I am often amazed at how people, especially healers or people in the new age therapies or religious people of faith, respond to others when they are working to find their footing on the path of their life. So often, these people are inundated with statements from people that they did not solicit or that may not 
necessarily be helpful in the long run. The people giving the statements feel that they must say these things and so they do willingly and without stopping to consider what they are saying.
Lately, I've heard some whoppers being told to others and while there may be an element of truth to them, so much of what is said boils down to nothing more than belief, rather than truth based assistance. So many times in this world, the inhabitants fail to understand what truth really is while disguising truth with their own belief system. At the end of the day, if we are not careful to fully understand the difference, we not only hinder the advance of evolution and awareness along but sometimes in fact, we make it more difficult for others to find their way.
I grew up in a home where religious stuff was as rigid as a board and that if you did not believe this way, there was not only something wrong with you but that you were going to hell. There was no half way point, no discussion of ideas and no acceptance of anything that fell outside the realm of what was being taught in the religious setting. It was their way or the highway. You didn't get the chance to go in and check it out deep within you as that was not allowed. You were brought into the fold by accepting the truths of these people or cast out by your nonacceptance.
As I ventured into the healing word and the new age world, I have seen this play over and over again. All too often, I hear "truths" that are nothing more than beliefs. All too often, I see how people inwardly and silently roll their eyes if you don't agree with their set of beliefs. I see the beliefs and truths regurgitated at will without any real questioning as if they really have solid evidence or not. In the new age movement and the healing world, there are many who eschew religious institutions but yet, in many ways they are subscribing to the same procedure of a belief system. The only thing different is they are putting different labels, feelings, emotions and thought processes with it. At its root base or the core of what is being taught, the same practices are being transmitted to others.
Yes, I do know there are legitimate people out there doing work that actually evolves the human awareness and consciousness. Unfortunately, there are a vast majority of people who are into what I call the whooo whooo, no reality based practices. Please don't get me wrong because I am not saying that you cannot venture into the unknown and in fact I think the unknown is a vital part of life. The part I take strong disagreement with is when the whooo whooo becomes reality replaces the truth with a belief system. It is at that point, where these practices become dangerous and hurtful to others along their path.
Consider the following example for a moment. If you saw someone hanging off the edge of the cliff and their fingers were slowly slipping, what would you do? Before you answer this, consider some of the things that if someone was struggling in life, you would hear in a potential group of healers or religious people.
"You just need to think positive and imagine yourself being rescued."
"Just pray about it."
"You need to consider what the reason of this is."
"God has a reason for everything."
"Don't get angry or upset and fight this."
"Look at the good side of this, the happy side."
"Think happy thoughts."
"Don't take this frustration you have and turn it inward."
"It will get better."
I could go on and on forever with these statements and most of them I've heard recently. Now most of you would say, if a person is hanging over a cliff, you wouldn't say these things to them but you would either go get help, offer them a rope or help lift them back up to safety. It would seem logical and you're probably wondering what these statements have to do with pulling someone from safety.
Yet, if you think about it, when someone's life is struggling, instead of many people really being there for someone, we offer them pieces of yarn to help pull themselves back up. That is as far as we go and all the time, the person is slipping away off the cliff. We think we've given them something to help pull themselves up when in fact all we have given them is a flimsy piece of yarn that will not do much for them. It may give them an illusion that there is a rope to hang on to but most likely it will not hold their weight. So when they grab on to it, they will let go of the only grasp they have to the cliff and fall off into space. Of course at some point, the fall will be stopped by the earth but it will hurt and they will need to struggle all the harder to climb back up the cliff.
All too often, we fail to fully uncover and unearth that within us that holds us from truly connecting with others and being a light unto their path. We sometimes think we are giving them a lifeline of rope when we are not able to see that we are only giving others a piece of yarn. Until we learn how to open our own eyes and go deep within through our own fears and pains of the past, will we ever be there for others. We can give others the illusion that we are truly there for them and in fact we can give ourselves the illusion as well but until we understand that it is an illusion, it is nothing more than a magic trick.
Each one of us has the responsibility to become all we can be and evolve in awareness and consciousness. While we may not fully understand what all that means, it is our responsibility to go further in life and be all that we can be. We all have a path to walk and if we are just standing on the path, we are not walking forward. Until we recognize and realize that the pains and the fears we hold are motivating forces, we will stay stuck in the illusions of what we give to our self and what we give to others.
