Intentions of The One Spirit
Scripture describes a vision of the One Spirit, called the Holy Spirit.
This vision is that the One Spirit contains seven facets,
which from a line of scripture, man often breaks down to be as follows,
The Spirit of the LORD,
The Spirit of wisdom,
The Spirit of understanding,
The Spirit of counsel,
The Spirit of power,
The Spirit of knowledge,
The Spirit of the fear of the Lord
It could be a bit of a stretch to interpret that the passage was meant to be broken down in this way,
especially considering the limitations of language itself,
but scriptures also claim that the seven 'spirits' are the seven 'eyes' of the Spirit.
It is possible that these "eyes" are what we today call, "perspectives".
This claim is based in how we express this in language.
A perspective changes your perception.
If you look through a different perspective then your own, it will change your perception, the way you look.
The eyes through which you look through reality will have changed.
Consider that we say in speech,
"Look through the eyes of Compassion."
We can understand, that this is referring to looking through a perspective of Compassion, which changes our perception.
This appears to be the same case here, because you can take each of these, and look through its eyes.
The Spirit does not appear to have one perspective, but perhaps seven main perspectives through which it looks.
Buddha had identified four of these eyes of the spirit, perspectives of the spirit, he called these spirits
The Four Immeasurable Minds,
which he identified as
- love,
- compassion,
- joy,
- and equanimity.
It is possible that Buddha was perceiving some of these perspectives.
Considering the seven aforementioned spirits from scripture,
you can imagine looking through the eyes of each.
How would things change if you looked through the eyes of wisdom?
What if you looked through the eyes of understanding?
The eyes of counsel?
The eyes of knowledge?
The scripture explains how this One Spirit descends upon oneself.
This is experienced in real life as a grace seemingly descending upon oneself.
One term to refer to this grace could be that of a sense of a presence of 'gentleness'.
This spirit, which does appear to descend from above us, is not one we manufacture, but it is recognized as having loving qualities. This is not only thought, but felt. There is an inclusive and even intimate nature to this gentle spirit.
You can look for yourself as to what these perspectives of the Spirit may be,
as these words are broken down into their known meanings below.
Know however that man often fails, translations are often incorrect or inaccurate,
even the synonyms may be wrong, as the word is being translated into English.
The verse is as follows,
The Spirit - (rū·aḥ) - Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit
of the LORD - (Yah·weh) - LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel
will rest - (wə·nā·ḥāh) - To rest, settle down
on Him— - (‘ā·lāw) - [masculine] Above, over, upon, against
the Spirit - (rū·aḥ) - [see above]
of wisdom - (ḥāḵ·māh) - Wisdom*
and understanding, - (ū·ḇî·nāh) - An understanding
the Spirit - (rū·aḥ) - [see above]
of counsel - (‘ê·ṣāh) - Advice, plan, prudence
and strength, (ū·ḡə·ḇū·rāh) - Force, valor, victory
the Spirit - (rū·aḥ) - [see above]
of knowledge - (da·‘aṯ) - Knowledge
and the fear - (wə·yir·’aṯ) - Fear, reverence
of the LORD. - (Yah·weh) - [see above]
What do you think? The eyes of the spirit of victory sounds pretty good.
If you change how you listen, you can hear something like,
The wind of the Spirit will descend on one,
the Spirit of Victory.
Consider that instead of perspectives of Doubt, Fear, Insecurity, Weakness, Poverty, Distress, Anguish, Trauma, Turmoil, Confusion,
these perspectives which are first felt, and then cause a negative change your perceptions,
consider if instead,
what if your only perspectives were through the eyes of these seven?
After all, how many perspectives can you even have at once?
Spirit also means Mind.
Imagine if you had,
- the sight of the mind of wisdom of understanding,
- the sight of victory,
- access to the mind of Advice and Planning to tell you what to do,
- access to the sight of the world from the perspective of knowledge,
- and finally, a perspective to regard and hold dear that which is worth regarding, and holding valuable.
It is possible to gain this kind of mind, it is simply a matter of the pursuit of this information.
There is no special skill required,
in fact all skills would make it more difficult to acquire these.
The real skills you would need to learn are,
- how to be a receptive student,
- how to listen,
- how to identify what is good through cultivating a refining sense of discernment,
- and perhaps, how to retain that information such that it changes you.
The information for how to learn how to listen, how to create a better mind, this information is available, you just have to look for it.
One secret is that,
If it is unbelievably complex and confusing,
then you are likely reading the words of someone who has a spirit of confusion, not a spirit of understanding.
If you are feeling that some of what you are hearing is true, if you feel like you have regained something, that you have been stimulated and refreshed by content, it is possible that this is closer to a spirit of understanding.
Discernment is simply identifying the difference between these.
You can quickly develop the sense of discernment between these, because confusion feels like a small measure of sickness, and understanding feels healthy.
