Shared Transformation
Sacred Responsibility
In his book The Call (reviewed in this issue), David Spangler tells of his childhood exposure
to many psychics and channels through his parents' interest in metaphysics. As he discovered, "Some of these
people were channels of great skill and integrity because they were persons of skill and integrity first, with
a deep attunement to the sacred and to the honoring of life."
But these types were rare. More commonly, he encountered psychics of marginal skill and lesser character. He writes: "As individuals, they were driven by their egos, interested in adulation, control, and power, while not particularly interested in the well-being or liberation of the people who came to consult with them." Joan Harrigan, Glenn Morris and Gopi Krishna have all commented that an active Kundalini doesn't invariably lead to more ethical or exemplary behavior. Whatever refinements and raw spots were in the personality before Kundalini rises will be there still -- often in a stronger way -- after the awakening. People who are unaware of this are at risk of falling victim to unscrupulous or simply unevolved Kundalini teachers, counselors and healers. Bob Boyd and I have discussed this through personal correspondence, and he gave me permission to reprint the following letter he sent expressing his dismay that the problem is so rampant: It's disheartening to hear that Kundalini can increase flaws in the personality, but I believe there is some truth to this. Otherwise, why would so many Kundalini-awakened people be egomaniacs or God- wannabes? In some of these people I see no heart, no compassion. It's as though their power and control agendas suck the compassion out of their highly evolved beings. To coin a term I read in one of the newsletters, they are like "New Age Fundamentalists," or those people who knock on your door to tell you, basically, that they are right and you are wrong. They are superior, you are inferior, and so on ad nauseam! I have no patience with these people who, especially with their heightened awareness, ought to know better. In the beginning of all this higher consciousness will-make-you-perfect stuff, we were assured these methods would, aside from making us "God in flesh," cure all our physical ills along with making us as psychologically sound as a human being could ever be. Yet now we learn that our baggage is packed for the journey and often we pick up more, heavier baggage along the way. This is most disconcerting. Whatever happened to the Old Time East/West Religion when people put a premium on humility and being selfless? Why aren't more of these Kundalini illuminated folks turning out like the impressive Dalai Lama, or Mother Theresa, or like countless unenlightened people who selflessly serve humanity? It seems that Kundalini energy may actually equip a person to be more dangerous to others and so self- absorbed as to not be able to see the truth of their self-destructive behaviors. What hope is there for those, who, in spite of seeming to have reached enlightenment, are still stuck in the mud of their own harmful, power-driven actions?
Maybe, as some contend, negative forces influence their minds? For example, I read of a case where a university professor had such powerful shakti it put people who meditated with him into trances. Long story short, he was ultimately overcome by negative energies which were giving him his power along with illusions of being Godlike. That, for my taste, is a bit on the eerie side. But who knows, maybe evil exists in places beyond our everyday senses and can exert some control over people susceptible to power seductions?
Hopefully, it's just human failings, but it is nonetheless distressing that these supposedly enlightened people are capable of harming other human beings. There have been gurus who have destroyed people's lives -- some even lost their lives when taken in by "smoke and mirror" enticements.
And look at all the people who cause Kundalini to awaken in others by dispensing seemingly harmless relaxation techniques, yet cannot balance it and are noticeably absent when your money is spent and you are in the throes of spiritual crisis! It's all so disheartening.
Today in a bookstore I saw a magazine article about another alleged enlightened master who appears to be a delusional
fruitcake or suffering from a messianic complex. Is there no end to flawed spiritual masters? From just a casual
peering into these matters, I have seen about 9 out of 10 spiritual masters fall from grace. Maybe enlightenment
is merely a stepping stone and not the be-all and end-all. Maybe these people, in spite of their seemingly advanced
spiritual achievements, have to come back to this plane again to relearn how to be decent human beings. In a word,
I think more important than whatever enlightenment someone attains is how close they come to living a life of love.
Look at how many of the NDEs in which the overriding question is how loving they were. Sure, most of these spiritual
masters talk about love, but do their actions display love? I don't think so.
While not to make light of what Bob has said, I'm sorry to report that most Homo sapiens have feet of clay. Alas,
the spiritual and healing communities aren't immune to egotism, greed, arrogance and hypocrisy. Some of this occurs
when people who overestimate themselves (or who fear the vulnerability inherent in relating on equal footing to
others) are drawn to positions of leadership and power. Bad winds blow out of the notion that it is possible (or
necessary) for us to become perfect in order to live a spiritual life. Trying to uphold a superhuman self-image
has been the downfall of many otherwise earnest healers and leaders. Some would rather have their tongues cut
out than to simply admit, "I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you with this."
