#1 – “I’m Awake Now:”
Confusing the Beginning of the Path with the End
Scenario: You have just had a spiritual awakening and realized that nothing is what it seems. You are now free from the matrix (or so you think), but everyone around you is still trapped. What do you do? Rescue them of course! It is obviously your job to wake up people now.
Comments:
The development of humans occurs over many lifetimes in several stages. The first stage involves basic mastery of the physical body, the second stage basic mastery of emotions, and the third is basic mastery of the mental level (which is where most humans are currently at). The fourth stage is the beginning of spiritual development, which is often (but not always) precipitated by a spiritual experience of some kind which is often labeled as a “spiritual awakening.”
This spiritual awakening is a temporary experience that is designed to motivate people to become interested in spiritual path. For those that choose, it is the beginning of spiritual development. The ultimate goal of the spiritual path is to make the temporary awakening experience permanent. This permanent experience (which is the result of a permanent opening of the 3rd eye) is often called “enlightenment.”
However, many people misunderstand what the awaking experience is about and think that they have “arrived” at the end of the spiritual path. They then become frustrated at others for not being awake, forgetting that they themselves were in the same situation not long before. One of the first lessons of the spiritual path is to gain appreciation for the fact that each person is on their own path and will wake up when they are ready to do so (and not before).
#2 – Karma Judging:
Believing that Karma is Punishment
Scenario: You have a co-worker who really annoys you, and you can’t wait for the day when karma catches up to him and punishes him for being a jerk.
Comments:
In this scenario, you have taken the religious concept of punishment (for sinning) and relabeled it as karma. This is not what karma is about, and it isn’t even what Jesus taught. Jesus was clear that nobody should judge another person.
The ultimate gift to humans is free will; without it we could never have self-consciousness. But for free will to be possible, it is necessary for the law of consequences (karma) to be delayed. If the karma of our actions were immediately carried out, we would not (from a practical perspective) have free will. In other words, if something bad happened to us each time we did something selfish, we would not feel that free will existed. Consequently, we could never truly learn from our mistakes.
Without delayed karma, it would be impossible to learn unconditional love for others. For example, it is simple to love others who are being nice to us. But the true test of love is to cultivate compassion and love for those who are mean to us or who hate us. If karma was immediate, we wouldn’t get this opportunity because nobody would dare be mean to anyone else.
Karma is not meant as a punishment or to prove that anyone is a bad person. It is simply a force of nature, similar to gravity. If you jump in the air, nobody thinks you are bad because you fall back to the ground.
Another helpful analogy is to think of karma as a grade that you get in school. If you fail a test, it does not mean you are a bad person. Instead, it means you don’t yet understand the concepts being taught in that particular lesson. In such a case, it isn’t helpful to shame someone who fails a test, but it would be helpful to support and love them during their learning process.
#3 – Spiritual Entitlement:
Expecting a Life of Ease for Walking the Spiritual Path
Scenario: While slogging through an existential crisis, you discover spirituality. Your life now has become meaningful again as you’ve started learning more about spirituality and established your own practices. Yet several months later, your life is still a mess and you don’t understand what you are doing wrong. Obviously, you must be doing something wrong.
Comments:
People on the spiritual path do not enjoy easier lives than others. Instead, they now have a better perspective regarding why their lives are not easy. This perspective allows them to focus on finding solutions to problems rather than playing the victim.
It is naïve to assume that “righteous people” are guaranteed happy lives. This type of attitude is found in the Biblical story of Job, who is chastised by his friends for not obeying God (despite the fact that he was “obeying God”). The story clearly shows that all people face challenges in life, regardless of the paths they choose to take.
It is helpful to recognize the cyclical nature of life’s challenges. Should we run from a particular challenge (instead of solving it), we will continue to be faced with this type of challenge in new situations. For example, if we have trouble standing up for ourselves, we will continue to be faced with opportunities to do so. On the other hand, should we overcome a particular challenge, we have only a certain amount of time to enjoy our “victory” before a new challenge comes along.
#4 – Playing the Ascetic:
Aversion Disguised as non-Attachment
Scenario: Based on the Buddhist philosophy that attachment leads to suffering, you realize that everything that you are “attached to” in life must go. So you make plans to leave your family, break ties with friends, and toss away all of your material wealth and possessions. You also start searching for a monastery to join, where you will be free from the constraints of the physical world and thus quickly reach a state of enlightenment.
Comments:
This type of thinking is the result of having an incorrect understanding of attachment. First of all, there is a difference between having possessions and being attached to them. From a spiritual perspective, there is nothing wrong with having wealth and abundance. What is unhealthy is a resistance to any change in abundance, because this resistance leads to suffering. In other words, it’s perfectly fine to enjoy abundance when you have it as long as you also enjoy life while in the process of losing that abundance (should that ever occur).
