The world finds itself in a state of uncertainty. From weather anomalies, to financial crises, to revelations of corporate and governmental abuse, the status quo is being shaken down to its roots by external events and circumstances. The planetary paradigm is morphing into something else, causing uneasiness and a desperate need for answers and solid footing. Many of us are searching for a way to ground. Some are trying to adopt a sustainable lifestyle; others are preparing for doomsday; there are those who are looking toward the spiritual and transcendental for solutions and help; and finally there are some who are combining all of the above.
In this kind of environment, where a collective desire for alternative solution is sought after, it is fertile ground for a myriad of spiritual paths and teachers to grow and expand. But not all spiritual paths are created equal. Many popular spiritual movements are camouflage for false spiritual paths. For the newly awakened student, finding a genuine and safe spiritual path may be like navigating through an obstacle course. If you started your spiritual journey in the past two years or have been on the path for a while but have forgotten how to recognize a false from a true spiritual path, here are some tips.
All spiritual paths should be leading you to a personal and mystical experience with God or a Higher Power. They should all lead you to a transcendental experience that will allow you to know God. What that path looks like varies on the temperament and experience of the teachers who created the teaching. Some teachings are devotional, emphasizing obedience and the surrender of your will to a higher power or deity through which the mystical connection comes. Others are service oriented, encouraging the sharing of your love, light, and knowledge with humanity, leading to a transcended experience. There are paths that take a more scientific approach to the God-merger experience in which the left brain is also engaged, supporting the personal experience with God. There are paths that are psycho-spiritual in nature, helping in the balancing of the psychological and emotional body as a way to achieve God awareness. Finally, there are paths that incorporate all of the above in an attempt to bring you to an experience of self-realization. Depending on your temperament, choose the paths that match your preference.
Here are some items that you should pay attention to when choosing a spiritual path:
Disclosure: How are new members being recruited to the group? If everything is a secret, you have to be brought in by an existing member; they don’t have any web presence, or if they have a web page, it is simply asking you to join as a member without disclosing what the group is about or what is expected of you. Chances are high that it is a cult. It is not that hiding and secrecy were not important and vital in the past. In fact, without it many alternative spiritual thought systems would have been destroyed by the past religious orthodoxy. It is simply that the time for secrecy is over. The New Age is about openness and disclosure. Do not agree to belong to a group body without knowing what this group is about.
The Money: Follow the money: if each level or step on the path involves additional money, putting you further into debt, it is false path. Yes, everything has a cost and a value, but that value does not always equate with greenbacks. On a true spiritual path, it is not a specific dollar amount, but the greatest level of sacrifice that the student can make at the moment. For some, it may be money; for others it may be an act or an exchange of some other kind. I have heard teachers say: “I charge $1,000.00 per hour, and if you cannot afford to come to see me, then you have abundance issues that you need to resolve.” This is the kind of double-talk and camouflage for greed that is giving the spirituality movement a bad name.
The Panacea: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you are being promised ascendance and self-realization in a few months’ time, of course for a substantial fee, it is not a safe path. Or it could be a front-row seat with the inner workings of the spiritual or galactic hierarchy with all the glamour and privilege attached to this elite status. There are those who say that they can burn all your past karma for fee. They are in such a high level of spiritual ascendance that they can take away the students karma. I can say categorically that the Age of The Sin Eaters is gone. That template is broken. In the Age of Aquarius, no one is coming to take away your sins. This is the time in which men and women are empowered to become gods and goddesses. A safe path should empower you to remove your shame and sins yourself. Any individuals, gurus, or teachers who are claiming to do this are cording the students into a grid of energetic obligation for personal use.
The Teacher: Spiritual teachers come in many different categories. There are those who are genuinely spiritually elevated, having devoted years or even lifetimes to the work and achieved a true level of ascendance. They are generally humble and speak little of their personal achievements but spend a lot of time trying to empower their students to make them their equal. This is the teacher that you want. There are those who started out with good intentions but missed a few steps on their evolution toward ascension. They typically are struggling with a negative ego issue about which they have a blind spot. They are not hard to spot, for although their speech is on point, their behavior is the exact opposite. Their words and actions do not match. You have eyes to see; observe. There are those who have appropriated some spiritual knowledge and techniques but are totally in this for money. Every weekend workshop or event costs thousands of dollars. They are businessmen and not spiritual teachers. You will be robbed and gain little spiritual mastery. The most malevolent and dangerous are the twilight masters. They are spiritually skilled teachers who are trying to blend the light with the dark path. They claim allegiances to no one but themselves. They camouflage their intentions by speaking the right language that will attract the most students. It is an act of deceit, and they are skilled at what they do. In due time, they will use the student and cord them into energetic bondage. Leaving the orbit of such a group is complicated due to the spiritual skill set of the leader.
