Something I’ve posted about previously (see here
and here)
is engagement vs. withdrawal. In essence, what I’ve posted previously is along
the lines of:
- my attitude, throughout most of my life, that the better form of Spirituality * is that which engages with the world, whilst recognising that there are times when one has to withdraw, partially or totally, to develop oneself and one's skills;
- I’ve more recently recognised the need to withdraw for healing as a result of things like the struggles, strains and outright damage caused by living in "the world" ** (dealing with other people's leaky auras, the combative pressures of commercial reality, and discrimination and other forms of abuse from people who, frankly, are bigots using ignorance as an excuse);
- it is possible for Spiritual people to lack any psychic ability, just as it is possible for Psychic people to be lacking in Spirituality, and Spiritual people, however, may alternate between periods of retreat and periods of activism (during which a spiritual person engaging with the world is not going to adopt a harmful, negative lifestyle), whereas a psychic may need to be more withdrawn, not out of spiritual motives, but out of simple self-preservation.
What I have realised more recently is that:
- it is possible to be engaged and working at making this world a better place while living a very withdrawn lifestyle (my meditation-clearing project demonstrates this, with people in one part of the world acting for the benefit of many other people and places in the world – as is the case with other, similar projects);
- it is possible to trapped in an “engaged” situation (for instance, by financial pressures or family commitments), and this can cause massive harm – to the point of potentially psychologically destroying a Sensitive;
- many people hide from (actually, actively block out, is a better way of putting it) their Higher Self, Spirituality and Psychism by living noisy, highly interconnected, sensual lives *** - and I’ve come across several such in recent years in the polyamorous and Pagan communities, and some teenagers I’ve had contact with in recent years. Such people can be recognised by their proselytising for family and relationships and sex ahead of all else in life, and – to use a different perspective on the matter are stuck at living in their base, second and solar plexus chakras. This also enables to materialistic forces that are destroying this world to control such people, as do many moves towards “improved economic efficiency” which, in the West, are really about keeping people too busy and off-balance to think about their lifestyles.
Next, some points about “interconnectedness”:
- non-physical, BPLF entities do count, if one is sufficiently Psychic;
- non-human lifeforms also count – in fact, our cats are one of the reasons I can’t do some of the psychic exercises I want to, as, even when the other humans are not present in this house, the cats are (they’re indoor cats, for environmental reasons), and are either on or beside me, or, if I shut the door, yowling outside …
Finally, the trigger for writing this post. Whilst browsing the web, I
came across some pages on the Earth
Spirit site referring to a series of magazines called “Fireheart”,and
articles from that now defunct magazine, including five articles from a series
referred to as “the Eightfold Path” – obviously a Pagan version, rather than
the Buddhist
Eightfold Path.
The Pagan Eightfold Path included:
- meditation, which is about “stilling the sense”:
- chanting, whether for raising energy or inducing trance (some interesting comments about biases in Pagan movements against trance – which need to be balanced by consideration of the need for grounding), and possibly used in conjunction with drumming and/or dance (why do people who like dance assume that, because they like dance and it is good for them, it will be beneficial for others, and proselytise that? Haven’t they heard of the dangers of penicillin, and drawn a few parallels/connections from that?) and is based on sensory restriction (after, say, half an hour of chanting) and rhythm;
- fasting, which has some very good comments about biases in the Pagan world against this, but needs more in the discussion of risks (which it does do) on consideration of health issues (fasting can be problematic for diabetics, for instance);
- breathing, which sets the context quite well, but does not include any specific exercises; and
- isolation.
The latter article supports the need to be isolated for some parts of
one’s Spiritual / Psychic development, and I will end this post here, Dear
Reader, so you can read the links and so thinking on your own :)
* In much the same way that Pagan should be capitalised out of respect, I consider there is an argument – albeit lesser in validity – for the same respect towards those who choose to be Spiritual, but not aligned to any particular religion, and hence I am going to try out capitalising the words Spiritual and, in some usages, Psychic.
** This is something which is taking up much of my time and energy at the moment- doing Soul Retrievals on myself, patching up tears and other damage in my aura, and so on. It is extremely difficult to do this whilst living in the midst of four million leaky auras, and I could really do with a couple of years living either in the country, on a boat (again … sigh), or at least in an outer suburb.
*** It is also possible to live highly interconnected, sensual lives and be at least reasonably Spiritual and/or Psychic – and I have also come across a few such people in the polyamorous and Pagan communities, along with one teenager, in recent years.
[2] Please
see here and my post "The
Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons
I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2,
although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather
engagingly - to be the Earth edition of
"The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").
Love, light, hugs and blessings
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix
Lux … aka Morinehtar … would-be drýicgan or maga
... )
My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this
site) is here, and my glossary/index is here.
I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue
(see here and here), and it grew ... See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "Pagans for Peace" project (and join me
at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear for peace), and here
for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend
learning how to flame, ground
and shield, do alternate
nostril breathing, work
with colour, and see also here and be
flexible.
- neither eloquence nor inarticulateness inherently indicates correctness, but, as words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
- Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
- I mourn the desecration of the term 'Light Worker' by commercial interests, and the warping of the word 'Light' away from 'Clear Light' by the "White Lighters".
- Our entire life experience, with all the many wondrous and varied people, places and events in it, is too small a sample for statistical reliability about Life.
- May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
- Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
- Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master.
- The means shape the end.
- My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
- All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...
Human dignity is
the inherently cumulative holistic
combination of human rights, wellbeing and potential, and all actions or
interaction which promote, realise or facilitate same. The converse also
applies: whatever degrades, diminishes or robs humans of dignity, is inherently
undignified.
Gnwmythr
The “purpose” of spiritual evolution is not
the attainment of “spiritual perfection” - not in the sense of not having to
evolve further, at any rate, since there is no such thing. We need to evolve in
order to grow - but we can take rest breaks (hopefully well earned :) ) along the way. No, the “purpose” of evolution is,
rather, to perfect our ability to learn, and thus grow.
Gnwmythr
Our greatest struggle with, to borrow from
pop culture, the Jedi-Sith scale, is not with the Sith, whether they are hiding
or not: it is with the annoying, snotty-nosed, heroine/hero-worshipping little
kid who keeps intruding, stopping us from being cool enough to be with our
heroines/heroes, the big kids ...
Gnwmythr
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent.
Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called
Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to
infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names
we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious.
Jane Elliott
The only thing necessary for the triumph of
evil is for good [people] to do nothing.
(based on
writing by) Edmund Burke
We didn't inherit the Earth from our
ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
There are risks and costs to a program of
action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of
comfortable inaction.
John F. Kennedy
First published: Manadagr, 2nd February, 2015
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Monday, 2nd February, 2015
