Like  place that I can fit in.

Pleasant to see a new idea. Giving as much as one can and takng as little has several elements to it: Stoical, Epicurean in it's ancient sense...and of course Christian giving. Alas evolution in not moral nor ethical; the fit strong and clever survive. (Or the lucky, like me ):-)

I'd be interested in reading an example of the various levels of bestowal you might have in mind.

Your last sentence seems a trifle odd, a change of topic in the mids't of idea! Dimension of reality?.

I've read much on all but Ibn al-Arabi...

Amazingly pleasent mixture! Damn! I'm not as loftily unique  as my ego thought!

My off- hand definition of spiritual evolution would be, say, understanding the words ascribed to Jesus. (I could add many to that list.)

I mean, it not like the information concernng differential calculus is not right out there, easily available, cheap.--- people who say they can't design a bridge are just being lazy!

Post#2. I'm gonna get the hang of this....

...

This is my first post here...caught by the title. Is evolution controled by the will or does survival loom as the only mechinism for evolving? As far as higher consciousness is concerned I think it to some degree can be willfully atained.

Oh. I guess I should place this in a 'profile' or something....I'm 81 and incredably charming for my age...:-)

We experience through sensors, sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. What is in the mind is imagination and belief, i.e. what we have from the 5 senses combined in different imaginative ways.

Spiritual sight, perception of the true reality necessarily needs another sensor. It's referred to as soul. What is it? As any sensor, it need to be tuned to the property it needs to absorb, the same way a radio is tuned to a station, the same way our eyes see a certain spectrum and our ears hear only a portion of the air vibrations. What is that property the sensor needs to be tuned into? It's bestowal.

As you look at nature, bestowal is the all encompassing property; nature is a system where it's parts connect to another through giving as much as they can and taking only what they need. Same as the cells and organs in the human body. Bestowal is a level of reality concealed to us, because we are always aimed at reception, and we are always self concerned, above our survival needs. Developing the quality of bestowal in oneself means developing a soul through which another dimension of reality is perceived.

Spiritual evolution as I see it is the evolution in levels of bestowal.

Yes I do believe in spiritual evolution! I've encountered some very fascinating ideas from sources such as - Jungian Psychology, Kabbalah, Ibn al-Arabi, Tielhard de Chardin,  Sri Aurobindo, Theosophy, Mahayana Buddhism to name a few.  But... you have opened up the discussion so define your version of spiritual evolution!

All are welcome to share different spirital view points. Lets learn from each other and grow together.

Much love: Aug