The Spiritual Switch

Jun 7, 2025 by Don MacGregor

The Spiritual Switch – Higher and Lower or Inner and Outer?

We’ve inherited a spiritual mindset that says the spiritual realm is above, that we need to aim to ‘raise’ our level of consciousness, and that everything is on different levels of ascending hierarchy. It stems from the medieval view of the three tier universe, when God was in the heaven of heavens above the starry firmament. In this model, God was remote, distant, almighty, and below us was the underworld, Sheol, the place of the dead in the Jewish tradition, or the place of Hell and the Devil in the Christian tradition.

But there is a new model for today’s world that is emerging ever more strongly. It has its roots in the past as well, but has been submerged, or drowned out by the ‘God Above’ model. The realm of the divine is not above, it is within, an inner realm on inner planes, not higher levels. God is the One who undergirds and sustains, not oversees and rules. We are to go in, not go up, to go in to lighter, finer, deeper levels. The Divine emanates from the core within, the finer realms. To go within is to expand our consciousness to new realms, ever greater and deeper.

I was prompted to think of this by a friend who challenged me about the notion of spiritual hierarchies within Christianity, pointing out that the word stems from the rule of the high priest, a position of patriarchal dominance. The balance has gone askew in the Abrahamic traditions, and we have submerged the divine feminine. The scales are gradually tipping back to restore the balance – and the move away from vertical hierarchies is part of that.

This is a necessary switch of thinking to engage with many other traditions today, particularly with the spiritual aspect of the ecological movement, and its term ‘Deep Ecology.’ This stems from the dawning realisation that we are One with the planet and the biosphere in which we live and move and have our being. We are not separate from this blue globe, we are an inherent part of it, and hence, for our own survival, we need to care for it, keeping the ecological balance of the biosphere. This is the ‘Greening of the Self’, a term used by Joanna Macy, who says, “When you look at what is happening to our world – and it is hard to look at what’s happening to our water, our air, our trees, our fellow species – it becomes clear that unless you have some roots in a spiritual practice that holds life sacred and encourages joyful communion with all your fellow beings, facing the enormous challenges ahead becomes nearly impossible.” (Engaged Buddhist Reader, Parallax Press, 1996, p.173)

At a deeper level than the physical planet, there are other planes of existence, other realms at greater vibratory frequencies, and humanity partakes in that as well, although largely unrecognised by the masses. These hidden, more esoteric realms are gradually becoming externalised, or exoteric, slowly emerging into people’s awareness. Hence the rapid rise in interest in all things spiritual but not religious, the increase in practices such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and other modes of wellbeing. To go in is the path chosen by many today in preference to thinking vertically. This also ties in with some eminent quantum physicists’ views, that there is only One Consciousness within the universe, a vast information field, a sort of Divine Matrix pervading and sustaining everything in being. And it is not above or up, but deeper within the fabric of Being, of existence.

Even Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you,” (Luke 17:21) and St Paul talks about the glory of the mystery of God, the mystery which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) My feeling is that a switch in terminology and linguistics could make Christianity a lot more accessible if the quest for the divine can be seen as an internal communion at depth rather than gaining spiritual heights. But, let’s face it, there is rather a lot of theology, biblical interpretation and church tradition to rephrase and rework before this could ever enter the mainstream church!