The other day I attended a seminar given by a woman I have known for a long time. She is a visionary, medical intuitive, spiritual mentor and mystic—the real thing. In addition to owning a number of impressive patents, she has also developed a powerful system of energetic healing that she teaches to lay persons and medical doctors around the world. She works with her husband, a doctor, and consults with other doctors on difficult cases. I could go on and on about her credentials, but that would take the entire post. Suffice it say it would be impossible to count the people she has helped in one way or another. Her credentials are impeccable.
This woman delivered a lively, inspiring, and practical presentation at a conference held by the women’s institute. As a member of the audience, I was shocked to look around and see women filling out postcards, texting, and staring out the windows while she talked. I wondered—why did these women even come? It wasn’t free! They paid good money to fill out those post cards. The great irony was that the presenter was talking about the inability of the average person to be fully present in her life. It was about awakening.
This is not an isolated experience for me. I have been at other venues (at which I or others have presented) where audience members have raised their hands during the Q&A only to discuss completely unrelated and irrelevant stories about other presenters at other conferences. For a presenter who has spent weeks, even months, preparing very specific and educated messages, this can be beyond discouraging. But because this distracted behavior is becoming more common, it deserves some examination. After all, we are talking about people who have reached into their wallets and traveled some distance to hear what they are refusing to actually hear. I have my theories.
We are a generation of seekers. Since the spiritual revolutions of the 1960’s, including for Catholics, the radical changes of Vatican II and for everyone, the vast influx of spiritual influences from India, China, and Tibet, we have been awash in spiritual ideas, ancient traditions, new age concepts and mystical experiences. We have heard it all, literally. Thanks to other media influences, like Oprah, we have gorged ourselves on Deepak Chopra, Gary Zukav, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, and others too numerous to mention. For the most part I think these authors’ efforts to inform us on spiritual matters have been very productive. Some of us are so fluent in the commercial language of spirituality that we could teach our own classes. But is that enough?
I think not. In fact for many I think this ravenous search for the meaning of life has become more of an intellectual past time than a means of transcendence. For some, reading books on spirituality or attending conferences has become the whole point. If we attend enough conferences, read enough books, we will awaken, right? If we hear enough, read enough, attend enough, all that is wrong with our lives will be healed through osmosis. Of course we know that’s not true. Somehow, in order to transform our lives and our planet, we have to actually move that information from our heads to our hearts and from our hearts into action where it will take seed in the world around us.
There is no conference that will teach us how to do that—to go home and activate the truths we have just heard, that is, if we have actually heard them. We live in a time of spiritual fluency where many people understand the value of gaining spiritual information, but information is not knowledge. As in any other aspect of our lives—spiritual fitness requires discipline and practice. At some point we have to pick up the weights; get on the bicycle; walk the talk. As in all of recorded history, we will recognize the real teachers and gurus by the well-worn path of their right actions and deeds.
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Thanks, I will definitely let you know. The nurse said that she was going to do a little on the lips. I sure don't want the trout pout.
Thanks for your advice. I'm getting more excited than nervous now.
Roadrunner - absolutely nothing drastic about it. When you first get the botox (forehead and eyes) you will see a change that will level off in a few days or one week. It looks completely natural. You CANNOT frown no matter how hard you try! Be very 
Nicely said.
wow Rea another great post. I so enjoy reading yours. and in the business world, the same issues. we pay a lot of money for seminars and events, and are distracted by our neighbors on both left and right, or around the table, texting, surfing, and playing games on their cells/blackberrys/pads. Why are they there indeed!
My first sponsor used to say to me all the time; The longest distance known to man is from the head to the heart. To hear something, even over and over again, is not the same as Knowing it in your Knower.
In Christian terms, the appropriate words would be “by their fruits, or the fruits of the spirit as evidenced in their lives.
I am knowing more and more each day that the real joy is in the journey. In the present.
Yes Nana! By their fruits! Thanks!
