10 Spiritually Transmitted Diseases

8110757687?profile=originalWritten by Mariana Caplan Ph.D.

It is a jungle out there, and it is no less true about spiritual life than any other aspect of life. Do we really think that just because someone has been meditating for five years, or doing 10 years of yoga practice, that they will be any less neurotic than the next person? At best, perhaps they will be a little bit more aware of it. A little bit.

It is for this reason that I spent the last 15 years of my life researching and writing books on cultivating discernment on the spiritual path in all the gritty areas–power, sex, enlightenment, gurus, scandals, psychology, neurosis — as well as earnest, but just plain confused and unconscious, motivations on the path. My partner (author and teacher Marc Gafni) and I are developing a new series of books, courses and practices to bring further clarification to these issues.

Several years ago, I spent a summer living and working in South Africa. Upon my arrival I was instantly confronted by the visceral reality that I was in the country with the highest murder rate in the world, where rape was common and more than half the population was HIV-positive — men and women, gays and straights alike.

As I have come to know hundreds of spiritual teachers and thousands of spiritual practitioners through my work and travels, I have been struck by the way in which our spiritual views, perspectives and experiences become similarly “infected” by “conceptual contaminants” — comprising a confused and immature relationship to complex spiritual principles can seem as invisible and insidious as a sexually transmitted disease.

The following 10 categorizations are not intended to be definitive but are offered as a tool for becoming aware of some of the most common spiritually transmitted diseases.

1. Fast-Food Spirituality: Mix spirituality with a culture that celebrates speed, multitasking and instant gratification and the result is likely to be fast-food spirituality. Fast-food spirituality is a product of the common and understandable fantasy that relief from the suffering of our human condition can be quick and easy. One thing is clear, however: spiritual transformation cannot be had in a quick fix.

2. Faux Spirituality: Faux spirituality is the tendency to talk, dress and act as we imagine a spiritual person would. It is a kind of imitation spirituality that mimics spiritual realization in the way that leopard-skin fabric imitates the genuine skin of a leopard.

3. Confused Motivations: Although our desire to grow is genuine and pure, it often gets mixed with lesser motivations, including the wish to be loved, the desire to belong, the need to fill our internal emptiness, the belief that the spiritual path will remove our suffering and spiritual ambition, the wish to be special, to be better than, to be “the one.”

4. Identifying with Spiritual Experiences: In this disease, the ego identifies with our spiritual experience and takes it as its own, and we begin to believe that we are embodying insights that have arisen within us at certain times. In most cases, it does not last indefinitely, although it tends to endure for longer periods of time in those who believe themselves to be enlightened and/or who function as spiritual teachers.

5. The Spiritualized Ego: This disease occurs when the very structure of the egoic personality becomes deeply embedded with spiritual concepts and ideas. The result is an egoic structure that is “bullet-proof.” When the ego becomes spiritualized, we are invulnerable to help, new input, or constructive feedback. We become impenetrable human beings and are stunted in our spiritual growth, all in the name of spirituality.

6. Mass Production of Spiritual Teachers: There are a number of current trendy spiritual traditions that produce people who believe themselves to be at a level of spiritual enlightenment, or mastery, that is far beyond their actual level. This disease functions like a spiritual conveyor belt: put on this glow, get that insight, and — bam! — you’re enlightened and ready to enlighten others in similar fashion. The problem is not that such teachers instruct but that they represent themselves as having achieved spiritual mastery.

7. Spiritual Pride: Spiritual pride arises when the practitioner, through years of labored effort, has actually attained a certain level of wisdom and uses that attainment to justify shutting down to further experience. A feeling of “spiritual superiority” is another symptom of this spiritually transmitted disease. It manifests as a subtle feeling that “I am better, more wise and above others because I am spiritual.”

8. Group Mind: Also described as groupthink, cultic mentality or ashram disease, group mind is an insidious virus that contains many elements of traditional co-dependence. A spiritual group makes subtle and unconscious agreements regarding the correct ways to think, talk, dress, and act. Individuals and groups infected with “group mind” reject individuals, attitudes, and circumstances that do not conform to the often unwritten rules of the group.

9. The Chosen-People Complex: The chosen people complex is not limited to Jews. It is the belief that “Our group is more spiritually evolved, powerful, enlightened and, simply put, better than any other group.” There is an important distinction between the recognition that one has found the right path, teacher or community for themselves, and having found The One.

10. The Deadly Virus: “I Have Arrived”: This disease is so potent that it has the capacity to be terminal and deadly to our spiritual evolution. This is the belief that “I have arrived” at the final goal of the spiritual path. Our spiritual progress ends at the point where this belief becomes crystallized in our psyche, for the moment we begin to believe that we have reached the end of the path, further growth ceases.