Charisma: We have all attended a lecture that was presented in such a dry and unimpressive manner that we began to fall asleep. This is an example of a teacher who has no charisma, while others can hold our attention and make a complicated topic simple. All spiritual teachers must have charisma to present the fine nuances of spiritual laws in a manner that motivates listeners into action. Charisma is the ability to do this. At its foundation is the ascended aspect of seducer archetype in which the teacher seduces for God. The presentation is clear, inspirational, and motivational, and the student may choose or not choose to follow the teaching. However, there are teachers who are magnetizers. Theirs is a level of charisma that is so charged with sexual, power, control, and fear energy that the student is entranced and unable to break the spell. Hitler was a good historical example of this magnetic charisma. It can only work on a group who are not in their personal power. Most twilight masters are magnetizers. Moreover, a crowd is easily controlled by demonstrations of power. Most magnetizers do this. They are skilled at transmitting energy to others or reading minds. If they touch individuals and they fall to the ground or verbalize unspoken thought, the rest of the crowd is ready to obey them blindly. However, demonstration is not spirituality. Just because someone can demonstrate power does not make them ascended. Do not let a great show impress you.
Misuse of Sexuality: The charisma of the teacher is being picked up by the students in the second, or sexual, chakra, which is where we feel everything. Most individuals on the planet will project romantic or sexual feelings toward the teacher. In most cases, the student is feeling unconditional love maybe for the first time, and they will project back sexual or conditional love. This is called transference in psychology. But the teacher is equally capable of also projecting sexual feelings to the students. This is counter-transference. If there is transference and counter-transference taking place in the leadership of a spiritual group, the lineage is contaminated. The nature of the spiritual guides who are overlighting the way is incongruent with this type of abuse. They will vacate the path, and since the Universe is not a vacuum, something else will replace them.
Personal Power: Personal power is having approval rights over every reaction coming from the subconscious mind, external events, and spiritual beings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and even when you are asleep. As lofty as this sounds, it is achievable. If your spiritual path is teaching you how to be in your power, by giving you the tools and skill sets to achieve this state, you are in the right place. If however only the leaders have access to certain spiritual information or only they can tell you the higher truths and you can never grow to their level of connection, you have given away your personal power. You are a slave, and you are serving a master. God wants you to be in your personal power for it is the only way that you can co-create with him. It is not always easy to see where the center of your power is in a group setting. Unless both student and teacher are monitoring this, the line can be easily and unintentionally blurred. Over the length of time of receiving great advice from the teacher, the student may slowly give the teacher veto rights. Be mindful of this. Moreover, the age of guru is over. Soon the idea of having a guru and devotees will be as quaint as the typewriter. If you’re being told to obey without question, you are on a false path.
The Rituals: All spiritual paths use rituals. In everyday life we are constantly using rituals. Even the manner in which you start a meeting by reading the minutes of the previous meeting or the traditions with which you gather at the dinner table are rituals. In a spiritual setting, rituals help focus the collective intention of the group and elevate and purify the thoughts of the participants. This is done by using prayers, meditations, invocations, or the burning of candles and incense. However, if a ritual is asking you to pledge your total allegiance and power to a spiritual entity, or worse to a living teacher through whom you will get some promised reward, you are in the wrong place. Further, if the ritual involves animal sacrifices or the shedding of your blood as a demonstration of your connection to the group body, you are on a dark path.
Mind Control: The most extreme and malevolent tool used on a false spiritual path is mind-control. The first step involves the shaming of the new member. It is often done in front of the group assembly by letting you know that you have an irreparable flaw or damage that nothing can fix. You have sinned either in this life or other lifetimes, and the entire purpose of your life is false. Many of these spiritual leaders are good psychics or psychologists; they can pick up flaws easily. What happens next is that the new member goes into shock and his psyche fractures and splits into pieces. The existing members echo in support by saying that this is a breakthrough. Whether the projections of the leaders are true or not, the member’s psyche is not ready to hear them. The subsequent step is for the leader to create a split personality by telling the new member that he can be redeemed if he were to change and follow a specific set of behaviors. Typically, this behavior is contrary to the normal repertory that the new member would display. The leader has now successfully inserted a false believe and axis into the personality of the new member. Now when you embellish these steps with spiritual language and beliefs that are dear to the new member, the effect is devastating.
No ascended master or true spiritual teacher would ever fracture a student or bring information to their awareness that they cannot process. Even if the information is correct, a true spiritual teacher will be aware of the fragility of the psyche of the student and will only reveal details that match the level of maturity of the student. The true teacher will know how to support and strengthen the psyche of the student first so that they can face this information in due time. A true spiritual teacher is the living embodiment of benevolence in action. He is not passive, but acts in a manner that creates goodness and heals all that he touches.
A true spiritual path is one that is set up to create equals. Yes, the teacher has the knowledge and wisdom to guide the student, but that guidance is not control. It is simply the spiritual discipline and technique that will allow the student, in time, to equal the master and stand shoulder to shoulder with him. If you are being told that the only way you can achieve ascendance is through the teacher, you are on a false path. Moreover, all spiritual teachers are still human, and they will make mistakes. If the teacher is ready to admit mistakes, then you are on a true path; if he is infallible, it is a false path. Finally, be aware that just because you are in an elevated state today does not mean it will be so tomorrow. Everyone, including the teachers, can ascend and descend at any time. Keep your discernment up at all time for even the well-intended teacher may slip and fall down.