I had coffee with a friend during the week. She had just returned from staying at a mission in Hong Kong. My friend said that from day one, she decided that she would not sit around sitting and praying, that she would offer her services and ‘do’ at every appropriate opportunity. She said that she is very tired of spiritual pretenders who do not walk the talk. At the end of her 3 month stay, she had many new friends, but none that had joined her on her own ‘mission’….
It’s such a rare thing–the willingness to engage. It’s hard. Like finally putting down the cigarettes after 3 sessions of Smoke-enders (if they still have those. I think it’s mostly meds now.) Thanks, Helen!
If you notice my posts you would also notice that I write often in the vein of a Catholic woman. I do not advise – I do not preach, I share experience. To me a life without spirituality is like a cupcake without the sprinkles. It tastes good but isn’t the treat it could be. As I struggle, mumble and fumble my way through the myriad of being human I am in constant prayer, asking for the guidance and love of the creator. The more I pray, the better and easier life gets – not because instant miracles occur but because I am guided into behavior which behooves the situation. I ask God to be my eyes when I can not see, to be my ears when I can not hear, to love me when i can not love myself, to deliver me from evil and keep me from danger. A challenge without prayer is akin to seeking the help of a professional only to ignore the advice. God does not give us more than we can bear and delivers us from two diseases – worry and ignorance. I liked your post. It was brave and offers, without judgment, an invitation to spirituality.
Thanks, Kate. I take this on myself, too, because “we don’t know what we don’t know” and I just know there are things I’m not engaging in either. Takes so much to get us humans to move out of our comfort zones, even if they’re not that comfortable!
Very insight words, my friend. We do maintain comfort zones even when they are not comfortable and I’ve said for years it is because of fear. We maintain even the dysfunctional because it is familiar, no surprises, and that makes it predictable. It can be less scarey to maintain the status quo than change.
Wow! Spot on…it is HARD work to transcend and be spiritually fit!
Thanks for a very insightful post!!. I’ve also been to seminars all over and find as you did that there are those who haven’t reached a place of ‘understanding’. Just as there are levels of literacy, language and experience there are levels of spiritual growth. Some have just gotten into kindergarten — and they will learn — if and when they continue to read, attend, and openly and honestly are pursuing — their level of spiritually. I was told years ago when I was wagging my tail pursuing a very special guru about ‘wanting his spirituality’ — to be patient and absorb that which I am able to absorb. He also told me one doesn’t have to live in a cave and meditate 24 hours a day to be enlightened.
I meet so many people who live by right actions and deeds who don’t even know they are living on a spiritual path. I don’t think one has to announce one’s pursuit of spirituality in order to achieve it.
Hope I didn’t misconstrue your thoughts — all good — and enjoy most. Thanks.
Hi Maggie, I totally agree that some live a wonderful unlabeled spiritual life full of benevolence and charity. Thanks for your comments!
One of my favorite stories is of the wise man who spent 10 years in a cave. He went down to the market, was jostled by a villager and snapped that the man should watch what he was doing. With that the wise man went back up the mountain and into the cave.
It’s easy to convince ourselves that we are spiritual because we go to______(you fill in the blank) and your language is sprinkled with references to spiritual traditions. It can be another way of opting out and that’s not the answer.
Eventually we have to walk in the market place and that ‘s where the rubber meets the road. It’s easy to be spiritual in isolation, quite another thing to live those truths in relationships.
Truly, I hid my Catholic self for years because the Church gets so much criticism and I just got tied of defending. I finally realized that my faith was a commodity and deciet was a mask that kept people from getting to know me. Now I stand firm in my Catholicism. Since then my spirituality bloomed. I found solace in prayer and companionship in those who believe. Being abashed kept me from realizing my spiritual potential and living the faith I was born to. Now I pray constantly. God does not serve the ruluctant. God serves those who ask for help, love him and make him a daily motivation. It’s taken me years to get here. But now I have something I lacked in the past – aniety and despondency. I used to wait until my busband was asleep before I knelt down to say my prayers. I realized that I was holding back a part of me that belongs in my relationship. My house has become a shrine. Oh, God of infinite mercy. Give me the courage to live and share my faith. Blessing to all who read this. Follow you light and do not put shades against the higher self and those you love.
