"An ocean can fall on your head, but if your pipes are only as large as a drinking straw, you might get a teacup full. Grace is constantly raining on you, so ask not for more Grace, but for larger pipes. Divine Openings expands your pipes." Lola Jones
19 Spiritual Myths That Hold You Back
There was such a positive response to a newsletter and an audio about cutting through the spiritual nonsense, I wrote more about it.
The Cowgirl Guru in me who loves to just tell it like it channelled an audio called 'Cutting Through The Spiritual Crap.' This article will help you scrape that stuff off your boots and walk on lighter!
The audio that inspired this article is at the end of this page.
The Cowgirl Guru in me who loves to just tell it like it channelled an audio called 'Cutting Through The Spiritual Crap.' This article will help you scrape that stuff off your boots and walk on lighter! The audio that inspired this article is at the end of this page.
I add new myths all the time as I notice them:
Myth 1. You are here to learn lessons. Someone made this up to try and explain why life can be hard, and other writers of spiritual books copied it till it became a metaphysical myth--but lessons have absolutely nothing to do with why you're here. Unfortunately, many people have taken on this belief. The biggest problem is, those who believe it are constantly enduring painful lessons, doing what they think is their spiritual duty.
The Presence did not put you here in some kind of school. There is nothing to graduate from, no test to pass, and no grade to earn. If you do sign up for that school you'll never graduate--the lessons never end and there's no reward. If you let go of this belief, you can have a happy, lesson-free life. Of course you will learn and evolve! Life IS change, expansion, and evolution. You can be happy and go to recess now.
Myth 2. If someone said it in a book (especially a spiritual or "channeled" book) it's true. Discernment is being able to know truth when you hear it, and to weed out the red herrings, the dead ends, and the downright ineffective stuff. Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.
Want to discern how effective a path is? Look at the long-time students' practical lives and relationships. Public popularity is not necessarily a good gauge--for some strange reason, many flock to paths, religions, and gurus and follow them for decades without achieving any degree of liberation--emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or materially. The most effective things, on the leading edge, usually do NOT have huge followings. Just an observation!
Myth 3. It takes a lifetime to "heal". I don't call anything "healing" unless you're physically sick. If you're not physically sick, you DO NOT NEED HEALING. You need to wake up. When you get enlightened, all the stuff you thought you had to 'heal' just isn't there anymore. And it doesn't take a lifetime. It can happen now if you do Divine Openings.
Myth 4. Your will vs. God's will. When you are living as your Large Self, there is no difference in your will and God's will. Your Large Self's will IS God's will. This also relates to the next one...
Myth 5. God is some authority figure who tells you what to do or what is right. I hear a lot of people saying, "I'm supposed to do this or that mission on Earth" or "If it's meant to be, then I'll get to" or "I want to do God's will, not my will." You co-create with the Universe! You're not a pawn who is moved around the chessboard. God is not your "boss" or the big parent in the sky who says you can have the car keys, or not. You have free will, so use it. Decide what you want. God, your Large Self, the entire Universe, lines it up for you. Even if what you want is your small self's idea, you still can have it -- God isn't judgmental like humans. But when you're living as your Large Self you have more power, things come faster and easier, and the things you want will work out better for you and come out better than you imagined them. Want! Ask! Create! Enjoy!
Myth 6. Humility is the mark of a true spiritual person. Not necessarily. You are a magnificent being. Express it, be it, know it, radiate it. Why hide your light? Where did that idea come from? Now, when the small self thinks it's God, it can cause you some trouble. But jettison this false humility thing. Forget what others think. That's an old-paradigm myth. Very often it's unworthiness in saint's clothing.
Myth 7. Heaven and Hell. Heaven and Hell are conveniently located right here on Earth, in your back yard. Choose which one you want to live in, and stop doing and believing anything that takes you to Hell.
Myth 8. Being good. This is one of the biggest myths, that you get some kind of points for being "good" or "spiritual". Again, that is a human perspective that says you have something to achieve or earn. In God perspective, you're here to experience, you have free will, and you can do anything you want without judgment. Up in the higher vibrations, being your Large Self, you wouldn't hurt anyone anyway. But neither would you have to sacrifice for anyone. How about this? Live in the higher vibrations because it feels good and works better, not to earn imaginary points. High vibration and a great life is its own best reward.
