5 HARD TRUTHS AND A DARE
… about spirituality (and the people who teach it)
#1: You can’t actually teach spirituality
You can use spiritual practices to get into a position where you can catch it.
(Time can also be a teacher. But it is a slow game)
“Spirituality is not taught, it is caught”—ever heard that sentence? Spirituality is not something you can actually teach someone else.
So what is this all even about then?
Spiritual practices have existed for as long as humans have existed. We are born here to experience infinity in a finite form, and with the purpose of our souls to have that experience (but it might not happen for everyone. More on that later in this text).
Many spiritual systems have been established, and religions have been formed, from the understanding of someones spiritual experience of enlightenment, and how to achieve that. Spiritual teachers have been named and famed. But how does it actually work? Does it work?
There is not enough space in this email to answer that question in details, but know this:
A spiritual teacher can’t teach someone spirituality (it is not a left brain practice). So hard stop.
What the practices does, is that it puts you in a position where you are:
1. Aware. You are actively looking for it, which increase your chances of having that experience (which really happens within yourself)
2. From doing activities like yoga and meditation, you probably feel better within your body and mind so there is less noise to distract you. You start listening on all parameters, which increases your awareness, and contributes to a more spiritual (connected, meaningful, joyous) experience of life.
Sometimes it is the opposite happening which leads you to find new ways. Sometimes you can have so much noise and pain in your body that you HAVE TO find a way to change it, and that active search then creates the “silence” within.
3. Consciousness CAN be transferred as an energy field, from teacher to student. But you need to be in a position to receive it, and to be able to hold it (nervous system strength and maturity). Using different spiritual systems and practices (I’m not talking only about Kundalini Yoga here), can position you in a way so that you have a greater chance of that happening.
Side note: Time is also a teacher…
If you don’t practice within any spiritual system, time can be a teacher for you. It works slower and is less safe, because you don’t have a direct guide. You can definitely go about the path alone, but just as one doesn’t climb to the highest peak on the mountain alone, it is just harder to reach high states of consciousness without a guide. Most people who do not have a spiritual teacher, are only able to roam around in the lower areas of the mountain, where there is less danger and risks (there are a few exceptions, but more on that later in this text). If you want to ascend to the highest peak, it’s advised that you get yourself a guide. They can’t do the climb for you though.
#2: We are not all here to become enlightened
80% of people are so called “landscape people”, and their purpose here is not actually to advance their own consciousness.
(but they can be important figures for other to advance their consciousness).
>> This section should probable come with a trigger warning, as it has been my experience that people can get upset when I share this yogic teaching. I am sharing it anyways because I also believe it can bring comfort, and give perspective to other people and their behavior. To me it is an important yogic teaching.
It is said that 80% of people are so called “landscape people”. Only 20% of people on the planet (at any given time) are here to alter their consciousness. There are people who are part of the landscape for the remaining 20% to advance their soul. Their lives are mirrors that help the 20% change their consciousness, but they themselves do not actually change their state of consciousness in this lifetime. That does not mean that their lives are less valuable though. Their soul just do not experience the same type of advancement, and their purpose is of a different nature. Think of a very horrible dictator fx. He can spur the awakening of millions of other people who recognize the horror he is doing. His soul did not reach a state of consciousness where he could recognize his harm, so his soul died without an advancement, but it left an impressive mark on human consciousness.
Other spiritual systems might teach that every soul is being born pure, or that everyone is born the same, or that everyone took incarnation here in order to experience the infinite in a finite form. I will argue that the teachings can all co exist. It might be the purpose of this planet, and the energy field we live in here, but not every soul is successful in reaching that experience. It doesn’t mean that their lives are a waste.
Try to think about a person in your own life, perhaps there is someone who you feel very frustrated about? You are frustrated that they don’t change, that they can’t see things from your perspective, or that they were unkind to you. Maybe they just aren’t here to change their consciousness? Did you still learn something from that relationship? Most likely. Did they? Perhaps not—they just weren’t able to integrate the experience. Perhaps it even spark the need to change your life, and become more aware and conscious. So that person helped someone else become more conscious. But they didn’t integrate the experience within themselves.
Maybe it would be a good idea to talk a bit about what consciousness is…
Consciousness is just that: consciousness. It is neither good or bad. It’s in a way pretty simple. It’s about being more conscious to the subtle layers of life. You don’t need to have a spiritual language for that in order to experience it. Some people are very conscious and kind beings without being “spiritual” as an identity (more about that later in this text).
But if we were to put consciousness into language, it could look something like a range, from becoming aware of your thoughts, to feeling empathy for another person, to feeling energy flowing in your body, to experiencing subtle messaging through intuitive awareness, to transcending time and knowing the future, and to being able to accessing other planes of existence through your subtle body awareness, to feeling a complete merger with everything and all of existence. And of course with many nuances and functions in between. It’s all a spectrum, and we each operating on different ranges of that spectrum. Being on a spiritual path and increasing our consciousness means you are moving across that spectrum. Living a life of meaning though does not mean you have to be conscious about that spectrum.
