity on their perilous evolutionary journey. The greatness of these prophets is as surely recognised as the fickleness and recklessness of lesser mortals, that have misunderstood the oneness of their collective message, not realising that they emanate from the one tree of life, and have sought to distinguish the differences, rather than the similarities. The true mystic knows that there is no need to dominate with the ego because the truth is the truth, to be felt and known, not to be intellectualised about with wasted words.

BELIEF SYSTEM TENDENCIES	SPIRITUALLY CONSCIOUS KNOWING
Conceptual belief	Innately experienced
Subject to Historical Consistencies	Not Subject to anything
Rises & Falls (Swings Left to Right)	Balanced and in harmony (Centered)
Waxes and wanes	Constant
Protective of beliefs	Non protective because non-threatened
Highly structured	Unstructured, Self Sufficient,
Handed down	Authentic self-discovery
Systemised (Doctrines, rules, rituals)	Not systemised, spontaneous
Hierarchical Dominant Leadership	Non-Hierarchical
Decision making power from others	Power within
Not able to be validated	Able to be specifically validated (manifestation through parasympathetic nervous system)
Conditioned response often fear-based	Spontaneous (based on love)
Doubts about Faith	Inner Knowing through actualised connection
Often Pre-occupied with suffering & redemption	Experiences liberated enlightened state