Posted by enfoldedblue
(here)
Discernment
There is so much spiritual information floating around of varying quality, that for people who are just starting to awaken and connect with the spiritual aspects of life, it can be a challenge to discern the true gems from all the trash. I decided to compile some of what I have pieced together in relation to external information (teachers and teachings) along my journey in case it helps others on their path.
I encourage anyone to expand on, discuss, or share relevant experiences to, the list presented here.
The Proponent of Light:
This is someone who focuses on love and light. Their words of love ring true and make you feel warm and fuzzy. Their messages are filled with hope and positivity. They encourage the seeker to repel negativity, and become love and light.
Their spirituality, however, is like a neutered version of spirituality. Their practices can make the seeker feel good, feel like they are participating in something profound without actually enabling true deep transformation
.
The problem here is that while some of what they say might be true, they are actually missing half the picture. Balance is crucial in healthy spiritual development. And while it is great to celebrate the beautiful light-filled aspects of being, it is also crucial to explore and integrate the dark aspects of ourselves. When the darkness is ignored, or pushed away it remains unresolved and continues to burden us at an unconscious level. Only through integration of our own darkness can we truly become realized beings, reflections of the whole.
You Are Special :
This information is designed to appeal to the ego. The teachings offered here make the seeker feel as though s/he is part of a special elite spiritual club. “You are the brave ones; you are special....” The information is often directed to the wounded, misunderstood aspect of the personality. When this aspect (very connected to ego) feels ‘seen’ and celebrated an inflation occurs...that feels good.
Instead of feeling like a weird misfit, the person begins to feel like a chosen one; rather than the strange one, they become the exceptional one. However this ‘inflation’ is not real growth because the information allows the seeker to distance themselves from the feeling of inferiority by stepping into a feeling of superiority, which is just the other side of the same coin. True healing and humility occur when there is an acknowledgement and integration of both sides.
The Arrogant Teacher:
This is a person who makes the seeker feel as though spiritual wisdom is only for the few with the intelligence to grasp the concepts that they espouse. The spirituality they promote is convoluted and has an elitist flavour.
These people are masters at defending their position, not because they are right, but because they have highly developed the art of manipulating information to their benefit.
Sometimes these types of teachers seem relish lording their knowledge over others, and making others feel stupid. They often demonstrate contempt for anyone not as ‘advanced’ as they are.
In reality spirituality is simple, and is accessible to everyone:
The answers are all within.
A big aspect of the spiritual journey is the process of recognizing where one has given away their power and taking back their own authority.
One of the common aspects of a spiritually advanced person is that their sense of empathy and compassion is highly developed. This does not mean that they buy into ‘victim scripts’, or try and save anyone. Rather they recognize that everyone is divine and capable of finding their own way, but they also understand the difficulties of the journey and their hearts are touched by the plight of others. The more advanced they are, the more they can feel their deep connection to everyone and everything.
The Hero:
This is someone who presents themselves as perfect and infallible. These people tend to have a strong focus on self-promotion and relish being in the limelight. They love to showcase their amazing qualities and abilities. When these people make mistakes they do not ‘own’ them and try to deflect blame, or have some ‘story’ to explain away the error.
Generally these people are not worth listening to because they are coming from an ego perspective. The ego loves to be on a pedestal, at the centre of attention, and despises having weaknesses exposed. The problem here is that the messages presented by the person are usually framed in a way where the truth becomes secondary to promoting and maintaining a hero persona (feeding the ego).
Our society teaches us to hide our vulnerability. But being able to step into vulnerability is one of the most difficult and important qualities for a seeker to develop. Being able to be vulnerable is a crucial key to being genuine. If one is not able to be vulnerable when appropriate, then it becomes a necessity to manipulate the truth to avoid showing any cracks. Someone who is not able to be vulnerable, cannot be in their integrity at all times.
*These qualities often tend to make these people more prone to being manipulated behind the scenes by those who know how to appeal to their ego desires.
