It's funny, I'm reading Scott's book Earth Mother Dreaming at the moment and there are some parts of the book I really like and some parts I just can't get into, and skip over, like the parts on crystals and fairy's or plant spirits. Once it started to get into the new agey type subjects a voice in my head would start groaning, "do I really have to read through this section ?", to which I would quickly skim through it, being glad I didn't waste my time on that particular section. This book is like a mixed bag of sweets to me. Some taste nice and others I can't help but spit out. I was thinking that if only Scott had of concentrated on the shamanistic side rather than veer off into the new age stuff , this would have been a better book. Then last night I saw he had expressed what I felt about the so called "New Age Movement" and what turns me off about it -
Being ‘Spiritual’ and ‘New Age’ are NOT the same thing.
5 September 2013 at 08:53
To
me, being spiritual means being truthful, honest, a 'good person',
kind, considerate, understanding of others, compassionate, tolerant,
hopeful ... things that make me someone others would want to be around.
Being 'new age', on the other hand, allows me to be somewhat condescending, judgmental, deflective, superior, holier-than-thou, escapist ... words that the new age shuns, but sort of encourages with statements like, 'I've got a message for you, but you're not ready to hear it', 'you should read Louise Hay to understand the 'real reason' behind that situation or ailment', 'that's not very spiritual' or, my favourite ... 'don't be judgmental', which in itself IS judgmental.
To me, the new age is dangerous.
It allows for us to project and blame things outside ourselves.
It encourages the existence of gurus and avatars, and supports those who have 'things to say' by allowing them to hide behind their guides or titles like 'channel', 'direct link' and 'voice of' so that no one can challenge them or question their intentions.
To me the new age is almost designed to make us feel guilty for being successful, carnivorous, overweight or too thin.
It doesn't allow for grief, guilt or anger, which are in truth all healthy emotions, and – if we do allow ourselves to actually feel we are able to blame it on past-lives or dark entities so we don’t have to take responsibility or deal with them in a healthy way.
Instead, we’re told that things will get better when we simply ‘forgive’, ‘let go’, ‘open our heart’ or ‘allow love to enter our life’ and that if things don’t go as planned, we’re probably harbouring a block or we need a healing.
True love is always only about 6 months away, and next year is always going to be better financially.
To me, it’s all nonsense.
To me, there is very little ‘love and light’ in this industry.
To me, this industry (because that’s exactly what it has become) is riddled with overblown ego, jealousy, bigotry and fraudulence.
It’s fed with terms like ‘you’re not walking your talk’ (which is new age for: ‘how dare you have a different viewpoint than me’, which really means ‘I don’t like that you’re standing by your convictions’) or ‘you’ve got a block’, which loosely translates to: ‘you’re not doing what I want / believing everything I say’, and my favourite, ‘you’re just not trusting / living in faith’, which really means: ‘you’re not as spiritually evolved as me’.
Why can't 'bad things just happen to good people', without there needing to be a reason or the risk that we've 'called it in'?
Why does there always have to be a metaphysical reason for illness?
What’s wrong with feeling sad every now and then?
Why is the word ‘depression’ considered taboo?
When did the word ‘alternative’ come to mean ‘feral’ and why are herbs, homeopathics and natural therapies now considered ‘spiritual alternatives’ to western medicine?
The world’s gone crazy, I’ve come to believe; when being ‘spiritual’ is measured on the size and clarity of the crystal you wear around your neck, the colour of the velvet dress you wear, the ‘spirit name’ (usually Indian in flavour) you use or the guides you connect with instead of how you live your life, the way you treat others and the good that you do without having to tell anyone.
Being spiritual doesn’t mean you can’t eat meat (although it does help if you can at least be aware of where the meat comes from and how it’s been sourced).
It doesn’t mean you can’t drink wine, smoke a cigarette, swear or enjoy sex.
It doesn’t mean you can’t feel jealousy, frustration or guilt.
Being spiritual is how you live your life.
It’s what you do with the things you do and the emotions you feel.
It’s about how honest you are, reliable you are, and how true you are to yourself as a person.
It’s about knowing that you can lie to whoever you want, so long as you never lie to yourself in the process.
It’s about harming none, taking responsibility for your actions and owning your own behaviour. It’s about honouring your past, living in the now AS BEST YOU CAN, while allowing yourself to look, with an eager heart, to a fruitful future.
It’s about allowing yourself to dream, being mindful, conscious and aware.
It’s allowing yourself to believe in your heart that everything is possible, and that you’re entitled to shine, have a voice and succeed.
It’s about knowing, though, that everything you do has a consequence, and that every step you take affects someone or something else and being mindful of that truth.
It’s about realising that in order to live a good life, we need to be aware of the impact we have and the pain, suffering, joy or freedom our actions will have on those around us, be they animals, plants, rivers, mountains or people.