Myth 9. Unworthiness. Oddly, spiritual people are often the most plagued by unworthiness, probably due to centuries of conditioning by religions and leaders who didn't want people to know how powerful they were, and who wanted to be in control. It's hard to control magnificent, powerful, worthy beings.
Myth 10. You gotta deal with your karma. Grace wipes all that out. Karma is contradictory to Grace. Karma and Hell only existed anyway due to man's feelings of unworthiness and guilt, which reside at the bottom of the Altimeter (explained in depth in the book). God doesn't chalk up your wrongs! Man does that to himself. Haven't you ever had a bad thought about someone, and instantly stubbed your toe? If you choose to believe in karma, good luck. You have millions of lifetimes to pay off and work out. See you in a few thousand years. You could be having a good time now.
Related to this, the idea that you have to work on yourself all the time is also a New Age Myth. At least with Divine Openings, you can stop that and start living happily ever after.
Myth 11. You shouldn't be selfish. Every creature created by the Creator has built-in self interest, and this is a good thing. Some humans make that wrong, and label it ego. Most of the great art, music, innovations, institutions, charities, and inventions sprung from those with healthy egos. Those with no drive to express their genius were often relegated to obscurity, and so their genius was never recognized, nor benefited from.
We've been told doing what we want is selfish, and to sacrifice, and that somehow that works out. Master your mind and your small self, and put it to work for YOU, and humanity will just naturally be served.
When people tell me large corporations are bad and greedy, I ask them "How many jobs do they provide? How many paychecks do they pay out?" People could go start their own businesses if that was what they really wanted or were willing to do. But most choose to work for someone else who'll bear all the risk, and provide them structure and a steady income. Is that so wrong?
Myth 12. The meek shall inherit the Earth. I asked within about this. What I got was, "The non-resistant shall inherit the Earth," those who are minding their own business and not fighting or pushing against what others are doing. The strong kill each other and wear themselves out while the non-resistant are living happily ever after. The non-resistant find Heaven on Earth. The less resistant you get (higher on the Instrument Panel), the more you'll feel like you do own the Earth, and really will be able to do what you've been hearing about: create your own reality.
Myth 13. The material world is bad or inferior to the spiritual world. Then what the heck are you doing here? Did you take a wrong turn at the 11th dimension? You came here to experience the delights of the senses and the slowed down energies of the physical -- to play and create here in this special environment of greater contrasts. To pretend you can die. To pretend you have limits so you can overcome them, and remember who you really are. To smell the scent of dry grass on a summer's day (as I did this morning). For the past 23 years, my intention has been Heaven On Earth. Not to get out of here. I came here on purpose!
14. Misunderstanding of what materialism is. Believing that money is scarce is buying into material limits -- even more than the rich person who believes money is just a tool and is no big deal. Being obsessed with money, even the lack of it, is materialism. The person who works too hard for too little, and has no time to be the magnificent being they are, makes money their God. Believing in your physical/material limitations is materialistic.
Myth 15. Be in the world but not of it? Live here on Earth to the fullest, but don't buy into the material illusions of limitations. Know that you are a magnificent creator. Even in the face of challenges, know who you are. You know for sure that there is no true danger in all the Universe when you get this, deep down.
Read the book The Rational Optimist for a competely scientific, non-spiritual, factual perspective on how commerce has contributed more to human evolution than churches have.
Related: "Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." It can be tempting to put all of one's faith in the material when one has a lot of material stuff. One can become it's slave rather than it's master. Remember that your Large Self created all of it. Assign the power to your Large Self (God) rather than to the "stuff". The stuff is only stuff, and tools. Worship the Giver, not the gifts. Value the Giver, who is permanent, more than the gifts, which are not.
Myth 17. Spiritual teachers cannot be passionate about worldly things and worldly endeavors. There is this weird stereotype that spiritual teachers, if they're the real thing, do nothing else. They wear robes and meditate all day. Not so. I know one who has traveled the world and taught for decades who is soon retiring to raise bees. I LOVE living a regular mundane life, and teaching quietly from the ranch.