The messianic guru:
This is one of the most dangerous and probably a lot more common than many suspect. Along the path of spiritual development there is a point when the seeker becomes aware of their own godliness, and the fact that the whole universe revolves around them. When this profound truth is integrated in a holistic way the seeker understands that all is about perspective and appreciates the deep beauty and magic in the fact that we are all expressions of the divine and thus each have the ability to touch that deep point within where we all meet. We are each literally the centre of the universe from our own unique perspective.
The messianic guru however recognizes his/her divinity but has not yet understood it from the bigger picture perspective. This person believes that they are ‘the one’ and that they have a ‘special’ relationship with God/ the universe. Sometimes this comes through in their teachings in a blatant way, other times it can be more discreet.
However, even when a person is secretive about their beliefs they usually drop enough hints that can be recognized by the aware observer.
The danger here is the underlying agenda is often subtly about supporting the ‘teacher’s’ erroneous beliefs, and thus offers little to assist the seeker to uncover their own divinity.
The “they’re coming to save us.....soon” spokesman:
This is someone who claims to be speaking on behalf/channelling ‘higher beings’ who are coming to save us. While I have read a lot of excellent channelled material that claims to come from non-human entities, there is also a mountain of dodgy material. A common feature of some of the dodgy material is that it appeals to the victim mentality. ‘You poor things, life has been so hard, there are horrible beings that are so powerful that you have no hope of removing yourself from their grasp....but don’t worry because we are coming to save you.....soon. Very soon we will swoop down and fix everything so that you will live in a new paradise. Just keep reading our words...just keep believing and trusting in US, we assure you salvation is right around the corner.
This kind of material is dangerous because it wraps the seeker in a sense of false hope, and does nothing to encourage self-exploration and deep growth. It promotes a sense of helplessness in the seeker and supports the victim mentality by persuading the seeker to hand their power over to an external force.
The Gloom and Doom merchant:
This is the teacher who appeals to the inner intensity junkie. These guys are the ones all over the net yelling dire prediction after dire prediction. This kind of information is often called fear-porn because it is a bit like watching a horror movie. It is dangerous, exciting, and most importantly, frightening. Too much emersion in this information will see us running for the hills (which might not be a bad thing in itself), wanting to learn a martial art (which might not be a bad thing in itself), and eyeing our neighbours suspiciously (I don’t think this is a good thing).
Fear is the great inhibitor of spiritual development. The more we fear, the more we close ourselves up to growth and transformation. When we focus too much on the fearful aspects of life we come tense and unbalanced, and forget to nourish the beautiful magical areas of our life. As more and more of our energy is dedicated to fear, the larger its presence becomes in our reality, and the beauty shrivels up. The seeker can be left with an overwhelming sense of disillusionment and despair.
My way the only way:
These are the teachers that believe that they have found, or been shown ‘the true path’. These teachers try to convince the seeker that they, and they only, hold the key to their salvation. These people’s teachings often include a lot of judgement because of course if theirs is the right way, then everyone else must be wrong.
In order to follow a teacher like this the seeker is required to sacrifice something. The first thing is usually money for a book or workshop in which will reveal (usually part of) their secret true path. The second and most troubling thing that must be sacrificed is the seekers own power of self-direction.
Usually it is the wounded aspect of a seeker that becomes attracted this kind of teacher, the aspect that doesn’t trust in their ability to find their ‘own’ way. But one of the most important aspects of the spiritual journey is discovering and celebrating our own uniqueness and allowing others to do the same. The further the seeker goes down the path the they are able to shake off the false socially constructed aspects of their personality and connect with their true, unique inner-self.
There is no right or wrong on the spiritual path. Different people learn different things at different times in different ways. What works for one person might have no effect on another.
Keys:
Anything that tells you that you NEED to read a certain book or listen to certain music etc should probably be discarded. Of course there is great stuff ‘out there’ to help along one’s journey...but while it may help, there is no ‘required’ learning on the spiritual path.
Anything that tells you that the answer is outside yourself is a huge red flag!
Anything that leaves you with an overwhelming sense of despair is probably best avoided
Anything that makes you feel good, but doesn’t encourage deep work is probably a waste of time.
Anything that encourages idolization of a leader is potentially dangerous to one’s development.
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
From: mysticalchemyarts.com
Discernment
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