Hello all,
I think maybe there is such a thing as spiritual progress or regress, although we shouldn't think about it as something we can clearly 'measure'.
I think there may be two ways of understanding 'spirituality':
One is: there exists an invisible world or realities and persons which hold power over this visible world and with which we can enter into a relationship. In this first sense 'spiritual' means being closely concerned with this other, invisible world (e.g. God, the angels, the devil, heaven, hell etc.).
The other way of understanding 'spiritual' is being concerned with what is inward and genuine as opposed to what is external and superficial. External and superficial is things like material possessions, fame, power over others, looking good etc. Inward and genuine means honesty, humility, selflessness, true friendship and real appreciation of art and beauty.
Being spiritual in the second sense is, I believe, far more important than being spiritual in the first sense.
Soma - love what you wrote in the 11.41 post. I'm curious whether what you call higher dimensions or the ocean of pure consciousness or what TomAllyn calls the 'Source' - is this something you believe in literally or is it a symbol?