My first spiritual teacher in 1985 was amazing on every level. He still travels the world speaking, piloting his own jet, having earned his commercial license at age
(He said, "No one asked how old I was.") He sat with hippies and laughed as they did acid in the 60's, then showed them how to get high without it. Once he took apart an old Mercedes down to the last nut and bolt, cleaned the parts by hand, and put it back together again. He did computer animations for fun back when that was new, in the mid-eighties. He has a giant fire hose he uses for the Hindu Holi celebration. A raging fire swept his Malibu coast neighborhood, and he personally got out there and saved all the neighbors homes by soaking them with the fire hose. He writes, plays with his kids, adores his wife (a former flight attendant he met at age 16 back when he flew on airlines) and expresses his genius in many, many ways.
He was born enlightened; I wasn't, but he was my first inspiration, and I've followed his lead, and have always been multi-creative. Since The Presence woke up in me, it wants to express in so many more ways than spiritual teaching... from business, to inventing, to art, graphics, music, internet marketing genius, decorating, writing... the list is long and getting longer. And my gift is teaching how to have all this work in the physical world. There will soon be business courses on the site. My creativity and productivity is out of control. This website is a virtual world I've created, and it never stops.
I LOVE, adore, and relish mundane, everyday life. I love simple things like cooking, working on the computer, and being in nature. It's why I am here, not to try to ascend somewhere else or achieve something. There is eternity to be somewhere else.
I'm HERE....
LIVING....
NOW.Myth 18. Once you get to spiritual awakening, you must quit your job and become a healer or teacher. Divine Openings seems to make people clear about what their true path is, and they either rekindle their passion for their current gig (they weren't there by accident) or find something they love that really suits them. Few of those who complete the 5 Day Silent Intensive end up getting guidance to be Divine Openings Givers. Most get who they really are, and find the most authentic way for their real gift to come through, whether in construction, sales, or as a school teacher.
Click to read what a California teacher did with Divine Openings after attending the 5 Day Silent Intensive. Her true calling is obviously to be a school teacher! Another grad gives Divine Facials, and the recipients get a Divine Opening as they get their yummy, nurturing facial.
Click to read what a California teacher did with Divine Openings after attending the 5 Day Silent Intensive. Her true calling is obviously to be a school teacher! Another grad gives Divine Facials, and the recipients get a Divine Opening as they get their yummy, nurturing facial.
There are so many ways to help and contribute, and if everyone were a healer, there'd be no one to build websites, create music, fix cars, teach our kids, or do accounting. Starving healers are in the wrong profession for the wrong reasons. Guidance can be interpreted in many ways, and "heal people" doesn't always mean "be a healer". By the way, your ability to hear and interpret guidance accurately increases if you do and stick to Divine Openings. Follow your passions rather than listening to others. I know psychics who tell everyone who comes to their table that they will become a healer or author, or that they're "supposed" to be this or that.
Myth 19. More knowledge is better - There's a common myth that the more spiritual stuff you learn, books you read, seminars you take, and the more meditations you attend, the higher you'll go, and the more help you'll get. Sorry, folks, I actually find it to be the opposite. The people I see get the freest the fastest are those who come to me without any, or very little, previous metaphysical knowledge or training. Then when they "get it" they stop working on it, and go live life.
So often, people who have done it all are so saturated with stuff, mixing so much stuff, muddled with so much stuff, so conditioned to seek and never find, are the toughest to convince to let go and let it be incredibly simple. Thank God Divine Openings performs miracles! They know so much it's hard to move into this pure, direct place that Divine Openings can take you when you do let go.
Before I did my 21 days of blessed silence, communing only with Divine Presence within in India, speaking to no human, I had already made a powerful decision: to forget and let go of everything I knew. Deep within I knew that all that past stuff, bless it, had gotten me to "here", but no farther, so I needed to let go of it. I knew when I came home, anything I needed would still be there, but for sure, most of it, including boxes of books, ended up in the recycle bin. I needed that like a bird needs a hang glider.
