Evolution is within us all and its spirtual

There is often a great confusion as to the difference between Spiritual and Psychic Development. I have met many wonderful psychics and mediums over the years and many of them were not very advanced beings in terms of their own evolution. Yes they talked the talk, but they often had not dealt with their own demons. While the ego often gets juice from the specialness of having psychic powers, thinking that those manifestations of spiritual awakening is the awakening itself is a mistake. It's like putting on the uniform of a highly trained person and thinking that that is all that is required. Spiritual development is growing up and becoming a fully balanced and developed human being. As one gets clearer, the powers (siddhis) usually manifest on their own. It is getting beyond one's own story and limitations. It means surrendering every possible irritation and trigger, from past sexual abuse to addiction and everything in between. In short it means growing up in its fullest sense.

There are seemingly endless stories of those that have attained various levels of success in almost every field only to succumb to temptation and fallen off their lofty perch. History is full of examples of those who got carried away with themselves from Napoleon to Nixon to the leaders of Enron. The negative found the chink in their armor and used it to pull them down, like crabs in a bucket. In the late sixties and seventies, many Gurus discovered the vast potential of western spiritual seekers and the enormous amounts of money they had available. Most started out with altruistic motives, both to serve the spiritually starved westerners and to bring desperately needed funds back home. Most fell flat on their faces simply because they had not mastered their own inner drives, but had simply denied them. They were not ready for the eager, sexually open devotees who simply wanted to please in the only way they knew how, or wanted another notch on their belts. The number of Gurus who did not fall is actually quite small in comparison.

Over the years various teachers have led us in the direction of moving through our issues. In the late seventies, "Grist for the Mill" by Ram Dass outlined a process of clearing one's past. Several years later, "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman, and "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, introduced the path of secular spiritual awakening into the realm of western culture. These books brought the inner struggle with one's demons to the arena of everyday life in new ways. The spiritually awakened being in modern times, became the model by which many sought to live their lives. The New Age and many of its fairy tale wanderings brought this model to the level of an idealized fantasy. People began to adopt the posture of spiritual bliss without digging out the garbage, and the result is a hollow shell. Scratch the surface and the filling is not as pretty as the exterior.

"The only demons in this world are those within our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought." ... Mahatma Gandhi

There is a big difference between detachment and non-attachment. When one is detached, they are removed from the world. Love and compassion become a mental exercise, there is a removal from life and one's inner drives become something to be avoided, often lurking in the dungeons of one's psyche. When one is non-attached, there are no triggers to be activated. Sex is something, which has no glamour, nor is it something to be avoided. Money is simply a tool to be used, not the carrot by which life is lived. In short one becomes free.

I recently had to dive back into my past to dredge up remaining resentments I held. I had worked on them several times before but never with the determination with which I approached it this time. As I looked into every part of my body/mind I found memories and resentments which were slowly stagnating and affecting various acupuncture meridians. I released each one as it arose finding a place of forgiveness, often multiple times, as new aspects came up. The result was a new sense of increased health and freedom from issues which had been with me most of my life. Often there is intense fear, shame and or guilt connected with the buried issues. It may be held in place by thought forms or elementals created by fragments of the persona or taken on from outside sources. It then becomes necessary to release the elemental, perhaps with a retrieval of the persona fragment and discharge the energy underlying the issue, although not necessarily in that order. It requires a degree of courage for some to approach these issues and may take time before they are able to deal with them. It is not uncommon to hear from people, that an issue which came up and was denied in a session or workshop took months or even years before they were able to approach and clear it with more traditional modalities.

Do we ever totally clear our burden of emotional issues? For a true spiritual seeker that may not be possible until an advanced stage of enlightenment is reached, however when one adopts a dedication to personal truth and the ultimate desire for freedom, then clearing becomes an automatic process. It becomes like a mudra, a way of facing life as an opportunity to clear the past in order to view the present with clear vision.