“The essence of love is perception,” according to the teachings of Marc Gafni, “Therefore the essence of self love is self perception. You can only fall in love with someone you can see clearly–including yourself. To love is to have eyes to see. It is only when you see yourself clearly that you can begin to love yourself.”

It is in the spirit of Marc’s teaching that I believe that a critical part of learning discernment on the spiritual path is discovering the pervasive illnesses of ego and self-deception that are in all of us. That is when we need a sense of humor and the support of real spiritual friends. As we face our obstacles to spiritual growth, there are times when it is easy to fall into a sense of despair and self-diminishment and lose our confidence on the path. We must keep the faith, in ourselves and in others, in order to really make a difference in this world.

About the Author: Mariana Caplan, PhD, MFT, is a psychotherapist, yogi, and the author of six books in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including the award-winning Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path (Sounds True, 2010), the seminal Halfway Up the Mountain: the Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment (Hohm Press, 1999), and The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher (Sounds True, 2011). As a psychotherapist, she specializes in using somatic approaches to therapy to support spiritual practitioners and teachers of all traditions and religions to heal trauma and thrive, as well as working with complex spiritual traumas within spiritual communities. As a yogi, she founded and teaches The Yoga & Psyche Method, which integrates the insights of somatic psychology, trauma research, neuroscience, and yogic practices.

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  • ~Though provoking ideas in this post, Avatar... thanks for sharing. The path toward Self Realization creates infinite choices for us to employ our tools of Spiritual Navigation... 'experiences' that we carry from this life... & past lives... into the ever present moment. Which, when all is said & done, is the only place where real change can manifest. Our 'stories' become a kind of compass for the lessons we draw into our sphere... into our 'reality'. Yet, if we can take a moment & step back... & try to view our 'choices' objectively... we can see that we're all in the throes of a multidimensional game. Whether we agreed to 'play' is certainly up for debate... as is the deeper question of whether we're progressing... or regressing? Of course, these 'answers' are relative to 'one's' perspective... & greatly impact our ability to feel optimistic, or doubtful about our collective potentialities. Just keep asking questions, Ashtar Massive... it seems to me, that if we can simply remember that the 'roles' of 'Teacher & Student' are always interchangeable... the notion that one Spiritual path is more authentic than another, will be rightsized as another fading shadow of duality. Everything is interconnected... & our ability to real'eyes' the apparent pitfalls of 'Awakening' is only because, to one degree or another, we've ALL been on the other side. So, what may be perceived as a 'spiritually transmitted disease', can also serve as a key 'spiritual tipping point'. Either way 'one' dissects these experiences we call Life... it's not the destination... or the length of the journey that defines us. Spiritual one-upmanship is an illusion. This isn't to suggest that the 'Spiritual Hierarchies' aren't 'real'... they are! It's just through the viewfinder of Unity-Consciousness that they can be fully appreciated. Our stories are moving us ALL into a new paradigm... We stand on the threshold of a Return to Our Belonging. ~TemetNosce247

    “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”... “For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length... and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.” ~Juan Matus

         

    • How amazing that you write this, Stick...a friend and I were basically saying the same thing. "We either make ourselves miserable or make ourselves strong...the amount of work is the same." I'm going to remember that quote...it's so true. The whole quote is worth remembering. Thank you for sharing your excellent thoughts and wise words, Stick. :)

      • Synchomysteries abound!

        Thank you for  b e i n g  You, Avatar.

        8116181279?profile=original

        • :*

  • This is spot on here with the spiritual diseases, and the best weapon against anything is education of ourselves in the spiritual process. Reading, reading books and truly educating ourselves on this process. There is one book by evelyn underhill called mysticism that details this process.......This is all spiritual delusion which gets in the way of a real authentic connection to spirit. Also the chosen people is about the Jewish people being chosen to adher to the laws of the torah. it has nothing to do with them being more special than anyone else........in fact they have taken on a huge responsibility......

    • I agree, turtles...I always say research, research, research! We're all trying to find our way on our path which is a process that takes many twists and turns and it's different for everyone. However, we have to recognize when we're being led astray and is where all that research comes in. I will look into the book you recommend...sounds good.

      <3

      • I am going to take a lesson from feather winger and look in the mirror here too...... maybe we can call it something else like traps and snares or something instead of diseases, but all and all just a learning process in which I bumble through......

        • Yes, I think we'd all do well to look in the mirror more often and become a little more self aware but like I said it's a "process" and as you said "bumble through." The important thing is not to let what others say or do influence us no matter how well meaning.

  • locate the problem isolate with Christ Light dissolve neg vibes send entities into the Light-problems solved

    • Thanks, pet rock...that's certainly one way of doing it. ;)

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