That is one reason these spiritual myths are so clear since then. My greatest gift is the ability to let go and let The Divine do 99%. I don't know how it works, and don't care to know. The people who know the most stuff are usually not the happiest, most free or most powerful, in their work or in their own lives. They can't just touch you and give it to you, because they are in the way.
The greatest power,
whether you're wanting to free yourself or others,
is to get out of the way.
As I watch students' progress, the ones who keep on Hoovering up more stuff after Divine Openings don't do as well. That's like reversing their progress. You really don't need more knowledge, more techniques, and more stuff. That's a trick the small self uses to get you back into bondage. We keep getting automatic upgrades with Divine Openings, but there's no need to work at it or seek for it.
The mind is a powerful thing, and it is not your best friend until it's trained to be your servant. It needs to get out of the way.
I can work with anyone, and get them free and clear if they're willing to stop seeking and focus. I've watched people who were just healed disbelieve they're healed even though the evidence is right there. The mind has a hard time with things that mess with its neat little sense of reality. Some people get disoriented when a lifelong issue is gone.
Myth 20. The Dilution Effect - Related to the above, mixing modalities, paths, books, and other perfectly good stuff with your Divine Openings is like taking a glass of fine aged wine.... and adding excellent brandy, expensive whiskey, top label gin, and premium beer to it.
Or like saying that one song sounds so beautiful, you'll just play three more songs at the same time to make it more beautiful.
It doesn't get better, it's a friggin' mess. The most confused and stuck people I ever work with are mixing modalities. Pick one thing that is working and STICK TO IT, even if it's not Divine Openings. If that's not working, and if your life isn't fantastic, drop everything else and do Divine Openings.
Myth 22. You need "protection". Some people believe you need spiritual protection from dark spirits--that they can "get in". No one or nothing in the universe can harm you. There is nothing to protect from except your own fears, but you are so powerful you can make them real. There are no evil spirits, but you can conjure apparent ones up if you believe in them. Then, ironically, incantations and bubbles of white light won't protect you from your own self. The people I've met who go to the most trouble to do spiritual, physical, and personal protection have the most troubles! They're creating it. Live as if you're too powerful to worry about harm. You are.
Myth 23. The world is getting worse. Here's a whole article on The Bias For Pessimism, and the Myth Of The Evils Of Commerce.
http://www.divineopenings.com/blog/oct-11/bias-pessimism-and-myth-evils-commerce
Here's the original audio that inspired this article:
Lola Jones Audio - Cutting Thru the Spiritual Crap
I keep adding myths to the list!
Or like saying that one song sounds so beautiful, you'll just play three more songs at the same time to make it more beautiful.
It doesn't get better, it's a friggin' mess. The most confused and stuck people I ever work with are mixing modalities. Pick one thing that is working and STICK TO IT, even if it's not Divine Openings. If that's not working, and if your life isn't fantastic, drop everything else and do Divine Openings.
Myth 22. You need "protection". Some people believe you need spiritual protection from dark spirits--that they can "get in". No one or nothing in the universe can harm you. There is nothing to protect from except your own fears, but you are so powerful you can make them real. There are no evil spirits, but you can conjure apparent ones up if you believe in them. Then, ironically, incantations and bubbles of white light won't protect you from your own self. The people I've met who go to the most trouble to do spiritual, physical, and personal protection have the most troubles! They're creating it. Live as if you're too powerful to worry about harm. You are.
Myth 23. The world is getting worse. Here's a whole article on The Bias For Pessimism, and the Myth Of The Evils Of Commerce.
http://www.divineopenings.com/blog/oct-11/bias-pessimism-and-myth-evils-commerce
Here's the original audio that inspired this article:
Lola Jones Audio - Cutting Thru the Spiritual Crap
I keep adding myths to the list!
Want to cut through the spiritual myths and cliches
that just aren't working for you in your life?
Begin with: the book, spiritual retreat, online retreat course, one-on-one sessions.
that just aren't working for you in your life?
Begin with: the book, spiritual retreat, online retreat course, one-on-one sessions.
Spiritual Myths that holds back