That’s lovely, Kate, thanks for sharing it. Blessings to you and yours!
You hit it out of the park, face to face everyday…TRACK
I appreciate your kind words. I am really just doing the best I can. I was singing with a group and they sucked on a song, usually it’s me. I said, “I didn’t suck,” and they laughed and I told them that I try to stay between the navigational beacons ‘not bad’ and ‘that didn’t suck’ All any of us can do is the best we can at the moment.
Truthfully? Teaching is where my rubber meets the road. I am called upon to be better than I think I can for all of our sakes. It is my market place and I try not to suck. That is honestly the best I can do sometimes. But, I’m here to tell you that a cave is mighty tempting sometimes, that or a red tent. VN is my virtual red tent.
Thanks again and thanks Rea for another lovely and timely post.
I have never gone to spiritual seminars nor do I consider myself a spiritual or religious person. I was exposed to Catholicism for a year or so as a child (the neighbours took me!) as neither of my parents would go to church themselves. There were some abuse issues there. Despite this I was brought up to treat others with compassion, respect and tolerance. My parents, being more intellectually inclined than spiritual, disputed the contents of the bible in favour of the evolutionary theory. I became a visual artist later in life and am constantly asked where I get my inspiration from, I think they want to hear it’s from some divine source, and they look disappointed when I tell them I get it from just looking around everyday - REALLY looking at things most people don’t even notice. I see a parallel here between those attending these conferences and not really listening and those who walk around not really seeing. There is so much beauty in the sky, water, sunsets, people, etc. that it constantly amazes me how people can be so oblivious. Yes, I consider myself a fulfilled person because I am very aware of what each day brings and I live totally in the moment. I feel if some of these people who are running off to gain spiritual knowledge while texting, daydreaming, whatever, would just focus a bit more on their everyday surroundings they would get their enlightenment and it would be a lot cheaper !!
Cheers to all and this is an interesting blog !
Hi Sophie! Being present in our own lives is apparently not as easy as it sounds, based on the level of distraction I’ve witnessed. But as one VN member said, for most people it happens in degrees. I think artists of all kinds who are able to stay grounded and execute their talents are a spiritual gift to us all, whether they consider themselves technically spiritual or not. They help us to view and hear facets of the world that are in many ways present only to them. What a wonderful thing!
You are so right — it’s right out there under our noses!! And, I’m sure you’ve had the experience of hearing or seeing or reading ‘something’ that ‘speaks’ to you. I find that true of poetry. I have picked up books at the airport because the title or first page or last page said ‘something’ to me. My son writes and is professional and a genius — and — he has said to me many times – ‘mom – don’t go to those seminars — stay home and write, write, write.’ And of course he is right — on the other hand — I am so insecure about my writing (at times) that I need that pat on the head from someone who (professional) tells me I did good.
Have said regarding ‘stuff’ that comes up in my life — ‘if I can sleep at night and can have a good laugh or two – then I’ll give it my attention’. I sort of consider that spiritual.
Thanks for the suggestion that compassion, respect and tolerance are good basics to live by — I’d add good manners?? Or is that what these things mean?
Also constantly have to remind myself that in this great wide world of billions of people — it all seems to come down to ‘horses for courses’.
Cheers – I agree
It sounds as though you’ve connected with your “passion” – listen to your son !! You’ve got a brilliant son indeed – WOW ! – a double jackpot ! How wonderful for you, if I could have one wish for everyone it would not be overnight wealth, I would hope that they would all find their passion. When you do that, everything else falls into place and you don’t have time for all these questions like “why am I here”, “how can I find fulfillment”, etc. etc. You’ve too busy doing what you love,
Promise me you won’t be so hard on yourself regarding your poetry. Truth is most people don’t know good poetry from bad anyways, it’s all subjective. If you really want some validation why not take a course at a local college. This would give you feedback from the instructor but whatever you do -don’t let this hold you back! I have a feeling you’re a lot more talented than you realize, be fearless with your poetry!!
