On spiritual evolution.
What is spiritual evolution? It’s when we get better, treat people with respect despite our differences, break the chain of bad habits and bad karma (or whatever you want to call it).
One model of spiritual evolution is:
Dependence. When we are dependent, like when we are a child we are dependent on our parents for everything, when someone cannot think for themselves. This is not to be seen as a bad stage or the people here are “lesser people”, it is a stage where some people have to experience it over and over and over until they understand how limiting it is. Many people are still here. I would guess 50% of America is here.
Independence. When we can think independently, take care of our physical and mental selves, can make and achieve goals. This also means thinking ahead, preparing for the future, like retirement, and having an emergency fund which can actually help you. A few people are here.
Interdependence. When we work together voluntarily to make our neighborhood, town, or society that much better.
There will be other models of spiritual evolution, I hope you can share yours in the comments!
Distractions from spiritual evolution
There are many things that can distract us from spiritual evolution. This is not a complete list. Please add your idea to the comment below.
Entertainment, television. These are not bad in and of themselves but they can be distractions. Many people love reality TV, and the drama it brings, a bit too much.
Emotional trauma. It’s hard to move forward if someone is ignoring or suppressing their own trauma.
Material things. Material things are not necessarily bad either, but the pursuit of material things and ignoring other things leads to imbalance.
Excessive escapism. Who doesn’t want to escape for a few hours here and there? That’s all normal but when it’s excessive this brings about imbalance. Chemicals can be used to avoid dealing with trauma as well.
Financial and economic problems. This can also be a distraction as people worry if they are going to lose their job, or if they will be able to pay rent. Rent keeps on going up. Renters are in a really bad stop. Many people rent because they cannot buy a house, they might have bad credit or not enough cash to put down. But when you buy a house the payment is the same for the term of the mortgage, then there is no more payment. But you also have to know how to fix things up or pay HUGE fees to have repairs done.
The problem here is about imbalance. Do all things with moderation and you could be fine.