The more we are able to accept ourselves and everyone else as simply human, the less likely we'll be terribly
disillusioned. There may be some true saints among us, but they are rare. And while it may take some digging
through the rubble to find them, there are people of integrity and goodwill here too. With increased awareness
comes a sacred responsibility toward every life that touches ours. To honor this takes a lot of spiritual maturity
and self-honesty; it isn't something we develop overnight. As I wrote in a post to the Kundalini list, even the
most illumined spirituality without heart turns from liberator to oppressor.
-- El Collie and Bob Boyd
Reviews
The Call,
by David Spangler, Riverhead Books, 1996. ISBN 1-57322-046-9
There are a good many books which are food for the mind and a few which are nectar for the soul. The Call is such
a book. Spangler -- who playfully defines his vocation as "freelance mystic" -- was called to the path
by an inner voice while pursuing a formal education toward another goal entirely. At first he balked, but the
Spirit refused to take no for an answer.
Spangler has a gift for distilling the perennial philosophy down to its pristine essence. Written with gentle humor and almost childlike simplicity, this deceptively small book enfolds vastness. It reads like a prayer, like a song, like a heartbeat. The Call is such a living entity it feels like vivisection to pull out any segment to quote, but I will risk violation to leave you with this:
The fact that you are an incarnation is itself a gift both to you and from you to the earth, and you are here
because the earth has called to you. The earth has called you at this time in history because it wants souls who
can expand their powers of lovingness and compassion, souls who can begin to look beyond... traditional perspectives,
and say, "Is there more?" The earth needs people who can say, "Yes, there is more." Not just
more in the way of knowledge or inventions or wisdom or revelations, but more compassion, more caring, more love,
more valuing of one another. This is your mission, and it is of the highest, for it is nothing other than the
mission of manifesting the spirit of the Beloved in your life.
by Richard Sauder, Ph.D., Adventures Unlimited Press, 1998. ISBN 0-932813-61-5
When I opened this book at random and came across a series of elaborate graphs, blueprints and schemata for various
U.S. patents, my first thought was, "Oh no, another wacko convinced he's summed up the logistics of the universe."
We occasionally hear from looney tunes who think they've mapped out every iota of Ultimate Reality down to the
last cosmic nook and cranny. When I began to read Sauder's book, I was relieved -- elated, in fact -- to discover
he's not one of them. To the contrary, he demonstrates the capacity to retain an honest I-don't-know-exactly-what-it-means
humility in the face of repeated encounters with the Extraordinary.
The technical information on the patents is included in the book to backup the author's assertion that various organizations (some with less than honorable intent) are developing apparatus for altering human consciousness and practicing mind control. Sauder is an anti-nuclear activist who has gone out on some very thin limbs protesting the use of nefarious military weaponry.
The rest of Kundalini Tales is just what the title promises: Sauder has had a wide array of phenomenal Kundalini adventures and describes them in captivating detail. The magical/mysterious quality of existence dances in his every Kundalini "tale," but one in particular touched me deeply. In an altered state during which he was transfixed by a mesmerizing violet light, Sauder was suddenly ripped through strata of space/time/eternity into the presence of Jesus, who put to him this question: "How can you expect to have spiritual vision, if you can't see the suffering of little children?"
Writes Sauder: "The thrust of the question could not be clearer. Psychic power means precious little...
as an end in itself.... the way to spiritual vision is through sensitive awareness to the suffering of our fellow
humans... How can any of us, you or me, hope to advance spiritually unless we get involved in helping to alleviate
the vast amount of human misery and suffering that surrounds us on every hand?" A warning: Sauder delves
heavily into cloak-and-dagger operations and is outspoken in his moral outrage over the global misuses of power.
For the most part I am in sympathy with his views -- with the exception of his equating abortion to chemical/biological/nuclear
warfare and genocide. With all respect to the words he heard from Jesus, women and unwanted children suffer too.
That said, overall Kundalini Tales is an informative and stimulating book.
by Naomi Levy, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1998. ISBN 0-375-40003-6
The author, one of the first female rabbis, tells of an ancient Jewish proverb: Words that come from the heart
enter the heart. Her words in To Begin Again do just that. As its title suggests, this book offers a compassionate
hand to hold in the darkness, but more than that, it is a celebration of the healing power of love. Rabbi Levy
is one of those wondrously wise holy women who has allowed life's painful lessons to teach her to walk in beauty.
I cannot imagine how anyone could read her book without finding their own path becoming more beautiful too. If
you are weary, depressed, afraid, losing hope, feeling brokenhearted -- or if you would simply welcome some nourishment
for your soul -- read this book. It will give you sustenance.
-- El Collie
© El Collie 1995