It’s about considering the bigger picture before jumping straight to assumption or blame, and taking time to gather facts and data before making emotional fuelled statements or accusations based on personal belief and fear.
It’s about living as part of a whole, rather than a significant other.
It’s about living as one, as a team, a family, a community; about sitting at a round table, with no head; about working toward achieving a united goal, while totally honouring your own dreams, wants, needs and aspirations in the process.
Being spiritual is when you know there’s something bigger than you guiding the universe, without being expected to know about the gods and goddess, God, the Angels or who you were in a past life.
It’s got nothing to do with knowing your guides, ascended masters or totems.
While these things are cool, and while they somehow give us inner strength and confidence, they’re not essential.
Knowing that they MIGHT be there, and living mindfully as though they are, is all that is required. Being spiritual has less to do with balancing our chakras or meditating as it has to do with allowing yourself time out to REALLY spend time with your children, to weed your veggie garden or to play with the dog.
It’s equally about living by ‘the Four Agreements’ and the ‘Ten Indian Commandments’ as it is about living by ‘Universal Law’ or the truth behind ‘The Secret’.
It’s about acknowledging everyone else’s faith and religious beliefs, traditional ways, ancestral ties, commitments and promises without feeling inclined to change yours to match theirs, or asking them to question theirs in favour of yours.
Being spiritual is about acknowledging the magick of the world around you, stopping to smell the roses and giving yourself permission to WALK IN BEAUTY while truly feeling and being totally present and completely honest with yourself and those around you with every step you take.
It’s about being a good person and living a good life.
Anyway, this is just my take.
It’s my belief.
It’s my viewpoint.
And my belief and viewpoint is based on my life experience.
So, be aware that I’m not asking you to agree with me.
Because what you think or believe is none of my business.
I'm glad he cleared that up for me, as I was beginning to think he was starting to head in the direction of the new agers instead of sticking on the shamanic path, which seems to me to be his real strength.
To me shamanism is a more authentic path to tread than the new ager's path, which feels a little to wishy-washey to me.
I don't have anything against using crystals or charkra balancing and such, if that's your thing, but it's just not what I'm into, I'm afraid.
Some parts of this book are good, but some parts make me cringe.
I hope in future books Scott steers clear of the New Age type subjects and concentrates on the animal/nature/Dreaming side of things.
I think he's got a big future in doing what he does best by sticking with his Animal Dreaming work and leaving the new agey stuff out of the picture, whether he uses that stuff in his personal life and seminars, or not.
But that is just my own personal opinions, where as his audience might want that sort of stuff in his books, but personally I find it off putting when it comes to shamanism.
Being 'new age', on the other hand, allows me to be somewhat condescending, judgmental, deflective, superior, holier-than-thou, escapist ... words that the new age shuns, but sort of encourages with statements like, 'I've got a message for you, but you're not ready to hear it', 'you should read Louise Hay to understand the 'real reason' behind that situation or ailment', 'that's not very spiritual' or, my favourite ... 'don't be judgmental', which in itself IS judgmental.
To me, the new age is dangerous.
It allows for us to project and blame things outside ourselves.
It encourages the existence of gurus and avatars, and supports those who have 'things to say' by allowing them to hide behind their guides or titles like 'channel', 'direct link' and 'voice of' so that no one can challenge them or question their intentions.
To me the new age is almost designed to make us feel guilty for being successful, carnivorous, overweight or too thin.
It doesn't allow for grief, guilt or anger, which are in truth all healthy emotions, and – if we do allow ourselves to actually feel we are able to blame it on past-lives or dark entities so we don’t have to take responsibility or deal with them in a healthy way.
Instead, we’re told that things will get better when we simply ‘forgive’, ‘let go’, ‘open our heart’ or ‘allow love to enter our life’ and that if things don’t go as planned, we’re probably harbouring a block or we need a healing.
True love is always only about 6 months away, and next year is always going to be better financially.
To me, it’s all nonsense.
To me, there is very little ‘love and light’ in this industry.
To me, this industry (because that’s exactly what it has become) is riddled with overblown ego, jealousy, bigotry and fraudulence.
It’s fed with terms like ‘you’re not walking your talk’ (which is new age for: ‘how dare you have a different viewpoint than me’, which really means ‘I don’t like that you’re standing by your convictions’) or ‘you’ve got a block’, which loosely translates to: ‘you’re not doing what I want / believing everything I say’, and my favourite, ‘you’re just not trusting / living in faith’, which really means: ‘you’re not as spiritually evolved as me’.
Why can't 'bad things just happen to good people', without there needing to be a reason or the risk that we've 'called it in'?
Why does there always have to be a metaphysical reason for illness?
What’s wrong with feeling sad every now and then?
