Participating with Purpose #2

The Spiritual Purpose of Life

In the sixteenth century Isaac Luria a renowned Kabbalist used the phrase Tikkun Olam, usually translated as repairing the world; this is the correcting and transforming role of humanity in the ongoing evolution of consciousness. Luria taught that the Creator; the Divine Living Presence created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the Divine Light. But as the Creator poured the Light into the vessels they shattered and tumbled down toward the realm of matter, the lower worlds. Thus, our world consists of countless creations of the original vessels, which are entrapped with the holy sparks of Divine Light. Humanity’s great task involves helping the Creator by freeing and reuniting these scattered holy sparks. By helping in the raising of these sparks back to the upper worlds, we are purposefully participating in divine restoration.

We meet similar concepts in other religions. The Christ; know as Jesus promised to return with the Kingdom of Heaven and encouraged people to prepare through love, wakefulness, and charity. In Buddhism, the Bodhisattva vows to forgo final liberation until all beings have been freed from suffering. The Gnostics held that a spark of Divinity resides entrapped within the soul of humans.

These concepts encompass both outer and inner work, both service to society by helping those in need and service to the Divine by liberating the spark within us – The Light. It’s learning to add value to the world through our generosity of spirit, and finding heaven in our heart. As we are, the Divine spark lies hidden beneath our layers of egoistic self-centeredness. That spark of light is our true value, through which Divine Will flows toward us. By pursuing spiritual inner work to strengthen our soul and purify our heart, we grow more able to bear that spark without shattering.

The work of transformation and building of a soul creates a sound vessel for the Holy Spark, which then returns that spark back to the service of The Divine Living Presence. Working to perfect our self and our soul through serving society, we contribute to the perfecting of the world. This is our creative expression, duty, and our calling as human beings. 

To contemplate and enter the process of repairing or perfecting the world, we need to understand the concept of the world. All the major religious traditions present a hierarchy of worlds or levels of being, from the one we ordinarily inhabit to the ultimate world of Divinity.

For example, the worlds are Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, and Celestial. Beyond all these is The Divine Living Presence; the Mother-Father Creator, the Boundless and Absolute. Each of the worlds corresponds to a progressively higher level of cosmic energy that relates to the levels of one’s soul.

• The Physical realm utilizes the energy from which the soul can grow more.
• The Emotional realm is built on conscious energy, the basis of awareness.
• The Spiritual realm works with creative energy, which is brought to life by the Light.
• The Celestial realm, which is Divine Purpose, brings with it the energy of Radiant Love, which forms greater coherence with The Divine Living Presence.

The basic principles are that the seeker pursues spiritual practice to transform his or her being and rise through the levels of the realms/worlds, to bring his or her own will back to Divine will, while opening a way for the higher energies to flow down to this world, and thereby advancing the great process of restoration.

For millennia many spiritual masters have sought to serve this process by meditating on, and opening to the higher energy of Divine Love and Light this is the Light of the Radiant Self. They allow the Light to spread through them as if sitting in its midst and draw the Light down for the Earth, for life, for their own soul. The possibility of opening to the Divine Light stands within reach of us all if we are prepared to do the necessary inner work.

For those who can, yet another possibility presents itself, with a pure heart and a quiet mind, the person creates contact with Divine Light and raises the Light up into the Radiant Self, then offering the Light to the Creator in a sacred act of service, which is hidden (Higher Chamber) in the higher worlds. Only then does the person open the channel for the Light to flow down through his or her soul into our world. The idea of Divine Restoration places spiritual practice at the heart of this epic unfolding of the universe: it is the evolution and spiritualization of creation. With each small act of kindness, with each moment of being fully present, with each effort to see, cleanse, and integrate our inner life, with each heartfelt prayer opening to the higher energies and the higher will, we build the new world and serve the Divine Architect.

In conclusion, the outcome of the whole process remains uncertain because of the nature of free will. Truth is though serving our planet and fulfilling our highest destiny really does matter. Our personal inner work does, in fact, make a difference. If we can raise ourselves to the station where the Divine can see and act through us, then we complete the momentous work of restoring at least one part to the Whole. This story of Divine Restoration helps us discover a vision of unbounded meaning; it gives purpose to perfecting ourselves, perfecting the world and creating a genuine connection with the Mother-Father Creator.

Elizabeth Ellames