Forgt to say — you are entirely right — Everyone is a guru!!! That’s what I wanted to say in the first place.
Wow, I hope this doesn’t happen to me! I am thinking of spending good money to go to a conference soon, because I love the keynote speaker’s book. I better try to sit in the front.
For me, the reading of spiritual books IS a prayer and meditation in itself. Like this particular author’s book, when something I read speaks to me, I go back to it again and again. I underline things, I write notes to myself, I really let it sink in as much as I can. In that way they become a part of me. I rarely talk to others about this because it’s my spiritual life, and it’s private, and to talk about it in regular conversation it seems like it would trivialize it. I have met people who chat about spiritual matters like one would talk about the weather…. I don’t know, to me, that’s just odd. But everyone has their own path.
I do those things too, EllaMae–read books, underline, tab them and meditate on them. My books are full of sticky notes. These are good things that feed the spirit. That’s conscious practice in itself and proves that you are paying attention. There’s nothing wrong with going to conferences, either. Different practices feed different people. In the end, the proof is the sense of Oneness that we feel (or don’t feel) for our fellow humans. And also in the innate joy, peace, and happiness we are able to feel in spite of many negative influences on our lives. When our spiritual practices are employed and working, there is always evidence of it somewhere in our lives. The key is to be as fully present as possible and integrate what’s taught (if it’s worthwhile). Enjoy the conference! xo
For the most part, in this ‘me’ generation woman in particular are not so much seeking spirituality as doing what is popular and in vogue. I am sorry to say that what you found at conferences with the lack of attention and spending money is exactly what they are about.
Many feel if they throw enough money at a situation it will be resolved. This is so true on many levels. When, the reality is that is takes long hours and hard work to actually accomplish spirituality. It comes from within and no one without can actually change the inner you – only you can work and do that for yourself.
One of my principles for life is Personal Responsibility. When I take responsibility for my own life and give that same responsibility to others for their lives, we are living and loving in the universe of oneness. This is what our world needs to happen to find that spirituality we are all seeking.
Yes we will remain seekers. Because we don’t realize what we seek is right within ourselves.
God bless, J
Thanks, Spiritalk, you’re so right! It’s amazing how difficult it is to sort ourselves out though–to go in there and find IT. God bless you, too!
I can’t agree more! The “language” of the spirit is everywhere, but the practice is not. Moving into pure spirit is work: 24/7. It’s a “job”. It’s difficult: you have to do it in those times you least want to. There are sacrifices, changes: who wants to go through that? Reading a book is so much easier. Spirituality is a personal journey: it’s different for everyone. Many treat it as religion: go to church, sing, repent, leave and do something you can repent about the next week. Understanding your spirit requires you to stop doing all of the things you repent about. But most of all, it’s about faith – do you have the ability to trust your intuition and have faith that everything that comes to you, good or bad, is the path? Can you sit still and quiet, while those around you panic, and not breathe in the disaster? Information may or may not be knowledge, depending on the spirit asking the questions, but for most, they will miss the “wisdom” of the teachings.
I love that, April, “Can you sit still and quiet while those around you panic, and not breathe in the disaster?” The ability to do that is the acid test of Peace. Thanks for the reply!
Namaste cherished friends
I spent a great deal of time reading all of the responses that were submitted and was inspired and even shed a tear or two. As long as we exclude and judge others, we have not arrived at that spiritual mecca that everyone is talking about. The Cave is a beautiful place. It allows us to be selfish and from the outsider looking in, it seems as though we are not truly spiritual because the only person we worry about is ourselves and how does that help the rest of the world? However, I feel many of us could be well served by spending some time in the cave and getting connected with ourselves for a while. Perhaps all the keen perception we have towards others could be best used on working on ourselves?
