Have you heard of Dr Eric Pearl (www.thereconnection.com/eric-pearl)? You can read his book or go to his web site, but I think it's much better to see him in action, in person or a video. Why? Because all us new age, cosmic connection, Reikii invoking, energy healing, channeling, aura seeing types tend to take ourselves and our practices way too seriously. Eric Pearl's introduction to his process comes across much more like a stand-up routine skewering the alternative spiritual movement than journey of spiritual discovery. I love it. He has stripped energy healing down to it's essence and discarded all the frills that practitioners tend to use to decorate their practice. All too often, the people I talk to are so intently focused on discovering and following all the "proper rules," that they lose site of the point of it all.
I, for one, have distanced myself from organized religions largely because of all the arbitrary and, to my mind, just plain silly, rules and dogma, the outlandish decorations that have become so encrusted around the original message that you can't find that message with a pickaxe and blasting powder. I am one of those people who figure "If I just study and learn more, it will all make sense." Big mistake. Digging into the historical and philosophical underpinning of western religions sealed the deal for me, causing me to file pretty much all their "rules" on a dusty shelf under "Maybe It Seemed a Good Idea at the Time." For instance, it took the catholic church 350 years to admit they were wrong about the patently obvious fact the Man (not Women, or course) is not the center of the universe. I am flabbergasted at the outrageous hubris of the church leaders who could make such a statement in the first place. And Limbo, an entire cosmic state, apparently whisked into existence and then out again, by what, Papel decree? If they were wrong about those things, what else are they currently, solemnly, insistently, fervently, and even fatally, wrong about? Preaching that condom use is a sin, in a part of Africa overrun with AIDS? In short, my studies have shown me that the vast majority of all the teaching of western religions seem to stem much more from a mixture of political expediency and existing traditions than the Word of God.
So think, and celebrate the lighter side of things. Enjoy the fact that we are all different. Poke fun at spiritual pretension, and open up to other points of view. If you can't stand to laugh at yourself and you spiritual practice, then I submit that perhaps you are more focused on the Practice than the Spirit.
It is my view that the structure of any faith is there to guide you, not rule you. If there is any overriding message of the "New Age" spiritual movement, it is that you must find your own path, you must take responsibility for your own growth. For anything constructed by woman or man will have flaws and it is up to us to discover where to put our feet. Accept that there is no one absolute answer, for anything, and that the best you can every say is that some set of beliefs and practices work best for you. Question beliefs and traditions but do not judge, for no practice is absolutely wrong either. Keep what works for you, and set aside the rest, for they may be useful later. None of us can still wear those skinny, teenybopper jeans we once had, so don't expect any spiritual practices to fit you any better, decades down the road.
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