SPIRITUALITY

Beware of False Prophets

The need to practice discrimination and find the Truth within

Awhile back, I read an article about Franklin Jones, aka Adi Da Samraj, and a whole host of appellations. The author was a devotee of this modern-age guru, and he was describing how his teacher “had merged, in a heated sexual embrace, with the living force of Kali — the Divine Mother or the Divine Mother Consciousness.”

How did the writer know this? Because his teacher told his disciples. It reminded me of when Nisargadatta, a non-duality teacher and author of I Am That, replied to a student who was talking about meeting this other teacher who claimed to have spoken with angels. Nisargadatta asked the man how he knew that this teacher spoke with angels. And the man replied that someone who spoke with angels wouldn’t lie.

With every step one takes in the spiritual realm, one needs to take two morally.

I have been blessed from the beginning of my spiritual career to have met with several “Shakti Masters” who kept changing their names with each initiation they said to have completed on the spiritual planes. They blasted me with all kinds of blissful experiences. Some manifested objects. Some channeled various masters. Some called in ships. One even tried to strangle the ego out of me.

Fortunately, I didn’t turn away from seeing the shadow of these “masters” even though I tried very hard not to see, because the shadow seemed such a contradiction to the bliss I felt at their feet. Plus, not to mention, I was feeling pretty special because I was following the World Teacher or Avatar or Whatever.

When I began my studies to become a Waldorf teacher, there was a piece of advice by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education and Anthroposophy, that helped ground me. He said to the effect: With every step one takes in the spiritual realm, one needs to take two morally. And this is not in regards to the morality of society but the building of character.

He saw two forces tugging at the individual. One he identified as Lucifer, who seduces the soul away from the earth in the bliss of abstractions; and the other of Ahriman, who draws the soul into the physical where reality is consigned to the quantitative. The initiate needs to stand between both of these forces, neither flying too high into the spiritual realms nor digging too deep into the earthly realm of forms.

Steiner saw Lucifer as a powerful being of light who brings great ideas to humanity. This being inspires many artists, writers, thinkers, and teachers. But he is also egotistical as hell. Look at the artists, actors, and musicians and the like and see how imbalanced they can be while creating fantastic work.

When I paint or write, especially poetry, it is literally a high. Fortunately, I have had a family to help keep me grounded. My life is such that I stand between the soaring of the arts and ideas and that of being responsible for others in the practical world.

Another teaching that helped reconcile the egotism of teachers is the game called Leela, by Harish Johari. It is an ancient Indian game that Snake and Ladders originated. It depicts the Jiva or the Soul as appearing to leave Cosmic Consciousness and descend into matter. The Jiva rises from the lower planes of Delusion and makes its way back up the eight levels, corresponding to the chakras, or wheels of energy spoken of in esoteric Eastern practices.

It does not take too many levels before the Jiva becomes pretty impressive in comparison to those who are wallowing in the lower levels. In fact, by the fifth plane, one is nearly god-like. However, there are still three more levels to go. The higher up one travels, the more snakes there are to bring one down, such as Egotism or the Plane of Violence (doing to others without any fear of consequences because it is all illusion anyway).

The point of the Game is not to take the toss of the die personally as one rises or falls, because, after all, nothing is happening to Consciousness. Why? Because Consciousness is timeless, and all that is happening in the Game is occurring in time.

Still, in the relative sense of the Game, one does fall. Now, if one likes to be an Avatar sitting up above the world, when the fall happens (which might be just for an instant), then pride may blind the eyes. Instead of admitting the lapse, that perhaps an old unfinished tendency raised its head, the teacher might play the old ploy of “doing it for the benefit of the disciple.”

These shadowy tendencies are all too often seen regarding sexual energy. So now, instead of admitting that one is not perfect in the realm of time, the teacher is living in falsehood. Disciples, too, play their part in this deception, because their egos are attached to the idea that they have found the “One” — which makes them pretty damn special.

Ramakrishna, another renowned Indian teacher, cautioned people to watch all teachers and see where they stood. Test them to see if their actions matched their words.

So it all boils down to whether teachers are walking the talk. That is why it is said that there will be many false prophets, and you will know them by the fruits of their actions.

“All you need is already within you, only you must approach your self with reverence and love.” — I Am That, Nisargadatta

For me, all these teachers have been a blessing. They have given me great pearls of wisdom, have shown me things beyond my rational conceptions of reality.

But most importantly, they have been a reminder to listen to that Still Small Voice inside. Every real teacher is only pointing to that fact. They are not pointing to themselves.

Beware of the ones who are pointing in the opposite direction.

Thank you for reading. Here are are a few related articles.

Please visit my Author Page. You can view my artwork on Pinterest. You can follow me on Facebook. Cheers.