The causes of suffering are (1) attachment (wanting things to stay the same) and (2) aversion (wanting things to be different from what they are). These two desires are the cause of all suffering. Wanting to get rid of your possessions for the sake of spirituality is aversion, which is the opposite extreme of attachment. The middle path is to be thankful for the things in your life in any given moment, and to easily release (with gratitude) anything in your life when the appropriate moment arrives.
Some of the confusion concerning attachment is the result of the story of the rich man who requests to be a follower of Jesus. In response to his request, Jesus tells this man that he must first give away all his possessions. Because the young man is deeply attached to his possessions, he refuses.
To better comprehend this story, it is necessary to understand that Jesus would not have made this request if the young man hadn’t been attached to his wealth. According to the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the way to cure somebody’s imbalance in someone is to temporarily move to that person to the opposite extreme before coming back to the middle. In the case of the rich young man, Jesus wished to heal his attachment issue by having him temporarily give up all his material possessions. In general, Jesus did not require his followers to give up their possessions as a prerequisite to being his follower.
#5 – Ego Manifesting
Using Spirituality to Create the Life your Ego’s Dreams
Scenario: You’ve just discovered that each person is responsible for creating their own lives, and you have been taught the “secrets” of manifestation. You are now ready to create the life that you have always wanted. So you put orders out into the universe for a better job, nice car, large house, and a sexy partner. And you want to win the lottery as well, because why not?
Comments:
Manifestation is a strategy for creating the life you always wanted, usually via the principle of the “law of attraction.” What is often missed (and why manifestation techniques rarely works) is because you have to figure out first what you truly want, and not what your ego (i.e. false self) thinks it needs (in order to prove its own self-worth). There is nothing spiritual about trying to manifest what your ego wants to acquire.
To truly create your life, you have to be aligned with your true, divine self. And you true self is a lot less interested in material possessions than your ego self. Let’s look at why that is.
If we were to examine the life of a great spiritual leader, one of the things that is immediately noticeable is that they are not driving a fancy sports car or living a life of luxury. This isn’t because such things are “wrong,” but because such things don’t give their lives meaning. Instead, these spiritual teachers have found meaning and happiness via listening to the desires of their hearts, and not their egos.
Let’s examine the motivation behind ego desires. The reason we want money is because we use our wealth as a measurement of self-worth. And this is often true for possessions and our relationships: we “need” these things to feel good about ourselves and to validate that we are good people who are worthy of love. However, the only way to truly feel good about ourselves is to love ourselves and believe in ourselves, regardless of what we have or don’t have.
Once we believe in ourselves, then we can align with the longings of our heart and create the life that we actually dream of. This is a life in which we don’t worry what others think about us because we are doing what we know will make us happy. And when we are able to find purpose and meaning in life, our true selves are in joy and nothing else matters.
#6 – Mantra-Splaining:
Exhibiting Superior Spiritual Wisdom in “Times of Need”
Scenario: Your best friend has just been dumped by her boyfriend. She comes to see you for emotional support. After telling you her story through sobs and tears, you decide that your friend needs a “higher perspective.” Raising your head high and putting a somber expression on your face, you state with indifference that none of this really matters. After all, you remark, you might be temporarily separated, but in the grand scheme of things: “we are all one.”
Comments:
Cultivating love and compassion for others is an extremely important part of the spiritual path. Having compassion involves meeting people at the level that they are currently at. If your friend is asking for spiritual wisdom, then give your friend spiritual wisdom. But if your friend is asking for a hug, then give her a hug.
In general, spiritual truths are simply a tool that can be used to understand ultimate truth (which is beyond words). However, when these truths become repeated as mantras, they begin to lose their meaning. Many people repeat the same spiritual truths to others as a way of ego building (i.e. showing off their superior spiritual knowledge). However, this habit isn’t beneficial for the “giver of wisdom” or the receiver.
#7 – Playing the Saint:
Denying Your “Unholy” Emotions
Scenario: You come home from work to find that the house is a mess, even though you just cleaned it yesterday. You feel infuriated, but then remember that spiritual people don’t get angry. Later your spouse unintentionally says something hurtful, and you become silent. Your spouse asks what is wrong, but you don’t answer because spiritual people don’t get hurt. So instead, you smile and say everything is fine.
Comments:
“Enlightened people” have feelings just like everyone else. If they don’t react negatively to their feelings, it is because they are not triggered by them. The reason they are not triggered by their feelings is because they don’t have inner child wounds (aka emotional baggage) related to these emotions. Therefore, the emotions can simply be noticed and released without judgement.
