All spiritual teachings share the same goal: that of strengthening the spirit and allowing its triumph over matter. This requires disengaging from the lower & outer planes and instead nourishing the higher & inner planes. In this logic, spirit influences matter, and not the opposite in the case of a life in which spirituality is absent.
Letting ourselves be influenced solely by the outside world keeps us outside of ourselves: fears, mechanical instincts, addictions, chaotic emotions… Without any higher sense or overall coherence, the world locks us in illusion and inconstancy . Embarking on the vertical path means putting the mind above the soul and the body. Emotions and senses have a new logic and vast coherence.
There appears a new perspective of understanding and no longer confusion, humility and no longer self-esteem, acceptance and no longer resignation. Life harmonizes with higher thoughts and feelings. Obstacles and trials are experienced as sources of information, initiations and potential for liberation. Reflection and contemplation lead to revelations, and revelations build wisdom and discernment. Gradually, it is possible to discriminate what belongs to the lower planes and what elevates to the higher planes.
The development of the psychic structures of the being harmonizes the etheric body. Reaching the higher threshold requires detachment from the lower aspects of being through symbolic death or spiritual fission. Life and its trials is a provocateur and a catalyst for such a path, but it is a painful step.