The Spirit of Responsiveness
May 21, 2020 • Conversations on the Spiritual Path, Learn
The spirit of responsiveness is the spirit of seeing what needs to be done and doing it without having to be told to do so. “We are down to the last square so I will replace the toilet paper with a new roll so the next person does not have to do it”. “The trash is full so I will take it out.” These are some examples of the spirit of responsiveness.
I remember a few years ago when I was in Germany speaking at a few events. My friend came to pick me up from the hotel I was staying at. As I walked up to his car which was parked by the side of the road I noticed he and his son were cleaning some plates that had fallen out of the car and shattered on the sidewalk. His 6-year old son just jumped into the cleaning process without being invited. He was picking up the pieces with great attention. And even when his dad walked away to throw everything into a dumpster he continued to clean the sidewalk. His dad did not ask him to do so. He just did it because it needed to be done.
This is the spirit of responsiveness. A quality of mature souls. It was truly inspiring to see a 6-year old so deeply ingrained with this spirit.
One way most people often judge others is by age. Physical age does not matter really. A 6-year old would be considered young and therefore has much to learn. True. But how old is the soul? That’s what I ask myself when I meet people. And there are many tell-tale signs to give you insights on the age of a soul. The spirit of responsiveness is one of them.
Why is this the quality of a mature soul? Well, in order to be responsive one needs to be observant. Observation is the first sign of the awakening of the superconscious mind. And to function in the superconscious mind one needs to diligently work on himself. Spiritual practices and personal discipline need to be part of his life. Only mature souls diligently work on themselves so that they can function more in the superconscious area of the mind. The spirit of responsiveness is then simply a by-product of their spiritual practices and personal disciplines.
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