Normal people feel personally attacked by the people who triggered them, and they respond with various psychological defense mechanisms. When negative emotions trigger emotional pain, there is also a resistance to feeling the emotions. The trigger itself is an indication that there is a related past event that has never been healed. As long as the emotion is ignored, the person will continue to be triggered.
Suppression of emotions for a long period of time leads to anger management issues and depression. The correct way to deal with triggers is to heal the source wound via therapy, inner child work, or similar.
#8 – The Protection Game:
Ensuring You are Safe from “Evil” at all Times
Scenario: It’s morning and you are late for work. You quickly recite your requests to Archangel Michael for protection as you rush out the door. Halfway to the office, you realize that you forgot to put on your black tourmaline bracelet. You now feel totally exposed because there is so much dark energy at your place of work. Panic ensues as you realize you don’t have time to around and retrieve the bracelet.
Comments:
On the spiritual path, we have many ways that we can protect ourselves from negative forces and dark energy, including prayers, crystals, and affirmations. Yet protection is ultimately a defense, which puts us in separation mode. The best form of defense is offense, which (from a practical perspective) means keeping your vibrations as high as possible via love for self and others. In contrast, fear lowers our vibrations and makes us more susceptible to the dark energy around us.
Dealing with challenges is a part of life, and we should not fear our future or the possibility of something “bad” happening to us. Yet when we focus on protection, that is what we are doing: protecting ourselves from bad things. (Note that these things are “bad” from the point of view of the ego.) We then lose sight of the fact that these “bad” experienced in life are what made us who we are today.
The best solution is to incorporate the attitude of “Thy will be done” to signify that we will fully accept any challenging situations that are for the greater good (for ourselves or others). We can incorporate this practice into our lives by constantly requesting that the most benevolent outcome always occurs. We can never predict what this will look like, but we can have faith that each event that we experience is for the greater good. This will allow us to keep our vibrations positive even if something “bad” should occur to us.
#9 – The Psychic Trap:
Confusing the Astral World with the Spiritual World
Scenario: You started hanging out with some friends who are into “spirituality” and they invited you to a séance. You are amazed and excited by the communication that comes through from the Ouija board. The following week, you find out about astral travel and decide to give it a shot. You feel like spirituality is opening up entirely new worlds for you.
Comments:
There is a significant difference between spirit beings vs. spiritual beings, and the “spirit world” vs. the “spiritual worlds.” People who are new to the concept of non-physical worlds and beings are often unaware of the distinction. In short: spirit beings belong to the spirit world (AKA astral world), which is dualistic (just like the physical world). This means that the astral world is also a world of “good and evil,” and the spirits that inhabit it are at various stages of development, from purely “evil” to moderately good.
In contrast, there are enlightened spiritual beings (such as the ascended masters) who have developed to the point that they no longer exist in a dualistic environment. This is because they have learned all the lessons that a dualistic environment can offer them and thus have moved on to continue their self-development at “higher levels.”
While it is possible to communicate with spiritual beings, it is also possible (and easier for most people) to connect with and communicate with spirit beings. While some spirit beings are benign, many others are malicious and attempt (often successfully) to trick gullible people into believing that they are spiritual beings.
Psychics and mediums who communicate only with astral beings are not doing anything spiritual, and the messages from these spirits should be given no more credence than messages from a stranger. To communicate with spiritual beings, it is necessary for the psychic or channeler to raise their vibrations to a level that will allow communication with these higher beings.
Not all communication techniques with non-physical beings are safe. It is believed that the Ouija board only communicates with “astral beings” and can potentially put unsuspecting people in danger of spirit possession. Other forms of communication (such as channeling and automatic writing) can occur between spirit beings or spiritual beings (which opens the door for deception), so it is important to use discernment when using such techniques. The best way to ensure communication with spiritual beings is to keep vibrations raised to the highest possible level and create a sacred space before attempting any type of communication with non-physical beings.
#10 – The Drug Trap:
Seeking Enlightenment via Hallucinogens
Scenario: You recently discovered that the use of hallucinogens leads to profound spiritual experiences. This makes you believe that drugs can aid you in becoming more spiritual.
Comments:
Hallucinogens have limited benefits for the spiritual path, they cannot be used to obtain enlightenment, and they can hinder spiritual progress if abused. Let’s first talk about benefits.
By artificially and temporarily opening the 3rd eye chakra, hallucinogens can do two things. First, they can give a person an (artificial) spiritual experience. This experience can then be used as motivation to develop spiritually. Second, opening the 3rd eye can help access suppressed emotions. This can be beneficial for trauma release if the healing sessions are conducted appropriately. Using “plant medicine” for healing should be conducted within the context of a sacred ceremony, and it should be administered by an experienced healer (i.e., never self-administered).
