When it comes to spirituality, faith or occultism, it seems the same rule applies: in order to know God, divinity or transcendental reality, it is necessary to put aside the mind and live the experience; only through a special state of consciousness it is possible to connect with it.

The above is excellent advise, except it is only half of a whole, and that half has been vastly misunderstood or twisted, that it has brough forth many so called masters or leaders who often end up causing more damage to the mind and soul; for they too are focused on negation or repression. You see, to navigate the Esoteric Realm (spiritual, occult), one needs to prepared; preparation is not the same thing as repetition or the memorizing of concepts without analysis, introspection, questioning, testing, etc. It is no different than the student who only memorizes concepts in order to pass an exam vs. the one who seeks to understand, and tests what he or she are being taught (experience). Faith was never to be blind faith–for we all know what happens when the blind leads the blind.

Back in ancient times, an initiate was prepared through intellect and experience, not just blind faith. The desire to simply wash away from our self responsibilities and the desire to run away from our shadow, wounds, as well as the false sense of needing to seem normal and fit in, has led to much deterioration of sacred concepts; it has also been caused for many people to be taken advantage of by so called masters, pastors, guides and more–people who often hide their own denial of self or ignorance on the subject, by simply stating that all one needs to do is to blindly believe and repeat niceties. That is the reason we find so many passive aggressive people within many of these disciplines. People who when presented with valid and meaningful questions or data that contradicts their teachings, often get agitated, condescending or who label one as heretic or worst–if you ask me, not a very good sign of a person who is supposed to channel wisdom and unconditional love.

People who hide behind a particular belief out of a desire to run away from their pain, are very different in attitude from those who choose a particular path to help them improve their way of life, or to give purpose to their life--as life on its own can be terrifying. This means there are very good people within any discipline; who intuitively understand there is many paths to divinity, divinity’s unconditional love, and who do not hide nor negate the reality of who they are at their core in an attempt to be more agreeable. My personal experience with the later has always been pleasant, interesting, enriching (for we exchange concepts with a genuine desire to enrich our lives). Because they are not running from themselves, one can tell their genuineness and lack of rigidity.

The first group however, has come to despise the intellect as if this was cause for all harms–in other words they despise the part of themselves they are afraid to confront. To be afraid is natural, as it is the right to choose not to want to navigate the internal waters of the subconscious or shadow; however if this choice is not done consciously or in “good faith”, it only leads to serious mental and spiritual complications, division, passive aggressive behavior and hatred–in which one is willing to do anything to defend a particular belief or faith (which should be a personal experience) to the point of abusing or murdering our own neighbors–history is full of these. Such conduct does not in the slightest reflect divinity but its very opposite.

The intellect is like a boat, you use it to navigate from one point to another–you wouldn’t just attempt to swim in the middle of nowhere (vastness of the ocean) without being prepare now, would you?…that would be foolish. The intellect is that tool which help us navigate the maya (illusions of life), as such it holds value.

“The intellect is the capacity of the human mind to deal with analysis and discernment” with the intellect we are capable of classifying, categorizing, reasoning, discerning, separating, interrelating and drawing conclusions–in fact, neuroscientists have placed it in the frontal part of the brain; it has a specific activity which can be traced. With the intellect, we are able to follow patterns of learning and teaching; it is even responsible for our beliefs when uniting ideas to emotions. The intellect is the most important tool we have for our own prosperity and our survival. This doesn’t mean that one is to overvalue the intellect and punish or belittle the spiritual aspect of our being. Our intellect, body, emotions and ether (soul) have a deep inter-relationship–they are all part of our being, and each offers a piece of the puzzle when it comes to connecting divinity and liberating the spirit. As such, they all need to be valued and their gifts (lessons) respected.

The simplest way to look at the above is this: your body could not properly function without the brain now could it? neither could your brain function in this life without the rest of your body, and neither one of those could function without the ether (soul)–nor could the soul experience this life without the body and the functioning of the brain–it is all connected; as such, to nullify or exalt only one aspect is not only foolish but counterproductive.

The intellect is not the same as consciousness; this is why to exalt the intellect as king and the only way to look at the world, is to make a huge mistake and to cage oneself within a limited world. Our consciousness is the most profound part of our being and the only path to our spirit (let us not confuse soul with spirit). We need the soul, intellect and body to help us navigate the physical and non physical world; as we do this our level of consciousness expands–this is a process and one which is not achieved by the majority of us during our life time.

In psychology, when it talks about the conscious and the unconscious; it is evident that “conscious” represents but the tip of the iceberg–the majority of consciousness is hidden within the dark beautiful waters of the unconscious or shadow. As such, the ability to properly train ourselves to understand complicated concepts, allegories, myths, philosophies and so forth, requires proper education–for education is to the intellect what physical exercise is to muscles–and proper education is not basic schooling but a life time process of various disciplines and concepts + experience. This means that if we follow people who are not properly educated (rounded education) and who are not training themselves, we run the risk of fallen pray to charlatans, cults or dogmas–in other words, we run the risk of falling into very rigid ways of living and losing our real selves; for we sacrifice upon their altars our divinity in exchange for feeling that we belong.

The need to belong, to be a part of a community, is innate; for just like in life, everything physical and no-physical is connected. However, a tree doesn’t have to act like the ocean in order to be part of life’s divinity. Nor does a dove have to behave like tiger in order to be part of life. Nature understands this clearly…why then, are we so eager to melt into one? Why are we so eager to believe that to be connected to our fellow humans, to life, to divinity, means to give up our unique way of expression? We are part of the whole already, let’s get that straight; if the divine omnipotent consciousness wanted us to be all the same, it would have made us all the same and given us the exact experiences– wanting us all to be the same, but failing to make us the same, would challenge the concept of all knowing and powerful.

We are unique expressions of a divine consciousness. If you want to give it a name, a tittle, a gender; whatever it is that makes you feel more connected, go ahead. Just don’t assume that because something works for you and you alone, that it means your path is the only path. And just because you may want to melt does not mean it is divinity’s wishes. As I said in my previous articles, at the end of the day we only know very little; we have lots of theories (paths) including the ones I offer in this blog–none of it means that I or you, have the only undisputable truth–if we did, we would not be here.

Bottom line is this, do not fear the intellect, do not despise or abuse your own body and do not exalt the soul–they are all part of you–use them. As per your beliefs, if they make you a better human vs a rigid one, then all the more power to you–just remember that a “better human” is not one who sees himself as above others or below others; he recognizes his value–because of that, he does not need to force others to walk the same path nor mock them or condemn them. If at the end of the day, your actions show very little concern for another human being, or if your actions are only there to show off and get accolades or hide your shortcomings, then no amount of niceties or sweet language, will cover the fact that you are more concerned with theory than with walking the path back to your own divinity–for to be a better human is to be genuinely humane; and this should not be confused with being always agreeable–it is all about balance, for that is the dance of life!

Sofia Falcone
I passionately believe one person can make a difference. I write from my own experiences and interests. It is my greatest hope that by writing about my own challenges and hopes, others may feel inspired to believe more in their inner power and to fully embrace themselves.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Sofia Falcone.

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