Monday 21 July 2014

Spiritual Egotists


I had an interesting conversation with a Kung Fu master last week. In his school they work very hard to keep a lid on people's egos. This has two purposes: to make sure everyone is open to learning, and to cut down on the number of meat-heads that just want to bash some skulls.

When he found out that I give psychic readings he started to ask a lot of questions that had to do with why I do what I do. I told him plainly: I just want to give people the tools they need to move things forward in a positive direction.

He probed further: what did I hope for in the future? Did I hope for success?

I told him what I tell everyone: I would love to spend all day every day doing this work, but I've learned the hard way that I'm not to pursue it to excess. I get too caught up in the results, and end up tripping myself up. If it's supposed to happen, it will happen. I'm just trying to stay out of the way of what fate has in store.

For some reason this made him happy, but he had one more question: was I any good?


I told him that I have no idea, because I really don't. Sure people leave happy, but my experience of a reading doesn't allow me to keep tabs on accuracy.

When I'm doing a reading I allow whatever comes through, whether it impresses the person I'm with or not, whether it scratches their itch for the fantastic or not. All I care about is giving them what they need. While I'm certain, from the follow-ups that I've had, that the readings have done a lot of good and some very special things often come through... that doesn't mean I'm any good. That just means they were ready.

In essence: the more I learn, the more I realize I know absolutely nothing. I hope to learn more about that.

At last it seemed that I had satisfied the hidden agenda behind his questions. He revealed that he had dealt with a number of spiritualists with sophisticated and elaborate understandings of how energy works. Invariably they were terrible students.

Often they would come to class and listen to the lesson only to correct his language, interject theories that distracted from the point of the exercise, and try to hammer ancient Kung Fu understanding of energy into a mental framework of theirs. These "spiritual" people were completely oblivious to the disruption they were causing other students and often completely ignorant of the true point that was supposed to be made in each lesson.

Worse, they were often just incapable of execution. They weren't trying to do Kung Fu. They were trying to integrate Kung Fu into something else, because ultimately they all had one common belief: they knew better.

Have you ever met a spiritualist that smugly told you how far you had to go? How one day you'd realize something they themselves realized some time ago? Do they give long-winded speeches about how free of Ego they've become, all the while beginning every sentence with "I"?

The essence of humility is to know that this life is a tiny spec in your overall existence. To be proud or ashamed of anything you do is to be proud or ashamed of what a single hair on your arm does.

Likewise, remember that there is no "progress" in this life as it is conventionally understood. Enlightenment is not measured on a scale, and evolution is not about improvement. It's just about exploring something fully, and then when finished, exploring something else. Nobody can ever be at a higher level than anyone else.

Thus, that which you've "learned" is ultimately meaningless... especially if it prevents you from learning something else completely incompatible with your existing genius.

Make these things true, accept all things on their own for what they are, and you'll find yourself becoming a better and better student to the lessons this life is teaching you.

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