Hallucinogens hinder spiritual progress via repeated use. This happens because the use of drugs (synthetic or plant-based) clogs the human energy field, which makes energy movement in the aura more difficult and thus makes it increasingly more difficult for a person to raise their vibrations. This point is significant, because when the 3rd eye is open, the astral beings that will be attracted to you will depend on your level of vibration. If it is low, you could potentially have experience a “bad trip” while using hallucinogens.
Another danger is the possibility of permanent damage to the 3rd eye chakra screen. Note that hallucinogens work by temporarily damaging the chakra screen on the 3rd eye, which in turn makes the astral plane visible. Usually, the 3rd eye chakra screen repairs itself within a few hours. However, there are cases when the 3rd eye chakra screen is permanently damaged; this result in psychosis.
#11 – Playing the Martyr:
The Belief that You are not Meant to be Happy
Scenario: Months ago, you decided to quit your job due to a lack of fulfilment and enter a career that gives you a sense of purpose. However, you never seem to be able to find success in your new career. You therefore conclude that the spiritual path involves sacrificing material success “for the team.”
Comments:
Generally speaking, It is your “birthright” to be happy and enjoy abundance. When we are struggling to find success, this may be due to the fact that we are pursuing ego desires instead of heart desires. But if we are pursuing the desires of our heart yet are still struggling, it indicates that we have healing work to do.
If you are wish to take a road trip from one city to another, you need a car and you need fuel. Excitement is the fuel that is needed for creating the life that we want. But if our car isn’t working, we are still stuck. And in this case, our car is broken because some of the “pieces” are missing.
These pieces of ourselves have been lost due to past trauma and emotional experiences that we have failed to heal. Because of these wounds, we have false beliefs such as “I can’t do anything right” or “money is evil” which prevent us from moving forward. To explain it another way: our subconscious mind is out of alignment with the conscious mind. And our subconscious mind is powerful: it can easily block the conscious mind from getting what it wants.
To heal ourselves, we need to unbury the past events that we have not healed from and “bring them into the light.” At the time that they occurred, we were unable to deal with them at the time due to a lack of a mature perspective. For example, many of us were wounded by the behavior of parents who were mean to us. From our limited perspective, we believed that they didn’t love us. But after being adults ourselves, we can now realize that our parents did many things to try to protect us, but their actions themselves were carried out in unhealthy ways.
For such cases, we can reexamine those incidents and release the pain (of not feeling loved, for example), because we now understand that those feelings were the result of a misunderstanding. This process will need to occur for all our false beliefs: we will need to take time to identify how the belief was created, and then investigate why this belief was an incorrect interpretation of events.
For healing work, it is highly recommended to use the help of a therapist or spiritual healer. Healing is analogous to having a baby: it can be done by yourself, but it is much easier to give birth with the guidance of an experienced profession.
#12 – Playing the Celibate:
Giving up the “Lessor Pleasure” in pursuit of the “Greater Pleasure”
Scenario: You recently found out that the Buddha left his wife in order to pursue the spiritual path and obtain enlightenment. You are also aware that Jesus (supposedly) never married. You therefore theorize that giving up sex will help aid you in your pursuit of enlightenment as well.
Comments:
Sexual desire is the result of a buildup of sexual energy (aka creative energy aka kundalini energy) that needs to be released. People who are highly developed spiritually can easily release the energy by allowing it rise from the lower chakras to the higher chakras where it can be put to use for spiritual and creative purposes. For many spiritual seekers starting out on the spiritual path, the energy channel that bridges the lower chakras to the higher chakras is blocked.
The other way to release sexual energy is via sexual intercourse. The effect is temporary, and there is a caveat. If the heart chakras between the two partners does not connect during the sex act, then sexual energy will not be released. In other words, “satisfactory sex” (which occurs between couples who use sex as an expression of love) will release this energy. However, casual sex will not. This shows that even sex has a spiritual purpose as it teaches an important lesson about love vs selfishness.
Celibacy should not be a consideration for anyone who is struggling with sexual desire. If these feelings are suppressed, the buildup of sexual energy will lead to sexually compulsive behavior and sexual “perversions.” This is a very common occurrence and explains (for example) why the Catholic Church has so many issues with sexual abuse among its priests.
To get to a point where celibacy is possible, a spiritual seeker should concentrate of raising their vibrations and cultivating a high level of love for others at all times. Daily spiritual practices, including meditation, will help with raising vibrations. The higher vibrations, in turn, will lift up the sexual energy, and keeping the heart open will clear the central channel, establishing a connection between the lower and upper chakras.