ArmsMerchant:
We are all going "through a phase" all the time. Change is part of life, and spiritual growth is not only essential, it is inevitabe. That is, we are all on the road to sainthood. Some of us ARE trying harder than others to make progress, to be sure, but that in no way means that anyone is better than anyone else.

Now you also believe in reincarnation, right?

So if we are all growing spiritually over many lifetimes.. does that mean every generation before us has been more and more spiritually unevolved?

Were people 3000 years ago spiritually unevolved?

And what happens when we all hit 'sainthood'?

Now you also believe in reincarnation, right?

1-So if we are all growing spiritually over many lifetimes.. does that mean every generation before us has been more and more spiritually unevolved?

2-Were people 3000 years ago spiritually unevolved?

3-And what happens when we all hit 'sainthood'?

1-Speaking VERY generally, I would have to say yes, just from looking at history--for instance, the book of Exodus talks a lot about slavery, stuff like when it is okay to kill one of your slaves. Today, there is little if any slavery, at least in the Western world.
Also, consider racism. It still exists, but at least no black person has been lynched since 1969. And a black prez candidate would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
Also, look at women's rights--lots of progress there.
2- That's a tough one, partly because I never thought about it before--I strive to stay in the here and now, and partly because that was well into the Age of Aries. I'm not real comfortable generalizing, but if pressed, I have to say that probably indigenous folks were more evolved than city dwellers, with some exceptions.
("The AGE of ARIES was about expansion of the Empire. Aries is A FIRE Sign, Fire radiates outward. It seems very natural then when individuals with ARIES SUN SIGNS tend to be the adventurers.

The AGE of ARIES is the age of the expanding Ancient Empires; Chinese, Persian, Greek and then Roman. Each of these civilizations sought to always bring more land and territory under their control. These Empires did so by conquering the indigenous peoples of the lands as they expanded outward.

Each one of these civilizations had as it's leader, one central figure [Emperor or Precept] in a far-off capital. The power structure of each of these Empires was administered by a large dedicated military.

Scholars are reluctant to use country names such as China prior to the 2nd century BCE, because these terms are modern names, not those used by the civilizations that were in existence at that time.

MOSES is thought by many in Western Society to have ushered in the Age of Aries." )

3- By "happens," do you mean something spectacular?--according to the Urantia Book when one reaches spiritual perfection, one's physical body goes up in a poof of smoke and a flash of flames--I don't subscribe to that theory.
I'd say more likely, one is able to manifest universal unconditional love, transcend fear, and attain unity consciousness.

Okay. Let's assume we're including animals too in reincarnation... now think about how many animals there'd be on this planet.

And we're looking at human history for the most part, almost as though we have been under the assumption that a human dies, and reincarnates as another human and becomes more and more spiritually evolved. It might be reasonable to say that plenty of former humans have been reincarnated into animals, and plenty of animals are being reincarnated into human form all the time.

According to many Buddhists, the human experience is a rare and precious thing because it is one where the most spiritual growth can occur. So maybe a lot of animals have yet to be reincarnated into human form and thus significant worldwide (yes all animals too) progress in spiritual evolution would take quite a while.

Thus 3000 years is an insubstanial number for dramatic general spiritual growth, because so many creatures mgiht still be waiting around to be incarnated into human form? 3000 years is a fairly limited number of generations

On another note: What you attribute to some sort of spiritual evolution where everyone ultimately attains 'sainthood', I attribute to different cultural backgrounds + moral relativism.

^ I think you are taking the human experience to be the ONLY experience in which you spiritually grow. Growth takes place in all forms of life not only on this planet but in vastly different planes of existence all adding knowledge to awaken those aware of our universal conscious. Now, given this, I look at our spiritual knowledge and am shocked we're not further along.

^ I think you are taking the human experience to be the ONLY experience in

Almost but not quite. I was after all speaking from the Buddhist perspective.

"In Buddhism, human beings have a very special status, if for no other reason than that only a human being can attain enlightenment as a fully enlightened Buddha."

I still think that animals could grow spiritually

This thread reminds me of how some people thought God directly controlled the rain in old times.. sociology can answer why we don't have slaves anymore, I don't see a reason to attribute it to a bunch of unfounded metaphysical beliefs. If they are founded, I'm yet to see what they are founded on. Intuition and a 'feeling' about it don't make for very solid evidence. Do you know how many religious people have had feelings about things and they were way off? example being: Pastor Benny Hinn predicted the end of the world in '99 or something like that.

Of course, i concecde that it could also be said 'do you know how many times science has got it wrong in the past?'