Why is the word ‘depression’ considered taboo?
When did the word ‘alternative’ come to mean ‘feral’ and why are herbs, homeopathics and natural therapies now considered ‘spiritual alternatives’ to western medicine?
The world’s gone crazy, I’ve come to believe; when being ‘spiritual’ is measured on the size and clarity of the crystal you wear around your neck, the colour of the velvet dress you wear, the ‘spirit name’ (usually Indian in flavour) you use or the guides you connect with instead of how you live your life, the way you treat others and the good that you do without having to tell anyone.
Being spiritual doesn’t mean you can’t eat meat (although it does help if you can at least be aware of where the meat comes from and how it’s been sourced).
It doesn’t mean you can’t drink wine, smoke a cigarette, swear or enjoy sex.
It doesn’t mean you can’t feel jealousy, frustration or guilt.
Being spiritual is how you live your life.
It’s what you do with the things you do and the emotions you feel.
It’s about how honest you are, reliable you are, and how true you are to yourself as a person.
It’s about knowing that you can lie to whoever you want, so long as you never lie to yourself in the process.
It’s about harming none, taking responsibility for your actions and owning your own behaviour. It’s about honouring your past, living in the now AS BEST YOU CAN, while allowing yourself to look, with an eager heart, to a fruitful future.
It’s about allowing yourself to dream, being mindful, conscious and aware.
It’s allowing yourself to believe in your heart that everything is possible, and that you’re entitled to shine, have a voice and succeed.
It’s about knowing, though, that everything you do has a consequence, and that every step you take affects someone or something else and being mindful of that truth.
It’s about realising that in order to live a good life, we need to be aware of the impact we have and the pain, suffering, joy or freedom our actions will have on those around us, be they animals, plants, rivers, mountains or people.
It’s about considering the bigger picture before jumping straight to assumption or blame, and taking time to gather facts and data before making emotional fuelled statements or accusations based on personal belief and fear.
It’s about living as part of a whole, rather than a significant other.
It’s about living as one, as a team, a family, a community; about sitting at a round table, with no head; about working toward achieving a united goal, while totally honouring your own dreams, wants, needs and aspirations in the process.
Being spiritual is when you know there’s something bigger than you guiding the universe, without being expected to know about the gods and goddess, God, the Angels or who you were in a past life.
It’s got nothing to do with knowing your guides, ascended masters or totems.
While these things are cool, and while they somehow give us inner strength and confidence, they’re not essential.
Knowing that they MIGHT be there, and living mindfully as though they are, is all that is required. Being spiritual has less to do with balancing our chakras or meditating as it has to do with allowing yourself time out to REALLY spend time with your children, to weed your veggie garden or to play with the dog.
It’s equally about living by ‘the Four Agreements’ and the ‘Ten Indian Commandments’ as it is about living by ‘Universal Law’ or the truth behind ‘The Secret’.
It’s about acknowledging everyone else’s faith and religious beliefs, traditional ways, ancestral ties, commitments and promises without feeling inclined to change yours to match theirs, or asking them to question theirs in favour of yours.
Being spiritual is about acknowledging the magick of the world around you, stopping to smell the roses and giving yourself permission to WALK IN BEAUTY while truly feeling and being totally present and completely honest with yourself and those around you with every step you take.
It’s about being a good person and living a good life.
Anyway, this is just my take.
It’s my belief.
It’s my viewpoint.
And my belief and viewpoint is based on my life experience.
So, be aware that I’m not asking you to agree with me.
Because what you think or believe is none of my business.
I'm glad he cleared that up for me, as I was beginning to think he was starting to head in the direction of the new agers instead of sticking on the shamanic path, which seems to me to be his real strength.
To me shamanism is a more authentic path to tread than the new ager's path, which feels a little to wishy-washey to me.
I don't have anything against using crystals or charkra balancing and such, if that's your thing, but it's just not what I'm into, I'm afraid.
Some parts of this book are good, but some parts make me cringe.
I hope in future books Scott steers clear of the New Age type subjects and concentrates on the animal/nature/Dreaming side of things.
I think he's got a big future in doing what he does best by sticking with his Animal Dreaming work and leaving the new agey stuff out of the picture, whether he uses that stuff in his personal life and seminars, or not.
But that is just my own personal opinions, where as his audience might want that sort of stuff in his books, but personally I find it off putting when it comes to shamanism.
Bacon has always been one of my favorites. He's good even in bad movies. he seems to have a sixth sense about what works and doesn't, but his reasoning is his own. Intriguing post Daz.
ReplyDelete@Trish
ReplyDeleteI think you meant to post this comment on the following post.But I know what you mean.I'm not saying that Bacon is involved in some conspiracy with his movies,it just seems to be one of those life coincidences,but still quite interesting how these things play out in the real/reel world.