Initiation and Levels of Spiritual Development

Initiation comes from the Latin words initiare "originate, initiate," from initium "a beginning." Initiations are moments that mark the beginning of a new stage of development, thus in the development of the consciousness there are initiations it must pass through in order to rise.

Throughout our history, the real initiations have not been taught publicly. In this new era, for the first time, we can learn about the initiations the consciousness must pass through.

The English word "spirituality" is derived from "spirit," which comes from the Latin spiritus meaning "soul, courage, vigor, breath." The modern usage of "spirit" is unfortunately inaccurate, since it is based on a mistranslation of subsequent centuries of misuse. Western culture and terminology has been profoundly influenced by the Bible, which is a translation of earlier Hebrew and Greek texts. In the Bible, the single word spiritus (Latin) was used for the different—and quite specific—words ruach (Hebrew) and pneuma (Greek). In modern terms, the word "spirit" is used interchangeably in lieu of the more accurate terms spiritus, anima, psyche (Greek), soul, etc.

An accurate definition of "spirit" would draw from the original terminology. Therefore, our spirit is not our personality, soul, mind, or sense of self. The real meaning of spirit is our inner Father or Buddha, which in Kabbalah is related to the sephirah Chesed. In Sanskrit, our spirit is called Atman. In Buddhism, it is the true nature of our Yidam.

Thus, spirituality is correctly defined as the process or science of the awakening and development of our inner Spirit, which requires us to shed our terrestrial, self-centered identity.