In our call to holiness we are called to map the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. The older maps could not take into account the huge amount of scholarship that has been done by modern developmental psychology in mapping the levels of growth in human consciousness from infancy to functioning adulthood.

Modern authors have worked to map the spiritual path taking these new findings into consideration. Modern scholarship has found that the fundamental structures of human consciousness do not vary from one historical period to another. The stages through which human consciousness progresses to what Christians call union with God and, afterwards, the inner non-dual vision of the kingdom of Heaven here on Earth, are the same now as they were for the early Christians. In philosophical terms, this never-changing structure of human consciousness development has been called the perennial philosophy for that reason: it is indeed unchanging.

I would just remind my readers that, since we are made in God’s image and likeness, consciousness is one of the characteristics of children of God since, as I explained, God’s consciousness permeates the entire universe.

It must be noted that the basic structures of human consciousness do not vary. Human beings are the same everywhere. The same nine stages and structures are to be found in the Roman philosopher/mystic and the spiritual master Plotinus (a teacher for St. Augustine and many Church Fathers) as in the Buddhist philosopher/mystic and spiritual master Nagarjuna.

During the come weeks I will share with you what one modern author sees as the divisions of the spiritual path. He divides the path into nine stages, each stage corresponding to a separate level of consciousness. Again, is this reality? No! But it is one way to look at the development of human consciousness.