Spirituality comes from within, and sometimes we don’t even know what is in there. Our identities are that of a mother, a co-worker, a friend, a cook, a bottle washer, an artist, and so on and so forth. So I imagined one day, what if we were none of those things? What if I lived in a cave and had no occupation, no partner, no children, and it was only me having to live with me? Who would I be?
And so began a five year journey to try to figure that out through prayer and meditation. Connecting with the self and the spirit within. Total emersion. Not everyone has the luxury of doing this and indeed there were consequences. Reemerging is so difficult. I liken it to a rebirth, like a child from the womb. When I exited my cave, it was painful. The only difference between me and newborn child is that they are born into this world without any expectations but the shock of leaving the womb (cave) and entering into the world is very painful. The sensations and vibrations are entirely different. Even though a child can hear from within the womb, the outside world is colder, louder, brighter, and while they may not be able to verbalize their experience, their screams from taking in that first breath into their lungs is painful.
Leaving a cave has similiar influences. The man who came down from the cave only to feel that anxious energy and frustration of those in the hussle and bussle of life was simply more than he could bare. And does this make that man any less spiritual? His connection is with the “All That Is”. Perhaps he is not ready and perhaps he never will be ready to live in this world. Perhaps his path is different than ours, and who are we to say that what he does is either right or wrong? The wisdom we gain is always from our own perception based on our experiences. I believe there are multiple realities coexisting together and that we all have a light within to share.
As a child, because my mother was a Holocaust survivor, she went from a very young age into a concentration camp. From there she was rescued by Catholic monks and taken from Auschwitz to an orphanage where she grew up without her family but with hundreds of other displaced children. There was not affection or hugs or kisses goodnight. But there were clean sheets, plenty of food, and lessons from God and an education to learn to read and write. From there she matured into a beautiful woman, and I mean beautiful. And the men did come. She was taught survival and religion and that was her cave. She was then sent into the world to learn a trade. She “observed” how people behaved and learned to dress, to smoke, to work hard for money, and to attract men for favors.
As a parent, she kept a home that you could eat off of the floor. We were dressed differently than other children at school. We always looked as if we were going to Sunday school. My mother’s jewelry collection put many wealthy women to shame and we were middle class? Everything had to be the best. Our home was a show room. Whatever she could afford, she had to have the best. She could cook the best meals you can imagine and nobody walking away from her table ever could resist that “one last bite”!
Sounds like a great life and it was! Filled with abundance. But what wasn’t there was affection, hugs, and kisses goodnight. When I was first born, my mom was single and in order to surive, she let a childless couple raise me for the first year. She then met a man who wanted to marry her and bring her to the United States. When she got ready to leave Germany, she had a bit of a struggle getting me back. But, here I am now.
The pont of this for me was always this… you cannot blame someone for what they are not… but you can acknowledge and speak to the spirit within of what they are. She was raised for most of her childhood in a Catholic orphanage… and yet she never knew how to give affection.. the human touch.. the caress of a mother’s lips on her child’s forehead at night.
Those people who live in their caves, we cannot see their souls or their pain that they hide from the rest of the world. Perhaps they are not out saving livings or giving inspiration because they don’t know how to come into the world. It is one thing to be taught indeed.. but in all our teachings why are we still looking at others and judging how they live or what they do…
We are all on our path to find answers… and in the physical realm of existence I see so many choices, so perhaps we all become the example for those who rest their eyes upon us. Judge not lest ye be judged.. right?
I am an ordained minister and a spiritual counselor and advisor, an energy healer, and a medium. Everyday I open myself to the energies and pain of others. They come with their broken hearts to be placed into my hands and each tear softens me just a bit more. I only offer them advice when I am asked. I am here to share with them where their path will lead if they continue to make similiar choices. It is only when someone actually asks for help that you can help them.
So perhaps all those people sitting in those chairs at all those seminars are seeking and searching. Perhaps their attentions are distracted for reasons we can only imagine. Perhaps they are there to be close to other seekers. Perhaps the seminar is their first step in realization and connections of energy unlike anything else they can find in their own world. It takes time. My truth is that energy is a tangible thing.. like the air.. we cannot see it but it can be felt. When we attend these seminars or enter places that speak of a particular subject the energy embraces us.. even if the words do not.
