One of the gifts of being human is that our individual potential far exceeds the boundaries of our (animal) body, which, like all natural creations, must serve the general laws it’s been created to obey. We have the possibility of consciously knowing the existence of another order of body that is in, but not of our physical form. For example, consider the oak tree; it is in the acorn, yet its body is timeless relative to the seed from which it emerges.
To see the truth of this principle in the life of a simple seed and tree as an earthly, or lower, expression of higher laws is more than just promising; it is spiritually empowering. This exact same law holds true when it comes to the nature of our own consciousness. Within our present level of being—think of it as a seed relative to the tree that will rise out of it—dwells a timeless level of ourselves that isn’t subject to the laws of the natural world. This higher level of self, much like the life of a tree as compared to its seed, is relatively immortal—and, as such, it is created to serve another order of existence.
This extraordinary possibility of being “born again”—of achieving Nirvana or Moksha—is seeded into us from the beginning, yet no seed is the flowering it promises unless it’s cultivated and nourished. And this is precisely where the inner work of the willing aspirant must be brought into play. Spiritual rebirth is not evolutionary, even though the cosmos moves and perfects itself to assist as a midwife. The second birth is realized through an act of free will; it is voluntary, not mandatory.
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