Blog Post & Images (c) 2/25/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com
necessarily be helpful in the long run. The people giving the statements feel that they must say these things and so they do willingly and without stopping to consider what they are saying.Lately, I've heard some whoppers being told to others and while there may be an element of truth to them, so much of what is said boils down to nothing more than belief, rather than truth based assistance. So many times in this world, the inhabitants fail to understand what truth really is while disguising truth with their own belief system. At the end of the day, if we are not careful to fully understand the difference, we not only hinder the advance of evolution and awareness along but sometimes in fact, we make it more difficult for others to find their way.
I grew up in a home where religious stuff was as rigid as a board and that if you did not believe this way, there was not only something wrong with you but that you were going to hell. There was no half way point, no discussion of ideas and no acceptance of anything that fell outside the realm of what was being taught in the religious setting. It was their way or the highway. You didn't get the chance to go in and check it out deep within you as that was not allowed. You were brought into the fold by accepting the truths of these people or cast out by your nonacceptance.
As I ventured into the healing word and the new age world, I have seen this play over and over again. All too often, I hear "truths" that are nothing more than beliefs. All too often, I see how people inwardly and silently roll their eyes if you don't agree with their set of beliefs. I see the beliefs and truths regurgitated at will without any real questioning as if they really have solid evidence or not. In the new age movement and the healing world, there are many who eschew religious institutions but yet, in many ways they are subscribing to the same procedure of a belief system. The only thing different is they are putting different labels, feelings, emotions and thought processes with it. At its root base or the core of what is being taught, the same practices are being transmitted to others.
Yes, I do know there are legitimate people out there doing work that actually evolves the human awareness and consciousness. Unfortunately, there are a vast majority of people who are into what I call the whooo whooo, no reality based practices. Please don't get me wrong because I am not saying that you cannot venture into the unknown and in fact I think the unknown is a vital part of life. The part I take strong disagreement with is when the whooo whooo becomes reality replaces the truth with a belief system. It is at that point, where these practices become dangerous and hurtful to others along their path.
Consider the following example for a moment. If you saw someone hanging off the edge of the cliff and their fingers were slowly slipping, what would you do? Before you answer this, consider some of the things that if someone was struggling in life, you would hear in a potential group of healers or religious people.
"You just need to think positive and imagine yourself being rescued."
"Just pray about it."
"You need to consider what the reason of this is."
"God has a reason for everything."
"Don't get angry or upset and fight this."
"Look at the good side of this, the happy side."
"Think happy thoughts."
"Don't take this frustration you have and turn it inward."
"It will get better."
I could go on and on forever with these statements and most of them I've heard recently. Now most of you would say, if a person is hanging over a cliff, you wouldn't say these things to them but you would either go get help, offer them a rope or help lift them back up to safety. It would seem logical and you're probably wondering what these statements have to do with pulling someone from safety.
Yet, if you think about it, when someone's life is struggling, instead of many people really being there for someone, we offer them pieces of yarn to help pull themselves back up. That is as far as we go and all the time, the person is slipping away off the cliff. We think we've given them something to help pull themselves up when in fact all we have given them is a flimsy piece of yarn that will not do much for them. It may give them an illusion that there is a rope to hang on to but most likely it will not hold their weight. So when they grab on to it, they will let go of the only grasp they have to the cliff and fall off into space. Of course at some point, the fall will be stopped by the earth but it will hurt and they will need to struggle all the harder to climb back up the cliff.
All too often, we fail to fully uncover and unearth that within us that holds us from truly connecting with others and being a light unto their path. We sometimes think we are giving them a lifeline of rope when we are not able to see that we are only giving others a piece of yarn. Until we learn how to open our own eyes and go deep within through our own fears and pains of the past, will we ever be there for others. We can give others the illusion that we are truly there for them and in fact we can give ourselves the illusion as well but until we understand that it is an illusion, it is nothing more than a magic trick.
Each one of us has the responsibility to become all we can be and evolve in awareness and consciousness. While we may not fully understand what all that means, it is our responsibility to go further in life and be all that we can be. We all have a path to walk and if we are just standing on the path, we are not walking forward. Until we recognize and realize that the pains and the fears we hold are motivating forces, we will stay stuck in the illusions of what we give to our self and what we give to others.
Blog Post & Images (c) 2/25/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com
I believe it is about self determination. Assisting someone to look inside themselves in order to know what they need for themselves. Not what WE think they need for themselves. Often is just a matter of grabbing their hand and asking "What do you need right now?"
ReplyDelete