Friday, September 19, 2014

Spirituality, Cash, Teachers

Hey everyone.

     I wonder. Sometimes I just sit and wonder. Lots of people are out there making a living out of being "spiritual leaders."  And or "religious" leaders. Personally I don't have a problem with anyone who makes the choice to do that. After all we all need to make a living. If you have the makeup and means to go out and talk to people and can make a living at it why not?

     I read a lot of blogs and musings on the web and some of them seem dedicated to asking opinions about people who claim to have some special status or knowledge concerning spiritual "knowing." And I think that's OK too. I mean if you declare that you have some special spiritual knowledge or relationship with a deity then go ahead and have it. I mean none of the rest of us are ever going to know if you are telling the truth, delusional, or just lying. So go ahead. Having an opinion about someone who claims to be "special" but can't possibly prove it seems like a fools errand.

     What I do have a problem with is projection. Well maybe not the act since we all project meaning on to objects or people. I mean the projection that people place on these "knowing" persons who claim to have some sort of special status or knowing concerning spirituality. How would we know? Some people just have a knack for presentation and use that to deliver a message. Great!! And people can make a living doing so. Again Great! I do think that perhaps "enlightenment" or "conversations" with the gods may be selling yourself a little over the edge.

     Most people who claim to be enlightened do so by a default system. They wear the clothes, have the look, present as though, use a spiritual environment, and continuously "point" to enlightenment but never really just say "Hey guys guess what? I'm enlightened!!!" Why don't they to that? Because then some of us would say OK show me. Like the Buddha said, keep seeking and don't take anyone's word for anything. Prove what you believe in. If not then it's just a belief. Belief can be true or not but unfortunately in the spiritual world providing a belief system encourages people to part with their hard earned dollars.

     I don't believe in the messenger. They may be nice people and mean well. Or not. Or a combination of the two. But they are just humans and conditioned to failure just like you and me. No matter what the ideal they preach the bottom line is they are prone to the commonality that consumes humans. Perhaps we need to be careful not to get the message mixed up with the person?

     Words are very powerful. They can be twisted and used to confuse you and develop belief systems in processes that are not real. So pay attention to how someone uses words and language. Meaning can be delivered in ways that lead you down the path of person worship.

     If you make the decision to support a person or a system pay attention to what you are paying for. What are you buying? What are you supporting really? Is it a system that is giving back or are you just giving money to someone you are impressed with? Buyer beware. And remember that if you are spending money then you are buying goods. Just be aware that there are "snake oil" sales people all over the place.

     Seek your own path. Avoid support individual humans who claim special status. Examine what organizations are doing with funding. Honor yourself as a human who is a thinking being and can't be bought with promises or a good show.

In Loving Kindness
Bryan