We are all seekers of something. My mother did not know affection because she had not been given it. But her spirit within spoke loudly. She protects her children like a fierce lion and our lessons in life that she shared came from a world most of us are blessed to not have had to learn.. I take a knee and bow my head to the All That Is that my path was paved with feathers and cry that hers was with broken glass.
I am a sensitive. I do my work from home over the phone. Energy knows no boundaries… I connect with people from all around the world. As a medium and clairvoyant, I face the daily raised eyebrows when I am asked what I do for a living. One would think I had leopard’s spots! LOl. I allow others to perceive my lifetstyle as they choose, because I know within there is a light body filled with energy that is smiling back at me. This is who I speak to.
I am working on becoming the person I wish to see in others… I wish othersto see my light being within and not judge me, and so I practice not judging others and work on seeing their spirit within.. for that is who we truly are. Light beings, filled with amazing energy that wants to be radiated outward…
May you all be blessed with love, joy, good health and abundance
May you be blessed,too, Ridesabroom, great reply filled with wisdom, thanks for sharing it! Your story and your mother’s story is deeply compelling.
As far as the intended message of this post: I personally know many people who have spent a lifetime in the same place, asking the same questions, repeating the same actions and asking me why they’ve gotten nowhere. Why they’re sick and miserable. Why they have no friends, no peace. I don’t judge them for this. I have spent years thinking about what’s missing and realize that many are waiting for the answer to drop from the heavens. Sometimes it does, but most often it doesn’t. I’m a firm believer in personal responsibility and self-actualization and have helped a few people wake-up and get unstuck enough to understand their own power. I’ve been stuck myself and wish someone had been there to help me. We are all “light beings, filled with amazing energy that wants to be radiated outward…” yes! I love that! Sometimes we need to really deeply understand that power and learn how to access it and use it. I reach out in my writing, not with judgement or force, but with compassion to anyone for whom these words resonate. It might help someone who’s wondering why they’re frustrated and getting nowhere. I write for them.
Namaste Rea,
I was responding in a general way to all the posts that I had read. I could not agree with you more in your response to me and thank you for it. I was responding in the sense that we f.e.a.r. what we do not understand. In responding to all the energy, I may have failed to make that distinction clear, and perhaps you felt I was addressing your beautiful writings specifically. I find your input invaluable.
People need the “example” sometimes because they don’t “know” how to do what is needed. The purpose of sharing the story of my mother was to show that she did not “know” how to give affection.. it was foreign to her.
As for those who your writings resonate too.. I am definitely one. Changing cycles and patterns that no longer serve us is so difficult. Be Here.. Be Here Now. My 12th grade teacher, Mr. Paul Simon, taught me that. He unwittingly set me on a path that would forever change the course of my life.
We would sit in a trailer on the school parking lot, a group of 12 or so teens, practicing “
Be Here.. Be Here Now. We were only permitted to talk about Here and Now. Sounds easy until you put it into practice. But it was a life lesson… ever present and conscious in the moment where we find ourselves.
You know those moments that take your breath away.. those ah ha moments… My sister brought home a plaque that says “Never Let Your Memories be Greater Than Your Dreams”. I love that! Find your heart’s passion and ‘trust’ that you can acheive what you desire while you visualize your accomplishment.
I have to laugh when my stepdad would say.. “Sis.. put your back into it!” Well between our backs (hard work) and our desires (our passion) we can accomplish amazing things. But first we have to know where the heck we want to go. The rest is history!
Perhaps one day I will read your article about “How to Get Unstuck!”
Loving blessings
Ridesabroom (love that moniker!)–I appreciate your detailed replies so much. I’m going to type out the words on your sister’s plaque to remind myself of it, since the longer our lives become, the more heavily loaded the backside is! Dreams are more important even in light of a lifetime of memories. You don’t sound stuck to me! xo