(… continued)
As there are rogues, quacks and charlatans in almost every field, so is there an abundance of deceptive teachers and false spiritual paths to be wary of.
While ultimately only our own heart can vouch for the authenticity of a spiritual Path or Master, when scanning the field of potential candidates, there are two red flags to be sure to avoid, for they proclaim falsehood.
The first red flag is raised when a Path claims to be The Only Way.
The notion of One True Faith – with the entire gamut of all non-conforming experience, feeling, inspiration, aspiration and realisation condemned to damnation – has been responsible for the most suffering, death and destruction of any idea in human history.
The fantasy of exclusivity – and its consequent conflagration of religions and ideologies – is born of our human mind’s feeble insecurity parading as arrogant certainty. It is the antithesis of Truth and a denial of the possibility of an all-loving, all-powerful and all-compassionate God. If God is not in all, of all and for all, always – it cannot be God.
The second red flag is the charge of any fee for spiritual teachings or membership.
Spiritual Truth cannot be bought or sold. Any course in ‘spirituality’ requiring a fee in exchange for a guarantee of certain capacities or spiritual progress is a sham. Spiritual progress and enlightenment are matters of the heart, not of the wallet. They are the blossoming of the heart’s love, eagerness and aspiration, in response to the Master’s grace, love and concern. For good reason, the Christ overturned the merchants’ tables set up in the Temple. Money is needed for our outer life and activities, but has no role in our inner existence, the temple of our heart.
(… to be continued)