One of the most enduring metaphors for the spiritual path is the transformation of the lowly caterpillar into a butterfly.  Out of its own substance, the ground-hugging grub weaves the medium for its metamorphosis—the chrysalis within which it evolves into a beautiful creature with wings. The human being undergoes an equally dramatic transformation, unfolding the path to liberation from within the depths of the soul and emerging, after great struggle, as an expression of divinity in the world.                                                                     When the Soul Awakens, 94

Transformation:  The Goal of the Spiritual Path

      The word “transformation” first entered the popular vocabulary during the 1960s and 70s with the new wave of spirituality then emerging.  In those years the word was associated with spiritual growth, even though its deepest meaning remained obscure.  By the 90s, “transformation” had become fashionable in the corporate world and by the start of this millennium it had been hijacked by the Pentagon.  In the process, its spiritual significance was all but lost.

      In the ageless wisdom teachings, transformation is the process by which the human being becomes a spiritual being.  It is a metamorphosis that begins when the soul in incarnation awakens to its spiritual essence.  Along the way, the individual, once thoroughly identified with his or her outer persona—the body, emotions, and mind—gradually becomes identified with the soul, the inner spiritual being.  As the path of transformation unfolds, the light of the soul behind the mask of the personality is gradually revealed.  Ultimately, this inner light illumines the outer persona.

      It has taken millions of years to reach the current moment in evolution, when countless souls are awakening to their true nature.  Our evolutionary journey as individual human beings began deep in the mists of time, when sparks of the Godhead were immersed in material substance for the purpose of evolving consciousness.  The friction between these opposite poles of our being—spirit and matter—has resulted in the endless struggles we experience on the path of human evolution.  Slowly, however, as a result of eons of suffering through physical experience, that friction produces light.

      At present, the path of ordinary human living is drawing to a close for millions of people around the globe.  The light of the human soul is growing in intensity and becoming manifest through individuals who are awakening and realizing, through inner experience, that they are more than material beings.  This awakening leads, in time, to the path of transformation, through which the true beauty, power, and magnetic radiance of the soul is steadily revealed.

Consciousness Evolves in Stages

      Technically speaking the process of transformation occurs in three stages, according to the ageless wisdom.  The terms used to describe these progressive stages of unfoldment are:  transmutation, transformation, and transfiguration. Lifetimes are required to complete the metamorphosis that culminates at the stage of transfiguration, when the soul’s energies pour down with full force upon the outer persona and change it—permanently.

      Those who have approached this culminating stage depict the process as a harrowing one, portraying an experience that is light-years apart from popular notions of the spiritual path.  In advertisements for spiritual books and other products, the spiritual quest is often portrayed as an exciting travel adventure that can be made luxuriously comfortable and enjoyable.  “In actuality,” as we state in When the Soul Awakens, “the spiritual path is never pleasant or comfortable, though joy is surely among its ultimate rewards.”  This idea continues:

Unlike a cruise, which picks us up and drops us off at the same place with our personalities intact, the spiritual path transfigures the very nature of our being.  By treading the path we become an entirely different being from the personality with which we were identified at the start, undergoing a metamorphosis, that is, by its very nature, often painful.[1]

      What makes the process painful is the “task” at its core: unifying spirit and matter. To forge a state of unity out of this divine polarity, that which is of a material nature must be purified, elevated and fused with that which is spiritual.  The divine spark immersed in matter, the “unit of consciousness” that is a soul, incarnates repeatedly in a threefold form—or personality—to grow in and through material plane experience.  Over the course of lifetimes, a mysterious spiritual alchemy occurs in which the lower self or persona (sometimes called the human soul) becomes increasingly aware of its higher aspect—the higher Self, also called the spiritual soul, the soul on its own plane.  The goal is reached when the two aspects of the self (higher and lower—inner and outer) fuse and blend to become one.

      Up to the moment of awakening, when the heart opens and the soul in incarnation begins to recognize its spiritual nature, the human soul is imprisoned by the matrix of material forces in which it dwells.  The consciousness immersed in material living (the personality identified with the world of form) expresses itself through personality forces such as instinct, desire, and ambition.  Through the process of transmutation, these material forces are turned into spiritual energies or soul qualities such as wisdom, love, and purpose.

      What occurs is an extremely subtle process, one that is reflected in the subtleties of language that characterize the wisdom teachings. In this language, distinctions are made between energies and forces.  The word energy is generally used as a synonym for that which is formless—that which is composed of spirit and flows freely.  The word force is used to describe energy encased in matter or limited by form.

Transmutation

      Transmutation is the first phase of the transformative journey.  It marks the start of the process in which material forces are intentionally elevated through the power of the mind, in the goal of transmuting them into spiritual energies.  At this early stage in the life of the spiritual aspirant, the soul is not yet fully conscious of itself on its own plane.  The persona, still largely identified with its physical body, emotions and mind, has only begun to develop higher faculties.

      The soul has, nevertheless, become aware of spiritual realities and the threefold personality is sufficiently integrated and coordinated to begin the task of transmuting force into energy.  Material force is changed or “stepped up” into soul energy through the power of the mind working upon the subtle forces of the vital body—the etheric or energy body that underlies the physical form.

      At this stage of the path, the aspirant learns to concentrate the mind and to use the power of focused thought to lift the emotional forces of the desire nature—anchored in the subtle energy center that is the solar plexus—into the heart center.  In the heart center, the force of personal desire is transmuted into the magnetic energy of inclusive love.  Altruists and idealists, people who place others before themselves and consciously work for the greater good, exemplify this transmutation of emotional force into the energy of love. In such people, the heart is opening.

