Navigating Spiritual Teachings: Avoiding Misunderstanding and Bypassing
Written on
Chapter 1: The Bumpy Road of Spirituality
The spiritual path is often filled with twists and turns, making it both enlightening and perplexing. It offers profound insights while simultaneously presenting uncertainties. Throughout my journey, I have encountered three spiritual teachings that have not only caused confusion and pain for myself and others but have also become invaluable sources of wisdom once I learned to integrate them appropriately into my life. This exploration highlights the distinction between absolute and relative truths and how misunderstandings can lead to spiritual bypassing.
Let’s dive into these teachings.
1. Life as an Illusion
At the intersection of the absolute and the relative lies the concept of life as an illusion. Quantum physics reveals that we are composed of 99.9% energy and only 0.01% matter, suggesting that our existence is more vibrational than it is solid and substantial.
Having spent a decade engaged in breathwork, psychedelics, and meditation, I have experienced this energetic reality firsthand. It connects me to something greater than my physical form. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that the physical world remains real. While it may not appear as concrete as it seems, a blow to the head with a piece of wood will still hurt, and rain will undoubtedly soak me.
In the past, I was more captivated by the absolute truth, often neglecting the relative experience. This led me to dismiss my emotions and the feelings of those around me. I would casually remark, “Don’t worry, life is just an illusion,” before moving on with my day. This mindset caused me to ignore my own truth, suppress my emotions, and become numb to the richness of life, which is contrary to a spiritual existence.
The challenge with this teaching is its dual nature: it is both an illusion and a reality. Simply asserting that life is fabricated diminishes the importance of the human experience. While it holds truth, it is not the sole truth.
> “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
The first video, Life in an illusion: The fabric of reality is constantly being rewritten | Stephen Wolfram, delves into how our perceptions shape reality and the implications of viewing life through a lens of illusion.
2. Taking Charge of One's Happiness
This teaching transformed my outlook on life. Once I realized that I cannot control external events but can manage my responses, I began to cultivate a sense of inner peace that is unaffected by outside influences. For too long, I allowed the external world to dictate my self-worth, leading to years of pent-up anger and anxiety. It was only after I turned inward and learned to validate myself that I witnessed significant changes in my life.
However, I observe many people misusing this teaching to justify rude behavior. They assert, “I’m just speaking my truth; if you’re offended, that’s your issue.” While there is an element of truth in this perspective, it overlooks the fact that words can cause harm.
Striking a balance between honesty and rudeness is vital. I’ve learned that humility and compassion are key to navigating this complex territory, fostering authenticity and vulnerability, which in turn deepen our connections with ourselves and others.
> “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” — Wayne Dyer
3. The Oneness of All Beings
Through my exploration of breathwork and psychedelics, I have come to recognize my connection to the grand mystery of existence, realizing that I am not separate from it. Jim Carrey beautifully articulated this when he said, “I used to be a guy who was experiencing the Universe, but now I feel like the Universe experiencing a guy.”
However, this profound realization can be dangerous if misunderstood. For instance, when I say “we’re all one” during moments of suffering, it can diminish the reality of the diverse experiences occurring on Earth. This perspective can lead to a lack of empathy, allowing me to bypass the pain others endure.
This teaching can also obscure the significant social issues of gender, race, and class that continue to inflict suffering globally. Declaring that we’re all one ignores the stark realities that exist.
Nikola Tesla noted, “We are all one. Only egos, beliefs, and fears separate us.” While this is indeed true, those egos, beliefs, and fears are very much real and affect much of human behavior. Thus, balancing the absolute truth of our oneness with the distinct individual experiences we each have is a significant challenge. We are both unique drops in the ocean and the ocean within each drop, making our spiritual journey profoundly rewarding.
> “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” — Joseph Campbell
The second video, Proof That Reality Is An ILLUSION: The Mystery Beyond Space-Time | Donald Hoffman, discusses the intricate relationship between perception and the nature of reality, further illuminating the concept of life as an illusion.