Another thing: 1% of the 20% come here with “new information”. They are already enlightened. There is no advancement for them either but they are here to use their consciousness to awaken people en mass.
#3: Everything doesn’t work the same for everyone
Why are there so many religions in the world or spiritual systems? Because one size does not fit all.
(Going deep rather than wide will always give you a bigger experience though)
Not all remedies and methods work the same or are right for everyone. That’s why there are so many expressions of spirituality and so many religions in the world. There are many different ways to go about it.
This truth is rather simple: when we can accept that everyone has their own unique experiences of life, and of practices, and that we cannot possible know what is right for someone else, we experience great liberation within.
1. Because we stop comparing ourselves to others, which is one of the keys to becoming more happy and content with ourselves.
And 2. We stop feeling the need to convince anyone of anything. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything. If something worked for you, great! Radiate that. Shine that. Live it. There is a teaching that says, before teaching someone anything, they should ask you three times for it. Don’t feel the need to convince anyone to try something just because it worked for you. And know that someone might have a different experience with a practice than you.
Let people go about life in the way that they choose to.
If you find yourself being interested in a spiritual practice, system or teacher, my only advice is to give it an honest effort. If you don’t try something, you don’t know if it will work for you. If you find yourself hopping from one thing to the next, constantly, and you feel like you never get any real juice out of anything you do, it’s not the practice it is the relationship you have with practicing (and it will keep showing up again and again until you commit).
#4: Popularity does not ensure integrity.
Sometimes you can believe in the hype, but do not ONLY believe in the hype.
(Anyone can teach you something and help you along on the path though—if you are a good enough student)
The most popular and influential people in the world, are they all good guys? No. Sometimes you can believe in the hype, but do not ONLY believe in the hype.
Just because someone is popular doesn’t mean that what they offer is of high quality, or even relevant for you. Popularity does not ensure integrity of teaching. (If you have a hard time coming to terms with this or believe “fame” is a mark of quality just look at politicians and presidents—highly popular and well known, but mostly with zero integrity). Many people just uses consciousness as an identity, without much to back it up.
You should always study with the teacher you feel attracted to studying with, and you will learn something regardless: if you know how to be a good student. (The greatest pity I have is towards people who learned nothing from a situation, and that usually happen when we externalize and blame).
An example from my own life: my first KY teacher had full classes of 30-60 people every week. But she didn’t teach right (she literally told me that she would change the kriyas). So why did people go? Why did I go? Sometimes we’re not ready for the real thing. Our nervous system is too weak, our subconscious mind is resisting, we just don’t find our way to it, etc. The truth is I probably would never have started with this type of yoga, if it hadn’t been for her, as I simply wouldn’t have been attracted to, or interested in learning from anyone else who was teaching KY, at that point in my life. I am very grateful for her. I learned a lot (also about what not to do), and when I finally met my real teacher, I was able to recognize that.
So my point is: you never know why someone became the teacher they became, or why someone come to the teacher they come to. Don’t become the “Dark Angel” of humanity (refers to someone who carries out the judgement of God). Let people go through their own process. Don’t judge someone else’s path, or who they seek out as a teacher. You have no ides why they have to study with whom they study with, or what that encounter might lead to.
#5: Your destiny is mostly pre determined
You only have 20% free will.
(Pro tip: with Kundalini Yoga you can chip away on that, and get a bigger percentage of free will).
Not to go all original sin here, but according to yogic teachings 80% of our lives are already predetermined. Living in destiny means having full control over, and elevating, the remaining 20% to the highest possible outcome. There are different scripts you can choose. But mostly our lives are destined to unfold in a certain way.
Instead of turning that into something limiting, trust it. Lean on that. What needs to come to you will come to you. Trust that you have a great destiny. Use your spiritual practice to become more happy, more positive, more pure, clear and healthy—mentally and physically. Do your part but let destiny do it’s part too.
There is a story of a man who fell in the ocean. One shipped passed him by and offered to rescue him. “No I’m okay, God will save me.” He said. He drowned. When he got into heaven he asked God: “why didn’t you save me?” And God answered: “I sent you a ship, you dummy—why didn’t you get on board?”
When we get too fixed an idea of how everything should unfold in our lives, we might miss the boat. Our practice is meant to make us more flexible. The flexibility of the body in the yogic practices is a metaphor for the flexibility it is supposed to create in your mind.
#6: God only knows…
Dare to question anyone and anything that is being presented to you—especially if it is being presented as a truth
(You have full permission to let go of anything which doesn’t serve you.)
Truth in this world IS subjective, simply because you live this life in a subjective form. There’s no point pretending that someone (who is also living in this subjective form) will know what is right for you.
My advice? If it gives you energy do it. Go for it. If it doesn’t, just drop it. It’s not about choosing what is easy or that doesn’t require effort. Even the things that are hard to do, if you feel a passion behind and a drive, you know that it is all worth it.
