For some reason, the middle path seems rarely tread. Maybe because the way of moderation fails to excite, or it doesn’t seem important enough. Personally, I like the middle path, as it’s easier to see the views of people on either side, and it’s never too far from balance.
Spiritual hype, on the other hand, tends to stray from the way of balance and Zen. My post today is on adopting a grounded approach and navigating through information that may be misleading or unhelpful.
Here are some tips for staying centered instead of being swept away in the current of buzzwords, trends, and collective mood swings.
Stay Grounded and Have Realistic Expectations
There is a tendency for people to over promise positive outcomes, or to act like everything is catching fire. I don’t know why humans tend to swing from one extreme to the next, but this disrupts your equilibrium and more often than not, pulls you away from simple truths and what Buddha called, the “right view” – which is, to gain the right understanding of reality.
When we treat every cosmic event or special date as a new catalyst for spiritual portals of immense awakening, a few things happen. First, it’s unhelpful for those who are suffering and undermines people going through difficult times. It makes people feel alienated if their life isn’t unfolding in some grand way. They may wonder why their experience isn’t matching what everyone else is experiencing.
The other thing is that it skews our perspective of what is real growth in our lives, and what is absorbing hype. Big shifts in your consciousness or personal breakthroughs are truly special and don’t happen in one day or on any timeline but your own.
Discern what is helpful and what is a distraction
Zen is concerned with things as they are, without always trying to interpret them. Just like science can distract from the beauty and magic of what we’re experiencing, spiritual science can do the same thing.
The great Gurus of our history and enlightened sages did not explain everything that was happening. They also did not share all their extrasensory experiences. Why? Because there’s a lot of information that is distracting instead of helpful, and only the wise seem to have this discernment. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is that there is no correlation between psychic gifts and wisdom. They are completely separate attributes that can exist together, but just as often do not. So remember! Psychic =/= Wisdom.
Hearing about astral travel, channeling aliens, or talking about light grids shifting on planet earth often have ungrounding effects on people. Additionally, you may encounter places online that discuss these topics every single day. This easily turns into 12th house escapism, and during times of upheaval or crisis comes the realization that all that second-hand information of light grids and portals did not help. This is why the Masters taught people grounding techniques, like pranayama, Japa, yoga, and meditation instead of just telling them about their cool conversation with the Nāga serpents.
No Growth Will Come Outside Yourself
There are no outside energies in the form of downloads, light codes, or grand conjunctions that are going to make you more spiritual. You earn it through patience, practice, sincerity, mistakes, effort, and relentless persistence. If someone is providing a “transmission” or working with light language/light codes, they are performing a healing/increasing your light body. This has emotional and physical/energetic benefits, but they fade and subside as soon as nothing is done to maintain it. Does that make sense?
For the sake of not sounding negative, I want to clarify that I have had these done and enjoy them. If they are facilitated by the right person, they can raise the bar for your standards of emotional wellbeing. But overall, I find they are only as effective as the amount of work you’ve put in. Poor eating, poor thinking, and poor actions will quickly lower your mood/frequency regardless of how many transmissions you receive. And in my humble opinion, going outside to feed some stray animals, sending a thank-you card, or donating money to a child from a poor country has a far greater impact for your spiritual growth than these other things.
Lastly, while it might be fascinating to follow what everyone else has to say about what is spiritually happening, you are already connected to the best source of information. Don’t drown out your own inner voice and the magic that is happening inside yourself by only listening to others. Take time to check your own pulse. Find someone to have deep and meaningful conversations about what you’re going through.
Peace,
In this age of instant gratification, people expect from spirituality big miracles, sudden changes, and quick fixes for their problems. Unfortunately, this is not how our reality works. It’s the same with people who foresee huge catastrophes or upheavals and then they are surprised when nothing gargantuan happens. Thank you for sharing your valuable thoughts on this topic. An attitude of balance is always much appreciated.
Very true and thank you. I try to keep a balanced perspective because a life that gets to focus on spirituality in the manner I illustrated above, is really a life of privilege and can become removed from the pain and suffering much of the world still endures.