Most spiritual and philosophical paths speak of the transcendence of man over his nature. By definition, one can never transcend one’s self. He or she can only raise it to its highest fulfillment. So the question becomes, “how do I embody my highest nature?”

This question contains some interesting ambiguities:

1. What is highest?

2. Who am I?

3. What is my nature?

“Highest,” we will imagine the greatest fulfillment of all aspects of an individual’s character. If you are warrior, it is your battle. If you are a martyr it is your sacrifice-these two are not as far different as one would imagine.

“I” can be thought of as “knowingness” that can only be described as awareness of existence. It requires neither subject, nor object, this is the natural state of being of which everyone is endowed without any external stimulus. Think of it as the mind and attention span of a beautiful loved baby.

“Nature” may be the hardest concept to describe concisely here. It is the collection of characteristics which one tries to raise to the highest fulfillment described above. In other words, the nature of a dancer is to dance, or oftentimes, to fight. Becoming the greatest dancer and martial artists describes this embodiment.

By nature you are already divinity. Your awareness can be neither created nor destroyed. In fact, there is no point in your existence where you remember or can imagine that you do not exist. Hence your “Self” is immortal.  Thus the challenge in life is to become human, for you are already eternal.

In an interesting twist then, we can imagine all spiritual paths as methods of reaching humanity instead of God.