      Creative people embody another facet of transmutation: the lifting up of procreative forces, located in the sacral or sexual center, into the creative energies associated with the throat chakra.  Individuals who work in this way to lift up force into energy are usually engaged in some form of communication.  They may be artists, musicians, writers, philosophers, or scientists.  Through their chosen vocation or avocation, they are actively transmuting the “raw material force” of sexuality into creative expression in the world—often in the goal of enriching the lives of others.  Throughout the ages, creative geniuses have wrestled with their lower natures, struggling to utilize the vital forces of their personalities in service to the world.

Transformation

      Transformation begins as the individual awakens more fully to the reality of the soul.  He or she begins to recognize the spiritual self as a unique “entity” distinct from the personality immersed in the material world.  At this juncture a sense of duality emerges. The developed human being experiences life as a personality with various material plane identities:  teacher or business executive, artist or activist, mother or father, sister or brother.  At the same time the boundless, spiritual identity of the true self or soul is breaking through to consciousness.

      The individual is becoming aware of living in two dimensions—having two aspects of self—a worldly persona playing its particular roles, and a conscious soul or higher Self slowly awakening to a higher plane of reality.  During this phase of the transformative journey, the personality or lower self develops a relationship with the higher Self, gradually shifting the focus of consciousness from the outer world of form to the inner world of spiritual meaning.  With this shift in orientation there comes a parallel shift in identity—from the personality to the soul.

      Conscious direction of spiritual energies by the soul marks the culmination of the process of transmutation and indicates that transformation has begun.  Once the outer self has been adequately coordinated and integrated, and the lower forces have been sufficiently transmuted into higher energies, the work of transforming the lower self begins in earnest.  This second stage involves the unification of personality force and soul energy.  By its end, the personality is imbued with the soul’s energy to the point that the outer persona is transformed into a vehicle for the expression of the soul in the world.

      At this stage in the journey, the individual has fully embarked on the Path of Return to the spiritual source.  Aware of living in a world of duality, the soul now struggles to transform the lower self and to fuse the two aspects of the nature. As the soul works to take control of the outer form and emerge into the foreground of consciousness, the lower nature anxiously guards its turf.  The individual is pulled in two directions—towards the realm of spirit and towards the realm of matter.  The challenge is to tread the Middle Way, to demonstrate balance, and skill in action, in negotiating “the narrow razor-edged path” that leads between “the two great lines of force.”

      The great struggle of this phase involves freeing the personality from ancient attachments to the form world so that it can gain access to the light of the soul—the light that transforms the lower nature.  The seeker’s goal is to relinquish the selfish motives and drives of the persona—the physical, emotional, and mental aspects—in order to reveal the soul’s nature. Technically, the name of this phase of growth, which comes after the path of aspiration, is the path of discipleship. The phase of aspiring to live a spiritual life, by transmuting lower forces into higher energies, gives way to a conscious commitment to a life of intense self-discipline and active service to others.

      On the discipleship path, spiritual disciplines are established as habits of daily living.  The soul slowly takes control of the outer form, increasingly directing the disciple and transforming the life from within.  Under the transformative influence of the soul, the personality begins to display divine qualities such as inclusive love, wisdom, and compassion.  The individual learns to stand in spiritual being, aligned with the “higher angels of his (or her) nature,” increasingly committed to serving the greater good.  He or she becomes aware of the purpose of his or her soul for a given lifetime and stands committed to fulfilling that higher purpose.

      The wisdom teachings indicate that this phase of the journey—the conscious pursuit of self-perfection—takes lifetimes.  The individual passes through inner “battlefields” and “burning grounds” to eliminate the self-centered tendencies of the separative personality.  Ultimately, through self-purification, the disciple on the path comes to recognize the One Self in all souls.  Divine qualities that were seeded in the human being at the start of our evolutionary journey begin to emerge.  The beauty, truth, wisdom and light of the soul, largely hidden until now, increasingly stand revealed.  The down-pouring energies of the higher Self transform the persona, once the mask of the soul, into an instrument for divine expression.  The human soul (or persona) is transformed into a soul-infused personality, directed from within by the spiritual self to fulfill its higher purpose.

Transfiguration

      During the first stage of the transformative journey, transmutation, it is the mind that plays a major role as the agent for lifting force into energy.  In the second stage, transformation, the soul emerges into consciousness, purifying and taking control of the outer form.  In the third and final stage called transfiguration, the spirit completes the process that began with the soul’s awakening.  For this to occur, the soul must win the struggle to control the personality and resolve duality into unity.  Once this has been fully achieved, the soul-infused personality stands visibly transfigured before the world.

      The best-known exemplars of transfiguration have come to us through the legends of world religions:  the Buddha, emerging visibly illumined from his six-day meditation under the Boddhi Tree; Moses on Mount Sinai, surrounded by blazing light as he received the Ten Commandments; Jesus, appearing to his disciples on the Mount Tabor—a transfigured being of light.

      According to the Ageless Wisdom, the experience of transfiguration awaits all souls who have embarked upon the path of transmutation and transformation.  It marks the first true initiation of the human being into the spiritual kingdom—the kingdom of souls. It is the stage of the path of conscious evolution in which the Life of the Spirit is revealed directly through the outer self on earth.  The Tibetan master, Djwhal Khul, describes transfiguration in these words:

Art of Transformation
The Middle Way
Forging the Link
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