Archive for February 18th, 2009

Religious rituals

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

QUESTION: Masters, some people have left behind the dogmatic teaching of their religion as they embrace freedom to think for themselves, as you encourage us to do. The rituals and music of church, synagogue, and mosque are hard to give up, however, especially those celebrating birth, coming of age, marriage, and transition. Is it good for spiritualists to revise or re-invent such rituals, or do they represent some kind of threat to our freedom of thought?

ANSWER: In each case, you must ask what the ritual means to you. If you are partaking in the process out of allegiance to the rite, i.e., the sect that tells you to perform it, you are giving up your freedom of choice and allowing yourself to be controlled by another. If you perform the ceremony to proclaim to the world your beliefs in the stated purpose of such ritual, it is by choice and an exercise of that choice.

An example is the ritual slaves used to proclaim to others that they were united and wished to set up housekeeping with another: they joined hands and jumped over a broomstick. This was invented out of necessity since their religious leaders were not present and they wanted a sign to give to the world of the sincerity of their pledge.

To invent a ritual and instruct others that it is the only way to do something correctly is a judgment and a demand put forth by the human ego. This would be a control platform used to ensnare doubting souls. You cannot and should not even try to make decisions for another person.

These rituals of old you find hard to give up because most remind you of emotionally happy events wherein lie lots of promises for the future. The music calms and soothes you, incense takes you to the comfort of a home fire, and the camaraderie makes you feel accepted. If these symbols of physical comforts are what you seek, create for yourself a place where your senses obtain the same treatment, but don’t make that a religious experience.

Going into your heart space and basking in the unconditional love from Home that resides there will more than satisfy any soul who is open to the experience of self. If you only feel safe in a herd, make that the basis of your choice. After all, in the journey of the soul through physical life, nothing is right or wrong.

Refuses to commit

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

QUESTION: Masters, I am a very open and spiritual person. I have been going with a man I met at a meditation group who appears to be as awake as I am. I do everything for him, on my own, before he asks. I take care of his two large dogs while he is out of town and cook him gourmet meals when he returns. I am confused because every time I ask him to commit to the relationship he belittles me, telling me I am no good, I’m too fat, etc. He has been promising to do some minor house repairs for me for two years but never seems inclined to begin. Can you shed some light on my situation?

ANSWER: To be very blunt with you, you are being toyed with and used. This man thinks that he is open and spiritual when in fact as long as he gets his way, and the world bows down to him, he easily can play the role. His ego and his belief systems of superiority, shaped by his parents, are dictating his actions.

He is absolutely fascinated with the degree of white light and spiritual energy that radiates from you. He sits and suckles from your energy as he did from the life force of his mother. He does not want anything to change. He does not want you to become an equal, such as a commitment would imply. His only defense to keep you off balance is his tongue. When pressed he goes on the offensive and blasts with everything he thinks can hurt you and throw you into inner reflection and doubt.

Because of this constant activity in your relationship you are now consistently second-guessing the actions you take and the thoughts you have. You have almost completely disregarded your intuition recently. He wants you listening only to him. He does not want the power inside you to question his motives. He has refrained from doing your repairs because he senses that is exactly what you want, and he won’t be compliant.

Go back to your strength of old. Return to honoring yourself. Pump up your power, and within this framework ask yourself to evaluate this relationship. Disregard the emotional connections and look only at the energetic ones. Then make your choice of staying or going.

Difficulty conforming

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

QUESTION: Dear masters, I seem to run away from responsibility and I’m not sure why. I also feel trapped by having to stick to deadlines, times, and places. I keep on trying to conform and do proper jobs like most other people, but the routine gets me down and I always want to move on.

ANSWER: Your spiritual self and your ego self are using your body as a battle ground. Your ego is saying that you must do what other people tell you, whether or not you think or feel it is the right thing to do. Your soul essence is starting to tell you it is time to honor yourself and make your choices of life and living based upon your feelings.

You are at a crossroads. Do you remain the dutiful little woman always doing exactly what others want? Or do you begin to get a sense of who you really are and move toward redefining your life? That urgency you sense of always wanting to move on is your soul saying that now is the time to take responsibility for who and what you are in this world.

Running away from responsibility is procrastination from exercising your freedom of choice. You are so concerned with other people right now that you have trouble seeing yourself when you look in the mirror.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, then another; relax your tense muscles. Now slowly open your eyes and really see what is around you at this moment. Don’t think about anything but this second. Now ask yourself: “How do I feel?” Let the question seep deep inside before you start throwing out answers.

Fears will predominate for you right now. Take each fear and ask yourself where it came from. When you see that it came (as most do) from other sources-society, family, coworkers-ask yourself if that is how you feel. If it is not, release that issue. If you do accept it as something truly from you, ask yourself how you can rid yourself of this fear.

Using this method you will get to the point of knowing what is truly you and what is a reflection of the outside world. Now you have a starting point to shape the rest of your life.