You Can Become a God. Like, Actually

We are spiritual beings, call it a soul, spirit, life-force, in these physical bodies on earth living out a physical existence. The Divine are also spiritual beings. If energy is indestructible and cannot be created, its existence since time immemorial, and we’re all energy, pieces of the same thing, then how is it that some beings are divine and the rest of us are out here struggling?

Holy texts, ancient scriptures, and stories are meant to provide wisdom and guidance. We can either take them at face value, or delve into our own spirituality to gain a deeper understanding of them. The scriptures hold secrets waiting to be uncovered by us, and the beauty is that we all don’t interpret the scriptures the same way. Our experiences, the lessons we learn in life, our environment, etc., shape our belief systems and our belief systems are filters in our minds that process all that we perceive. As we go through life and our belief systems evolve, deeper truths arise from the scriptures that may have eluded us before.

There is much wisdom to be gained from the Hindu holy texts, and of particular interest to me is the story of Lord Shiw (Shiva) and his wife Parwati Ma (Ma means mother). The more I dig into their story, the more I feel like it’s been waiting thousands of years for me to come along and unearth its secrets.

One interesting aspect of this story is when Shakti energy, or the Goddess spirit, is sent to earth to live out human lives until she reaches divinity. This took 108 lifetimes from when she first took birth as Sati until she took birth as Parwati Ma.

Parwati Ma was born a princess into a palace. As a young girl, she wanted to live as an ascetic in the forest and spend her time in prayer. This is evidence of her spiritual work during her past lives. The spiritual work we do accumulates in every lifetime, and we carry it over into every lifetime. This is evident in people who have psychic ability or intuition from a young age. For many others, their spiritual gifts, or the ability to see and hear into the spirit realm, lay dormant until they get on their spiritual path.

Parvati Ma knew at a young age she was destined to be Shiw’s wife, and she knew what she needed to do to reach him. She renounced the lavish palace life because she was aware that material wealth is part of the illusion in this world that keeps one distracted from their true path. It would not help her to ascend spiritually, but instead would only serve to make the last leg of her journey difficult. The material world is but an illusion, a rigorous testing system. We either pass to the next level or repeat. When we become enamoured by worldly pleasures, we lose our way. This results in repeating whatever tripped you up in this life in the next life until you overcome it.

Parwati Ma lived according to a disciplined spiritual practice, and she ascended to divinity. This is why Hindus worship her, and not Sati, who ran into a blazing fire because she was mad at her dad. Kinda relatable, but obviously she was new to the self-control thing. The story of Sati also shows us that spiritual growth does not complete in one lifetime. We cannot experience all we need to experience in order for our soul to evolve spiritually in one lifetime.

Lord Shiw is the epitome of self-mastery, meditation, and renunciation. He is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, and he has reached a level of spirituality most of us can’t begin to comprehend. He is so high up that one would be hard-pressed to get his attention, but Parwati Ma did. Their story tells us that spiritually we have the power to reach Bhagwan level. As above, so below. Bhagwan is the word Hindus use for God. The literal meaning of Bhagwan translates to possessor of qualities such as fortune, knowledge, beauty, strength, etc. These are also qualities that are gained through lifetimes of spiritual ascension.

One of the biggest setbacks to reaching divinity is the limiting belief systems that humans are naturally inclined towards. If you believe yourself to be not good enough, then you will be not good enough. However, all it takes to completely change one’s life is a mental shift.

In this modern world, climbing the corporate ladder, gaining status, and getting that ‘bag’ is an enchanting endeavour. And living as an ascetic is just not. Begin the spiritual journey and find a balance - an ever-evolving process - because as you level up spiritually you earn rewards, or spiritual gifts, and they can give you the edge in whatever endeavours you may be embarking on.

Your spiritual gifts can help you in the board room, make beneficial connections, or build a business. Spirituality can aid in romantic relationships if you’re seeking higher love. Your intuition or psychic ability becomes heightened. You build good karma and it appears in your life in unexpected ways. You're able to manifest. You develop an understanding of how life works, and then life becomes easier.

The belief that God is completely separate from humans is detrimental because this creates the perception that God is too good and pure, and we’ll never be good enough. This belief blinds us from our power, and convinces us that we can’t ascend to higher levels of spirituality simply because we’re flawed and therefor unworthy. Some people feel they’ve messed up too badly, made bad decisions, and whatever struggle they’re going through is their lot in life to bear. Some people feel they’re just too far gone from God.

A lot of us on the spiritual journey started at our own rock bottom. It is my belief, based on my own experience, that many of us won’t begin the spiritual ascent until there is nowhere to go but up.

To those who feel not good enough, I say: you are the underdog. And who doesn’t love a good underdog story? The underdog is the one who still enters the race when the odds are stacked against them and comes out the winner. We see the underdog story in sports when the lowest-ranked team plays their way to the championship. The underdog theme is a common plot line in entertainment, when the main character is a weakling who has to save the world from an indomitable enemy. We root for the underdog. We can’t help it. Perhaps we see ourselves in these unlikely heroes.

And so it is with the higher spiritual beings. They see the odds stacked against you. They know it’s a fight to climb up that ladder rung by rung. They’re rooting for you. Most of that fight is with your own self. You will have to break through your own mental barriers. You will have to forgive yourself.

The lower beings will not let you go so easily. Yes, there are also lower beings. Refuse to let them win; refuse to lose to losers. Your hard work will not go unnoticed. You will turn heads, because game recognizes game. The same way professional athletes recognize the work other athletes put in to get to where they are. The Gods recognize the work. They know it’s not easy, and this will earn you a nod of the head. In turn, you get a sense of how difficult the work is. You will see higher beings in a new light, and your respect for God deepens.

Spiritual work starts inside of you, and slowly spreads outside of you. Sit with yourself, and cut the mind’s chatter. Every night. Just start.

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper - W.B. Yeats